It’s clear to me that even the finest manufacturers of mechanical and electrical consumer products are perfectly capable of making the occasional lemon, and I don’t fault them for not being perfect. What they can be blamed for, however, is arrogance after the fact. Insult on top of injury. Recently, when my 2.5 year old, very lightly used Samsung 3-D LED premium flat screen lost its picture, I endured hours of customer service phone calls, and eventually they issued me an ECR (Executive Customer Relations) number. It seemed like they were doing so reluctantly, which pleased me. After paying an independent technician referred to me by Samsung to repair the set, (and after said technician gratuitously informed me that this was a fairly common power supply design defect) I called Samsung to cash in my ECR chip. They told me, very politely, to pound salt.

We can’t leverage these giant manufacturers by threatening to boycott their products or expose their callous, unspeakable indifference, but we certainly can derive some degree of self-respect by not further enriching them – at least until the mid-cycle revamp Seriously, until states pass consumer protection laws which include meaningful disincentives for failing to negotiate in good faith, a penalty with some monetary teeth in it, the big boys will attempt to wear you down because they have nothing to lose except for some retainer dollars. Nick’s going to win, but in the name of decency PCNA could have spared him the final run through the gauntlet.

 

As I mentioned before, most of the manufacturers will not give in until just before the arbitration hearing. They don't want to get to that point for two reasons: It costs them time/money and they can resell the car if it's not "Lemoned". Things will start to unwind quickly as the arbitration date gets closer, and the offer is usually quite good. They will make Nick "whole" minus some charge for miles used.

 

I've heard they also might give a good discount off a new one as well.

ChuckJ

 

The arbitration was originally planned for early April but it got pushed to 25 April.

PCNA would still like me to drive the car and in hopes I will find it is all fixed and want to keep it with a compensation package. However as you know I only had the car for a bit over 30 hours before it broke down again and it has been with the dealer since then. The car has been returned to the dealer 7 times now for 60+ accumulated days of repair.

Some good news, because of the video I took last Saturday of the smoke coming from the passenger’s window (which you can see here)


They were able to locate some brunt and frayed wires, which you see at the end of that video. Those wires were shorting out on the chassis. On top of this they have found water damage in some of the other electronic components. This does explain some of the problems that is for sure, how much it fixed and how many problems remain I don’t think I will ever know. I also wonder why no fuses ever burnt out? I also wonder what other issues these shorts caused within the cars computer bus and what long term damage the water has caused.

The problem I have is that while I want to be fair and accommodating where possible, I am at the end of my patience and this is starting to take a toll on my health.

I was nervous about driving the car before that last incident now it gives me a feeling of dread. In the end no one was hurt and maybe I should man up and get past it, however I keep re-living the breakdown and close call I had that day while trying to get to the side of the road. I am not sleeping well and I have a twitch that makes my lower eyelid look like a jumping jellybean.

So I am very eager to have this all behind me. My girlfriend is a GP and switches between worrying about me and wanting to drive down to PCNA and stab a few people in the face. I have her restrained for now.

As for you guys, I am humbled by all the well wishing, advice and support I have received from the Porsche owners community. I want to thank everyone particularly those of you on Rennlist and 6Speed taking to time to support me.


Thank you everyone.

Nick

 

I am licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and not in Connecticut and I am not expressing a legal opinion, that said, you would have be out of your mind to accept their offer.

Putting this behind you will only enable you to be able to kick yourself for settling this case on the worst possible terms.

My recommendation: You accept that they believe that the vehicle is just fine and that (1) you will allow them to drive it for as long as they want to drive it, (2) they will provide you with a new vehicle at a substantial discount (say 10% discount) and all options at their cost, (3) you will pay $0.50 per mile driven by you without experiencing any problems, and (4) they will pay all attorney fees and costs.

If they don't accept this you have absolutely nothing to lose as you would be left with exactly what they are offering...the car under warranty.

 

Nick - You have nothing to worry about.
Try and get a loaner and leave this disaster in their service area. They can't force you to drive it, so that should be the first thing to consider.

As you well know this stuff takes time and the good news is that the process is in motion.
The one thing to remember is that PAG / PCNA wants to keep you in one of their cars (preferably your existing one).

It is now basically a war of attrition.

You have the upper hand and a solid case. This goose is cooked and they won't run the risk of having you walk. Others have had their cars replaced for a lot less.

Contrary to popular belief, they don't give a rats rectum about their customers, as it comes down to basic cost / benefit analysis with them (and any other manufacturer.)

Stick with it, refrain from all forms of facial stabbings and insist on keeping the loaner. (I'm sure you can get a doctors note stating that this car has placed a great deal of emotional distress on you, and have your lawyer deliver the letter).


You can hold out 2 more measly weeks at the most for your arbitration hearing. However, I doubt that it will take that long for this lovely Corporation to address your very valid grievance.

2 weeks...

 

If heaven forbid my car turns out to be a lemon (no jinx) I'm moving to either MA or PA so you can represent me. Personally, I would follow this advice.

 

Keep in mind this thread should be sticky.. I'm sure PCNA will love knowing that anyone in the future having a problem will be able to google and get this..

It's nice having a documented case study and understanding of how a well lawyered up company operates and their tactics..

 

I can sure understand how this is stressing you out and cannot believe they think the car is fixable and driveable after all this. After they gave it a clean bill of heath, and it breaks down a day later -- they think this car is OK? You mentioned frayed wires and water damage. Do you know where that came from? I thought you bought this car new. No doubts the arbitration will find in your favor -- hang in there!

 

Porsche's reluctance to resolve this issue in a timely manner makes me wonder if the overriding issue is fear of setting a precedent. Each time they buy back or replace a "lemon" are they in essence making it easier for similar cases in the future? If so, their efforts are understandable to a point.

Is arbitration similar to litigation, where case law and precedent are major factors in determining a verdict?

 

This lemon law guy has a reputation of being the "burr" in the manufacturer's socks...

Not sure I approve of his methods, but he obviously gets results.

 

Arbitration is generally "off the record" and creates no precedent - these are factually based proceedings and where I practice, common law arbitrations are not appealable - the decision is final.

In 34 years of practice I cannot recall a published Arbitration decision.

In Pennsylvania Any purchaser of a new motor vehicle who suffers any loss under this law may proceed directly to the manufacturer's arbitration program. Consumers may also bring a civil action in a court of common pleas and, in addition to other relief, are entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees and all court costs.

I never ever elect arbitration. I just sue, pound them with relevant and pointed discovery requests and ask for a trial by jury.

Foot dragging and delay are, in my most humble opinion, are a product of defense firms squeezing every last stikin dollar from a file and are in many cases, a product of litigation strategy. The longer they wait, the longer they keep their money. There is generally no penalty to delay.

 

So you've got a lemon. As I see it you have three options: do nothing, retain a lemon law lawyer to contact Porsche and negotiate on your behalf (you will not be charged anything to do this and if successful, they will be compensated directly by Porsche), or continue to contact Porsche yourself but be more forceful. Personally, I recommend option 2 because you seem like a nice guy which may be preventing you from getting angry enough to encourage PNA to do something for you. If you chose option 3, write a letter clearly explaining your position and indicating that you will stop making payments on the car unless you are contacted by such and such a date. List for them in the letter those options that will successfully resolve the situation to your satisfaction (e.g. replacement, debt forgiveness, guaranteed repair with comparable and free loaner available to you during the repair period). Do not lose faith - it's still a great brand, you just happened to wind up with an underperformed and PCA is not very effective in these situations. If it makes you feel any better, I had a similar issue with a BMW and they forgave three months of payments during my lease term. At the end of term, an attorney "lemoned" the car for me and I got every single dollar back from the lease (including forgiven payments).

 

Wow... can't believe I just read all this. Nick, simply unreal.... I've been looking forward to the day I trade in my '13 Cayenne GTS for a 991 but that all just changed.

If I were you I would not only NOT want to drive that Porsche ever again, I'd be seriously considering not driving ANY Porsche ever again. This sort of thing should be a no brainer, much like what they're doing with the GT3 engines. It's obvious this car has some serious flaws and at this point, they should be begging for your future business let alone replacing this car.

I hope Porsche comes across this thread and sees how their fan base responds to this sort of treatment. I'm amazed... I was treated way better when my 2010 Audi S4 had some issues... thought these guys all played for the same team??

 

Pretty funny.