I bought a US car 2mths ago. Essentially I just got it here and started tracking it. However now I have a PS issue so I have to visit a dealer. I was on my way from Ottawa to Tremblant when the steering started to moan again (I had topped it up Friday when I first heard it groaning but that was after 10-11 track days so I thought/hoped it was due to evaporation). I bailed on the DE and headed to Montreal as it is closer and there are 2-3 dealers here. I sit down at service and they put in the VIN# and see it is a US originated car. They say I have to pay them $400 for a "Confirmation of Imported Vehicles" inspection. I suggest nicely that that should not be necessary as the warranty is North American wide not country specific. I call Porsche Canada (no one there) then PCNA. PCNA says the dealer can do whatever they want, ie they don't have to provide warranty service to me if they don't want to. WTF? So being between a rock and a hard place I paid in the hopes that the car gets fixed so I can head back to Tremblant to do day 2 & 3 of the DE.

How do I get this unnecessary charge reversed? Has anyone else had success in getting around this?



Chris

Here's a similiar situation that I am aware of. I bought a Honda S200 in December 1999 - at that time Canadians were buying US S2000s and bringing them into Canada. Honda of Canada specifically excluded from warranty coverage US market cars that were imported into the US by Honda USA - so the US warranty could only be claimed at a US dealer.

Porsche NA says this in the "Warranty and Customer Information
Model Year 2008" handbook

Warranty Outside the U.S.
If your car is taken to an authorized Porsche automobile dealer outside
the U.S., Porsche Cars N.A.’s warranty will not be applicable and defective
parts will be repaired or replaced only within the terms and limitations
of the warranty for new Porsche vehicles for your model year in
effect in the country where such authorized Porsche automobile dealers
are located.

So is the Canadian Porsche warranty different from the US warranty?

First time I heard of such BS. Chris, pm me the dealer name if you don't want to post publicly. I will try to stay away from them.

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So what would be the outcome if you were closer to a U.S. dealership? the warranty work would have been done regardless of Canadian ownership?

Not sure about 2008s. For MY2007 the warranty is NA wide. This is just a nuisance fee imo. She couldn't/wouldn't even tell me what they were going to do for their $400 or nearly 4hrs of shop rate time. All I seem to be able to do is take solace in the $15,000+ I saved by getting a US car. But it is the principal, what did they do to earn their $400.

Chris:

I am about to purchase a Cayman S in the US and can only imagine how angry you must be feeling about this outrageous charge for a fictitious "inspection". I am very upset that any reputable Porsche dealer in Canada would do such a thing. These types of onorous levies can only be classified as malicious and fraudulant since no ligitimate business justification exists. I was told by the dealer in Ottawa last week when I checked with him about buying a Cayman in the US that all remaining US warranty would be honoured by them for my US bought car, but they would not provide "goodwill" warranty after the warranty expired. But he did say they charged a flat fee of $600 to "Canadianize" the car such as installing relay for activating the daytime running lights, and kilometers readouts in the instrument displays.

Definitely, I would write to Porsche Canada and file a complaint against the Montreal dealer, and request the charge be reversed. I am assuming your car has already been Canadianized and registered in Ontario, and would certainly not require any "Confirmation of Imported Vehicles".

I would very much like to hear from you (could you PM me) regarding your US purchase experience, including the recall clearance letter, customs, inspections, etc.

Wish you the best, and keep us posted.

cs-slik

$600 for Canadianizing is b.s. as well, first there are no relays to deal with for your DTRL'S, they plug in their portable work station, a lap top, right under the steering column and in two minutes or less the DTRL'S are configured. Klm's can be switched back and forth from mph to klm with the OBC. I WATCHED THEM DO IT, then got shown by the sales guy. Unless I am sadly mistaken, you can do that one yourself withthe paddle. Was my understanding that it's standard equip. on all N.American cars, only diff between the two is the instrument cluster, one metric for the nucks up to 300klm/phr and mine(US car) in mph....going to check to see that I can flip back to mph, postive I can, as I played with it on the way home from purchasing it, bottom line, I talked to PNA about me buying a U.S. car in Feb. and specifically asked about the warranty in Canada, was told no problem. Shitty of them not to back up their words........

I paid the US dealer $85 to switch on the DRLs after they had done a PPI for me. They also did the MPH to KPH switchover but that is nothing as you can do it yourself on board.

As for RIV etc etc I paid to have the car shipped and import certified. It was super simple. And even though I am not thrilled with the nuisance charge for the warranty switchover looking at a $95000 2008 PDE CS in the showroom (essentially my car with some Alcantara and painted bits less Sport Chrono) I felt pretty smug about how much money I had saved.

Chris

Ever since Porsche Canada split off from its parent PCNA earlier this year, there is friction coming from Canadian Porsche dealers towards customers buying US origin Porsches.

I had the US dealer do the oil change service which was due and complete the outstanding rubber bumpers recall, after which they simply hooked up their computer and turned on the DRLs and the miles-to-kilometers switchover at no extra charge. They even washed the car and gave me a new Cayman S loaner car, all at no extra charge!

I am only waiting for the recall clearance letter, which seems to be taking a bit longer than expected.

I am lucky enough to live close to that US dealer in MI, so will have all my service work performed there. Porsche Canada dealers seem to not be very customer friendly.

cs-slik