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Porsche Bolton "Joyriding"

Richard Dawson

New member
I recieved a call from a friend of mine on Thursday telling me my RS had been stolen and had just undertaken him round a roundabout. It had 2 people in it and was being driven like a t£$%$^r.

Imagine my concern as the car was in for the engine wiring loom recall and 4 wheel alignment at the new Porsche main agent in Bolton.

To add to the horror I use 15w 50 oil and the roundabout is c 1min from the dealership i.e the car would be cold.

I immediately drove to the dealership and tackled them. Once the service manager deigned to come out of his office to speak to me, he said "he'd look into it".

Following a little more straight talking he assured me that the car was warm as he knew they had the radiators out and so run it up to temp to bleed it. Not a good answer really unless my 993 is fairly unique....

At this point I got the dealer principle involved, who seemed to care even less (in a manner reflective of the overbearing arrogance Porsche seem to exude these days) and said he'd look into it..

I had to leave the car as it was back in bits to fix a small oil leak they'd found.

I went in on Friday to check progress, no one updated me on the "looking into it", no one apologised any further nor has any suggestion of a discount been offered.

I collect the car tomorrow and will be really upset if I have to pay in a way that will include writing to the local press, Porsche AG and every forum I can find together with the dozen or so friends who own Porsches from the dealer.

A lesson to us all the in addition to main agents caring about older Porsches like a piece of dirt on their shoe they also joyride your car for you.

Thing is whilst we like 993s and think they are quick imagine how tempting a 997 turbo is to the in-house joyrider!!

Beware, and keep out of Porsche Bolton at all costs lest your own car overtakes you.

I'll let you know the outcome after I kick off again tomorrow.

 
This sort of post is the reason why I decided to tackle some of the RS maintenace myself. Most shops do not look after the car the way that you or I would look after the car. Even if I am slow I will take my time to make sure I do the maintenance correctly.

Harry
 
More than likely the RS badge on the back was to blame. Us mere mortals with "ordinary" 993's are probably safe as, as Richard says, there are 997 turbos for them to play with but even so I still avoid OPC's like the plague.
 
Take the matter up with Porsche UK Richard, and keep us all in the loop! Took mine in for a 24k in January and it had 42 more miles on it when I picked it up. Lessons to be learned here, don't use an OPC, use a reputable company that cares.

Scott
 
OMG that's the worse story I've heard Richard - you have my sympathy...

If that happened to me I don't think I'd be happy until I saw blood - in such a car too.

Looking forward to an update on this. The attitude of the principle is the biggest issue - where can you escalate after that....Porsche UK perhaps as suggested.

BTH - I assume you are aware of any good indie's close to you?

 
This is an awful thing to happen. I'd have their guts for garters, cheeky B4stards!
 
what might seal your claim for redress would be a report to the police from your friend (who witnessed the undertake) of the car being driven in a careless and inconsiderate way such as to warrant prosecution under the RTA. That, coupled with a conviction in the local magistrates court for the driver concerned. Would also have the advantage of getting the dealership excellent publicity for their race training school in the local press and save you paying for any ads.

Of course these are but the gentle musings of a bored lawyer on an otherwise quiet Monday evening...
 
My local OPC managed to stuff my 993 into a people carrier when their 'ace' mechanic lost it on a roundabout while test driving it!

Edit: Just noticed I am apparently a "non-member" despite being in the Club since 1988
 
Write a formal letter of complaint asking for a reply in writing, copied to Porsche GB.

Not much use if you're in Bolton but in defence of OPC's I've used Porsche Mid Sussex for some years (back to when they were Rivervale) and have been entirely happy with the service, standard of attention and general professional approach. Prices to match of course but you'd expect that. They nowadays seem to have a genuine affection for a decent 993.
 
Update

Collected the car today from Bolton.

Dave Brown, who is a service advisor ex Stratstone, is everso helpful and pleasant, looked after me. The service manger then had a chat and said sorry and they have offered to waive the bill or do a free service when due.

Clearly I am still upset but they were sincere, have looked into it and as a result I will use them again. To be fair they have also clearly spent plenty of time on the setup as the settings are within a minute or two each side and sorted one or two other small issues. That gives me confidence they do know what they are doing, not least because the car was serviced by a specialist a few weeks ago and some of the things should have been picked up.

If nothing else lightening can't strike twice..can it!

So whilst the joyride was bad it is only fair to report the good bit today.

Kennyboy

The best service I have had, if dear , was with my 964RS when I used Tech 9 in Hale. As I say dear but spot on.

 
I have been watching this thread with interest as my experience with Porsche Bolton has been a very good one. I bought a car from them last year and they carried out the first service last week. i wrote a post on the Boxster forum, complimenting them (copy of post below)

Interestingly the post drew no comments and disappeared into oblivion funny how we feed on bad news!

My Boxster went in for its first service and brake fluid change this week. The service from the dealer was excellent. from the first phone call to collecting my car the whole experience was the best customer service I have experienced from any company. Friendly informed staff and the service carried out keeping me informed an excellent clean courtesy car supplied. So well done Bolton Porsche and thank you.

ps glad things worked out OK in the end [;)]
 
Glad things worked out Richard - as you say it's all in the sincerety.....plus you've got a bucket load of goodwill to dine out on for quite a while ;)
 
I don't think good will comes into the equation in this case. You have two muppets out joy riding in someone elses pride and joy. Why did it warrant two occupants?They have been witnessed to have committed a serious road traffic offence that would possibly result in a charge of dangerous driving and at the same time you are probably being charged over £100 an hour for the priviledge. I think at least the situation warranted your friend reporting it to plod. They are quick enough to hand out £60 and three points for 5 mph over the limit. You may have experienced a helpful sympathetic approach from one dedicated member of staff but he is only doing what any caring employee should do. I'm afraid in the circumstances I'd have gone for the jugular.

Mike Cooper
 
Sadly, I heard similar stories of this happening at Leeds OPC with a 993tt, needless to say the owner was not amused and has not been back since. It was enough to put me off from taking my car there not to mention the fact they didn`t have any 993 experienced technicians either.
 
I think its about time all of these dealerships were forced have someone who represents the general public in house, to make sure that a certain level of standard is upheld in the interest of the consumer. Not employed by the garage, but from the office of fair trading. So we dont get stiched up, and our pride and joy is treated with a certain level of repect.
 
Abuse of other people's property makes me very angry. I would ceratinly not use that agent ever again. How difficult can it be to instill into employees a respect for the property of customers who, after all, pay their wages?
 
One OPC managed to crash my Boxster inside their own compound.

At least they owned up and fixed it, so I shall protect the guilty by not naming them here!
 

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