Porsche pre-owned warranty voided when bought from garage?
Discussion
jollyjeff123 said:
I bought a Porsche Cayman 2019 from an independent used car sales garage and they sold it as coming with a pre owned Porsche warranty with about 14 months left on it. When I bought the car I did a warranty transfer to me which seemed to be fine.
An engine light came on today saying engine control fault contact dealer. It says drive on and is amber.
I contacted a Porsche centre to get it looked and they mentioned if a car is bought from a independent dealer / used car sales garage that it voids the preowned warranty?
Has anyone had any experience with this?
Many thanks
Did you buy from the "independent used car sales garage" or was the car actually SOR, being sold on behalf of a private owner ?An engine light came on today saying engine control fault contact dealer. It says drive on and is amber.
I contacted a Porsche centre to get it looked and they mentioned if a car is bought from a independent dealer / used car sales garage that it voids the preowned warranty?
Has anyone had any experience with this?
Many thanks
996Targa said:
I think that if you were buying from the previous owner (SOR) then the warranty is valid. If you were buying from an independent garage, then no.
My loose understanding is that if you buy from an independent and there is a period of unexpired warranty, you need to contact Porsche to get the warranty transferred to your name and registered to you. That’s what I have managed to do in the past. It’s not that the sale voids the warranty - it is that the warranty is an insurance product and the policy holder is the owner who traded the car in. The policy terms say whether it can be transferred from one person to another though.
It’s not the simplest thing to get done, no doubt by design, but it is doable.
Edited by BlackTails on Tuesday 27th August 20:20
In my motor trade experience a warranty, other than manufacturers, was always void once the car was sold on by a dealer, it's normally in the small print.
As you transferred it yourself, which was the usual way around the issue, how was the Porsche dealer aware where you'd bought the car or was it just a general conversation, best keep quiet.
As you transferred it yourself, which was the usual way around the issue, how was the Porsche dealer aware where you'd bought the car or was it just a general conversation, best keep quiet.
@jollyjeff123, are you definitely talking about a Porsche pre-owned warranty, and not a Porsche extended warranty? They are slightly different things from one another, and so I think might be treated differently when cars are sold.
The Porsche warranty that I've been extending on my 981 GT4 is definitely transferrable. It's in the "large print", so I'm not sure any amount of small print can change that. The car is actually going for SOR at an OPC soon, and they have confirmed that the remainder of the extended warranty will pass to the next owner. Whether that could be done by an indie is a moot point for me, but I'd hope there would be a way. After all, I paid for a transferrable warranty, so would want some of my money back if I couldn't transfer the remainder.
Pre-owned warranty from an OPC is taken out by that OPC, rather than the new owner. I'm not sure how it would be in their interest not to write the small print to try to keep it in the official network at the next sale if there was any balance on that warranty.
@Whistle, I've only ever bought Porsches from OPC. However 2017 onwards 718 GTSs means you'll be really limiting the field of cars you have to choose from if you don't look at indies and private sales as well. If you can afford to buy a car from the "official" network, and keep it under warranty and maintained within it, life generally feels simpler.
That simplicity and reduction of risk isn't without cost. I've probably gone some way towards breaking even by staying with Porsche, and extending the warranty a couple of times for the oldest of mine. However that was only because it suffered a slightly unusual air-con failure that involved substantial parts and labour costs earlier this year. It did mean that I'd dripped the money out over the last 5 years or so, rather than getting hit with a big bill all in one go. Given the parts and repair costs for the cars, it's worth it to me.
Liam
The Porsche warranty that I've been extending on my 981 GT4 is definitely transferrable. It's in the "large print", so I'm not sure any amount of small print can change that. The car is actually going for SOR at an OPC soon, and they have confirmed that the remainder of the extended warranty will pass to the next owner. Whether that could be done by an indie is a moot point for me, but I'd hope there would be a way. After all, I paid for a transferrable warranty, so would want some of my money back if I couldn't transfer the remainder.
Pre-owned warranty from an OPC is taken out by that OPC, rather than the new owner. I'm not sure how it would be in their interest not to write the small print to try to keep it in the official network at the next sale if there was any balance on that warranty.
@Whistle, I've only ever bought Porsches from OPC. However 2017 onwards 718 GTSs means you'll be really limiting the field of cars you have to choose from if you don't look at indies and private sales as well. If you can afford to buy a car from the "official" network, and keep it under warranty and maintained within it, life generally feels simpler.
That simplicity and reduction of risk isn't without cost. I've probably gone some way towards breaking even by staying with Porsche, and extending the warranty a couple of times for the oldest of mine. However that was only because it suffered a slightly unusual air-con failure that involved substantial parts and labour costs earlier this year. It did mean that I'd dripped the money out over the last 5 years or so, rather than getting hit with a big bill all in one go. Given the parts and repair costs for the cars, it's worth it to me.
Liam
For the extended warranty, if you read the small print it clearly says that it can only be transferred within a private sale. There is a page in the paperwork the seller can sign to transfer it to you from memory.
Non OPCs cannot transfer it. I see so many adverts from back yard dealers advertising Porsche warranty when clearly is not valid. You may get away with it, you may not.
Non OPCs cannot transfer it. I see so many adverts from back yard dealers advertising Porsche warranty when clearly is not valid. You may get away with it, you may not.
Quite common for even well known indies to advertise cars with some balance of extended warranty despite is clearly contradicting the policy terms. Spoke to one once and the car wasn't SOR and to paraphrase was told that it was "no problem getting round that."
Of course, in the event of a big claim, you'd suddenly be very nervous. It's absolutely clear in the Ts and Cs that the warranty cannot be passed on via a trade sale. Who knows what steps Porsche does or doesn't take to verify.
Years ago I bought a Porsche privately and transferred the balance of the extended warranty to my name after purchase. I then later used that warranty without having renewed it to make a big claim for a replacement engine and it went through fine. I was not asked how I bought the car but obviously I have no idea if any background checks were done.
Personally, unless I was buying SOR and paying directly to the private owner rather than the dealer, I would not assume the warranty would hold up in the event of a big claim. You could ask the dealer to back the car in writing for the period of the warranty in the event a claim was denied, but I suspect their story would suddenly go from, "oh it's totally fine, you'll have no problem claiming" to something quite different if you asked for that!
Of course, in the event of a big claim, you'd suddenly be very nervous. It's absolutely clear in the Ts and Cs that the warranty cannot be passed on via a trade sale. Who knows what steps Porsche does or doesn't take to verify.
Years ago I bought a Porsche privately and transferred the balance of the extended warranty to my name after purchase. I then later used that warranty without having renewed it to make a big claim for a replacement engine and it went through fine. I was not asked how I bought the car but obviously I have no idea if any background checks were done.
Personally, unless I was buying SOR and paying directly to the private owner rather than the dealer, I would not assume the warranty would hold up in the event of a big claim. You could ask the dealer to back the car in writing for the period of the warranty in the event a claim was denied, but I suspect their story would suddenly go from, "oh it's totally fine, you'll have no problem claiming" to something quite different if you asked for that!
jollyjeff123 said:
I contacted a Porsche centre to get it looked and they mentioned if a car is bought from a independent dealer / used car sales garage that it voids the preowned warranty?
Has anyone had any experience with this?
Many thanks
The simple answer is if they know where you bought the car, the warranty is definitely void, it's clearly against the policy terms. Did they bring it up? Or did you ask them?Has anyone had any experience with this?
Many thanks
Tbh, if you wanted to chance it, probably better not to post about it on here in terms of plausible deniability and insurance fraud. I am sure there are lots of people who have bought Porsches from dealers and had the warranty transferred and don't actually know that it's all clearly contradicting the terms of the policy.
It's pretty sharp practice by dealers, but even some of the best known with the very best reputations do it. Which tells you all you need to know about car dealers!
Bought mine from a dealer but it was on SOR and everything was still in the previous owner's name, he gave me all the warranty documentation etc. I asked the OPC about transferring the warranty over to me and they were a bit funny about it (I said I'd bought a used Porsche from someone and it had extended warranty), so I emailed the warranty people and they sorted it, think they asked for the policy number and the V5. Being cynical, I suspect the OPC wanted to sell me a 111 point check.
Edited by jeebsy on Wednesday 28th August 14:52
OP says he has done a warranty transfer to himself 'which seemed fine.'
This would assume that the warranty paperwork is in his name & also registered to the car, it should be fine as presumably these checks were done when the warranty was transferred?
As for this post:
Not sure on the V5 piece, I thought the 'previous owner' was always listed as the owner irrespective as to whether it was a SOR or stock car from a dealer. This would make sense otherwise any car sale would add 2 named owners every time
This would assume that the warranty paperwork is in his name & also registered to the car, it should be fine as presumably these checks were done when the warranty was transferred?
As for this post:
jollyjeff123 said:
I sent the money to the dealer, but the V5C was in the previous owners name - I think it was from the previous owner but I will check - does this impact it? I got the impression from Porsche if bought from the owner (the dealer was selling on behalf) that the warranty is valid?
The Porsche warranty - as mentioned by others - is transferrable so long as it is a private sale (or via OPC). There has to be a minimum period of ownership (90 days if I recall correctly) before a claim can be made by the new owner.Not sure on the V5 piece, I thought the 'previous owner' was always listed as the owner irrespective as to whether it was a SOR or stock car from a dealer. This would make sense otherwise any car sale would add 2 named owners every time
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