Below is a copy of an e-mail from my dealer that I received this morning. Note: he has not given me my vin # yet, or included the list of vins with the e-mail. His failure to do those to things, makes this information less valuable to me. Hopefully it will help someone on here

"Just a follow up. Any information you see that is not here is fabricated. Of course, I will update you as I am updated.



This is the only official info released from Porsche:





Good morning:
This is a preliminary notification to advise you of Porsche Recall AD04:
1. Affected Vehicles: Boxster, Boxster S, Cayman, Cayman S,
Carrera, Carrera S (Coupe and Cabriolet)
Carrera 4, Carrera 4S (Coupe and Cabriolet)
NOTE: VIN LIST IS ATTACHED FOR YOUR REVIEW AND REFERENCE.
This is a stop sale of any vehicle currently in dealer inventory that will require passenger seat replacement .
NOTE: These vehicles cannot be sold with an open safety recall. Due to government regulations, no exceptions will be made in this regard, nor is any alternative fix permitted. Sale of any vehicle with an open safety recall may result in a $6,000 fine per vehicle up to a maximum of $17,350,000. being levied in the United States
2. Number of Affected Vehicles: 98 vehicles in North America
3. Affected Equipment: Replacement of the front passenger seat
4. Situation: The supplier of the vehicle seats informed Porsche that due to a problem caused by a sub-supplier, some seats were equipped with defective wiring harnesses.
5. Concerns: A defective plug of the passenger seat wiring harness may cause intermittent contact problems which will lead to the deactivation of the passenger seat frontal and knee airbags and the illumination of the respective warning light in the dash.
6. Action Required: Replace the front passenger seat
7. Time Required for Repair: TBD; Technical Bulletin from PAG will not be available prior to October 21, 2013.
8. Parts Availability:
a. Replacement seats are due to PAG from the supplier within the next 2-3 weeks and will then be shipped to the United States for distribution to dealerships.
b. Seat bolts (4 per seat) – some are available at US PDCs; the balance have been ordered from PAG for shipment to the Atlanta PDC.
9. Government and Customer Notification:
a. The formal notification of this Recall was provided to NHTSA and Transport Canada on October 9, 2013 and
may appear on their websites, available for public viewing, as early as today.
b. Customers will be provided advance notification of the recall via telephone beginning the week of October 14, 2013. They will be informed of the reason for the recall and that parts will not be available immediately. They will be instructed that until the recall is performed, the front passenger seat should not be used.
c. Customers will be instructed to contact their authorized Porsche dealership if they have any questions and that their dealer will contact Porsche (1-800-PORSCHE, Option 3) on their behalf for any required additional information. Customers should not be referred directly to the Porsche Contact Center. Rather, the dealership should provide this assistance for heightened customer satisfaction.
10. Alternative Transportation During Recall Performance (U.S. customers only)
a. Whenever possible, a Porsche Mobility Vehicle should be provided to customers during AD04 recall completion, as with any other warranty repair.
b. For customers not wishing to drive their vehicles to their authorized Porsche dealership for the recall repair, flatbedding the vehicle is permissible but only in instances where the customer specifically requests this. In these instances, flatbed service should be requested by the dealership, not the customer, by contacting Porsche Roadside Assistance at 1-800-PORSCHE, Option 1. Customers should not be referred directly to Porsche Roadside Assistance. Rather, the dealership should perform this service for heightened customer satisfaction.
Further details will be forwarded as they become available."

 

Thank you Joe.
Very helpful info yet extremely disappointing for the likes of you.
I think we'd all be interested in the VIN list.

Please keep us posted.

 

Update:
Dealer would not give me the vin list. He did however get me my vin #this morning. He also assures me that my car is not on the list of 98 cars that will definitely need repairs. Apparently 379 cars have been help for "inspection", and can not be released until they are inspected for this issue.

My advice to anyone that has a car scheduled for delivery in the next 4 weeks or so, is to call Porsche of America at 1-800-Porsche and ask them specifically if you are on the list of affect cars. They can look up the recall if you tell them "Transport Canada Recall # 2013351"

I will keep you all posted with any new information I am given.

PS On a side note: I really let my dealer have it this morning over his negligence in keeping me informed. I have a feeling that my doing so may cause him to be more attentive to the situation. He already knows that I am seriously considering the order of a Cayenne GTS. I let him know that he was jeopardizing his chances of getting that order. i.e. I recommend staying on top of your dealer about this. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

Joe,

Thanks for posting the email, that's the one I read at the dealer on Monday. What's curious to me is whether the cars holding the specific defective plug are known through inventory control, or whether they actually need to inspect each car to determine. If the former, and my car is not on the list it should get released. If the latter, I'm in some undetermined queue to get inspected.

I will continue to squeak to my dealer in a few minutes.

 

I spoke with my dealer again. He spoke to the supervisor at the port in Houston. They are holding all the cars in "Quality Control" waiting for a piece of software they can run which will check for the defective plug. That is anticipated in the next 48 hours. Thereafter, they will run the check on sold cars (like mine) first followed by dealer-ordered but unsold cars next. The supervisor at the port expected my car to pass the "protocol" and be released quickly. Of course if it fails, then the wait will be longer.

Right now my best case will be released Friday/Monday and reach me next week. I don't expect another update until Friday.

 

JNSColo,
Sounds like potentially great news. Do keep us posted.

 

I do need to record publicly that this wait is driving me bat-**** nuts.

I got my SmartTop from Mods4Cars last night and re-flashed then programmed it. It's the closest I've come to my car and it is a very, very sad substitute.

 

JNSColo,

I feel you. It is driving me insane too. Waiting 3 months is bad enough. Waiting an un-specified amount longer is torture and should be against Nato War Laws.

 

Joe,

Thanks for the info. My car was affected and am waiting for the replacement parts while the car sits at the dealer. I was told that the parts would arrive to Germany in 2-3 weeks and then sent to each dealer. I don't think it was any particular seat but more of the VIN range produced. This has been frustrating and disappointing as the car sits outside of the dealership. I have a call with my dealer tomorrow and will update if I get any more info.

 

Ray78,

Condolences. The hard part is the unspecified wait, for sure. If you already had the car you could drive it and not use the passenger seat. Such a bummer.

I feel your pain.

 

Sounds like Porsche was very quick in detailing Recaro's suppliers defective harness, less than a week after the port delay became apparent. I'd bet the new seats will be air freighted and installed within 10 working days. I would be concerned with who was doing the installs. Certainly, this many cars, or few in the larger business sense, will require a production protocol. While folks on this blog keep their eye on these issues, I hope Porsche will instruct its dealers to make a disclosure to those others buying the affected cars. I really hate it when I hear of undisclosed dealer fixes/touch-ups, especially at the Porsche price point.

 

Email excerpt from my dealer:

Good news! The Carrera was released to the trucker yesterday. We look good for next week i am betting.



My fingers are crossed!

 

Just wondering if anyone has any updates or is affected by the recall. I spoke with my dealer late this week and he said cars at the Port are having the wiring harness replaced by technicians flown in from Germany. The seats are not being completely replaced. As for cars at the dealership that are affected or cars in customers possessions, he speculates that the seats will be completely replaced as it's more economical for Porsche to do so and is waiting on confirmation from PAG. I'm in a situation where I have yet to take delivery but the car made it pass the port recall and is sitting at the dealership. Does anyone have any recommendations as to what to do? My purchase and sale agreement is very sparse and doesn't mention anything about customer satisfaction and this whole recall issue. Most likely, the deposit I put down is non-refundable. I'm in Canada and I didn't receive any discounts on my car.

 

Personally have been through recalls including one that wound up with BMW replacing vehicle I would let Porsche do necessary work. I do not think you will have an issue unless your upholstery is custom and color matching would be off.

Sent from my iPad using 6SpeedOnline

 

Richard,

Thanks. My seats were the standard 14 way with premium package and should match the originals. Do you think recalls affect resale value? I've never had a vehicle recalled before. I suppose recalls are in the normal course of business. Is replacing the seat a pretty standard procedure for the Porsche technicians (i.e. easy process)?

Thanks in advance.