Guys who mod their cars, then complain when....

[HardDrive]

I was at the dealership picking up my car today.

When I get there, the service writer is on the phone with a guy, and he is clearly getting his ear talked off. He makes gestures of apology. Finally after like 5 minutes, he basically cuts the guy off and tells him he will call him back.

The person on the phone has a 2007 Cayman. He has tweaked with the car, doing all the work himself, and is clearly not competent. He's removed the O2 sensors in the exhaust system, and chipped the car. He's messed with the vacuum system, and the techs don't quite understand how or why he's done that. He's built some sort of home made power steering fluid cooling unit, and evidently it looks like he bought the hose at Ace Hardware. The exhaust cans have been cut open, and with sloppy welds stitching them back together.

The engine light is on, and its running poorly. Techs get into the exhaust system, and finds the cats are toast.

The kicker? The guy is pissed that Porsche NA won't cover the replacement cost of the cats, for a car that is out of warranty! LOL, WTF?

[Rick V]

I deal with this every single day. Once the customer takes the car from stock, or mods it like that they own it. I am not a PC person when it comes to talking to the people either.

[T77911S]

it also works the other way. i converted my 73 914 to a 6, 2.2e. i new what bettery i needed for the car but...

hi i need a battery for my car, the battery is.....

what year is your car?

its a 73 porsche 914, i need.....

is that a 1.7 or 2.0?

neither. its a 2.2 6. i need....

i dont show a 2.2 6

i know, i put it iin, i need battery (what eevr the type was. dont remember)

oh.

[scottmandue]

Back when I subscribed to Excellence I found it funny (not funny ha ha... almost every issue had an article on this) that the Richy Rich's in SoCal NEEDED to have a car that stood out so they would buy a shiney new 911 off the dealer lot and drive it directly over to one of the many "tuner" shops to have the car hot rodded/customized.

I guess if you have that kind of money to burn tossing the warranty out the window means nothing.

I ashamedly have to admit... those were some pretty bada$$ cars coming out of those shops.

[look 171]

The public will always try to take you for a ride. Get piss and you will get your way.

[cockerpunk]

it works the other way even worse.

my mr2 spyder, bone stock, threw a rod bearing at 30k miles. it has a corrola engine in it for gods sake!

meanwhile, my 140k mile, 30 year old, turbocharged, watercooled, porsche, making 50% more power than it did from the factory ... keeps on pluggin'

[id10t]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Back when I subscribed to Excellence I found it funny (not funny ha ha... almost every issue had an article on this) that the Richy Rich's in SoCal NEEDED to have a car that stood out so they would buy a shiney new 911 off the dealer lot and drive it directly over to one of the many "tuner" shops to have the car hot rodded/customized.

I guess if you have that kind of money to burn tossing the warranty out the window means nothing.

I ashamedly have to admit... those were some pretty bada$$ cars coming out of those shops.

Sounds like me picking up a near NIB 1991 vintage 10/22 with fancy maple stock, and before shooting it sendign the trigger out for work, the bolt out (headspace, polish, extractor/ejector work, pin firing pin), and hte barrel out (set back a hair and recut chamber to match tolerances) before even shooting the darn thing.

Except the difference is in the fact that the mods I'm having done will make it an excellent shooter

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by T77911S

it also works the other way. i converted my 73 914 to a 6, 2.2e. i new what bettery i needed for the car but...

hi i need a battery for my car, the battery is.....

what year is your car?

its a 73 porsche 914, i need.....

is that a 1.7 or 2.0?

neither. its a 2.2 6. i need....

i dont show a 2.2 6

i know, i put it iin, i need battery (what eevr the type was. dont remember)

oh.

I walked in with my old worn out fan belt from a home made vacuum pump that uses a washing machine motor and a old compressor. It works great but every 15 to 20 years it needs a new fanbelt. The kid kept asking what it went on and I told him it was for my Interglacton 2500 space ship. He finally looked up the cross on the fan belt in my hand.

[RWebb]

thx for the laugh and the possibility of using that one later on some kid

sad, but they are doing what they were taught - probably learned the rote responses by working in fast food

[FPB111]

Most likely Porsche could point to the mods and deny with no EPA problems.

http://www.epa.gov/obd/pubs/420f09048.pdf

What Are Specified Major Emission Control Components?
There are three specified major emission control components, covered for the first 8 years or
80,000 miles of vehicle use (whichever first occurs) on 1995 and newer vehicles:
• Catalytic converters
• The electronic emissions control unit or computer (ECU)
• The onboard emissions diagnostic device or computer (OBD)
Catalytic converters are critical emission control components that have been installed on most
cars and trucks manufactured since 1975. Since engines don’t burn fuel completely during the
combustion process, the exhaust contains a significant amount of harmful pollutants such
as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen. The catalytic converter aids the
conversion of these pollutants to less harmful substances such as carbon dioxide, water vapor,
nitrogen, and oxygen before the exhaust is expelled into the environment.

[911SauCy]

I wonder if it turned out as awesome as these

[RANDY P]

The internet gives people some bad ideas...

[Rusty Heap]

back in their early years, RX7's with the high revving rotary motors were being run hard on the tracks, and warranty repairs rebuilding engines replacing motor vanes were rampant till the local dealers caught on.