I’ve spent the last two weeks waiting for Porsche North America to send a more detailed communication to the 190 US car buyers caught up in the engine recall I detailed in my last post. I’ve done lots of speculating and commiserating with other impacted folks on various forums, going through what-if scenarios and trying to decide what it would take for me to want to just walk away from the deal.

Porsche had committed to a second email with clarity two weeks from the first email which left me expecting something by Saturday at the latest. Those Germans are so precise…it was two weeks almost to the minute. I woke up early on Saturday and picked up my phone to see if anything had come through. There it was, an email titled “Important: Updated Information Regarding Your Porsche”. I was a little afraid to open it. Not after reading it. I was pleasantly surprised to see how comprehensive the communication was. They had specifics for the fix, compensation details and the timeline all nailed down. Here’s the summary:

• A new factory built engine. All fears of a rebuilt engine are gone, Porsche will be building new engines in the factory and shipping them to be swapped at the dealership. It’s pretty common to have to remove a Porsche engine to work on it so I’m not worried about this job being done well. Phew…dodged a bullet.
• Certificate of engine exchange to show it is a matching original engine provided new with the car by Porsche.
• 8 year warranty for the engine (an extension of 4 years). This was a bonus I didn’t expect and certainly helps with peace of mind.
• $4k discount on this Porsche or another.
• $1k voucher for a Porsche Experience Center or Porsche Track Experience Day.

The downside is still the delay in getting my car. I should be driving it home next week but Porsche will be doing these engine swaps between June and September. Given COVID, chip shortages and supply disruptions, I have no reason to complain, they are moving as fast as they can. They are working in order of original planned delivery so I’m not sure where mine will land yet. I’ll likely miss most of the driving season this year but I still feel like Porsche has gone above and beyond to make up for the mistake. This is a great example of a customer first approach because they didn’t have to do anything other than apologize for the delay and fix the cars. I don’t know of any other car manufacturer that would be taking such a customer friendly approach. Thanks Porsche…now get me my damn car!!