I was taking my son to school in my less than 1 year old and 10,000 mile Panamera.


Immediately upon starting it feels sluggish. A couple of minutes later I get a "reduced engine power" warning and "possible to drive" and "visit workshop". I drive 2 miles and feels very sluggish. I call my preferred dealer (15 miles away) and tell them. He says bring it in. Do not worry, it is safe to drive. I drive another mile or so and it is really sluggish. I call my local dealer since I don't think the car will make it 15 miles in rush hour LA traffic and tell them what's happening. He says it is ok to drive and bring it in for a loaner. I then see small smoke from hood and tell him He says limp it in or if you feel better drop my kid at school, pull over and call 800-Porsche and come in with it. He asks again if I am getting a different warning, I tell him same "possible to drive" warning. I drive another 1.5 miles and drop my son off at his school.


I then decide to try to drive it the 2.5 miles to the dealer using side streets in case it stalls on me. When the car is idle, smoke appears when it moves smoke goes away.


I limp it in to the shop about 10 minutes later. I exit the car and now a bunch of smoke is coming. Mechanics rush to the car and push it into an open area. They ask me what happened and I tell him. Mechanic asks another mechanic to open the hood to vent it. He opens it and 2 flames (6-8 inches tall) shoot off the engine. Everyone freaks. They get extinguishers and spray the retardant all over the engine and the car. We are all scared and shocked!!


Hood is melted and inners of engine are burnt.


Next day, I call PCNA (Porsche Cars of North America) and tell them what happened. I figured someone would call to see if we were ok, but no such luck. I tell them what happened and that I am not taking the car back and I want my lease terminated.


One week later Porsche sends field folks out and they determine that the high pressure fuel pump failed, oil leaked back through the apron and hit the oxygen sensor and the fire started. I tell them thanks but it is your car.


Now I am dealing since late September with PCNA and they are appalling. No one there asks for all details from me and they say they will fix the car and expect me to take it back. They have been telling me since 10/6 that the car has been returned to Porsche specs. I have pictures that show it in late October to be hoodless, tireless, melted damaged engine parts and retardant chemicals all over the surface of the car for 30 days. They simply are sending form communications over and over to me telling me the car is ready.


I had to get a lawyer to deal with them to terminate the lease. They are still dismissing me at all stops. I am still dealing with them and their ridiculous and uninformed attitudes.


They offered me a CHOICE of the following:


$2500 (by the way that's about 2 months lease payments and I have been without the car since 9/22. OR


a ltd warranty (WTH: I have a 3 year lease for a car with a 4 year bumper to bumper warranty so that's really generous) OR


a service contract.


Totally disappointing to be treated like this when they are lucky I made to their shop where they were equipped to put out a fire.


I avoided a potential CATASTROPHE and all I want is to be treated fairly and let them keep their car.


I have amazing email correspondence from their folks in Atlanta with corresponding photos of the car that they feel is roadworthy to Porsche spec. but I am not that tech savvy to post here. Maybe my 14 year old who is afraid to drive in his mom's Porsche can do it. Oh yeah, I lease a second Porsche that I bet they didn't even bother to learn about.


Astonishing treatment from a high end brand.

 

In 40 plus years of Porsche ownership (and 40 Porsche's owned) I have learned many things, and the first one is that the Porsche that exist today is not the same company that existed when I bought my first Porsche. Back then they were a sports car company that catered to a certain type of owner and they were eager to hear from and help owners. Today they sell more soccer mom and family oriented cars than sports cars and the ownership (think diesel scandal) has changed as well. The only difference between them and Chevy is the price of the cars they sell. You want special treatment, well then Porsche is no longer them brand to own, think AM, Bentley, Ferrari, etc. They still make great cars, but they are no longer the company they once were, perhaps they would not have survived as they were, and yes many people would never have owned one without the creation of the SUV and sedan, but I miss the way things were. I just did a shake down of my car (after it came back from the dealer who said they did one), and found a valve gasket that was leaking oil onto the coils on the passengers side, so I replaced it myself. I think you should be treated better, but I am not even a little surprised that you are not. That is the way things are at the Porsche of today. Good luck.

 

This is outrageous. They want you to take a completely rebuilt car back? Especially that you did nothing other than what the PROFESSIONALS told you to do. I own 3 Porsches now and have owned about 6 others in the past. After reading this I will completely reconsider who I will be buying cars from. I am really astonished that a major catastrophe was narrowly avoided and yet they still are treating you like this. I wish you all of the best, DISPorsche. Shame on you Porsche North America!

 

The car is a lease. Porsche says it has rebuilt the car and they are offering additional warranty or refund of 2 months lease payments. So, what other damages are there? Am I missing something?

 

I believe DISPorsche leased a factory built car not a rebuilt car. And it was rebuilt because of a problem that was Porsche's fault not DISPorsche's fault. It wasn't like DISPorsche got into an accident and caused something like this to happen. If he wanted to by the car, should he also pay the residual from the contract? The warranty that they offered DISPorsche has absolutely no value because the car already has a warranty. Nobody wants to bring a car in that keeps breaking whether they have to pay for it or not. And, according to DISPorsche, when he checked very recently to see if his car was ready, it wasn't. Porsche said it was so they don't even know what is happening with his Panamera.

 

DISPorsche,

I have had some major issues with my newer Porsches and have had some dealings with both dealerships and PCNA to resolve my issues and hopefully restore my faith in the brand. My 2012 P4S had no real issues until 19,500 miles, when the car began to go through oil at rates up to 1 quart every 500 miles. at 20,500 miles, I took it into the dealer for a check and they added a finite amount of oil for an oil consumption test. At 21,500 miles and two quarts of oil later, they told me the car was "within Porsche specs". At 22,100 miles, the check engine light came on, the car started running like crap while on the highway one morning on my way to work. Calling the dealer, they said it was most likely one of the coils and that I should be able to limp it into the dealer, which I did with the car barely functioning. They ultimately determined that the engine had scored cylinders due to debris and replaced the engine.

My 07 997.1 TT suffered from a failed front differential two weeks after warranty expiration and earlier this year I had the water pipes repaired throughout the car due to failure of the epoxy in the water fittings, a major screwup on Porsche's part with those cars.

WIth all this I made comments everytime I got a post service survey about how my faith in the brand was failing. Ultimately, a VP of PCNA called me and tried to find out exactly what my issues were. I did appreciate his concerns and I unloaded. I have a 1984 Carrera Cab that has the build quality the brand depends on. I made it very clear that I think that is lacking in these newer cars. I have been to Stuttgart and seen the robots who make the newer cars. They are one programming glitch from a major screwup.

I feel for you on this. You are leasing and that should not make a difference on how Porsche treats you to resolve the problem. Good luck.

 

Thanks rob hamster

Whether it's a lease or not should not make any difference. Imagine if I wanted to pay off the car right now. It's certainly not worth the $78,000 buoys as a result. My dealer advised it will likely be a "branded title" as a result of the fire.

I hope that a VP level person gets involved since I refuse to believe this is the customer treatment that they intend.

But, time will tell if I am right on this.