As I review the several issues regarding this company, each day it is becoming clear this Porsche is a nasty ugly company to deal with and rely on. Look at the facts;

1.They build a sport car representing it to be a track car but void the warranty for track events. The new 997 is sold with a timer and yet have a mechanical failure on the track admit to it and your toast when it comes to warranty coverage.

2. The ceramic brake misrepresentation. They hold it out to be the finest braking system for stopping and longevity. However, those that used the brakes at the track or in spirited driving found themselves requiring new brakes within 5000 miles. Porsche response is; "you did not use the brakes for what they were intended". WTF, are you suppose to do put your foot outside the door and drag it?

3. RMS problem. Porsche says what problem? But this is what we will do for you. We will give you a used engine and limited warranty and be glad we are willing to go this far.

4. The Cayenne hesitation problem which just about every Cayenne owner complains about and yet Porsche responds by telling the owners nothing wrong with the truck. It is normal. Those of us who own a Cayenne recognize this as a safety issue but Porsche could care less.

5. Porsche depreciation. Owners who have tried to unload their Porsches' have found themselves so deep in the hole value wise in frustration many opted to just keep their cars rather than be ravaged by the depreciation of their car.

6. The CGT misrepresentation regarding it being a daily driver car. Just about every evaluator and buyer who has taken delivery has commented regarding the unuseable clutch, jarring ride on any road other than a smooth track surface and low front end which scrapes with the frequency of a front end loader. They refused to allow the buyer to test drive the car before buying. Then they have the audacity to refuse to return deposits because the buyers feel the car has been falsely marketed.

7. They boast about the obscene profits while raising prices on recycled car designs and marginal performance gains all of which are taking our hard earned dollars and going back to Germany to fatten the wallets of the executives at Porsche. Recall the robber baron days? Well they are back!

8. Because of their quest for profit they mass produced not only the Boxster, 911 but the Cayenne. Try getting service within a reasonable period of time. The customer can eat cake while they wait.

I could go on as I am sure amany of you can. I have to ask are we so enamoured with Porsche that we are willing to turn our back to what this ugly greedy company is doing to us?

 

damn, you seem pissed. But i totally understand.
Lot of these companies are not standing behind what the cars were meant for. I mean I am not gonna drive my P-car like a civic. It's unfortunate that the company does not listen to the consumer or better yet their customer but rather shove it off as a problem on the user side....

 

except Lexus.

 

I guess you had a bad experience with porsche. But if you ask me, I can tell you all my experience with American cars, and they are far far worse than what you experienced with porsche. I have had all kind of Japanese cars, they are truly value for money, but if you really want to experience sports cars, then you don't have any options but German, English, or Italian cars. And then if you say that Ferraris are much better than Porsche, you also got to see the price difference. Agree or not, Porsches are by far the most value for money high end sports cars. The 997TT will have acceleration of 0-100km/h in 3.7sec, and the much more expensive Ferrari F430 will go 0-100 in 4.0sec.
You can say bad about porsches, but in comparison to other car manufacturers, they are not different in customer service. BTW, I also own Lexus LS430, and when I goto the dealership, the service is nothing to rave about. Of all the cars I have owned, I have received the best service from Honda and Nissan.

 

Ditto

My wife totalled her Mercedes E500 last week, when we went in to make arrangements for a replacement they confronted us about a negative survey they received from me.

They complained how negative surveys affect their allocation, I said no problem, I was going to buy two more cars from you this year, I'll go somewhere else and you can sell those two cars to one of your other "customers".

I'd love to have a Porsche but have about had it with the high minded attitudes from dealers and the inferior products they are so proud of.

 

.........They build a sport car representing it to be a track car but void the warranty for track events. The new 997 is sold with a timer and yet have a mechanical failure on the track admit to it and your toast when it comes to warranty coverage.......

My buddy was one of the first ones to buy an Mitsubishi Evolution and then drove it in the One Lap of America Race. He developed head problems and Mitsubishi told him to get bent. It's the same thing. They rallycross those things all day long and market them that way, and then won't stand behind a thing at the first indication of you racing it. Nobaody stands behind their stuff anymore.

 

I stand behind things all the time, like right now I'm standing behind my desk.

Seriously, I own a service business and I would get thrown out of most of my clients buildings for saying some of things I hear in the course of doing business. I don't get it. I want to be a ***** too.

 

Well, buying a Porsche is a pretty good first step

I kid, I kid. I kid because I love.

Seriously, though, as much as I disagree with Nick's opinions on the importance of exclusivity, I do think that owning a Porsche should be special, and that specialness is waning. It's still a little slice of heaven to drive, but once you step out, the experience is less stellar.

Dealers are partly to blame. They seem to vary a bit more extremely than other manufacturers. I've bought a few cars from Plaza motors in St. Louis, including an Infiniti, a Mercedes, and a Porsche. I got great service from Inifiniti. My wife gets great service from Mercedes. Porsche service are a bunch of barely trained monkeys. It seems to take an average of two service visits to sort out one problem, and after noticing a flat the second I pulled out of the dealer after picking up the car one time, they claimed no responsibility, and accused me of trying to, and I quote, "work them over". These are all service departments for the same dealer, and my 90k Porsche gets poorer service than my 22k used Infiniti.

Porsche has developed a strong profit motive in recent years. After going almost bankrupt, I can see why, but there comes a point where your profitability comes at the expense of your customers, and then they go elsewhere. I've lusted after the 911 since I was 7, and I love my C4S. Give it about 100hp more, and a slightly more aggressive look, and it's perfect. With all that, though, I'm seriously considering leaving the marque when my lease expires. Just because the long-term trends in Porsche are leaving me less excited than I need to be to drop that kind of money on a car.

 

Pepper's 'lag' problem?.........I gotta laugh. I wouldn't own the truck for any money, but I did drive one early-on, and remember specifically making the comment on return....."fix that 'darn' throttle linkage or it's going to get away from some soccer mom"........it's still there?


Nick..........your 1st hand experience with Pcar is pretty much first year 996, and do you have Pepper now?
Gotta say guy, in 50 yrs of Porsche, those are the 2 products I'd of been no where near.
Now before we get our dander up, let me compliment you on some valid points. Also, nothing wrong with rattling the warranty cage a bit.....it needs it. Also, good points by Pmac.

Personally, I think alot of the problem here is.... who Pcar is marketing to these days. I mean....clearance to go up inclines, rough ride, not a smooth clutch, serious issues, golly, this is a Porsche we're talking about isn't it?

My Turbo is as low as a CGT (by my design), with a ride that's probably similer (by my design). I remember when 911s were coveted but not recomended for the average driver & not as a daily drivers......Yet coveted, and winning races.
Lets just say warranty, smooth ride, and cup-holders were not a high priority.
Things have changed. But there still are some bright spots in this this 'ugly greedy company' (just my opin).

 

Yes I own an S. I have driven a 2003 TT.

My beef is with the way the company is profit driven to the point it is robbing its customer. I understand they had a near death experience in the early ninties but in response they have overcompensated with an unsatiable quest for profits at any cost.

The 997 is a classic example. Porsche knows many of us are Porschephiles and will buy their product regardless of what we really want. They redesigned the 997 to look more like the 993 and tells us the car has something like 70% new parts. Yet the car is basically the same hp and performance no better than the 996. The charge a little more than the 996 and in return they say you are buying evolution.

If you want something different in the 997 and it means something (increased performance) be prepared to pay. I looked at a 997S and the sticker was $99,800! A new 996 coupe was $65000! Rather than giving its loyal customers value, they gouge you for something they should be giving you. The 997S should be the base model and cost whatever the are charging for the 997.

As long as people are willing to over pay Porsche will accomodate them. Now even that would be acceptable IF resale values held up. But Porsche in its pursuit of unconscionable profits will over produce the car and sell it with discounts or whatever incentives they can.

My Cayenne S has depreciated so bad that if I took it in for a trade in they probably would give me half of what I paid for it and it is 16 months old.

Unless Porsche buyers stand up and say enough we will continue to be raped by this company.

 

The 996 is by no means an equal performer to the 997. It has a phenomenal chassis, and my 1 hour canyon road test drive completely synchs up with pages 60-68 of the newest Excellence as well as the Walter's laptimes.

 

Naaaaw....not Porschephiles (unless the definition has changed)......I've been to a launches at dealerships.....& seen the people.....I'm a Porschephile. Those weren't Porshephiles.

I do agree that the round headlights were a five yr late reaction to the 986/996 headlamp fiasco and IMHO those lights (along with retro fog turn signal strip, and the bumper with a center port that goes nowhere) all 'do not work' and hopefully were driven by Marketing rather than Design.

In defence of the marque.....unless you've tracked a GT2, GT3, a modified Turbo (or better), it's possible that you don't know, the heart & soul of Porsche still beats.

Hey, I'm not going to defend everything they've done in the past eight yrs.......shoot, I still tell 1st time Pcar buyers to go out and buy a 993

 

I love the 993's but no one will ever convince me to buy a slower car thats harder to drive fast.

I don't own one yet and I'm maybe a few more weeks away from having to make that decision but my .02 is that the 997 is a greater car than the car it replaces.

I don't really care if its evo or revo, its a better car. You can still buy a GT3 if you have to fall on your sword, but word is you'll have a hard time shaking an S in the twisties which you can get for 20K less.

These "friendly disagreements" are over a car no one needs and is simply and excercise in self gratification. We are all unique and the cars appeal to us in different ways. I respect that and think it adds to the character of this icon.

 

A company not profit driven is a dead company. And profit maximization is just the ultimate objective every management should reach. Sorry for this

I am not sure I can agree with this. Simply look at the interior of the 997 and compare it with the building quality of the 996 or the 993. There is a big difference which can justify a price premium (by the way, in Switzerland, the price of the 997 Carrera is just USD 300.- higher than the price of the 996 C2).

Cheers,

 

I checked out/test drove a 997S and compared it to my 2003 C4S. The build quality on my C4S is much better than the 997S I drove. In my opinion the interior design and components of the 997S look and feel cheap compared to the 996 C4S leather interior. My wife commented during the test drive that there is so much shiney stuff (fake alumunum trim) in the 977 interior that she would be concerned it would attract the neighborhood crows!

Please remember that a design criteria of the 997 was to have a manufacturing cost less than the 996. In my opinion, it shows.