Porsche Approved - seriously?

[Motorhead]

Phil,

If you’ve not been following it already you may want to take a look at this ongoing saga:

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1141351

Jeff

 

[Greenman986S]

I'd be contacting Trading Standards and rejecting the car on principle. If you like the car and want to keep it, ask the OPC how they will compensate you as you have overpaid...

Which OPC?

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

Have already posted here of experience with Boxster S, bought from OPC which overheated after 3 days, due to leaking water pump. This obviously should have been picked up during 111-point check - if indeed it was carried out. Car has been back with dealership for 10 days now (had to wait for parts) and I went to pick it up yesterday.

What I didn’t mention is that car was also missing it’s service book, but salesman checked and advised that it had received a full service in November ‘22 and he would sort a duplicate book. When I was handed the book yesterday, it showed just one service - bizarrely dated 20/07/23 (i.e., the future) and a lower mileage. I queried this and was told it was a mistake and the date should be 2020. This of course led to the obvious question of where were the other services - not least of all the 6-yr service last November. Bottom line is that it turns out that car hasn’t been serviced since then and salesman was ‘mistaken.’ Dealership is now carrying out the overdue service.

Whilst I’m relatively relaxed, as the car has only covered 7k miles in last three years, the question still remains as to how an OPC could sell an approved car that had not been correctly serviced and with an obvious fault. I only trusted them on the missing service record because they were an OPC, which I thought should count for something. I was obviously wrong!

So the question is, where does this leave me now? I can’t help but feel that I’ve paid the premium required for an OPC Approved Porsche, but now have a car with a defective service record which could impact future value. More importantly, I may run the risk of other problems developing as a result of its less than diligent servicing history. On the other hand, I’m assured that the full service requirements will now be done, I know it’s not covered much mileage since 2020 and I still have 24 months warranty. I also like the car!

Lesson learned is not to trust Porsche any more than I would any other main dealer, but I’m also interested in anyone else’s thoughts or experiences like this. Overall I’d say it’s now become about the worst I’ve had from any prestige brand!

Any thoughts?

 

[tscaptain]

Which OPC?

Best not to answer that on here.

 

[Greenman986S]

i think it is entirely reasonable to know how the rogues are

 

[Motorhead]

Agreed Clive, but forum rules [and maybe because of the Club’s relationship with Porsche GB?] mean that it’s frowned upon.

Jeff

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

No, I won’t be naming them here, although I can understand why others might like to know!

 

[Motorhead]

You can always use the private message route available on the forum.[]

Jeff

 

[Greenman986S]

Gotta protect that brand image

 

[SpyderDavid]

It will be very obvious to the OPC that they cannot invent a Time Machine and adequately compensate you by simply carrying out a retrospective service.

If I were in your shoes I would reject the car asking for a full refund and an offer from them to compensate you for the inconvenience, distress etc. This will also ensure that your case has the appropriate visibility within the dealership/dealer group.

You have overpaid for a vehicle whose condition was misrepresented, potentially your AU warranty is invalid (certainly there is a rationale for future claims to be denied, this is an insurance policy run by a 3rd party remember not Porsche or the OPC), and your car will be worth less with an odd service history and be harder to sell on.

Given your initial issue that brought this situation to light I would be involving Porsche GB if you’ve not already done this - clearly this has implications for their AU brand and the pattern of behaviour you’ve described on 2 issues so quickly after purchase has the potential for something more than mere carelessness.

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

Only my opinion but a water pump failure can happen anytime and was fixed under Porsche warranty without question like most other failures are covered so jobs good inconvenience I know but we have all suffered from that.

Regards the service stamp in the book needs a bit more investigating anything that's been done to the car should be on Porsches data base assuming it's been logged.

I know a lot of cars have gone out of sync regards services due to the pandemic many not really turning a wheel or hardly much use so they got done when things got back to normal.

All only my opinions of course hope you get to the bottom of the services.

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

Thanks for your thoughts Cliff and I think what you say may well be a very fair and balanced view. I'm also trying to be reasonable here and it may just be an example, as you say, of a servicing schedule messed up over the last couple of years in the wake of Covid. I realise that its also possible for a water pump to fail at any time.

I may of course have simply been unlucky. Maybe their pre-sale inspection did miss a water pump leak, or maybe it just happened to fail in the three days I had the car! However, I'm still puzzled as to how they could tell me the car had been serviced in November. This seems either a pretty strange mistake or, dare I say it, a bit of unforgiveable BS on behalf of the sales staff, although I struggle to see what they would seek to gain by lying about it - I'd obviously want confirmation of that. It's just a shame that the truth has come out in dribs and drabs here. My remaining comfort is that the car has only covered 7,000 miles since the July 2020 service and I'd like to think that the OPC is now going to make pretty sure that they address all due/overdue items. No one can do anything about them being late now and my focus is getting to the bottom of the car's actual service history and then satisying myself whether or not I'm happy to stick with it.

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

Sorry, another question. Is there somewhere I can explicitly check exactly what should be included and what items should be replaced on a 6yr service for a 718 Boxster? I seem to get varying answers from Google! I want to be sure that everything has been done.

 

[Greenman986S]

I'd still put the OPC on notice that you plan to return the car unless they come up with some answers PDQ.

dealerships hate the hassle of a returned car ( not least because the grief they get from hq) although I have heard they could have your short ownership removed from the v5 history...

 

[SpyderDavid]

Air filters and drive belt are the additional items - plugs should have been changed at 4 years.

 

[Motorhead]

Sorry, another question. Is there somewhere I can explicitly check exactly what should be included and what items should be replaced on a 6yr service for a 718 Boxster? I seem to get varying answers from Google! I want to be sure that everything has been done.

The service schedules should be laid out in the servicing booklet you’ve now received Phil, so I’d check in there first.

Jeff

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

Thanks Jeff, but I still don’t have the book. its with the dealership.

 

[Elbitrevnoc]

Thanks David, I appreciate your help. That fits what I seem to have found online, so I think I have it all now.

I can check tomorrow what was done back in 2020 and in the latest service now. We’ll see!

 

[kitchens]

They can tell you every detail of the history of your car since day 1 overrevs .speeds .mileage. when serviced by whom and on what date .As to what gets done is simple all have a list as to what gets done at each 2yr interval even the tec who worked on the car and the cost of each service and itemised .If the service book is a replacement they can get the suppling dealer to stamp up the book with and even if its not from the one you bought it from ,getting a receipt showing cost may be a different matter as it will show previous names of owners.

 

[kjhurley]

They can tell you every detail of the history of your car since day 1 overrevs .speeds .mileage. when serviced by whom and on what date .As to what gets done is simple all have a list as to what gets done at each 2yr interval even the tec who worked on the car and the cost of each service and itemised .If the service book is a replacement they can get the suppling dealer to stamp up the book with and even if its not from the one you bought it from ,getting a receipt showing cost may be a different matter as it will show previous names of owners.

I am not saying this is untrue, but in my experience all OPCs are not the same and if from different dealerships, they can’t always see the full service detail on any given vehicle. I had work done by 2 OPCs, one in the Porsche Retail Group and the other from another Group and they appeared to be only able to see headline information about the service done at the other, not the full detail. I found this somewhat bizarre at the time and assumed that Porsche UK would have this somewhere, but this appeared not to be the case.

Given that Service Books are starting to become a thing of the past, having access to all service information is going to become more important methinks.

Keith