Porsche can be annoying

[rss996]

Mercedes is the worst piece of crap on the road today!

I can't even type out all the trouble i had with them a few years ago....

No car is perfect and Porsche is pretty good as far as reliability...Now bad service is not acceptable ever and especially from any Porsche dealer!

[Jad]

And the $90 replacement battery is 100% covered for 3 years with no mileage limits, trickle chargers needed or any of the other issues.

.

Jad, What type of battery did you get that allows for full replacement before three years? Batteries are always pro-rated when returned, and when returned, the replacement battery is given the same in-service date as the original battery. I just did this with a Napa battery in which they tried to tell me that I needed the receipt to prove I was the orignal owner. After some pointed discussion, they replaced the battery, though pro-rated.

Kary, it is a Bosch battery from Pepboys. 100% covered for 3 years and prorated to something like 7 years. I am in their computer and do not even need a receipt for replacement (though I have a thorough one).

[Jad]

Sorry to hear about the poor service Jad. There's never an excuse, but please know I'm always here to help any SDR members as much as I can.

I just touched base with my Parts Dept and was quoted $200 for a Porsche battery, $100 for an Interstate brand battery. And remember PCA members get 10% off from us.

My experience over the past 9 years with many low mileage driving customers cars is about a 36 month battery life expectancy. My personal rule of thumb is to replace them at the 36 month service to minimize future frustrations.

FWIW - My Honda Civic Hybrid battery was also $96 last week.

Chris Huck
www.pioneerporsche.com

Thanks Chris. If it hadn't been at 8 AM I would have looked for you. They did quote the $100 Interstate battery, but added another $100 for installation . They did not mention the Porsche battery.

Am I the only one that thinks a 2003 Porsche with 19,500 miles is a high mileage car, not an abused due to lack of use car? I know it would be knocked at trade-in for high miles.

I still believe Porsche is the best car out there, but with just a little more effort they could really be a standout brand experience like Lexus and Infiniti. Instead, the German manufacturers have all forgotten to keep the customer happy....

[Steve Grosekemper]

And the $90 replacement battery is 100% covered for 3 years with no mileage limits, trickle chargers needed or any of the other issues.

.

Jad, What type of battery did you get that allows for full replacement before three years? Batteries are always pro-rated when returned, and when returned, the replacement battery is given the same in-service date as the original battery. I just did this with a Napa battery in which they tried to tell me that I needed the receipt to prove I was the orignal owner. After some pointed discussion, they replaced the battery, though pro-rated.

Actually Interstate batteries are 18-month free replacement and then prorated after that.
However Interstate offers a 5-year replacement warranty. It is called protection plus and it costs a few dollars more at time of purchase but is well worth it.
49 months dead, new battery!
However you must keep the warranty card!

Virtually all the batteries we sell here at Dieter's are sold with this warranty, you just can't beat it since most Porsches are not driven 50 miles a day like the Toyota.

Most dealers and high end independents are Interstate dealers.
I know Pioneer, Hoehn, Black Forest, and Dieter's are interstate dealers for sure.

The battery for Jads 996 runs $103.95 with the 5-year plan. This is available to any Interstate Battery dealer, (But many don't know it is available)

[rss996]

Porsche will not warranty for driving the car to hard or "abuse", or not cover warranty item for lack of driving it??????????????????????

Seems like we all need to stay on the good side of our service advisors!!!!!!!!

[MVZ944T]

Jad,

I have a Mercedes battery in my 930 that was given to me by my brother that is a body fender man at a Merc dealer. It came out of a wrecked 6 month old car. It has been in the car for 4+ years and it gets driven usually once every two weeks. Since I put the battery in I have put a grand total of 5k miles on the car (damn I need to drive it more). So unless the newer Porsches have more than a clock and an alarm to drain them down, I would suggest it might be more than your battery. Other than that being a really tight fit, I will be looking for another Merc battery when this one goes.

Mike

[Dan Chambers]

I feel the pain, I have been there. It appears to be a problem with PCNA dealers. I never was treated like a number at a Porsche dealer in europe.

Unfortunately, Martin hit it on the head, IMHO. It's been my experience in the 10 years owning a business, and more than 26 years doing business with other American businesses that "ethics" and business don't always meet.

Examples?

- Almost every medical insurance company will "blanket" refuse claims for medical cost reimbursement unles you press-press-press them to pay on the very policy you pay for each month. Even the automatic payment to the MD's is occasionally refused. Again, you have to press, press, press. Meanwhile, the MD's are threatening to sue for the balance and/or report you to credit agencies for failure to pay, ruining your credit rating.

- Advertizing in America is ... at best deceptive: "New AutoPista Grand Blowismo's for $49595.00 (One at this price ..... sold three weeks ago) Ah.. but you drive down to the AutoPista dealer to look at, and possibly buy one at the quoted advertized price; only to find out that it's "only one at that price" .... and it's gone. That's American business advertizing. Not a lie .... but surely not the truth by any means.

[size=12] - Fees for services: You take your car/boat/motorcycle/washing machine/bicycle in for service and/or repair. You're given an estimate and a time of completion. Days later..... "not done yet. Parts didn't come." (Well great. I'm being penalized because someone else dropped the ball on the parts delivery. If you'd have called me the day the part was due and missed, I'd go get the D@#n thing myself and bring it to you. I have lots of resources for parts, and I can get them FAST.) So, 3 days later than due date the call comes to get the vehicle/device back. You have the receipt from the original quote. The bill/final invoice, however, is exponentially more! You look on the details page and see all kinds of "Stuff" you didn't need or authorize place/replaced/installed! Part PLUS labor to install the parts you didn't need or authorize? Gee, how'd that happen? "Well, I could see you really needed these new parts, so I figured I'd take care of them for you now ... especially since I had those parts here in stock. It's not that much more, and I only charged you half the labor." WHAT?!?!?! Look if I needed/or thought I needed you to replace spokes/spark plugs/bicycle tires/tie rods/oil and filter/recharge A-C/ replace washer belt I WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU! I can do those other things myself, with my parts, for no labor fee .... just a sixpack, a good set of jackstands, and a sunny afternoon with a little Adreas Segovia playing in the background ..... for crying out loud! Instead I gotta pay you $75.00 to $90.00 per hour to do what I LIKE doing myself.

- Business Ethics as Cirriculum: you know the American business mind-set is askew when they have to teach ethics to business students at the local universities. That in itself speaks volumes about the mentality of American business professionals today.

For me, the moral of the story in doing business with many American businesses: keep your guard up, think like they might think in terms of maximizing their profits from your wallet, and don't be afraid to ask lots and lots and lots of questions (Excuse me mister Manager: can you give me your definition of "warrantee?"

Jad, more than ever, I feel your pain. I will say, in defense of Pioneer (and I can't believe I'm saying this..) I was given very good service at the parts department by Tim Prest, Parts Manager. It helped, quite frankly, that I "dropped" the fact that I was the VP of the Club.

Okay, off my soap-box....

[kary]

I have been reading these posts and find them accurate and interesting to read. No one, however, has really talked about why the battery died after a short 3 years. It seems to me that while batteries do fail occassionally, for Porsche to institute a policy of abusive driving under a certain amount of miles per year speaks volumes for the lower quality battery they now install in their car(s). With my 993 my car sat in the garage much of the time and after 3 years only had 14,000 miles on it. I guess I am abusing the car, though my battery, a Porsche battery as labeled, lasted just over 5 years without using any charging device. I wonder what other parts and surprise policies have been instituted for these 70, 80, 90, or even 100 thousand dollar cars these days?

[Dan Chambers]

Speaking of lifespan: anyone know the lifespan of the Optima batteries? I'd consider one for both our P-cars in the corral, if they're a good investment.

Lemme know......
Dan

[Jad]

I have been reading these posts and find them accurate and interesting to read. No one, however, has really talked about why the battery died after a short 3 years. It seems to me that while batteries do fail occassionally, for Porsche to institute a policy of abusive driving under a certain amount of miles per year speaks volumes for the lower quality battery they now install in their car(s). With my 993 my car sat in the garage much of the time and after 3 years only had 14,000 miles on it. I guess I am abusing the car, though my battery, a Porsche battery as labeled, lasted just over 5 years without using any charging device. I wonder what other parts and surprise policies have been instituted for these 70, 80, 90, or even 100 thousand dollar cars these days?

Porsche actually uses a lot of different brands of batteries probably just based on what is currently available. Always have, just like they do with a lot of other parts, tires being the most obvious. Your 993 clearly has significantly less drain as it has a lot fewer computers, memories, courtesy lights, etc, etc. Not saying I like all the electronics nor am I saying they shouldn't design the battery system knowing all of this additional drain, just that comparing a car with low parasitic drain to a modern car is really apples and oranges.

Also, as many of you know, my dad's 2000 996 had a similar problem at Buttonwillow, though his battery did last 5+ years of 'abuse'. The car has about 4,500 total miles on it. The tech at Pioneer did say the batteries are only good for so many drains and recharges. My dads car drained a lot, but only occasionally got recharged, like yours Kary, where theoretically, mine was a worse case, driven a decent amount, but not enough to keep the battery from partially draining and then recharging .

Not sure I am buying all of this, but I guess it is entirely possible. I will get a free battery in about 3 years if it is true, or learn that Porsche put a bad/defective battery in my car 3 years ago....or I guess in a week or two learn that there is a charging system problem with the car

No matter what, I still think the warranty should have covered fixing the car so that it would start and if the fix wasn't so cheap, I would certainly be spending a lot more time and effort into convincing Porsche and Pioneer to see things my way.

Ironically, after sitting without a battery for 4-6 hours plus days with a weak battery, when I installed the new battery, the car remembered all settings for the radio, memory seats, computer setting (though current data was lost) etc. The only reprogramming was the dash clock, which I guess couldn't be backed up as it is dynamic data??? Nice feature, so I still like the car, just not the service