Yorkshire Classic Porsche YCP Negative Review

rdodger said:

Yorkshire Classic Porsche Review

Recently I realised a 40-year dream and bought a 911. Of course, what I really wanted was a 930 Turbo like the model and poster I had as a kid, but like a lot of people well and truly missed the boat on those! Reality set in and the search was on for a 996.

Some research, a couple of weeks of looking online and looking at a couple at a local trader we found our perfect spec. 996.2 (sorry prefer the lights) Aero kit, sunroof, not silver (it's Seal Grey) with reasonably low 68000 miles at Yorkshire Classic Porsche. A few phone calls to Jon, then a visit with test drive and the deal was done. All good so far. We agreed with Jon that he would carry out some preventative maintenance for us at our cost, on top of the usual prep they do for our peace of mind.

The work agreed at our cost.
Clutch Kit
RMS
AOS
LTT
Water Pump
IMS bearing inspection.

Work agreed at YCP Cost.
Main service
MOT
Brake fluid
Plugs
Coils
Front wheel refurb
3-day Swiss vax preparation. (we will come back to that!)

We agreed we would collect the car in 4 weeks ready for SWMBO birthday on May bank holiday and a car show I attend every year. I spoke to Jon at the time about the front tyres being worn and cracked (9 years old) and was told that if they were regarded as needing replacement on their full pre-delivery inspection they would be replaced. Jon stressed that YCP always prepare their cars to the highest standard and he wanted the car to be perfect for us. We were reassured that we had a good car from a reputable specialist with a 6-month warranty with lifetime support. We were to become friends. Because we were special new Porsche owners we would get the full Swissvax 3-day treatment. It will even come with a full tank of fuel.

As you can imagine we were beside ourselves with anticipation and the 4 weeks couldn't pass soon enough.

It transpired that Peter the sales manager would be dealing with things, so I emailed him with a list of what had been agreed with Jon to avoid any confusion. I then called a couple of times a week to check on progress and make sure everything was going to be ready for collection. I was assured it would be ready, I shouldn't worry.

Collection day came and off we went on the 3hr round trip to Leeds to collect the car. What did we find when we got there? Get to the point I hear you cry!

The paint was not polished, let alone had a 3-day Swissvax preparation
Wheels weren't refurbed
Not the end of the world. Knock the cost of that off and we will be on our way.
Into the office to do the paperwork, pay the balance and check the invoices for all the work done.

Not all the invoices for the work we had agreed were there! What had been done?
Clutch, IMS inspection, service, MOT, brake fluid & RMS had.
AOS, LTT, Water Pump, Plugs, Coils and the fabled 3-day Swissvax hadn't.
The MOT had an advisory for the front tyres, but they hadn't been replaced.
The fuel gauge was on empty.

Peter tried to explain that he hadn't realised what was agreed, even though he had my emails and we had spoken on the phone a dozen times, he had told me it was ready. Doesn't he speak to Jon? Have they sold a car before? Many phone calls to Jon and lots of shouting and arm waving by me. Yes, I had lost my temper a little bit by now. We agreed that all the work would be completed including new front tyres and the car delivered the following Friday to our home.

Surprise! The car didn't get delivered on Friday. Yes, that's right it wasn't ready! We had to go and collect it on Saturday afternoon when it was finally ready. There was enough fuel to get home but not a full tank. As Peter says they never fill them up. But it's ok he put a but extra in to get us home. SWMBO even got some flowers and a bottle of wine from the Tesco Express next door! Customer service at work there.

So now we have a car we love. It drives great and we expect no more maintenance for 12 months.

Wrong! The lumbar support on the driver's seat doesn't work, the oil pressure sender needed replacing and the PSE doesn't work. The light on the dash comes on when you press the button, no change in noise. On inspection that might be due to the rods that connect the actuators to the valves being AWOL and the valves being wired shut! Oh, and the offside silencer rattles. That's ok I hear you say, YCP will come and collect the car asap and fix it and return it to us at no charge! Or the reality, if we take it back to YCP again they will look at it with no guarantee there will be no cost to us.

In the end we agreed on a new exhaust at our cost and free fitting by YCP. They would do that, the oil pressure sender and the lumbar repair within a week and we could go and collect it the following weekend. It transpired that a new pump for the lumbar was required and it was ordered. Unfortunately, it was on back order from Germany, so another week without the car as it wouldn't be there until Monday. In the end, 2 weeks after we dropped the car off we picked it up again with the seat & oil pressures sender fixed but the exhaust only supplied as they hadn't had time to fit it! Yes 2 weeks isn't enough to get and fit an exhaust! Neither would it seem to be long enough to fix the seat or the oil pressure sender as they are just the same as when we dropped it off!

Discovering they drove the car 70 miles between the showroom and workshop instead of using their transporter didn't improve my mood. Perhaps the transporter wasn't available as it wasn't when the car had to go back for repair? This despite Jon telling us that this service would always be available to us for warranty repairs or servicing.

Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe how we felt. In the end I was just relieved to get the car back and it's the last I will see of them. I will fit the exhaust, change the sender and fix the seat myself.

So, what do we think of YCP and Jon & Peter? At best completely incompetent. It really is like they have never sold any kind of car, let alone a specialist car. Would I use them again? Not ever! I would rather saw my own head off! They have turned what should have been a happy exciting experience into a stressful part time job!

That 3-day Swissvax preparation? Yes, that's right the smooth glossy finish disappeared the first time I washed it!

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GARY S said:

Just viewed their web site. On face value, with 2 sites in Yorkshire & pictures of a wide selection of post 1997 Porsche's they "look" impressive. To quote from their home page: "We ensure all cars purchased by YCP pass our strict inspection criteria created over three decades of purchasing Porsche. Our Master Technician thoroughly inspects each and every one of our Porsche vehicles prior to offering them for sale. During this process, we concentrate on five key areas: diagnostic checks using the latest equipment, bodywork and structural integrity checks, mechanical condition, background and paperwork checks and overall condition. This is why we can guarantee all used cars sold by us are of the best quality and leave our showroom ready for the road".
Reading the OP's post puts these statements into perspective somewhat.

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rdodger said:

Unfortunately those checks didn't even find that all 4 tyres were 10psi under pressure!

Click to expand...

rdodger said:

Yorkshire Classic Porsche Review

Recently I realised a 40-year dream and bought a 911. Of course, what I really wanted was a 930 Turbo like the model and poster I had as a kid, but like a lot of people well and truly missed the boat on those! Reality set in and the search was on for a 996.

Some research, a couple of weeks of looking online and looking at a couple at a local trader we found our perfect spec. 996.2 (sorry prefer the lights) Aero kit, sunroof, not silver (it's Seal Grey) with reasonably low 68000 miles at Yorkshire Classic Porsche. A few phone calls to Jon, then a visit with test drive and the deal was done. All good so far. We agreed with Jon that he would carry out some preventative maintenance for us at our cost, on top of the usual prep they do for our peace of mind.

The work agreed at our cost.
Clutch Kit
RMS
AOS
LTT
Water Pump
IMS bearing inspection.

Work agreed at YCP Cost.
Main service
MOT
Brake fluid
Plugs
Coils
Front wheel refurb
3-day Swiss vax preparation. (we will come back to that!)

We agreed we would collect the car in 4 weeks ready for SWMBO birthday on May bank holiday and a car show I attend every year. I spoke to Jon at the time about the front tyres being worn and cracked (9 years old) and was told that if they were regarded as needing replacement on their full pre-delivery inspection they would be replaced. Jon stressed that YCP always prepare their cars to the highest standard and he wanted the car to be perfect for us. We were reassured that we had a good car from a reputable specialist with a 6-month warranty with lifetime support. We were to become friends. Because we were special new Porsche owners we would get the full Swissvax 3-day treatment. It will even come with a full tank of fuel.

As you can imagine we were beside ourselves with anticipation and the 4 weeks couldn't pass soon enough.

It transpired that Peter the sales manager would be dealing with things, so I emailed him with a list of what had been agreed with Jon to avoid any confusion. I then called a couple of times a week to check on progress and make sure everything was going to be ready for collection. I was assured it would be ready, I shouldn't worry.

Collection day came and off we went on the 3hr round trip to Leeds to collect the car. What did we find when we got there? Get to the point I hear you cry!

The paint was not polished, let alone had a 3-day Swissvax preparation
Wheels weren't refurbed
Not the end of the world. Knock the cost of that off and we will be on our way.
Into the office to do the paperwork, pay the balance and check the invoices for all the work done.

Not all the invoices for the work we had agreed were there! What had been done?
Clutch, IMS inspection, service, MOT, brake fluid & RMS had.
AOS, LTT, Water Pump, Plugs, Coils and the fabled 3-day Swissvax hadn't.
The MOT had an advisory for the front tyres, but they hadn't been replaced.
The fuel gauge was on empty.

Peter tried to explain that he hadn't realised what was agreed, even though he had my emails and we had spoken on the phone a dozen times, he had told me it was ready. Doesn't he speak to Jon? Have they sold a car before? Many phone calls to Jon and lots of shouting and arm waving by me. Yes, I had lost my temper a little bit by now. We agreed that all the work would be completed including new front tyres and the car delivered the following Friday to our home.

Surprise! The car didn't get delivered on Friday. Yes, that's right it wasn't ready! We had to go and collect it on Saturday afternoon when it was finally ready. There was enough fuel to get home but not a full tank. As Peter says they never fill them up. But it's ok he put a but extra in to get us home. SWMBO even got some flowers and a bottle of wine from the Tesco Express next door! Customer service at work there.

So now we have a car we love. It drives great and we expect no more maintenance for 12 months.

Wrong! The lumbar support on the driver's seat doesn't work, the oil pressure sender needed replacing and the PSE doesn't work. The light on the dash comes on when you press the button, no change in noise. On inspection that might be due to the rods that connect the actuators to the valves being AWOL and the valves being wired shut! Oh, and the offside silencer rattles. That's ok I hear you say, YCP will come and collect the car asap and fix it and return it to us at no charge! Or the reality, if we take it back to YCP again they will look at it with no guarantee there will be no cost to us.

In the end we agreed on a new exhaust at our cost and free fitting by YCP. They would do that, the oil pressure sender and the lumbar repair within a week and we could go and collect it the following weekend. It transpired that a new pump for the lumbar was required and it was ordered. Unfortunately, it was on back order from Germany, so another week without the car as it wouldn't be there until Monday. In the end, 2 weeks after we dropped the car off we picked it up again with the seat & oil pressures sender fixed but the exhaust only supplied as they hadn't had time to fit it! Yes 2 weeks isn't enough to get and fit an exhaust! Neither would it seem to be long enough to fix the seat or the oil pressure sender as they are just the same as when we dropped it off!

Discovering they drove the car 70 miles between the showroom and workshop instead of using their transporter didn't improve my mood. Perhaps the transporter wasn't available as it wasn't when the car had to go back for repair? This despite Jon telling us that this service would always be available to us for warranty repairs or servicing.

Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe how we felt. In the end I was just relieved to get the car back and it's the last I will see of them. I will fit the exhaust, change the sender and fix the seat myself.

So, what do we think of YCP and Jon & Peter? At best completely incompetent. It really is like they have never sold any kind of car, let alone a specialist car. Would I use them again? Not ever! I would rather saw my own head off! They have turned what should have been a happy exciting experience into a stressful part time job!

That 3-day Swissvax preparation? Yes, that's right the smooth glossy finish disappeared the first time I washed it!

Click to expand...

rdodger said:

I would like to clarify one point from my original post.

The YCP pick up and return service for service and repair work would have been available to me for the cost of the fuel. I believe this to be standard YCP policy. I hope I didn't mislead anyone on that point.

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rdodger said:

Thanks. I have read most of that epic.

I have managed to validate the work that has been completed in part by a good visual inspection (water pump, thermostat coils ect) Also importantly the engine was removed by a 3rd party and the clutch etc done by them. I spoke to them at the time and have the invoice and pictures.

I fitted the new exhaust myself and will sort the other bits.

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easternjets said:

rdodger said:

I would like to clarify one point from my original post.

The YCP pick up and return service for service and repair work would have been available to me for the cost of the fuel. I believe this to be standard YCP policy. I hope I didn't mislead anyone on that point.

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As nothing Jon says can be trusted to happen I wouldn't be too bothered about clarifying anything!

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diverzeusy said:

Wow edited to reflect that this is my lucky 888th post, do I get a prize T8 :dont know:

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