Is this normal??

[aceparts_com]

My 964 engine rebuild took only ten days, but then I did do it myself.... and with a little help from a friend.

[domster]

You busy next week?

[aceparts_com]

it did still leak oil though......

[simonharrod911]

In my experience any significant work on a 911 requires another car. Give the specialist the keys and wait for them to call you. Saves the stress, they're ALL the same. The most important thing is the quality of the work.

One point in their defence is that Porsche parts availability does seem to be on a different planet to other manufacturers.

[popov123]

Perhaps you could ask your 'specialist' whether they are going to be happy for you to pay them in dribs and drabs over the same period of time that it took them to do the work. Im sure the response is likely to be unfavourable.

I agree you have to concentrate on the quality of the work - but surely a well run, quality outfit should make the necessary provisions to be able to handle the work that it has taken on. I would be doing my nut in your situation!

Difficult thought isnt it, its always in the back of your mind that they might just 'forget' to tighten something up if you ps them off too much.

Good luck, im sure it will be amazing fun when you do finally get it back!

[330Clubsport]

(2) Verbal contracts are just as binding as a written one.

Don't fall for it.

[aasc]

My experience (plus other 911 owners I know) has been along these lines. But it's always been a fixed-price type contract & although I miss the car it's ultimately not been too bad to have time estimates triple in time. The upside is that the work is done to a very high quality and there's never been any issues with the work done. Unlike some grim experiences at "big name" dealerships.

Currently have my 968 in for belts/chains/suspension/clutch - if this was my only car I'd be more than upset at this lot taking more than two days, however it;s being worked on by a true expert & I don't mind this work effectively taking a week.

[oldtimer]

Hi Porschetastic, the answer to your question is...yes ! ( base on some experience )
Your 993 is better off in someones garage than out on the road this time of year anyway, and if its relevant to performance testing the track season is about over till March . Just relax and be nice to the Specialist and dont aggravate them too much. The important matter will be if you are satisfied with the result of the upgrade , you may want some goodwill left in the equation at that time

[Porschetastic]

oldtimer said:

Hi Porschetastic, the answer to your question is...yes ! ( base on some experience ) Your 993 is better off in someones garage than out on the road this time of year anyway, and if its relevant to performance testing the track season is about over till March . Just relax and be nice to the Specialist and dont aggravate them too much. The important matter will be if you are satisfied with the result of the upgrade , you may want some goodwill left in the equation at that time

I take your point, but I feel that this is just "the British way" i.e. don't complain or you might rock the boat. All customers have the right to expect (and be given) decent customer service. If we don't complain, nothing will change and we'll all lose out.

As for the Specialist in question, he has also lost out. I know of at least two potential customers who have decided not to give him any business after hearing about my experience. On top of that, I had planned to try and get a feature in GT Purely Porsche magazine (even had someone in the trade lined up to broker a discussion with them). This would have given the Specialist some really powerful free marketing, but there is no way I would do this now - although I might consider running a story without mentioning who did the work. I guess the reporter will want to know who and why. Come to think of it, that would be even worse - yeh, yeh, love the car but don't want to mention who carried out the work as their customer service was so bad................

[Porschetastic]

Well, 7 months on and I still don't have my baby back. Was supposed to take 6 weeks, but I still don't have a completion date.

Went to see the specialist the other week and they were very apologetic and embarrassed, although I'm still no closer to getting my car. What really annoys me is the fact that they are taking on new jobs that are delaying mine! Was told that the guy fabricating the exhaust had been held up because he was working on another car that had come in with gearbox problems! Well, excuse me, I've been waiting forever -why should I be suffering even more???

My patience has now worn out, so it's time to talk to the company lawyer, me thinks. That said, I just want to be a satisfied customer, but the garage appears to be going out of its way to piXX me off. Why can't they just agree a completion date and give me a discount off the cost for the ridiculous delay??

Sorry for the ramblings, but if I hadn't written this post, I would probably have gone and smashed something.

Dave

[granville]

Dave, yhm.

[dazren]

Derestrictor. Good to see you're on the case. YHM.

DAZ

[Porschetastic]

DeR,

Thanks for your input. I will wait to see if I get a response from the Specialist in question, to my recent e-mail. If not, I will have no other option but to go down the legal route - sad, but necessary!!