Somehow I missed this thread until now. I'm very sorry to hear about all of your troubles, and impressed with your restraint in dealing with the dealer and PCNA! And sorry for the very long reply, but it directly pertains to your situation since I went through the same thing a few years ago.

I honestly question whether this is really a lemon law case however. The lemon laws of basically every state that has them are very clear about what needs to go wrong, and there are a couple of key qualifications the vehicle needs to meet:
1. The problem(s) must make the vehicle entirely inoperable or create a situation that endangers the driver's safety and
2. The dealer has three chances to fix the problem, and the problem must still exist after the third attempt.

Regarding #1, you can't take creative license with this and say for instance "The car was stuck in 4th gear so I was in danger because somebody could have creashed into me because I couldnt get out of the way." It needs to be something clear like the car dieing entirely so you lose power steering, brakes, and engine power, or the brakes failing entirely, or losing steering control, etc.

Regarding #2, it must be the same EXACT problem each time. Each new problem counts as something different and the three count starts all over again. You must give the dealer at least three opportunities to fix it, and then on the fourth failure it becomes a lemon law item. I'm making up a scenario now to illustrate my next point: The same exact problem also means that if let's say the right front suspension falls apart so the car becomes uncontrollable, then they fix that, if the left front suspension fails in the same exact way, that doesn't count as the second instance of the same problem. That becomes the first instance of a new problem because it's a new part of the car, and so on and so on if a different wheel's suspension fails each time. It also means the root cause of the problem must be the same. If a bad battery causes the problem once, but the next time it's a bad ground, then those become two separate issues that happened once each.

If both of these qualifications aren't met exactly, then technically the vehicle doesn't qualify for the lemon law. I know a lot about his because I had a ton of issues with my first Porsche, a 996 C4 I bought new early in '02. The same problems were traced back to different root causes several times, and I had a lot of problems that weren't considered life-threatening (which I didn't necessarily agree with). My car probably spent about the same amount of time in the shop as yours has (4 out of 6 months) which meant I was making big car payments to drive my loaner Ford Escort or Dodge Crapddddbox (their loaners) for most of 6 months. The dealer also broke several things that worked fine to top it all off. I did get PCNA involved and was put in touch with the Northeast Regional Manager since I lived in Boston at the time. He ran through exactly the same information as I've posted here and told me it wasn't really a lemon law candidate because of that. However, I continued to make a stink and call the guy's personal cell phone, and thankfully the dealer was finally able to track down most of the issues. There were a couple of minor ones left I finally just ignored so I could drive the car again!

The loaner cars were always free, so the only money I was actually out of pocket was the extra gas to get to the dealer (it was 25 miles in the opposite direction from my work), plus the extra I paid every month to pay for a Porsche while driving a Yugo. PCNA ended up offering me about $2500 in dealer service credits, which wasn't exactly as much as I felt I deserved, but it was a decent chunk of money.

I can't remember all of the problems since this was 10+ years, but here are a few of them: One of the big ones I do remember is the car would lock me inside of it. It would work if I pressed the unlock button on the remote, or the one on the dash, but it would instantly just lock again. I remember having to crawl out of the sunroof more than once, and I seem to remember I could get in/out of the car through the passenger side for some reason. Along the same lines I was also locked out a number of times since it would just relock again right away. I do remember having to get the car towed to the shop at least a half dozen if not a dozen or more times for various problems so severe it wasn't safe to drive. The dealer also did things like entirely breaking off the center console lid during a repair visit, and then they didn't even fix it but just stuck it back on as if I wouldn't notice the first time I opened it that it just fell off...

I'm really sorry to hear about all of your problems, and if you have any questions about how I dealt with PCNA to get my $2500 credit, please let me know via PM since I often miss replies on threads. Good luck!!!!!!!!

 

To qualify for lemon law protection in CT (and most other states with LL as CT was the first and others copied the CT law) one of 3 conditions must be met within first two years or the first 24,000 miles

The car has been returned for repair on the same problem 4 or more times

OR

When the vehicle has been out of service for repair at the dealership for a cumulative total of 30 thirty days or more for any number of unrelated problems.

OR

In the case of a safety defect which is likely to cause death or serious injury if the vehicle is driven, the defect continues to exist after two or more attempt,


so yes my car qualified on not just one but all three of these a long time ago. Even PCNA agrees it is not a winnable case for them at this point.

 

Your resolve throughout this ordeal is really admirable, I really hope you get this car replaced with the one you deserve.

 

When's your arbitration meeting, Nick? I know it's close, if it already happened how did it go?

ChuckJ

 

Hi Chuck, it will be April 25th but I hope PCNA will settle with me before then.

Nick

 

wow. I hope you are not driving it anymore...

 

Sorry to hear about the continuing issues.

Hopefully there will be a nice fat reimbursement check at the end of the road.

 

Wow I just read your story and you are unbelievably calm and patient. I hope all the best for you and PCNA is very lucky they have someone like you to deal with. The most profitable car company in the world should have dealt with this by now!!!!!

 

I look forward to a satisfying conclusion to this for you Nick. A quick question - if pcna offer you a cheque will you buy a Porsche again?

 

That is where we are heading, a check for the purchase price because if nothing else that is what the LL arbitration will get me. However they are trying very hard to keep this car on the road, which worries me. I personally could not sell it because I know maybe not today or tomorrow but it is going to give a lot of problems down the line for sure. I think even after they give me a check they are planning on put the car on the market.

So back to your question. Yes I would get another P car, honestly I thought that PCNA would even help me with finding one and get me a good deal but that does not seem to be on the books. I am in no rush however, while I know my car is a one off and it is extremely unlikely I would have problems with my next car the run around I have been through over the last 4 months has really left a bad taste in my mouth and I am reluctant to give Porsche any more money for a while. I thinking I am going to try an M4 or Tesla for a year or two then consider a 991 Turbo or Turbo S. By that time who knows maybe the 991.2 will be out.

 

Hopefully this will resolve in a positive matter soon. I am on my third Porsche now with about a total mileage driven around 200,000 km on the three combined and not a single major issue. They have been bullet proof.

Do you feel the dealer messing around with the electronics during radar install, etc contributed/resulted in these issues or is your gut feeling that this is unrelated?

 

I am sure they are unrelated.

 

Nick, as horrible as your situation has been, it is equally unusual. I hope you will have the chance to fall in love with another 991 as you did with this one...before all of the problems started.

 

I think this comment is spot on - well said.

 

Nick, which ever you decide to get next, I think we can all agree that you deserve, and we wish you, an ownership experience with no drama, repairs, serious issues, etc. Just some good, fun, driving. The new M3/4 does look really nice.