Servicing - What Could Possibly Go Wrong

[IXLR8]

OK, so we can laugh about it now, but this is what happened to my friend's 993 and what I noticed while he was having a PPI done for the new owner who was also along during the purchase.

Shortly after my friend had bought the 1996 993 C2, he had a set of Bilstein struts, roll bars and a factory Porsche short shift kit installed by an Independent Porsche Shop in town. He had ordered and paid for the parts seperately (from Carnewal in Belgium) and the shop charged him a whopping just over $2000 for labour.

Now this is a shop that also tracks Porsches and also does inspections for Porsche DE days. Better wear a flak jacket and run for cover! The main reason why nobody touches my cars and motorcycles.

This shop had no clue what they were doing. All they needed to do is flip the plastic guides 180 degrees that the slide tube sits in within the shift box. So since the metal tunnel cover would no longer fit because it hung low, they took a SAWZALL to it. I got to give them an award. 

By the way, the shop tried to find a used tunnel cover. Amazingly they could not, but the new owner was able to get one without an issue.

Pics are:
1) what the tunnel cover should look like on a 993 (my car).
2) the butchered tunnel cover on my friend's 993.
3) the used replacement tunnel cover the new owner found on-line.

 

 

[sus911]

Same here. Nobody but me.

Was it in QLD?

[Coastr]

Yikes.  ‘Just get it out the door’ mentality 

[IXLR8]

17 hours ago, sus911 said:

Same here. Nobody but me.

Was it in QLD?

I could not be so lucky as to live there. Maybe when Australia lifts their travel ban and soon I hope, I'll be back on the Gold Coast next December.

Nope, the work was performed by an independent shop specializing in Porsches and other German imports in Ottawa, Canada. I knew the owner from decades ago when he would come into the VW dealer I used to work for to buy parts. Then his son took over and eventually moved the shop out of town under a different name. I have had two other Porsche friends who have had terrible experiences at that shop. Funny how all the Rennlist members would praise the shop and some even poo-poo'd my friend when he complained of how his 993 was delivered after servicing (grease on the steering wheel, etc), yet when I posted what they had butchered, all of them went quiet.

I am sure not all the shops or dealers are that bad, but I take pride in the way I work on vehicles (or aircraft) and have an extremely well equipped private shop. Although I trust my dealer and my 991.1 is still on CPO warranty, I'll be fixing the intermittent coolant leak at the plastic coolant pipe between the water pump and thermostat housing. I noted that Porsche redesigned that plastic coolant pipe which I now have along with the associatated rubber O-rings, etc.

Like they say (provided you know what you are doing): if you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself.

[Mike D'Silva]

holy shit!

[IXLR8]

13 hours ago, Mike D'Silva said:

holy shit!

Trust me, if that was my car, someone in that shop would have a tough time getting themselves off the floor after I was done with them. Which is why I do my own maintenance and repairs. I got a short fuse, but luckily for humanity it is soaking wet, most of the time. 😄