Underbody Protection Panel damaged. Batteries and coolant lines need inspection. $72.5K replacement & labor cost. Dealership is Tom Wood in Indiana

[WasserGKuehlt]

Listening to how @Maelstrom has been treated by Tom Wood Porsche, I would be fuming by now. It's as though the car is no longer yours when you take it to an OPC. They are judge, jury and executioner. It hasn't cost them a bean and even though the customer is paying (albeit through insurance), you have little say.

They provide little or no detail to justify or explain their decisions, under the cloak of commercial privilege.

Even though this is in the US, this whole story has soured my views of Porsche. I had expected a lot more from them.

The dealer’s view (which PCNA seems to share) is that the customer abused/damaged the vehicle. They even told us so, through their agent who created an account here specifically for this thread. From that position, everything they have done was “goodwill”. This is hardly a typical servicing scenario.

(And no, that agent is not me, I have posted in other, older threads.)

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[Maelstrom]

Just had a call from the dealer in response to me asking them to put the car back together. They have a loaner for me that I can go and collect this afternoon.

 

[rb33gl]

The dealer’s view (which PCNA seems to share) is that the customer abused/damaged the vehicle. They even told us so, through their agent who created an account here specifically for this thread. From that position, everything they have done was “goodwill”. This is hardly a typical servicing scenario.

(And no, that agent is not me, I have posted in other, older threads.)

I don’t doubt that the car was damaged, but abused? That implies some kind of intent. The damage was to an unseen part of the car that should be designed to cope.

The fact such damage could have resulted in the car being written off suggests that part may not be up to the job.

My broader concern is that the dealer hasn’t been transparent and PCNA appears to side with them rather than the customer.

 

[chun]

Just had a call from the dealer in response to me asking them to put the car back together. They have a loaner for me that I can go and collect this afternoon.

Funny how all of a sudden they have a loaner now

 

[chun]

My broader concern is that the dealer hasn’t been transparent and PCNA appears to side with them rather than the customer.

I am curious if Porsche would respond the same if it would happen to someone from an EU country. Customer laws are much better on this side of the ocean. I have a feeling someone with enough lawyer money, in EU, could start a class action lawsuit after an experience like this quite easily and win it also easily. Hell, at the minimum it might trigger a recall like it happened with Tesla.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I don’t doubt that the car was damaged, but abused? That implies some kind of intent. The damage was to an unseen part of the car that should be designed to cope.

The fact such damage could have resulted in the car being written off suggests that part may not be up to the job.

My broader concern is that the dealer hasn’t been transparent and PCNA appears to side with them rather than the customer.

If you recall teecantoucan's post, it said it takes a tremendous amount of force to bend steel at such a sharp angle. Like, say, the weight of the car suddenly resting on a sharp rock. From Jesper4s's posts, incidentally, bending of the plate occurred also when the car traversed a speedbump beyond its breakover angle.

I'm not pointing fingers here, nor agreeing that this should be cause for totaling. The question was in the context of the dealer's (and PCNA's) attitude - if they are convinced this was "unintended use", their reaction is just shrug (and spin control).

I will say, though, I'm far less inclined to take my car offroading after reading this thread.

 

[neilj007]

I was at my Porsche centre today and was talking about this issue. Now, I’d never heard of this until @Maelstrom started this thread…but Porsche centres are well aware of the issue. They even put taycans fresh from Germany on the ramp and specifically inspect them for dinks…so as not to be lumbered with an expensive repair bill
they typically see the issue in London caused by too high a speed over speed bumps or hitting kerbs
of course, they don’t tell prospective customers about this issue do they…

 

[whitex]

The dealer’s view (which PCNA seems to share) is that the customer abused/damaged the vehicle. They even told us so, through their agent who created an account here specifically for this thread. From that position, everything they have done was “goodwill”. This is hardly a typical servicing scenario.

(And no, that agent is not me, I have posted in other, older threads.)

I don't think a lot of people expected Porsche to cover this under warranty. Uncovered damage happens, hence insurance. The issue here is how they tried holding the car hostage, while forcing their $5K diagnostics (which consisted of unscrewing a few bolts and taking a few pictures), then demanding for even more money to put it back together, and an inflated $72.5K in to replace a battery which retails at ~$27K.

IMO, it would have been a much more palatable experience if they stated up front - costs to inspect which includes putting the car back together, then quote to repair (with a possible credit for not putting the car back together) and let the customer choose. They could even quote outrageous numbers, it is their prerogative, but customer would be going into this with eyes open, so they could make informed decisions, shop around, etc.

 

[Maelstrom]

I don't think a lot of people expected Porsche to cover this under warranty. Uncovered damage happens, hence insurance. The issue here is how they tried holding the car hostage, while forcing their $5K diagnostics (which consisted of unscrewing a few bolts and taking a few pictures), then demanding for even more money to put it back together, and an inflated $72.5K in to replace a battery which retails at ~$27K.

IMO, it would have been a much more palatable experience if they stated up front - costs to inspect which includes putting the car back together, then quote to repair (with a possible credit for not putting the car back together) and let the customer choose. They could even quote outrageous numbers, it is their prerogative, but customer would be going into this with eyes open, so they could make informed decisions, shop around, etc.

Summed up perfectly right there!!

 

[DerekS]

inflated $72.5K in to replace a battery which retails at ~$27K.

Which magically dropped to $44K once it became clear insurance was paying.

 

[Maelstrom]

Picked up my loaner a little while ago and did get an update from the service rep. The HV tray should be with the dealer mid to late next week. So I'm expecting it to be done in a couple of weeks, based on scheduling in around already planned work etc. etc.
So at least the battery came in nice and quick

 

[Maelstrom]

I was at my Porsche centre today and was talking about this issue. Now, I’d never heard of this until @Maelstrom started this thread…but Porsche centres are well aware of the issue. They even put taycans fresh from Germany on the ramp and specifically inspect them for dinks…so as not to be lumbered with an expensive repair bill
they typically see the issue in London caused by too high a speed over speed bumps or hitting kerbs
of course, they don’t tell prospective customers about this issue do they…

The interesting thing here is that if the plate was strong enough then this wouldn't or shouldn't be a concern. Checking the car doesn't get a dink from shipping is pretty shocking!! I'd be interested to hear if they've ever had that happen

 

[rb33gl]

Picked up my loaner a little while ago and did get an update from the service rep. The HV tray should be with the dealer mid to late next week. So I'm expecting it to be done in a couple of weeks, based on scheduling in around already planned work etc. etc.
So at least the battery came in nice and quick

What are they going to do with the old HV tray? Strictly speaking it’s yours. This would provide very helpful evidence of what happened to the cooling channel/fins at the point of impact.

Don’t let them destroy the evidence please!

 

[Maelstrom]

What are they going to do with the old HV tray? Strictly speaking it’s yours. This would provide very helpful evidence of what happened to the cooling channel/fins at the point of impact.

Don’t let them destroy the evidence please!

It's an exchange part so Porsche get the old one

 

[Maelstrom]

Now this is funny

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