RDKJ

I bought a car via the internet from an out of state dealer. Today, I removed the front license plate to discover they drilled the bumber not twice, but 4 times. When I bought the car from them it was just off the truck and still wrapped. What would possess them to drill the bumper 4 times? Especially without asking first...


Yes, I had already bought a set of bumper plugs - though they are too big for the holes drilled. They are probably 2x the size of the screw which were removed. Regardless, I don't think I want 4 plugs in my front bumper. Off to the body shop I go.

RDKJ

Here is a picture of the actual holes. I talked to my friend who owns a local body shop he said they could take the bumper off and fix the holes, but he would not recommend it.

AeroSmith

Ouch, that truly sucks. Sorry.

texas911

That's German Engineering for you! Mercedes does the same.

Riad

How is this even remotely acceptable? Can't you contact the dealer and make them pay for the damages??

That's insane.

OCBen

Or better yet, have them replace the entire bumper cover at their cost.

Silver Bullet 911

Isn't there enough engineering talent at Porsche to design a front plate bracket that attaches from underneath the bumper like on my wife's old Miata? So charge another $100 for the car if manufacturing cost is the issue, no one will complain.

I faced the same problem and solved it by replacing the front bumper cover and having it repainted. The dealer paid half. Good luck.

MikeN

I believe all 997 and 987 models come with two small holes in the front bumper cover from the factory (look part of the actual mold). I've seen them fresh off the truck with them. Now why they decided to drill two more is beyond me.......but someone would get a pitch-fork up their A$$ if they did it to mine.

Leader

The cars bound for American go on the boat with no holes drilled in the front bumper. Not all states require a front plate so the holes are left to those handling the cars stateside to provide. I have specified on my '06 C2S order that my front bumper NOT BE DRILLED. If it comes with holes from the guys at the receiving port-of-entry, I'm going to expect my dealer to pay to have it fixed per my order. Arrrgh!

dnp_now

Damn, what a buncha morons. How can somone put a drill to such a beautiful car, and not question if this is what the owner would want done to their car?

If german engineering can over-engineer the cup holders, surely they could do something to with front license plates.

SDSmith

Man, that sucks. My dealer in NJ drilled my bumper as well (I live in CT) - - 4 holes similar to yours. Fortunately my car is black so they don't show as much. I was down in the dumps when I took the plate bracket off and was going to install plugs. I've had the car for a month and I park it nose first towards a wall and can't see them when I'm driving so I am going to leave them untouched. The last thing I want on my car is significant paint work right out of the box. How about some touch up paint in the holes just to remove the silver/black contrast?

djantlive

997 doesn't have holes pre drilled. Your friendly american dealer w american ingenuity is the culprit. Ask them to replace the bumper or at least fill and repaint it. You should note that a new respray may not hold as well as original so I'd cover it w clear bra after paint is cured in a few days under sun.

Otherwise, just leave the front plate on and don't worry about it.

texas911

Ummm, no, that' how the front bracket is designed BY PORSCHE in Germany to be mounted. Even the European plates get holes drilled in them. Its just plain stupid when you consider even Honda Civics have brackets that don't need holes in the bumpers.

FlyingLow

I don't have holes. I asked Boardwalk not to drill and they didn't. Sorry you're having to go through this.

RDKJ

I have talked to the dealer at great length today regarding the situation. I think they will attempt to make it right. The don't seem to understand the fact that I don't want a new car with 4 bumper plugs in it. I don't really want a new 100k car with a repainted bumber either. I told them to come up with an inventive fix or take the car back, their choice.

They have admitted the mistake was the salesman's mistake. He knew the car was shipping out of state and should have went back and told the prep department to not drill the bumper, period.

I have a good friend that owns a very high quality body shop. He said the would have to remove the bumper and fix the holes from the inside, then repaint that area, then re-clearcoat. He thought maybe the best idea was to paint the license plate bracket the color of the car, then find a nice front plate to compliment the car. The problem is the fact that I hate front plates.