If the problem only to the 1% then I don't understand why pcna would take take of the problem and make the customer happy? It's only that 1%.

 

I do not think the car was a lemon, nor do I think that the problems are unusual. Just think about the biggies ( problems) in the 996 cars such as the never ending problems with RMS , IMS, IRS ( pun intended) and I also think that the 997 did not address all the issues. as a matter of fact , I believe that shortcuts were made and in fact they are cutting more and more in the Fahrfergnuegen area of owning a Porsche doing so. The real issue, as mentioned by others is the stern lack of customer service and customer support, the belief that 2-3 weeks for a repair is acceptable and the understanding that the customer will pick up the slack and the tab in most cases. Just look at how many owners a P-car typically gets..less than 4 in the first 6 years or so seems to be just unusual. Most cars are leased so I believe there is typically a back-up car available and the dealer gets of shot free ... again. The newer P-cars are soo complex that even the well trained mechanics are just plugging in and getting the ECU ( and others) readings and acts upon that with pulling and replacing parts. Few dealers understand these cars ... even fewer want to understand these cars... it is too costly to train mechanics and to maintain a quote of folks that know the cars... It's well get worse.... trust me..

 

The OP is looking at some other brands. So did I and I can tell you, there are horror stories everywhere you look, from electric issues ( Lucas??), gear boxes (F1) , clutches at 10K (Maserati), Heatercores at 5K to replace ( Maserati), you name it.. Count also the cliff like drops in value to maintenance costs 15K for a 355 to replace the bells every 5 years etc . It is pretty clear that the marketing folks have figured out they can sell their stuff to a sufficiently large potential customer base. Especially as the initial owner gets a somewhat limitation of the total cost when getting a leased car and initial manufacturers warranty. Then, all hell breakes loose...

 

Apple represents the other end of the spectrum, imo: A crappy product, with outstanding customer service. Interesting that people would usually rather have a crappy product with good customer service than a good product with crappy customer service.

 

The OP's experience is certainly unfortunate, but I do think that one has to look at reliability surveys to judge this, rather than individual cases, and my understanding is that Porsche's reliability has been very good in recent years.

If you produce many thousands of cars, a few duds are likely to slip through, but the chance of a given buyer getting two or more duds is very low, so "once bitten, twice shy" may not be the way to go.

Also, comparing with other brands, I've had outstanding reliability with Mercedes, and somewhat poor reliability with BMW. My Porsches are fairly new, so time will tell, but so far, so good. Fingers crossed ...

 

Ain't that the truth....You can get away with a lot more if you treat people like a million bucks. I have had my HPFP replaced plus have had my PCM replaced three times. But they have fixed some dings and curbrash for nothing. And they do it all quickly. So I love the dealer and the brand.

 

LOL. Apple has crappy products. That's a good one.

 

True, so far I have had the car serviced at 3 Porsche dealers - 2 in MA and now 1 in Nor CA where I moved to a few months ago. The dealer I bought the car from started off with no Porsche loaners and then I typically ended up with a Panamera or an Audi (which was fine). The one is Boston and the one in San Jose only use Enterprise/Hertz. I think those are examples of the dealer being cheap, pure and simple.

I asked my BMW dealer if they ever give non BMW loaners and the person looked at me like I was crazy . . . I saw that as a good sign. Considering the cheapest BMW is maybe ~$30k for a decently loaded 1 series (maybe less?) and the cheapest Porsche is ~$50k for a Cayman (I have no idea actually), it's hard to look at the Porsche approach as anything but short-term thinking.

 

In general, I believe the Porsche dealers have amore difficult time getting their hands on cars than BMW dealers. Is it possible that the smaller dealerships need to sell everything they can get their hands on, as opposed to using it as a demo or loaner and then selling it after a year or so? Just a possible explanation.

 

First agency I used for service was a mess (purchased car from them). They have since combined with another agency but I have no intention of using them.
The dealer I'm using now (North Olmsted Porsche) has been outstanding. They've taken care of all my problems and if a loaner was required it was either a MB or a Panamera. Most of the problems were small and were repaired with the just a drive by. The last repair was changing out the fuel pump and the oxogen sensors (HPFP)and I left with a new Panamera. I could have driven that car another couple of days with no problem... Nice cars.
Bottom line is I'm satisfied with the service I've been receiving since I changed agencys.

 

What happens when the warranty runs out and we're left to pay for these repeated repairs?

 

That dealer needs a good hard slap IMO for not taking care of you after dropping that kind of cash.

Condolences. Sounds like all of the quality problems happened in one vehicle- yours.

I would probably never buy another one either. I like the suggestion to buy another one right away, though.

You would probably get a great one and almost erase the memory of the frankenporsche nightmare!

 

To the OP, i'm very sorry that you had a bad experience...however I feel that it's very much the exception and not the rule. You got a bad car and I say try again.
I've had a few lemon women over the years...but I'm not going to guys now!!!
My advice is to go to Aston Martin. You may have just as many problems however with them it's more of the norm. In due time you'll be back in another Porsche and that one will be a keeper.

Best of luck on your journey.

 

Must say that I had an '07 for 2 years and 10k miles and have quite a list of warranty repairs. I should start another thread. I always had very good support from my dealer, in fact, I believe they were a bit overzealous in replacing parts. In short, IMS, water pump, spoiler motor, clutch slave cylinder, seat motor, leaking intake runner, leaking RMS.
If your '09 was bad, get a new S4. Many people stranded by failed water pumps using plastic impellers. Then their sport LSD's start leaking oil. People only WANT to love that car.
People love their Porsches and often have few problems with them. I've got 5k on the new M3, not one lick of an issue. The latest generation has proven very reliable.

 

And here is some wisdom for all the car manufacturers... FIRST make sure your product is reliable BEFORE you move on the the next generation of the problem because clearly you do not understand the issue and the solution required. It would be great to get a mission statement from Porsche like that now wouldn't it??? Right now I bet it is maximizing share value for the shareholders AKA I VILL SKRUW YOU!!!.