Warranty Work Courtesy Car...

[Godlysmasko]

So I’m quite annoyed this morning.

Saturday afternoon the gearbox in my three month old 718C stopped working (went limp and wasn’t going into gears and when I did get into gear, it would pop back out into neutral etc) so I called Porsche Assistance. AA came round and checked out the car but there was nothing he could do on the driveway, and my local OPC was closed for the weekend so my car didn’t get picked up and taken to the OPC until yesterday morning. It’s now there under warranty having the gearbox examined/fixed, but I’ve yet to hear back about what the problem may be/how long my car will actually be gone for.

Now, Porsche Assistance claim in their terms and conditions that they will provide a “premium class saloon” as a courtesy car. They use Enterprise for their courtesy cars and so I had Enterprise calling me yesterday. At first, they told me they were sourcing a premium car for me but that they couldn’t get it to me until the next day. Ok, fine, not ideal having to wait a full 24 hours for a courtesy car, but also not the end of the world.

This morning, guess what premium class saloon turned up on my driveway?

A base spec Ford Fiesta.

Now, I do like Fiestas, but I honestly don’t consider it a suitable replacement for a brand new Porsche. I expected a Mercedes or BMW or something. They’re also making me use my own insurance!! I have no idea how long my car will be at the OPC for, but I’m hoping it’ll only be another day or two because I refuse to drive the Fiesta around, and I’m definitely not paying the extortionate admin charges to add the car to my insurance.

I just don’t think it’s fair that I’m paying for a 300hp Porsche yet only driving a 85hp Fiesta that takes 15(!!) seconds to get to 60mph. If it gets to the end of the week and my car is still at the OPC, then I’ll have to eventually leave the house so I’ll be forced to drive that Fiesta, but by that point with my car being unuseable for a week, I’d be expecting a much better replacement. Even the Enterprise guy was complaining about how slow the Fiesta was and that none of the USB sockets in the car works!

Am I being unreasonable? I understand I’ve been provided with a mode of transport, but as I’m no longer able to drive my own brand new car through no fault of my own, I think it’s only fair to be given a reasonable replacement. I’m just a bit gutted about the whole situation to be fair. I work from home so driving isn’t just a way of getting from A to B for me, it’s purely all about my enjoyment of driving which I’m now missing out on.

My plan is to just stay in the house for the next few days (although reluctantly) and leave the Fiesta sitting at the back of the driveway untouched. If I don’t get my own car back by the weekend (one full week of being without it) then would it be reasonable at this point to get in touch with Porsche Assistance again and ask them to provide me with a better car that’s more in line with the same class as my own?

Has anyone else been in this situation? What kind of courtesy cars have you been given in the past? I’ll maybe feel a bit better about this if it turns out being provided Fords in replace of a Porsche is common, as right now I feel a bit hard done by... Between having my car left outside in the customer car park in the rain when I went to collect it a few months ago to now this, my experience with Porsche customer service has been the worst I’ve experienced as car owner!

[is-uk]

I think, from memory, you posted on another thread that you are 20. It looks like this is most likely the issue as Enterprise - like most rental companies - have an age restriction in place. That would explain why they have given you a low rated car in terms of value and insurance grouping but they should have explained this to you as a common courtesy if it is the reason. I would imagine your OPC has the same restrictions in place on loan cars for service etc as their insurers will insist upon it.

https://www.enterprise.co.uk/en/help/faqs/driver-a...

[Twinfan]

Yep, most likely your age is the issue.

[boxsey]

Drive the fiesta. It will get you to and from where you need to go and your own car will feel ballistic when you get it back.

[Godlysmasko]

is-uk said:

I think, from memory, you posted on another thread that you are 20. It looks like this is most likely the issue as Enterprise - like most rental companies - have an age restriction in place. That would explain why they have given you a low rated car in terms of value and insurance grouping but they should have explained this to you as a common courtesy if it is the reason. I would imagine your OPC has the same restrictions in place on loan cars for service etc as their insurers will insist upon it.

https://www.enterprise.co.uk/en/help/faqs/driver-a...

Yeah, I was aware Enterprise don’t rent to under 25s, but even after giving my date of birth on the phone, they still spoke about sourcing a premium car for me and nothing was mentioned about age restrictions at any point until suddenly a cheap car turns up and I’m being told I need to use my own insurance. If they’d told me this on the phone, I would have told them not to bother driving the car the 20 miles over to me in the first place as I don’t want it!

It’s frustrating because I’m old enough to buy their cars but yet Porsche won’t give me the same level of service as they do their other customers. Nothing in their terms and conditions for the warranty/Porsche Assistance mentions any exceptions. It just promised that as a customer they’ll ensure I’m given a premium class courtesy car which I feel they should honour as that’s the agreement I have with them. If Enterprise refuse to provide the type of car Porsche Assistance has stated they’ll give me, then it should be up to Porsche to find another way, otherwise they should have stated exceptions in the T&Cs.

As I said, the poor customer service and the gearbox breaking on a three month old car is seriously making me reconsider buying another Porsche in the future. I was hoping to upgrade to a 718GTS in a few years, but I’m not sure how much I want to deal with Porsche again..

[Godlysmasko]

boxsey said:

Drive the fiesta. It will get you to and from where you need to go and your own car will feel ballistic when you get it back.

As I said, I don’t “need” to go anywhere as I work from home. Driving for me is purely for enjoyment and every day I take the Porsche out for a spin around town or out on twisty country roads for the pure joy of it and as a way to get out of the house during a break from work - there’s not much joy in driving a 1.0L 85hp Fiesta, which means I’m stuck in the house for the foreseeable future because why would I waste money on fuel and insurance costs just to drive something around for absolutely no enjoyment whatsoever?

[red997]

I recently had an E class merc from Assist/Enterprise.
They caught me on a bad day; normally I'd have just got on with using it.
but that day was different; polite email to Porsche GB, couple of exchanges (I did point out that Enterprise rent Ferrari, Lamborghini & Porsche..) and a box fresh new Cayman S turned up at the OPC for me to use until mine is fixed

[5to1]

is-uk said:

I think, from memory, you posted on another thread that you are 20. It looks like this is most likely the issue as Enterprise - like most rental companies - have an age restriction in place.

Would that apply here?

I used to work for a large multinational corporate in my early 20's. Whilst I couldn't rent anything other then a Fiesta directly, through my employers account I got some fantastic cars from our rental partners. Their contract with my employer dictated the terms and that contract stipulated they had to find a car. And often that meant I ended up getting some very expensive metal, as the cheap stuff was already taken.

I'd presume it's Porsches terms that apply here rather then Enterprises own terms for direct customers. The OP's relationship is with Porsche not Enterprise.

[5to1]

Godlysmasko said:

They’re also making me use my own insurance!! I have no idea how long my car will be at the OPC for, but I’m hoping it’ll only be another day or two because I refuse to drive the Fiesta around, and I’m definitely not paying the extortionate admin charges to add the car to my insurance.

Thats quite normal from my experience with other brands. Usually you indemnify or pay for their insurance. Although my BMW dealer has always waived the insurance charge to save me the hassle of adding to my own insurance.

Are you sure your insurance will impose charges? None of mine have ever done so when a courtesy car was involved, particularly when its of much lower value then my own car.

[boxsey]

Godlysmasko said:

boxsey said:

Drive the fiesta. It will get you to and from where you need to go and your own car will feel ballistic when you get it back.

As I said, I don’t “need” to go anywhere as I work from home. Driving for me is purely for enjoyment and every day I take the Porsche out for a spin around town or out on twisty country roads for the pure joy of it and as a way to get out of the house during a break from work - there’s not much joy in driving a 1.0L 85hp Fiesta, which means I’m stuck in the house for the foreseeable future because why would I waste money on fuel and insurance costs just to drive something around for absolutely no enjoyment whatsoever?

Sorry, I had assumed you needed the transport to go to work. I agree you wouldn't want it to go out for the enjoyment of a country drive. Saying that, my OPC have their own courtesy cars. The two that they've given me were a merc and a jag. I only needed them for commuting. Both were as dull as dish water to drive so I wouldn't have considered them of any use for doing an enjoyable drive either. Sounds like you need them to supply a like for like replacement from their demo fleet rather than what Enterprise might be able to give you.

[SL550M]

OP. Sounds pretty shabby to me. If it makes you feel any better (probably not) I was given a Fiesta when my Ferrari 550 Maranello was in at the main dealer for it's annual service. I was 43 at the time!

[5to1]

boxsey said:

Godlysmasko said:

boxsey said:

Drive the fiesta. It will get you to and from where you need to go and your own car will feel ballistic when you get it back.

As I said, I don’t “need” to go anywhere as I work from home. Driving for me is purely for enjoyment and every day I take the Porsche out for a spin around town or out on twisty country roads for the pure joy of it and as a way to get out of the house during a break from work - there’s not much joy in driving a 1.0L 85hp Fiesta, which means I’m stuck in the house for the foreseeable future because why would I waste money on fuel and insurance costs just to drive something around for absolutely no enjoyment whatsoever?

Sorry, I had assumed you needed the transport to go to work. I agree you wouldn't want it to go out for the enjoyment of a country drive.

I don't know, I remember some of my hire car drives quite fondly. The Ford Focus has a special place in my heart for that very reason

[boxsey]

5to1 said:

I don't know, I remember some of my hire car drives quite fondly. The Ford Focus has a special place in my heart for that very reason

I can also agree with that as I too had some really fun drives in a 1.4 puma that we had back in the day before Porsches arrived.

[Godlysmasko]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Exactly. I’m about to call up Porsche Assistance just now to ask if they can provide me with an actual premium car, and if they can’t, then I’m asking them to send Enterprise to come collect the Fiesta off my driveway as I’m definitely not paying to insure myself on such a boring car. It’s in the most horrific colour too..

I’ll survive a few more days being trapped in the house, and hopefully I’ll have my own car back by the end of the week.

[s999sws]

This really sounds like it's a First World problem. You're only twenty years old, yet you're beating yourself up by worrying about losing a few days of driving. You've got your whole life ahead of you. When you get the car back, and you will, then you'll really be able to enjoy it. I'm not trying to have a go at you, I don't know you, but my advice is to just "chill" .
Hope you get the car back soon, but life's too short to make yourself ill over something like this.
Again, no offence meant and I hope you take my comments without getting too upset .
Cheers
Steve ws

[Godlysmasko]

Just spoke with Porsche Assistance and explained that the car I got wasn’t a premium car like I’d been told I was getting and also that I was being made to pay for my own insurance, and that none of this had been explained to me prior to the Fiesta turning up on my driveway and that I wanted it gone ASAP as I definitely wasn’t going to pay out of my own pocket to drive it while my own car was off the road through no fault of my own.

Also spoken to my OPC who’ve had my car for two full days and have yet to even look at it yet to identify the problem... Still hoping it’s a quick fix though and that I’ll have it back by the weekend!

[Godlysmasko]

s999sws said:

This really sounds like it's a First World problem. You're only twenty years old, yet you're beating yourself up by worrying about losing a few days of driving. You've got your whole life ahead of you. When you get the car back, and you will, then you'll really be able to enjoy it. I'm not trying to have a go at you, I don't know you, but my advice is to just "chill" .
Hope you get the car back soon, but life's too short to make yourself ill over something like this.
Again, no offence meant and I hope you take my comments without getting too upset .
Cheers
Steve ws

No offence taken! The Fiesta isn’t the end of the world, it’s more just frustrating that the Porsche Assistance policy states that they’ll provide me with a premium car that’s fully insured and I’ve received neither It just feels unfair to me as they aren’t honouring that, and there’s no way I was paying money out of my own pocket to insure myself on the car, so I’ve sent it back! I’ll just make do with binge watching TV series all week.

[chasethesun]

Good lad for getting yourself a Porsche at 20.

If you don't feel you've had appropriate service, a polite email to your salesman seems reasonable before escalating. You've spent a lot of money, and deserve commensurate service regardless of your age.

[s999sws]

I'm glad that in your response to my post, you appear to be taking it a bit more stoicly. That's good, and I'm sure that when you are reunited to your pride and joy, you'll really appreciate it. If you've got the time now, Breaking Bad on Netflix will keep your mind occupied.
All the best
Steve WS

[pete.g]

chasethesun said:

Good lad for getting yourself a Porsche at 20.

If you don't feel you've had appropriate service, a polite email to your salesman seems reasonable before escalating. You've spent a lot of money, and deserve commensurate service regardless of your age.

I believe that using modern terminology, the OP identifies as female . . .