Soon after I made my appointment to get my bumper repainted, sunscreen replaced, hard shifting into 2nd situation checked, and āpossibleā oil leak taken care of (the latter two for which a multi-point inspection (MPI) was ordered on the sheet I signed) on my ā17 GTS CPO, I received a confirmation e-mail and a day-before confirmation voicemail from my local Porsche service department. When I arrived bright and early for my appointment, the SA (SA1) had nothing in his system indicating Iād be there and requested said confirmation e-mail (which I provided). Knowing it was going to be a long process, and as promised by my sales agent, a loaner had been reservedā¦ or so I thought. It was not ready for me then. What I received as a loaner was a filthy base model that had to be rushed to me. That wasnāt really a big deal, as I needed something to drive, right?
A week-and-a-half later, I got a VM from SA1 telling me my car was ready. I asked him what had been done when I returned the call and was told the sunscreen was replaced, the bumper repainted, and, since they couldnāt replicate the shifting problem, I should take a ride with a tech in order to confirm. When I asked about the oil problem, SA1 said he had no clue what I was talking about. I reminded him about the MPI and resent pictures of said oil problem. He said heād get back to me.
Later that afternoon, SA1 said they thought it was a āsloppy oil changeā and that they could not find a leak. They placed a dye into the oil, and they would make another appointment with me in two weeks to see if it was, indeed, a leak. I left a voicemail saying that I would be in the next morning to pick my car up (frankly, I was really missing the PASM in my GTS, as my back had been taking a beating from the base model springsā¦ but I digress).
When I showed up, I asked to see what had been done on the car, seeking to have it put on a lift. SA2, who got to me first because SA1 was with another customer, stated that there were other cars in the shop and that request could prove difficult. I asked him if the owners of the other cars on those lifts were currently there. Soon my GTS was on the lift.
They showed me where they had cleaned the undercarriage of all the oil from their āsloppy oil change,ā and I asked about the other two areas of saturation on the bilateral areas at mid-undercarriage. The techs informed me that this is from wax being applied near the AC run-offs. That seems plausible, given itās on both sides at the same places. (Have any of you heard of this wax? Do any of you have the same saturation marks in your undercarriage covers that can be attributed to this wax?)
I told the SA2 that I would see him in two weeks to see what the dye reveals, and he told me that I should at least give it a month. I told him that he and SA1 should figure out the time difference because there was some obvious discrepancy and went back into the waiting area. I told SA1 what SA2 suggested, and he gave me the line that SA1 had been out for several days, so they werenāt on the same page. What that has to do with the requisite timing to determine an oil leakā¦ They eventually agreed that two weeks would be enough.
Then, as it was a rainy day, I asked them after they lowered the GTS to let me see the paint job. SA2 told me that they only had shop rags in the shop and the microfiber detail towels were in the detail shop across the street. (internal fuming intensified) I was nearing the end of my rope for a Wednesday morning, so I told them not to worry about it and just bring the car around so I could transfer my stuff from the loaner.
After I got everything transferred from the loaner back to my GTS, the tech handed me my key, missing one side of my (notably) aftermarket, carbon fiber key cover. I told him that was unacceptable, and they needed to find the missing piece. He returned a few minutes later with the missing piece, but, alas, it didnāt stay on as it once had like the OEM matte black piece. (Again, notably) As part of my CPO sales agreement, I received leather covers for both my keys, which I had used since ownership; Iām conscious of my keysā conditions, as I see that as an indication of ownership pride and care. SA1 looked at it, and apparently not realizing that keys are highly customizable, as I had switched the silver outliner on the key (yāall know what Iām talking about) to an unvarnished black piece, as well, told me that I was not in possession of a factory keyā¦ one of the same keys that they had given to me upon purchase not two months earlier). I let SA1 know that I replaced the OEM pieces with aftermarket pieces and that my key was really a Porsche key. Another sales advisorāwho had originally leased my GTS by the wayācame up to inspect the discrepancy, claiming that the aftermarket piece I had bought was a cheap, plastic one, scoffing at what I told him I paid for it ($70 on Amazon). This is beside the point. Maybe I got gypped by Amazon, but that is between them and me. (They gave me back a broken but previously well-functioning key cover, and I was not happy.) Eventually, this was solved by my original sales advisor offering full reimbursement for a replacement, so Iām good in this aspect, I guess.
The final straw was when I was almost ready to leave. I removed the paper floorboard protectors and noticed that my car had not been vacuumed. This is a seemingly innocuous transgression. It was raining and not a big deal in and of itself, save for the fact that on my service paperwork it stated that the car had been washed and vacuumed. I almost left but thought better of it. I went back inside the waiting area and asked SA1 to come check out the GTS. I asked him if it looked like my car had been vacuumed, and he obviously said, no. I told him my concern was not that the car had not been vacuumed but was focused on the fact that their paperwork said that it had been.
If my Porsche service department is going to pencil whip the paperwork on the simple things, what can I truly believe about the other actions they put down on the same document. Did they really check for an oil leak? Did they really put dye in the oil to detect a potential leak? Did they really take it out to see if they could replicate the hard shift into 2nd? The bottom line is that I can trust them at their word.
I purchased into the Porsche brand fully expecting quality service to follow and abide by PNAās reputation. Am I left the fool? Does this only happen to CPO purchaserās? Or does the guy who had his beautiful 911 Turbo up on the rack when I was there get subjected to the same sub-par service? Of note, I came from Audi, which had excellent customer service. If I wanted to be treated like everyday Joe, I would have bought a domestic.
Whatās further is that there was some sort of reside left on my CF steering wheel. I havenāt even informed them of this, but I did take a picture for future reference. I also made an appointment for two weeks after to check the oil dye, asked for a confirmation e-mail, re-requested a confirmation e-mail a day later, but have yet to receive a confirmation e-mail for my next appointment.
Cāmon, manā¦