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The French Blatting Company

 Porsche 996 Turbo

On 11th August 2022 I part exchanged the Elise for a Porsche 996 Turbo. I had to face facts, at 75 and with artheritis I was finding it very difficult getting in/out of the Elise. The other problem was Lynne wouldn't get in the Elise. She is very happy with the Porsche, easy entry/exit and comfortable. She can also see out of the car, which she couldn't in the Elise!

Had the car two days now and I'm getting to like it. It may have the same 0-60 time as the Elise but I guess the 60-90 time is about 3 seconds!

 A happy wife.

Over the next few months I had to get this car sorted. It may be 18 years old but had 49800 miles on the clock, which is less than 3000 mile per annum. The 996 engine and gearbox are good for 150,000 miles (as long as the engine oil and filter are changed regulartly).

First fault was the oil pressure sender unit failed and this was changed by Revolution Porsche in Birstall, Leeds. Then the battery went flat so I fitted a new battery. Next up was a water pump failure which is common at 50,000 miles. This is an engine out job so wasn't cheap at £860. All these were under warranty.

I asked Dan at Revolution to give me a report on the underside of the car. He came up with worn top buses, rubber bushes deteriorating on the track rod arms, surface rust on the brake pipes and signs of a leak on the aircon pipe. They also noted that one rear tyre had a nail in it and the rear tyres were down to 2mm. I had two new rear tyres fitted at £640! I put in a claim for the suspension which was rejected. I rang the selling dealer to insist they paid for the suspension work and to point out that I hadn't been reimbursed for the warranty work. They asked if they could inspect the car to ascertain how bad the suspension was. I was happy to let them inspect but not happy if they wanted to do the work. Whilst I was waiting in their showroom the sales director came up and said he was very surprised at the mileage I'd done, that this was a classic car and shouldn't be used as much. I pointed out that was nonsense and cars were meant to be used, no matter what age. When I took delivery I was assured that car had been through their workshop but on arriving home I found the front tyre pressures were 2.0 bar on one side and 3.0 bar on the other instead of 2.5 bar and the rear were at 2.8bar instead of 3.0 bar. The engine needed 1 litre of oil, the power steering fluid wasn't registiring on the dipstick, the washer bottle was empty and the coolant needed topping up. If the car had been through their workshop I didn't think much of their skills! They looked at the car and said it was fine, pointed out it was an 18 year old car and couldn't be expected to be perfect (even though their description on the web site said it "was a perfect example of the model"). They claimed to be experts but hadn't noticed the oil pressure sender unit was faulty, reading a maximum of 5 bar all the time.

I took the car back to Revolution and asked them to give me a report on the suspension, they actually made a video of it which I duly sent to the selling dealer. I then rang them and pointed out that I hadn't been paid for the 3 warranty jobs. After several calls I informed them that if I hadn't been paid in 7 days I would issue a county court summons and was told to do so and they would rigoriously defend it.

So I drew up a plaint using the text from the web site video as evidence of the delear claiming is was "perfect example". I also took the oppurtunity to claim for the suspension and two rear tyres (well why not). At first they repeated that I wouldn't win as the car was 18 years old and couldn't be expected to be perfect. They asked for a copy of the plaint so they could send it to their solicitors to prepare the defence. Two days later they rang me and their attitude had reversed. They really wanted to settle the matter out of court etc. I guessed their solicitors had told them I was going to win due to their claim about a perfect example. They then rang Danny at Revoluton and came back syaing they would pay for the top bushed but not the track control arms as Danny had confirmed there was no wear in the bushes only the edges had broken up with age. We setteld on them paying for the 3 warranty jobs, one of the tyres and the top bushes (to be done by Revolution). Revolution have painted the brake pipes with POR15 anti rust pain and replaced a side light bulb as well as changing oil and filter for the second time.

Danny will inspect the track control arms on the next service and decide if thay need replacing. If he says they do I'll get him to do it.

In the meantime I've now done 9000 miles in 6 months, the car is now as good as it can be. I've fitted new carpet mats and have dark blue hood dye to apply when the weather gets warmer.

Today, 7th March 2023, I had the wheels painted matt black. I thought I had a buckled wheel but it would appear the balance weights had fallen off. Never mind I've now got black wheels and I like them.