Front radiator grills and OPC Warranty

[tscaptain]

I wonder what warranty claim could arise whereby they could argue that the fitting of grilles was a contributary factor to the failure? Mine have been on the car for nearly 4 years with no problem to date, as have many others. Thus, it would seem, that any failure now would not be caused by them. Given also that these cars are designed to run in temperatures considerably higher than we ever experience in this country, I doubt insufficient airflow for cooling purposes is going to be an issue!

 

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Personally, I would ask the question in writing rather than relying on 'common sense'.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

I think OPC Aberdeen are being misleading with their response.
They lay it open to to debate (can you/can't you prove it led to x,y,z going wrong) when in actual fact it isn't. You either fit something to your car which isn't factory approved or you don't. The former leads to forfeiture of the warranty company's covenant with you.

However, we've seen several OPCs being reasonable with claims and several being unreasonable.
I would often shop around until I found a 'reasonable' OPC that would 'pay out' on a claim.

If however you're engine detonated, where would you stand? I'd not like to be in that position with non-standard mesh fitted.
And there's no point asking your OPC in writing for their opinion, it doesn't matter, your contract is with the warranty company, the OPC just want to sell it to you.

 

[paulbarlow]

Folks,
My understanding is that OPC Aberdeen have simply repeated the response they received from the warranty company after submitting on my behalf my request for a definitive answer. I don't think there was any intention on their part to be misleading because they read out the contents of the warranty company e-mail to me over the phone before putting the response onto Porsche letterhead stationery for my records.

I'm fairly new here, and maybe I'm wrong but do OPCs really have any say in/control over what the warranty company will cover in the event of a claim? I'm possibly being a bit cynical now but don't warranty companies look initially for reasons not to support a claim? If they pay up on every case then how do they make money!

For me personally (with a gen 1 997 4S), the conclusion is that it might just be too risky to fit non-standard grills (however beneficial they might be).
Paul

 

[Lancerlot]

I agree entirely if there's any doubt in your mind - don't do it.[]

Regards,

Clive.

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: paulbarlow


I'm fairly new here, and maybe I'm wrong but do OPCs really have any say in/control over what the warranty company will cover in the event of a claim?

They most certainly do as they are the ones who assess the problem and make the claim on your behalf and, in most cases, having to justify to the warranty company why they should pay up. An example - I had a knocking noise from the front which turned out to be a worn diagonal arm. The warranty company may have argued this was wear and tear and thus not covered. However, my PC argued, successfully, that at 30k miles this was premature failure and not wear and tear and the claim was paid. As I have said before, many times, a lot depends on your PC and the relationship you have with them.
The cynics here say that the Porsche Centres are only interested in selling you the warranty and subsequently not being of much help with claims. The complete opposite is true of my experience with the extended warranty and warranty claims.

 

[Charles11]

Some of them are very helpful with claims. One of the radiators on my car failed and they said they would replace it under warranty. When I collected the car they told me they decided to replace all three of them.
Im not complaining.
Im sure a fully justified claim from the Porsche warranty?

 

[Image]

I have asked my OPC and they told me that the warranty would be invalidated by the fitting of mesh grills, because they are informed by Porsche that the fitting of grills impedes the designed airflow. I wonder what a collection of leaves does then ................
Image

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: Image

I have asked my OPC and they told me that the warranty would be invalidated by the fitting of mesh grills, because they are informed by Porsche that the fitting of grills impedes the designed airflow. I wonder what a collection of leaves does then ................
Image

and small mammals, birds and discarded take away boxes, etc etc[]

 

[clarkes]

The result of this is what, exactly? Even a small bird and loads of leaves didn't change my temperature by any noticeable amount. The grills fitted by Lancerlot don't create any temperatures outside what appears to be the normal range so what's the problem? Common sense please, Porsche and warranty companies.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

ORIGINAL: clarkes

The result of this is what, exactly? Even a small bird and loads of leaves didn't change my temperature by any noticeable amount. The grills fitted by Lancerlot don't create any temperatures outside what appears to be the normal range so what's the problem? Common sense please, Porsche and warranty companies.

Have you heard the story about the guy who's warranty was invalidated because he used Paintshield on his car?
Make sense of that!

 

[blueSL]

Now that I've lost one of my aircon rads and the entire gas contents of the aircon system, I'm interested in fitting these grilles. Are there any companies which make preformed grilles which fit behind the strakes of a 997.2 turbo? I know Zunsport do but theirs fit in front.

I may have to dig around to find that thread but it would obviously be easier if, having taken off the front, I wasn't messing around with tin snips. It annoys me that grilles seem fine for a GT3 but a turbo (new car included) are left open and ingest all sorts of stuff. Mine has been holed by a stone.

 

[tscaptain]

What? The whole car?[]

 

[Lancerlot]

ORIGINAL: blueSL

Now that I've lost one of my aircon rads and the entire gas contents of the aircon system, I'm interested in fitting these grilles. Are there any companies which make preformed grilles which fit behind the strakes of a 997.2 turbo? I know Zunsport do but theirs fit in front.

I may have to dig around to find that thread but it would obviously be easier if, having taken off the front, I wasn't messing around with tin snips. It annoys me that grilles seem fine for a GT3 but a turbo (new car included) are left open and ingest all sorts of stuff. Mine has been holed by a stone.

Find someone else who can use the tin snips then, buy yourself some mesh at Halfords and I'll send you the template for Gen 2 turbo grills. [] How about that? [8|]

Regards,

Clive

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: blueSL

Now that I've lost one of my aircon rads and the entire gas contents of the aircon system, I'm interested in fitting these grilles. Are there any companies which make preformed grilles which fit behind the strakes of a 997.2 turbo? I know Zunsport do but theirs fit in front.

I may have to dig around to find that thread but it would obviously be easier if, having taken off the front, I wasn't messing around with tin snips. It annoys me that grilles seem fine for a GT3 but a turbo (new car included) are left open and ingest all sorts of stuff. Mine has been holed by a stone.

I had mine done as I had the very same thing when my car was but 6 weeks old. Now gone another 4 years without any problems at all. []Mark, the difficult bit is getting the front off in the first place. After that cutting the mesh to shape and attaching is relatively easy. (Especially with Clive's templates!) Or, if you're down Exeter way I know a man that will do it for you.... (not me, btw!)

 

[blueSL]

Well thank you Clive and Alan. I have no problem doing the cutting but if there had been a pre-cut option, it would have simplified things.

Never removed a front before but doesn't look too bad though I have centre locks which are a pain all of their own. I assume you can remove one wheel, remove the wheel arch liner and then put the wheel back temporarily while you do the other side. Last time I jacked the car up, the alarm went off...

Clive, how can you get the templates to me?

 

[tscaptain]

Design 911 do pre cut grilles, but as I found to my cost (much more expensive than just buying a sheet of mesh) they still need trimming to fit[]

I don't think you need to take the wheels off the car - just raise them off the ground so that you can get to the screws in the wheel arch - see Clive's guide

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=613041

 

[blueSL]

Thank you, order placed with Halfords...

 

[blueSL]

Well thanks to the information Clive posted about removing the front bumper, it's off. 25 (mostly rusting) screws, 2 sliding clips, 4 electrical connectors and one water hose and off it came.

 

[blueSL]

It's certainly a mess in there and this is after the Porsche dealer has supposedly cleaned up in December since when I've covered 36 miles. It shows that Porsche's position about the grilles is nonsense. I've removed the two aircon radiators and will be replacing them along with some more rusting screws then getting it recharged. Just hope there isn't a leak after the PU goes back on.