So, I work my butt off and decide to sell my beloved BMW and buy my first Porsche. I stop in a dealer in NJ and negotiate a great price for a car to be delivered in the spring, 4 months later.. I stop in one Sat. to drop off some $$. I'm sitting in a demo on the floor and ask my salesman "what steering wheel does my car come with"? He responds, "that one". It's a leather wrapped wheel with controls. It's the same type my BMW at 1/2 the price came with standard, so I think it's acceptable and think nothing of it. The order hasn't been placed yet. My car gets delivered with a $5 plastic steering wheel with no controls. I bring it to the dealers attention, the salesman admits it, but doesn't want to correct it. I offer to pay for an upgrade at what it would've cost if it had been ordered correctly. They don't want to hear it?! I call 1-800-Porsche, they tell me it's a sales practice problem and I should take it up with the dealer. This is only ONE of a few problems I've had with the dealer. Any suggestions????

 

Move on.
There are other cars available, on the lot.
And the '09's are coming in, which have nice upgrades.
CATTMAN

 

I own the car. I brought it to the dealers attention within a week.

 

If you're willing to pay the difference anyway, I suggest you price out what kind of wheel you want at Sunset Porsche or Suncoast Porsche. Their prices are typically much lower than most dealers. The wheel is easy to change. Just make sure you order one with the same shape airbag as yours (I presume yours is triangular), or else you'll have to order an airbag too, which is costly.

I love my leather padded sport steering wheel (option XPA) that I ordered from Sunset and installed recently. The multi-function controls on the Porsche steering wheels are pretty lame, mainly useful for changing the volume. Give the volume **** is inches from your right hand, it is no big benefit.

Good luck.

 

Techart steering wheel . You can get the multi function if you like . I happen to like the simple sport wheel .It is expensive but amazing .Post number 7 on this thread shows the quality as well as a photo of the multi function wheel. https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...multi+function

If you wrote the check and bought the car and feel that dealership failed in meeting your satisfaction -- next Porsche --buy from another dealership . Over a silly steering wheel they lost a customer and maybe it cost you money at this time but in the long run they lost future Porsche purchases from you.

 

be glad that it can be programmed to ur liking (looking at the bright side right?)

it'll just cost u some $$$ that's the sucks part. make it an enjoyable upgrade such as carbon fiber wheel.

 

If I ordered a $$$$$$$$$$$$ car and it was not exactly the way that I ordered it, I would have refused to take delivery.

 

nyc997cab,

I'm a new car dealer and if a customer isn't happy with the product we are selling, then we aren't happy. We want happy customers that will go to their messageboards and spread the word and give good CSI not one-hit customers that bash us afterwords.

That being said, I have the thicker wheel in the turbo and the round thin in my Carrera S, and I'll be upgrading the thin one to the Techart thicker round wheel with half carbon, not bad for $2k, considering you look and feel it every time you drive the car.

 

so you can order a 100000$ 997 with full leather and everything and if you forget to order it,get it with a 2$ kia plastic steering wheel??
now thats a shame of porsche that they cut corners on that

 

I think a visit to dealer management (sales, operations, etc) is in order.

On the other hand if your order doesn't reflect the wheel you specified then shame on you for not carefully reviewing it before signing/approving it.

 

Foolishly, I assumed the salesman knew what he was talking about when I asked him the question. If he didn't know, he should've told me he didn't know and we would've found out. I'm HORRIFIED Porsche would even put such a low quality wheel on a 100k car.

 

I am not sure I've ever seen the plastic steering wheel. Can you post a pic?
CATTMAN

 

I think what he meant was that it feels like plastic. I found the standard sport wheel on my Targa to feel like plastic too, and wasted no time in ordering an XPA option wheel (leather wrapped). The leather wheel is slightly thicker, by approximately 1/4" in circumference, and feels much richer. The standard wheel feels very cheap in my opinion.
Again, this all relates to the sport wheel with the round airbag, not the MF wheel with the triangular air bag. For those wanting a thicker wheel, the Techart wheels offer more padding, although I personally find some of them to look a little over-done.

 

there must be other dealers in your area. promise them your service business if they can make it right.

 

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I guess my major gripe was the lack of integrity by the dealer. Especially when the salesman admitted he made the error. All in all, I don't think it would've cost them anything to make it right. I'm also miffed by the lack of response by the folks at 1-800-PORSCHE. In my business, when I make an error, I view it as an opportunity to build customer loyalty,by making the client "whole" and then some. I guess that's why I'm buying them not selling them. Thanks again.