Hi, I want to thank everyone who responds in advance. I am really trying to figure out how to handle this. The story so far (condensed):
- purchased 04 boxster S in October 2010 from reputable dealer (Weissach Autohaus in CT). The car had about 20,300 miles on it.
- was VERY worried about ISM failure so I purchased 3 yr, 36 "power" warranty from Interstate (http://www.inds.com).
- had oil changed 1 year later before winter and had mentioned a few drops of oil I saw on my garage floor to another very reputable Porsche place nearby. At this point it had maybe 23 or 24k miles on it.
- they said there was a little seepage as there is on 90% of all Porsche's but no active leak. They mentioned it "could" be an IMS or rear main seal on the work order but with so little oil, they recommended not doing anything.
- complete IMS failure at ~27,400 miles a month ago (August 2012).
- INDC (insurance company) claim made. Of course, they are all weasels and they have delayed the process every step of the way. They first said it was the broken bolt on the "outside" of the IMS that caused the problem and because it was not an "internally lubricated part" that it was denied.
- my porsche mechanic of 40 years vehemently denied it and showed them proof by taking it apart and referencing all the info on the web on this issue and they agreed to send their inspector back for a 2nd time.
- this time they agreed and said they sent it to "upper" and they are "close" to approving the claim BUT they asked for maintenance records.

My question is: because I technically did not have to have an oil change per porsche's recommended oil change interval and there was only a little over 7k miles driven and that was after 20k, should I even tell them about the oil change where the slight oil leak was mentioned or should I just not send them the record of the oil change? I don't want to add fuel to the fire so to speak but I also do not want to be dishonest by with holding information.

Thanks!

Charlie

 

What do you mean you didn't have it changed according to Porsche's recommended interval? Obviously the mileage wasn't enough to require it, and you changed it once a year as you should have.

 

Sorry, what I meant to say is that I even had an oil change even though Porsche says we do not have to except for every 15k miles so I actually did more than I needed to.

I was wondering if I should even tell them about that oil change because I did ask them to look at the slight leak and they did and there exact words on the slip, which should not matter, said "CHECK OVER FOR POSSIBLE FLUID LEAK. EVIDENCE OF SEEPAGE FROM BELLHOUSING AREA, BUT NOT AN ACTIVE LEAK. COULD BE THE REAR MAIN OIL SEAL AND/OR INTERMEDIATE SHAFT SEAL."

 

First of all, sorry for your problems. Next, all of us (with any smarts) change the oil more frequently than required. You bought a car with too few miles which is why, I suspect, you had a failure. That said, your mechanic blew it when you were told not to investigate your leak. Oil on the floor is not a seep or wet RMS - it's a leak.

Your insurance has to replace the engine per your warranty as you should hav all bearings covered as well as internally lubricated parts. You had a bearing failure and if this is documented by your mechanic, you are covered. Be patient as they want the easy road which, for them, means a customer who accepts the first or second denial. If necessary, hire an attorney, pay the few hundred dollars and have them write a letter to the company advising them that you will be pursuing legal action of the claim is not handled appropriately and quickly.

 

Don't be defensive about this. You have no reason or obligation to volunteer anything. There was bearing failure which should be covered by the warranty. The burden is now on them to explain why they won't pay.