Porsche reliability - on the decline?

[JLBM]

We have two brand new Porsches. Both early and late 2013 model year cars.

2013 Boxster S with 12,000kms
The Boxster S just broke down for the second time and was taken to porsche on a flat bed truck this week. First problem was with the coolant system. Second problem was an electronics/engine management problem.
There have been other niggles - the aircon system failed and had to be re-gassed as well as roof rattles, cabling to the sports exhaust detaching etc.

2013 Cayenne Diesel with 4,000kms
The cayenne's passenger window wasn't installed properly so loud whistling on the highway. Took three attempts for them to find the problem. They dismantled the wrong door as well and reattached the trim incorrectly. The PCM unit failed and a new one was ordered from Germany and was installed. It too has a fault where graphics corrupt. The car was delivered with bad wheel alignment as well.

I have higher expectations from Porsche. They command a premium over the likes of MB and BMW, yet my F10 5 series was absolutely faultless.

I am getting disappointed and don't trust the Boxster for long trips anymore. It feels like the volumes Porsche are now selling are compromising their reputation for product excellence.

 

[Zafiro]

Ouch! The Boxster is worrying. Not sure you dare to buy a used one in a few years.

 

[martinbo]

I personally believe that, for starters, Porsche Centre JHB is over-subscribed and that their service and repair centre can't cope with the volumes. Another opinion of mine is that it is one thing being a volume maker with high-end, halo model aspirations but another altogether being a low-volume sporting or premium maker pushing downmarket in order to garner market share. I feel that Porsche may have more to learn in this regard than they're currently being given credit for.

It's simple really; manufacturers have to find the balance between being high-tech, low volume makers vs low-tech, high volume. Being high-tech, high volume is a perilous undertaking.

I wonder how much more of an after sales service burden Macan will be on Porsche's dealers. I was disappointed to see that the car was launched exclusively with the - granted - sportier, quicker PDK transmission instead of the more suited to daily commuting and heavy duty work ZF slush box. I've said it before, I don't trust dual clutch gearboxes for daily use further than I can throw them. My mate's Cayman S PDK that only works on occasion over weekends? Perfect application - low mileage, low stop-start workload. Ferrari Speciales? Bellisimo.

You don't see the masses of Toyota Fortuners yielding anything near a regular breakdown in Moz, Nam or Bots. It's obvious: low-tech, high volumes, robust mechanicals and systems. No surprises here - we're talking properly unsophisticated tech here, completely incomparable with a Cayenne. But tell that to the customer whose Cayenne diesel is sitting up on a lift at Porsche JHB with its engine and gearbox guts out due to a turbo failure...

 

[JLBM]

Agreed Martin. They need 2 dealerships with service centres in the jhb region and 1 in Pretoria. They've converted their preowned centre in randburg to a service centre, but it doesn't live up to the brand experience. They need to reinvest, the macan will just blow them out the water.

 

[Sayyaaf]

Every single 991/981 I saw had rear window rattles. Some with sunroof/panoramic roof had similar issues. Most of them are minor and caused by bad glue from factory, but some were more serious.

As for Boxster: I saw all kinds of problems from different customers, some of them are minor like Climate control and some of them major like PDK failure and engine leaks. I don't know, as Martin stated, Porsche seems overwhelmed by the amount of production they got to cope with lately. Most cars they produce have highly stressed components, Engines/Transmission/Diffs are all hard used and abused by the customers due to the expectations from a P car. PDK are designed to have infinite no. of launch controls, on paper yes that could be the case but don't challenge the customers to break it. Porsches are tracked more often than others. Although they don't offer track warranty as I read/heard in the manual but that didn't prevent people from still having some fun & memorable trackdays.

Stay focused PAG, you built reputation on something, maintain it and stop pulling BMW on us.

Kind Regards,
Russian Jag lover.

 

[Cashmere]

Kind Regards,
Russian Jag lover.

Best title ever.

@JLBM - Many of the problems you are describing seem to be a result of sloppy assembly work done at the factory.

Just out of curiosity, how is the new Porsche service center holding up in terms of service delivery? They did make a lot of noise about it being the largest Porsche dealership in the world, but how is the actual service performance? I hope they're at least providing you with a complimentary Porsche while yours is getting fixed up.

 

[JLBM]

@Cashmere they don't get things fixed first time, but they have given us complimentary panamera's to drive each time. We have one right now. Fantastic car that!

 

[Sayyaaf]

Service centers are slow and they don't stock parts usually. They said parts are sourced from Germany on demand except regular wear n tear stuff.

I am not expecting them to stock complete engines but at least few items like front spoiler lip, rear diffuser, protection shields underneath .. Your PCM broke ? 2-4 weeks. Engine/drivetrain failed: 4-6 weeks ... etc

 

[Sunny]

Get your pre-vag op Porsche while you can - not that they don't have their own leaks .

 

[Sayyaaf]

Get your pre-vag op Porsche while you can - not that they don't have their own leaks .

Lol pre-VAG porsches PMS i heard IMS IMS

 

[Soup]

LOL @ Sunny +

My latest P-car purchase was this (pic below) and have had no problems whatsoever vs '13 Cayenne GTS that spent almost 4 weeks in the shop because of a faulty transmission tcu, which was replaced under warranty and I ended up selling the car after 5 months before it would start to depreciate

 

[Mr Robert]

Get your pre-vag op Porsche while you can - not that they don't have their own leaks .

Still nothing less-than-excellent to report on yours?

I guess if these type of stories start to get common, it will hurt resale value, and a solid resale valur has been an important reason for Porsche's sales success. The financial deals that can be had on many models are just amazing, and this is much down to very high calculated residual value.

If this changes, Porsche will lose much of its business.

 

[Sunny]

Still nothing less-than-excellent to report on yours?

Yup, except for a dead battery - partially my fault for forgetting the key in the ignition (though in the fully switched off postion in my defence). The funky thing is if the battery is dead, you can't easily pop the hood cause there is no (easily accessible) mechanical latch. So you have to "jump the hood open" first. And then jump the car (or change the battery).

 

[Giannis]

So you have to "jump the hood open" first.

How is this done?

 

[Sunny]

How is this done?

There is a fusebox inside the car with a terminal you can connect your jumper cables/battery to (you can't jump start the car on those terminals). Then operate the hood opening lever or remote.

 

[klier]

^^^^ Pfffff

 

[Sayyaaf]

^^ man that 997 still a VW bug @ heart, just push it and dumb the clutch in 2nd gear.

 

[Sunny]

^Lol, funny thing you mention pushing - no good place to push it with - no B pillar access from outside, the rear is too low, you have to get down on your knees and the A pillar is too raked. The wing is tempting, but I doubt that is what it is for.

 

[Sunny]

Ridiculous!

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[ZicZachZo]

^ holy s#$^!!! this poor guy has been through the ringer. I can't believe Porsche hasn't just refunded the money on the car. You don't drop 100 grand to drive around a car that has a puddle of water in the passenger footwell and smoke coming from the door panel!!! Insane.