The other day I got a spoiler control failure message. I brought the car to the dealer today and they said the system is leaking and the entire thing needs to be replaced. They said the whole part is $2300 and the labor is about 800....non of which is covered under my warranty which is up on 7/31/12. Theysaid this is rare, and sometimes the system just fails, but Porsche wont cover it. Is this possible, or even true? They warranteed my climate control cluster because the coating on the buttons rubbed off, but not this? How is this possible?

Has anyone else ever come across this?

 

Contact your PCNA representative. This failure is a known problem, and members with similar problems have had it replaced under warranty.

 

thanks...will do. i just called 2 other dealers in the long island area and both said it is covered. very strange.

 

What warranty do you have? Porsche, CPO, or aftermarket? An aftermarket might not but Porsche and CPO should.

 

I had mine replaced not too long ago under warranty, one of my hydraulic lifters went bad so the spoiler went up slanted lol. they fixed it np!

 

What dealers did you contact?

 

Really, not even a week out of warranty and this particular dealer says they can't fix it?

That seems a little unreasonable. This is the kind of make or break situation that keeps people buying a particular brand or not.

If my car was out of warranty and my hydraulics fail, I'll just try to convert them to being permanently fixed 'up' and then disable it via PCM. $3200 just for a wing to go up and down is stupid.

 

Which dealer told it isn't covered?

 

i have a Porsche CPO which expires the end od this month. My home dealership in Huntington is place that says its not covered. I called Roslyn and they said it was no issue at all....I'll be bringing it there this week after my new clear bra is installed.

At this point Im very unhappy with my home dealership. I asked them to take a look at a couple of other items that my indie shop noticed yesterday when I had it there for any oil change, and I am highly sceptical if the car was even brought into the garage for a look. After passing the lot twice, the car was sitting in the same spot....and I cant imagine what they told me they did to look at the items was completed in that amount of time. I feel Im getting the run-around. i told them to have the car ready for my tomorrow morning for pick up.

 

You better call PCNA!! Nothing like an allocation ***** SLAP to get some honesty from a POS dealer. Post up the Dealers name so we can avoid them.

 

Oh mine is leaking and getting fixed Monday by one of the Best Dealers I have had an experience with. Porsche of Tysons Corner. Hell you should see the cars the techs have. Some SICK 911's, 930s, 993s, etc

 

PCNA is a friggen joke when it comes to complaints against these dang Porsche dealers.

 

PCNA will only take your statement and have the service manager at your local dealer contact you.

The rear spoiler is a cover item from the CPO warranty. No need to call and confirm. I'm "guessing" that the technician, service advisor, or warranty person look up the wrong coverage part ID number.

Just have the dealer look at it again and confirm. No need to go through all the trouble...

 

So now that I have my car back...here's the whole story....

This Wednesday was when the spoiler failure message first appeared. I immediately called Porsche of Huntington (which is my local dealer where originally purched the car from) and made an appointment for this Friday, 7/6. I already had an appointment at TKX Performance (side note...Taso is top notch) on Thursday 7/5 for my regular 3k mile oil change. When I brought the car to TKX, I made mention to him about the spoiler issue and that it was going to the dealer the next day as I expected it to be covered under warranty. I also asked TKX to to check out a slight "rattle" that hear when the engine is warmed up. I wanted to get their opinion as anytime I brought it up to the dealer they chalked it up to being a normal sound for these engines or my after market exhaust (note the exhaust was completely swapped due to a bad cat and the slight noise is still there with the new one, so I am sure its not the exhaust).

Later on that day I picked the car up from TKX after the oil change was complete. They said the sound appears to be normal, and do not see anything wrong, but since I was bringing to the dealer the following day to have them take a look at the timing chain to make sure all is in good order. They said that sometimes over time they may begin to make a small noise, but is normal and nothing really....but to have the dealer take a look anyway (i have read threads on what this noise sounds like and it seems that others have it and its pretty normal. unfitunately these engines arent the most sexiest sounding machines). TKX also mentioned they saw a very small amount of coolant by the water hose, but the coolant level was fine. He suggested to have the dealer take a further look since it was going ther to see if there was any leaks, etc. (note ther was a small coolant leak that i noticed over the winter where the dealer had to tighten one of the hoses and all was good from there).

Its now Friday and here's where things get hairy. I drop the car at the dealer at 730 am and speak with the SA about the items to look at 1) spoiler issue 2) timing chain to make sure all is good otherwise rattle being normal 3) Small evidence of coolant. At around noon I happen to pass the lot on my way to run some errands and the car is still parked in the same spot as it was at 730 am. On my way back around 2pm, I pass the lot again and the car is still in the same spot. At 3pm I leave a message for the SA and i get a call back shortly after. They explain the spoiler drive is shot and leaking (which i could have told them) and the part and labor that would total about 3200 was not covered under my CPO warranty that expires on 8/1/12. He said they've never really seen this issue before, but the system can just randomly fail. I ask about the timing chain and he said all was normal and the rattle was, you guessed it, the after market exhaust. I then asked if they saw anthything in regards to the coolant. The SA said he himself saw a very small amount of fresh evidence, but the techs saw nothing apparent and were pressure testing as we spoke, but would need more time to pinpoint it. After all of this I instructed him to not do any work to the spoiler and to call me back with what they found about the coolant.

I then get on 6speed and Rennlist to see again if other owners with the same problem were covered....they were. I then left a message with Porsche of Roslyn's service department, and they kindly called me back. i explained the issue to them, they ran my VIN and they said the work was definitely under warranty, and that theyve seen a number of these. I told them I have the car going to Detailing Dynamics (another top notch place I may add. Matt and Eddie are the definition of quality and service) this week for new 3m film. They said no problem that they know them well and could coordinate a pick up when all they are done.

Now that another dealer is verifying what I am reading on forums, I decide to take a ride up to the Huntington dealer...this is around 5:30. Low and behold....car is still parked in the same spot as it was at 730 in the morning. I decide not to make a spectical or any accusations, but find it very strange the car was still in that spot in sam spot as the SA said at 315 the techs were still looking at the coolant and pressure testing it as he was speaking with me. So i walk into his office (and the expression on his face clearly showed his surprise) and simply asked if there was any update on their findings in reagrds to the coolant, and let him know that I want the car back today regardless of what they find. He then starts to stammer on about how the techs are still currenlty working to find it, and that he wants another tech to take a look to get a second opinion (note the car is in parking lot). When I asked why ther car has been there all day and i dont have any more info than what TKX told me the day prior he then said said he hadnt looked at the car himself (rememeber when i was on the phone with him earlier he said he even saw a couple of fresh drops in the engine), but may have to drop the engine to take a real look...but not to worry this will all be covered under warranty. I asked him about the pressure test findings...he had no answere for that. So i then brought up to him the spoiler being under warranty and what another dealer said, and other forum members experiences were, he said he would have to look further and was very surprised. I thenn walked out telling him to have car ready for me to pick up in the morning (still not making mention that i saw the car in the lot the entire day).

Now I feel I'm getting the complete run around and being lied to. I question whether the car was even looked at to begin with. As soon as I get home, i send him an email stating that I saw the car in the lot the entire day, and want the car ready for me to be picked up by 9am....still being nice and not making any accusations as i dont have 100% proof.

i pick the car up this morning, the SA tries to give me some BS about the possibility of CPO warranties being different and some cover items others dont (the way i understand and read porsche cpo, there is only one warranty). He also tells me the coolant evidence really needs to be looked at further. i told him I agee, but will take care of it elsewhere. He then hands me the usual work order print out and oddly enough I notice the technician name for each item reads as "default (999)" for each item. Every other time before, even with other brands, there as always been a tech name noted on the final work order summary.

Knowing from TKX that the coolant level was fine to begin with and that only a small evidence was seen near the water cooler, i drove to Detailing Dynamics to drop of for this weeks work, and would call Porsche of Roslyn on Monday to look at everything. Matt was great when I told him the story and gave me another contact at Roslyn service to speak to on Monday and said he would coordinate things with them if need (great service!).

Whew...apologies for the long winded story. I just hate feeling like I'm being lied to. Im a big boy, and if the spoiler issue is in fact not a warranty item, or happened after my warranty expired, I would totally understand. However, between the warranty story from Huntington and the whole shadiness with looking at the other items is what makes me angry. Ive been warned about those guys for some time now, but they are close by and luckily i havent needed them for anything major. At this point I will never go back to them for service, or another automobile (i've been pondering a gt3 or gts). Customer service and honesty are key in all business, and places like Detailing Dynamics and TKX, in my experiences with them, are true examples in this business. Hopefully this will all be solved soon. I will keep posting.