Porsche Specialist

[Boxsterooz]

Thank you Alan and Russmw and all members support and also Chris S.

Quick update.

Last week on Thursday i have had a long conversation with the garage owner on the phone where things got a little bit heated. i was told the fault is all mine and i have to pay to get the car back. The sensors were faulty therefore the fault is mine not theirs.
I have asked for the invoice for the repair of the ECU which normally carries a lifetime warranty, a full report showing the exact cause of the damage and also an invoice from the garage for the full amount. I was going to claim back from the supplier of the sensors. I have actually got in touch with them and explained the situation. They've sent me a claim form asking me for the report from the garage and all the invoices.
Yesterday afternoon i got a call from the garage telling me that the ECU will e picked up in the afternoon so no need for me to go there and make a scene if the car is not ready. I mean, 4 weeks later why would i make a scene?
Today midday i get a phone call from the owner telling me the following:
"good news, the car is working fine, the ECU was repaired. The report from the shop is crap so you won't be able to use it for your claim. Because i am a good guy and i want to take your stress over i will throw in two brand new sensors which i know they are good, free of charge, i will cover he repair of the ECU as well. All you have to pay is the original job, the replacement of the sensors, £150. How is that?"

Well, this sounds more like admitting he's made a mistake, he damaged the ECU by not disconnecting the battery and by cutting the wires instead of disconnecting the plugs. This actually sent a short circuit to the ECU damaging it. I knew this all along, by cutting the wires with a pair of pliers you joint them together and that can only do one thing. damage the ECU.
Obviously i couldn't tell him this because, who am i to tell this to a Porsche Specialist.

Bottom line is that, tomorrow i will pick up the car, i will only have to pay £150 and i hope nothing else was damaged or nothing else will show in the near future on the dashboard. the car was mint before. he removed all sorts of sensors and replaced them with other used parts. Sensors that never had to be taken out. Crank sensor, pedal sensor, MAF sensor, etc.

Now, i know what i need to do tomorrow. I will ask for an invoice for everything including the repair of the ECU for which of course i will be paying with a card.

I will write again tomorrow or next week, once i tested the car and made sure everything is running smooth as it used to.

 

[BartyB]

It sounds like a resolution of a sort but overall rather unsatisfactory. I would be inclined to insist that they give you the sensors that they took out as these are your property and they have no right to dispose of or otherwise use them.

Sadly, it's a tough lesson you've learned Silv. I'd recommend you consider investing in a Bentley Boxster Manual, Wayne Dempsey's 101 Projects for Your Porsche Boxster and/or Mark Bennett's Porsche Boxster & Cayman: (Ultimate Owners' Guide) and tackling a few maintenance / repair tasks yourself. It's really not such a difficult car to work on and, what you save on performing simple tasks can be invested in more complex work by one of the Porsche specialists that other members have recommended. Keep us posted for the final episode.

 

[russmw]

Sounds like you've managed to move the problem forward in a fashion.

The fact of the owner covering all costs does indeed ring bells and supports the theory that he messed up and caused the issue although this is of course speculation and only my thoughts. I know early 90's Golf GTI's were twitchy if the car was started without all earths connected first and it would blow the ECU (you can guess how I know) but again this is mechanic based problems.

Hope the car is still great and this hasnt dented your love for it.

 

[Boxsterooz]

Last Update


Went there yesterday, picked up the car which was finally fixed. Not that there was anything wrong with.

The chap changed his attitude completely, apologised several times for treating me the way he did. he said he was convinced that his man in the garage didn't follow the correct procedure on removing the sensors and caused the damage to my ECU. He accepted to take the bill and apologised.


I have told him that the sensors were cut rather than disconnected and also the battery wasn't disconnected prior to any work being done. He said he presumed that all along but he doesn't want to upset his man who worked on the car.

He gave me an invoice which I’m not happy with, I will go back tomorrow and get a proper invoice from him. There is no name on it, no mileage and the date I insisted to be added. basically it says that any work carried on this car is covered by 10000 miles or 12 months warranty.I had to pay £156 in the end.

Now, I need an invoice to say, the sensors were replaced, what mileage, date and also that the ECU was repaired. I have checked the ECU and there is a sticker on it, warranty void if removed, which suggests the ECU went in for a repair and also there is another sticker on it saying, the fault on this vehicle was caused by this faulty ECU. Please repair this unit before installing it back. Something along these words. I was inclined to think that the ECU was fine and the fault was elsewhere but I checked and I know those stickers weren't there before.

The car is running fine, very dirty when I picked it up but a good bath yesterday and now it looks brand new again.

He apologised several times yesterday shook my hand and said, I treated you badly, I don't know why because as you said the fault wasn't yours.

Thank you all for your support and comments. I will come back to this tread if anything related to this repair will arise.

 

[BartyB]

No problem Silv. Just put it behind you and enjoy your car.

Next time you've any issues or need advice though, I'm sure you'll get some helpful input by making a post on the forum before taking your car to a 'specialist'.