Why did Porsche want interactive parts diagrams removed?

[Mitch Leland]

When I bought my car I went with a parts list in hand to the local dealer. (B4 PP) The parts manager didn't have a clue to the car or parts. I might as well been ordering parts for a Nash Rambler... What parts he did order were weeks in delivery with no intervening follow up. Maybe it was only this dealer, but I wouldn't buy a car from those guys if my life was dependent upon it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Buying a new car (even a Porsche) has little appeal to me. The depreciation hit alone is enough for me to say "no thanks" but beyond that I consider myself an enthusiast. I like understanding what I'm driving because I'm passionate about it. I like getting into the nuts and bolts of it a bit and seeing how things go together. A "new" car completely destroys that. Everything is there in a package, all done for you. No challenge, no real interest. Sure it's fun to drive but ultimately at that point it's just a "pay to play" deal. I think it's more fun/interesting to take something cheap (okay well maybe not "cheap" but maybe "less expensive") and earn your right to drive/enjoy it through your investment, upkeep, passion, sacrifice, time and effort.

I have this problem with my M.B. . . I bought it complete, in great condition, working and with no issues. For the first six months all I did was wash it, put gas in it and that's it. I had no friggin' clue the thing was even twin-plugged until much later. I had no idea it used a 3-valve-per-cylinder arrangement - and why - until later. I had no idea how the roof mechanism worked exactly. I just drove it. The driving was fun, but there was something missing. It's only after I had a chance to get my hands on it a bit (oil change, 60k mile service, etc.) that I really felt that it was "mine". I sort of "get" the car now and I appreciate it more. I find that the more I understand something, the more I enjoy the experience of what it does in return.

I don't ever want to be one of those guys that just pays for everything. If I break down on the side of the road, I want to be the guy who can figure it out and get myself home because of my knowledge and smarts, not simply say "call AAA" (or worse and more obnoxious still, "push the OnStar button"). There's a complete difference in mentality. Automakers/dealers do NOT get this. They expect every customer these days to be a soft, flabby, boring wallet with feet, not a person who wants and NEEDS to understand the product.

That's the difference in my mind. Any idiot with a fat wallet can write a check, show up at a PCA autoX and pretend to be a race car driver. I prefer to associate with the ones who obsess over their cars, keep them up, tune them themselves in their own garages in the dead of night, etc. Those people are more interesting and to me, that's something that CAN'T be substituted with a six-figure check. Maybe to Porsche it is, but not to me.

[Aerkuld]

Wayne - Is there a particular person or department at PCNA that we could all e-mail?
I'd think that a couple of hundered e-mails saying;

"The integrated parts diagram/ordering system has proved invaluable in finding essential spare parts and keeping my classic 911/944 etc on the road. Please could you allow Pelican Parts to use this on their web site?" would do something.

Personally the nearest Porsche dealer is a good 1 or 2 hour drive from my house and it would be a pain in the arse to have to do that everytime I need a part. There are people that rely on the kind of service you offer to keep there cars running.

We need to plead with Porsche not to force us to buy 'ordinary' cars!

[novadia]

Aerkuld, that is a great idea. I am 28 and the Porsche world is new to me so I don't always recognize parts and their location as well as seasoned owners. I used the interactive parts diagrams to do every project big & small. This solutions was essential and its loss means I have one less tool to look for help. I would be the first to send an email to PGA and request that it be allowed.

Wayne you & this website are amazing and the convincing force in getting me into my 69' T.
Thank you for everything.

[Fritz Peyerl]

I think Porsche is pissed off, because a non Porsche person/company managed
to develop a better system and it did not come out of their square head.
I had to deal with German manuals and parts list for many years and it always was a disaster.
The best part was that they finally admitted that they out source the manual writing and drafting to an Dutch company.
Germans might know how to built stuff, but to have backup technical data
is another matter.

[ras911]

Wayne
Maybe you could allow them to use the Wayne Dempsey package for a small royalty fee!!

Glad to see the diagrams are still on the Por-sha site, but sorry your work is for naught.

[85eurocarrera]

So I walk into my local dealership to pick up a cone set screw for my re-bushed shift coupler the other day. I didn't realize my cone screw was toast till after my pelican order was here. Luckily they had some in stock.

As soon as I set my coupler on the parts counter, the parts manager spouts: "Porsche does not sell bushings, you need to buy the whole coupler." I said "really, what do you think about these? Do they need replacing? He says "Oh those are after market, Porsche is concerned that you wont get your alignment right with those." WTF? I say, " you still have to remove coupler from shift rod either way, right?" Silence, as he turns around and heads into the backroom. Luckily a younger, more enthusiastic parts guy rings me up and I am out of there!

Sorry for straying off topic, had to vent.

[Jesset100]

If they keep this up I'll have one of these in my garage

and selling an 82SC!!
Their were two cars I wanted while growing up a Porsche 911 and a 1966 Chevelle, well I did the Porsche thing, next!

[Aurel]

Wayne,

I was wondering if you could find a way to slip your interactive parts diagram software on a CD in my next parts order, huh huh...of course, this would stay between us .

Aurel

[911Urge]

Originally Posted by Aurel

Wayne,

I was wondering if you could find a way to slip your interactive parts diagram software on a CD in my next parts order, huh huh...of course, this would stay between us .

Aurel

Ummm - I second that and would pay a small registration fee to Pelican as a "special member".

[Jim727]

I really wish I could say this surprises me. Unfortunately, any time you replace the person who is enthusiastic about their product with someone (or a committee) that is enthusiastic about the money, then the product soon deteriorates. Pick an industry - any industry - and that holds true.

Personally, I think Porsche wants older cars to be in museums, not our garages. In spite of the money and PR that went into "Classic Porsche". An enthusiast would be proud of the 40-year old cars on the road; the bean counter sees a new car that is not being sold - er, leased. The car business is following in the path of consumer electronics with a pre-determined service life to be replaced with a new unit. Don't repair, replace. Don't buy, lease. PoP is right, the consumer is viewed as a wallet with feet, and posers provide the same cash value to corporate as does an enthusiast - probably more, as the posers need new-and-cool to survive.

I've been a Porsche nut for a long time partly because it was an enthusiast community with pride in the product. I've had the good fortune to meet some of the family, but unfortunately, the family is little but marketing points to the current management and my enthusiasm for the marque is waning in proportion to their hostility toward their heritage.

I don't know if this is a problem that can be fixed.

Jim

[porsche4life]

The diagrams worked for me yesterday and were all improved looking. Whats the deal Wayne. Did'ya get something worked out?

[charleskieffner]

after reading these i had to comment . first have you noticed how all new porsche dealerships are built the same. even their toy model of a dealership is the same as the one on snobbsdale rd. south of me which penske owns. penske auto gruppe.

since i have an "in" there i can say he stated porsche doesnt really give damn about older cars. the vast majority of my 1987 parts i have ordered came from stoddard. about 1/2 % ordered he had on the shelf. items that covered multi years/models. example cig lighter or some other goofy item that multiple models used.

this works the same at rover whom i deal with. they want nothing to do with a 1995 range rover county lwb POS! dont stock parts dont want to work on it.

funny i can get any damn part i want for my 1976 chevy all day long at chevrolet!!! go figure???

corporate mentalities amaze me. i would make the perfect corp. raider by slashing the throats of these mental midgets in the name of quality service/mfg./ and sales. a buck is a buck.

example: i am installing qwest DSL and direct TV as i write. my son is at home. i have fought with this since 5pm yesterday when my service started as per their verbal on phone and document w/modem. after umpteen dropped cell calls, upstairs phone dead,talking to foreign individuals that need english a first language badly, sounded like they had a mouth full of POO! more dropped calls............i find out i am dealing with qwest in ******* manilia, philiphines on a undersea phone line. needless to say my recorded for training purposes phone call didnt go well for them as far as quick positive customer service and a solution to the problems.

now thats ******* progress!

outsource pelican to some offshore country where they speak english w/POO IN THEIR MOUTHS will gurrantee i buy elsewhere! arrrrgggghhhhh! corp. u.s. is screwing themselves time and time again! let alone offshore corp's that do biz here!

[teenerted1]

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

funny i can get any damn part i want for my 1976 Chevy all day long at Chevrolet!!! go figure???


now thats ******* progress!

you just answered your own question.

how can you move ahead if you keep stock piles of the old stuff? there are plenty of aftermarket companies and small mfg that make what you might need. more domestic cars sold so more parts still around. some of those 1976 parts might be re-manufactured or refurbished. how much NOS does that Chevy dealer really have? do you really expect a company to waste the overhead to stock every part they have produced for the last 30years? especially when if you add up all the cars Porsche sold in 1976 its possible that wouldn't equal the number of a certain model Chevy sold ...not to mention the similar format so many domestic cars share.

now i don't like that the parts diagrams are being limited.

[911pcars]

"Is it illegal if the images in question are redrawn?

I'd be willing to lend some time reconstructing some of the images in AutoCAD or whatever if it's any help."

There's nothing preventing someone from redrawing an illustration or tweaking it so it looks slightly different. It just can't be an exact copy. There's a lot of leeway to create a "new" drawing from an existing one and much easier than starting from scratch. However, how many parts are there in a 911? Plenty. If someone has the time and/or budget, it's possible to attempt to redraw the parts shown in PET.

Sherwood