A BUILDING firm boss is fuming after his £192,000 Porsche was recalled and he was given a “sofa on wheels” Mercedes to drive as a courtesy car.
Dad-of-three Jay bought the brand new Porsche 911 Turbo S in December last year – something he’d been dreaming about since childhood.
But he has been warned not to drive it after the German car firm said one of the wheels could fall off.
Porsche has recalled 1,000 high-end luxury cars, but has warned around 10,000 cars around the world might be at risk.
Three popular models specifically affected are the Porsche 718 (982), 911 (992) and the Panamera (G3).
Fuming Jay, 56, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has been without his car – which he pays £1,150-a-month to lease and £3,000 a year in insurance – for almost a month.
And Porsche said they are unlikely to have resolved the issue until at least January. The replacement Merc saloon car is worth around £60,000.
Jay told The Sun: “They gave me an e-class Mercedes instead. It’s like a sofa on wheels.
“You could probably fall asleep in it. Surely, I should get another Porsche or equivalent.
“I’m paying a lot of money for a performance car and this is what they have replaced it with.
“When I went to Enterprise rental cars to pick it up they told me I was lucky because some people have had even lesser cars.
“I’ve paid a premium privilege price to drive around in a high end supercar, but they’re giving me this woolly 1.6 litre Merc with no power. I’m not even going to drive it.
“I bought the car to have a performance vehicle and this isn’t good enough.”
Out of the blue, Jay was sent a letter by Porsche at the beginning of November telling him not to use the car “until further notice due to a wheel issue”.
“They didn’t say what it was, just that potentially at high speed the wheel can undo itself and come off,” he continued.
“I don’t even know which wheel.”
He was contacted again a couple of weeks ago, with the firm saying it was still not safe to use.
Last Friday (November 15), a Porsche engineer came out to look at the motor and, after further inspection, he confirmed Jay’s car was affected by the issue and will be taken away at some stage in the future.
The engineer reported back to the dealership in Bolton and told Jay he would get “some compensation” but didn’t know yet how much.
Jay, who runs building firm Rowland Remedial Ltd, said: “They are a bit vague on what the outcome will be and what they’re having to do to work towards the solution for it.
“They’ve made tens of thousands of vehicles, churning them out of the factories for decades.
“I don’t know whether they’re hiding something.”
PORSCHE has recalled 1,000 luxury cars over the risk of the wheels falling off and owners have been warned not to use their vehicles.
The luxury car brand issued an urgent recall after detecting a fault with some of its models.
The fault could cause the central locking nuts on the wheels to become “defective”.
As a result, the nut can be prone to breaking and failing to secure the wheel to the frame of the car.
This means that the rotation of the wheel could cause it to come loose while in motion, especially at higher speeds.
The notice added: “The wheel attachment may become loose, which can result in a loss of the wheel and a loss of control over the vehicle.
“This can increase the risk of accidents and injuries, as well as the risk of property damage.
“For safety reasons, Porsche urgently requests owners to stop using the vehicle until the remedial measure has been implemented.”
A spokesperson revealed around 10,000 cars around the world have been impacted by the issue.
Some of the recalled cars are valued at a whopping £100,000 to £200,000.
Three popular models specifically affected are the Porsche 718 (982), 911 (992) and the Panamera (G3).
The spokesperson continued: “The safety of customers, passengers and third parties is Porsche’s top priority.
“In order to ensure this, the affected vehicles should no longer be driven until the remedial measure has been implemented.
“To ensure the safe operation of the central screw connection, the central screw connections must be inspected and replaced if necessary.
“The availability of the required parts is currently being clarified.”
The vehicles were built between September 1 last year and October 23 this year.
However, the company insists that not all the cars manufactured between the two dates will be affected.
You can check whether your vehicle is among those impacted on the manufacturer’s Vehicle Recalls website.
Regarding taking the car to be fixed, he said Porsche has only told him “we’ll collect it as and when you hear from us”.
Jay went on to say it would be a concern if he’d never received the letters, or didn’t check his emails often enough as he may have carried on driving the car.
Currently, his driveway is taken up by the out of action Porsche, the Mercedes and his Land Rover Defender company car, which he is only contracted to drive up to 5,000 miles a year in.
Jay had planned to drive over to France in his supercar to visit a friend over Christmas in La Rochelle – but with the courtesy car not allowed out of the country, he’s cancelled the trip.
Jay describes himself as a “bit of a petrol head” and has owned lesser performance cars previously.
But he said he has always dreamed of owning a 911, having had posters on his wall as a child.
“My Porsche allows me to just get away, so I’ll use it mostly on a Saturday and Sunday, or in the summer months when the weather’s nice.”
He continued: “The 911, in essence, is Porsche’s flagship car – when you get into conversations about cars like that, who’s going to be able to better it?
“It’s a very practical and usable everyday vehicle, as opposed to say a Ferrari or McLaren or others similar that are just not practical for normal roads, they’re track cars. They’re great for racing around a circuit.
“The old guy gets his Ferrari out on a Sunday and he drives about 50 miles through country lanes, and then parks it back up for another six months.”
He added: “I think they’ve cracked the market with the 911 and that’s pretty much why it sells so well.
“It’s a lovely car – 650 horsepower, twin turbo. It’s one of the fastest road cars in production, but you can still pop down to the shop and it handles perfectly.”
Jay said it’s not even clear how much he’ll be compensated, but is hopeful they null all payments he’s made through the period as well as adding a goodwill gesture on top.
The Sun has contacted Porsche for comment.
