PCGB Warranty Department

[Guest]

Does anyone have the name of someone senior in PCGB Warranty Department - assuming they have one.

I am being advised that technically my brand new Boxster import is secondhand as the service book was stamped in May by the Cypriot importer, before the car came to the UK and therefore before it was registered. In short it is being suggested that the car has lost 4 months of it's warranty.

I am advised that the worldwide warranty runs from the date of first registration and that I will be supplied with written evidence that this is a brand new vehcile. Now the important thing I must stress is that I do not for one moment believe that the car is secondhand, I am of the opinion that this is a dissapointing attitude from PCGB.

I would be grateful to hear if anyone has experienced this before or has any constructive suggestions to resolve this. I do have one possible solution to shake the truth out of them and all I want them to do is, the decent thing and acknowledge that there is 23 months warranty on the car not 19. I also feel that to suggest an honourable independent dealer is selling secondhand cars as new is out of order. As somone who in the past has forced the hand of Ford Motor Company to replace a car, I am more than happy to push this one all the way.

 

[NicD]

Catherine,

at the risk of incurring your wrath, it seems reasonable that a manufacturers warranty should begin at the point an OPC first sells the car. Sounds like this was in May. Remember, if the car had developed a problem on the way to the docks in Cyrus, it would have been covered under warranty.

It seems your claim is with the importer.

Btw, by buying a car in this way, you are taking revenue away from Porsche Cars GB, so I dont think you expect any goodwill from them.

 

[oliver]

I would agree with Nic.

If the car was not officially imported by Porsche Cars GB, then you will need to take issue with the supplying dealer to determine whether or not there has been any mis-representation.

 

[Guest]

There was no misrepresntation on behalf of the UK dealer at all. The car was supplied by the official importer in Cyprus, directly to the UK dealer. It was never registered in Cyprus. If I thought for one moment there was then of course I would take the dealer to court and report them to the DVLA as the car wouldn't have been new at first registration. If it was a secondhand import it should have had an age related plate.

The point that I am struggling to come to terms with is if the 2 year worldwide warranty runs from the point of when the car is registered (I am advised that this is how it works) then if the car was never registered in Cyprus then how can they claim it is secondhand.

Perhaps I should rethink my 2nd Generation Boxster purchase. At the end of the day the reason an OPC didn't get the business was becuase they tried to rip me off by selling me a car for £36,999 when it was up for sale at £34,999. At the end of the day an OPC is getting the the service work.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: CatherineJ

Perhaps I should rethink my 2nd Generation Boxster purchase.

**************************************************************************************************************

[&o]Do you mean rethink as in buy from a UK OPC as opposed to overseas supplier? At least you would have 2 legs to stand on if the 2nd Generation misbehaves itself this side of its warranty of course []

 

[NicD]

Catherine,

you are missing the point.

The "first registered" applies only where the registration is made by an OPC. The "dealer" you mention is not an OPC, he is non Porsche Cars GB related, and in fact, deeply resented by Porsche Cars GB.

From Porsche's point of view, the car is clearly second hand unless you are the buyer on the invoice from the Cyprus OPC, in which case the warranty would apply from then. You may be the first retail owner from a DVLA point of view and thus a "new" car, I cant comment on that.

You are trying to have your cake and eat it.

btw, am I correct to understand you received a car in October that was sold in May, thus built in March/April? This would be a worry if there had been a model change over August, like last year.

 

[oliver]

For the last 20 years I have bought my Porsches from OPCs, and it has been a mainly pleasant and problem free experience. When I have come to sell, it has always been advantageous that the cars have been PCGB supplied and FOPCSH.

Of course there are savings to be made by buying non-UK cars, or purchasing from an overseas OPC, but IMO this is counter-balanced by the potential disadvantages.

However, please don't let this spoil the ownership experience of your Boxster. It still came down the same production line as all the others and will have been manufactured with the same high standards of care and attention. And, ultimately, it was built to be used and enjoyed.

 

[Guest]

Then on this occassion it must be me. At least I have the comfort that the independent will supply me with an alternative warranty, should the Porsche one only last for another 18 mths.

No the rethink is not about buying from an independent, it is about buying another Porsche, which is disapointing becuase I have been a fan of the marque since the age of 12 when I wanted a 944 Turbo. When I reached the point that I could afford this sort of car there was only 1 choice and other manufacturers didn't get a look in. T

The reason I bought the import was becuase of the tactics/attitude of the 3 OPC's I had contact with. The rethink is based upon this being the latest dissapointment with the car.

 

[JCB..]

The reason I bought the import was because of the tactics/attitude of the 3 OPC's I had contact with. The rethink is based upon this being the latest disappointment with the car.

Catherine

Tactics and Latest Disappointment - can you expand please?

JCB..

 

[Kevin Cooke]

Guys,

You are technically correct and in PGB eyes she has bought a 2nd hand car and cost them their commission.

Nic, not all Manufactures take the same view, I bought Satu's (the wife) Scooby from an importer and saved about £3k, It was PDI'd in Holland in May 03 and preregistered by the dealer I bought it from, hence Satu is shown on the log book as the 2nd owner.

We collected the car in June 03 and when I took it to the Scooby dealer in Ewell for its 1,000 mile oil change in the August they were brillient. They pointed out it didn't have locking wheel nuts (£20) other than that it was exactly the same as a UK car. They also logged it on to the UK service system with its 3 year warrenty commencing 1st July 03.

That's what I call service and I can assure you if we buy another new Scooby it will be from this UK dealer.

Regards

 

[Guest]

That's interesting.
I thought I had read that the Scooby dealers were no more keen on parallel imports than Porsche are.
Perhaps it varies by dealer.

 

[Bill Stewart]

Catherine,
I purchased a Ford in May 2003 which was an import, the warranty commenced when the supplying dealer in Holland registered the car on the Ford support system. This meant that I like you lost out on warranty from the time the car was registered with Ford Holland until I received it. The money which I saved made it worth my while though (so far...)
I think that you will just have to grin and bear it.
Bill

 

[Kevin Cooke]

Stuart,

You are probably correct and it was this dealer.

I think my wife enthusing to the dealer what a great car it was and stating that she would only ever buy Scooby's in future, combined with the fact that I followed her in in what was then a 6 month old C4S clearly gave them the impression we had a bit of a car habit and perhaps they treated her well as a result.

 

[NicD]

Kevin,

when I had my STI V (back in 1999), Subaru UK actually prohibited its dealers from working on grey import cars, in theory at least.

Times have changed.