Yesterday, I signed on the dotted line for a recent model 996 Carrera 2 from a UK OPC that shall remain nameless for now. As part of the buying process, I had a frank discussion with the centre's business manager over warranties and just what they cover (knowing full-well, having read it on this forum, that the Porsche extended warranty now covers RMS issues).
I asked him whether the warranty covered 'an oil leak from the back of the crankshaft' and added that this was a hot topic of discussion on Internet forums and in particular this one. I also said it would not surprise me if his official line would have to be to deny knowing anything about it!
His reply was absolutely amazing! First the 'just-rather-surprising' bit..... He stated that there is a 'known issue' with what HE described as the RMS (I'd deliberately not used that term). He then went on to describe the problem in some detail (where the seal is and what is required to replace it) and that Porsche GB had made a conscious decision to cover this under the warranty; primarily to remove the need for having to do work under good will (together with all the debate and time this took)! Now here's the amazing bit.... He then went on UNPROMPTED to say that in the interest of being up-front and honest, he would also tell me about another 'known issue' with the 3.6 litre engine that he described as the 'failure of intermediate shaft bearings' (which seems to be in line with the engine failure problems described elsewhere on this forum). He said Porsche were aware of this and had made a policy decision to replace all (warrantied) engines under the warranty without question if this failure happened - 'you wouldn't want some bits of old bearing blocking an oilway...'
Something of a revelation this conversation! Not only is this confirmation that Porsche GB acknowledges the RMS and engine-failure problems, but that they also feel the need to do something about them. This is clearly also being communicated to the dealers, irrespective of whether they are normally forthcoming over them. What Porsche GB are actually doing by just covering things under warranty may not go far enough yet, but an acknowledement of the issues is quite an incredible step forward given the say-nothing, drawbridge-up, you're-on-your-own attitude described by some people here.
For me, such an open and frank response has gone a long way to restoring my faith in all-things Porsche and I hope is a pointer towards better customer-relations and hopefully a better thought-through policy towards owners of out-of-warranty cars (as I was until now) in the future.
Ian W
I asked him whether the warranty covered 'an oil leak from the back of the crankshaft' and added that this was a hot topic of discussion on Internet forums and in particular this one. I also said it would not surprise me if his official line would have to be to deny knowing anything about it!
His reply was absolutely amazing! First the 'just-rather-surprising' bit..... He stated that there is a 'known issue' with what HE described as the RMS (I'd deliberately not used that term). He then went on to describe the problem in some detail (where the seal is and what is required to replace it) and that Porsche GB had made a conscious decision to cover this under the warranty; primarily to remove the need for having to do work under good will (together with all the debate and time this took)! Now here's the amazing bit.... He then went on UNPROMPTED to say that in the interest of being up-front and honest, he would also tell me about another 'known issue' with the 3.6 litre engine that he described as the 'failure of intermediate shaft bearings' (which seems to be in line with the engine failure problems described elsewhere on this forum). He said Porsche were aware of this and had made a policy decision to replace all (warrantied) engines under the warranty without question if this failure happened - 'you wouldn't want some bits of old bearing blocking an oilway...'
Something of a revelation this conversation! Not only is this confirmation that Porsche GB acknowledges the RMS and engine-failure problems, but that they also feel the need to do something about them. This is clearly also being communicated to the dealers, irrespective of whether they are normally forthcoming over them. What Porsche GB are actually doing by just covering things under warranty may not go far enough yet, but an acknowledement of the issues is quite an incredible step forward given the say-nothing, drawbridge-up, you're-on-your-own attitude described by some people here.
For me, such an open and frank response has gone a long way to restoring my faith in all-things Porsche and I hope is a pointer towards better customer-relations and hopefully a better thought-through policy towards owners of out-of-warranty cars (as I was until now) in the future.
Ian W
