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Yellowing Carbon Fiber

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Old 07-12-2007, 02:29 PM
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GBGT
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Default Yellowing Carbon Fiber

I recently sat in a Carrera GT with about 9000 miles on it. The car was trashed and must have spent a fare amount of time outside. The rear ground effects were bent. The engine comparntment was showing obvious signs of rust and corrosion.

When I sat in the interior the first thing I noticed, to my horror, was that all of the carbon fiber trim on the doors was YELLOW. Is this a problem among CGTs? What needs to be done to prevent this?
Old 07-12-2007, 08:09 PM
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Onibas
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WWWHHHOOO. First notice.
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996 TT S Cabrio. 2004.
Old 07-12-2007, 09:42 PM
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stefan einz
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That's sad to hear.

The technical manual says that the lacquer applied to the CfK is designed to prevent yellowing - perhaps the lacquer was damaged?
Old 07-12-2007, 11:19 PM
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I believe the car was left outside full time. It was for sale at a certain dealership in Miami...
Old 07-13-2007, 06:32 AM
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I think I'm gonna be sick...
Old 07-13-2007, 10:45 PM
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VRAlexander
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My CGT has been turning Yellow for the past eight months!! I have brought this up to Porsche and they are not willing to stand behind their product...they are pointing fingers are the carbon manufacturer...It is so bad on my car that the rear engine sub-frame has turned yellow/orange as well... I am very dissapointed with PCNA!!!

I spoke with my service manager and he said that if Porsche was to warranty mine, they would have to warranty everyone's and thus would result in a HUGE monetary loss for them! As a result, I am selling my CGT and not picking up my GT3rs......Porsche has lost a repeat customer...
Old 07-13-2007, 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by VRAlexander
My CGT has been turning Yellow for the past eight months!! I have brought this up to Porsche and they are not willing to stand behind their product...they are pointing fingers are the carbon manufacturer...It is so bad on my car that the rear engine sub-frame has turned yellow/orange as well... I am very dissapointed with PCNA!!!

I spoke with my service manager and he said that if Porsche was to warranty mine, they would have to warranty everyone's and thus would result in a HUGE monetary loss for them! As a result, I am selling my CGT and not picking up my GT3rs......Porsche has lost a repeat customer...
For real?!

I haven't noticed anything yet -- but maybe it's because it matches my car color. :-)
Old 07-14-2007, 02:34 AM
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JasonAndreas
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Originally Posted by VRAlexander
I spoke with my service manager
Have you escalated this above the dealer level?

Originally Posted by VRAlexander
he said that if Porsche was to warranty mine, they would have to warranty everyone's and thus would result in a HUGE monetary loss for them!
Auto manufacturers use that excuse all the time...

Originally Posted by VRAlexander
I am selling my CGT and not picking up my GT3rs......Porsche has lost a repeat customer...
and hope that you go away quietly. Unless the UV degradation leads to delamination there is not much the NHTSA can do. But there are a few journalists/magazines that would eat this up if given the opportunity. Have you tried publicizing the problem?
Old 07-14-2007, 04:11 AM
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i personally know 1 car that's been covered by warranty. very early production car. owner has good relationship with the dealer.

i haven't noticed anything on mine yet. it will probably bother me but as far as i know that's normal i should be ok with it. honestly i'd rather keep my car in 1 piece rather than dealer taking it apart for the work.
Old 07-14-2007, 07:17 PM
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VRAlexander
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Thanks guys....Its good to be here...

I have escalated the CGT issue all the way to Porsche AG and they flew out some people that spent two days with the car at the dealer...they took over 100 photos and then flew back out. That was over 6 weeks ago and now all they can do is point the finger at the carbon manufacturer.. If this was a 20K car, that would be one thing...however this is a $500,000.00 car and they treat their customers like this??? Not even a phone call or thorough follow up??? Thats BS! PCNA has been very good to me for years and years and they stand behind me 100%...Its Porsche AG that is making the call on this one.... I can understand (to some extent) their position, however this is BS...I was planning on picking up my GT3rs next week and had an order in on a new GT-2 as well as expressed interest in obtaining the CGT replacement when they released it....I am done with Porsche...this is very dissapointing..

On the other hand, you would think that they learned...my 996 turbo had a similar problem with the carbon and they where happy to replace it...several times ?????? Go figure ????

Last edited by VRAlexander; 07-14-2007 at 07:33 PM.
Old 07-14-2007, 09:34 PM
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Thanks Jeff.... I am going to keep my Protomotive 996turbo...and no Posche's in my future...Funny you should mention Veyron ....I got a call from a dealer last week and he said that they are getting a Black on Black on Black Veyron next month that had my name on it...The price that he quoted me is more than fair for the car, so I am going to fly out and check her out...last time I drove the Veyron I enjoyed the car except for the fact that it was not a canyon carver like the CGT.... I am also considering the CCXR....
Old 07-14-2007, 11:52 PM
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Thanks ...The CCXR is the 1000hp eco missile....please let me know what your friend thought...Thanks
Old 07-15-2007, 12:54 AM
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Originally Posted by VRAlexander
I spoke with my service manager and he said that if Porsche was to warranty mine, they would have to warranty everyone's and thus would result in a HUGE monetary loss for them! As a result, I am selling my CGT and not picking up my GT3rs......Porsche has lost a repeat customer...
I don't know about that position. Try another dealer, I think service departments can vary greatly. The CGT is an absoutely, unarguably amazing car, and the GT3 RS is also definitly a car worth owning. ALL car manufacturers have issues with their cars, from Ferrari to Koenigsegg even the most high end manufacturers experience this.
Old 07-16-2007, 08:49 AM
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stefan einz
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VRAlexander - very sorry to read about the difficulty you are having with Porsche.

I find their stance very hard to understand. You, as the consumer, have no relationship with the Cfk manufacturer, only with Porsche, so your only available source of redress is through Porsche. For Porsche to suggest otherwise is incomprehensible.

I have consulted the Porsche official technical manual on the CGT again, and it clearly states (my bolding):

Under certain external conditions, components of CfK can because of the
characteristics of the material allow the woven structure to show through the
painted surface (top coat).

This behaviour of the material can be observed under the effects of high surface
temperatures and UV radiation (sunlight). This behaviour is accentuated if in
addition to the above parameters the ambient relative humidity is high.

This behaviour is not a defect, it is a material-specific feature!

It can appear different from different angles of view and for different exterior
paint finishes.

In a very wide range of temperatures this behaviour will never show itself in the
materials used for the Carrera GT. Beyond that there is a range where the woven
structure emerges as visible; but when the ambient conditions change it is lost
to view again.

This range itself extends to unusually high temperatures; if however it is
exceeded then to an extent the changes become irreversible.

Those parts that are made of visible carbon fibre are given a special UVresistant
clear varnish to prevent UV-related ageing and associated yellowing of
the surface.
Given this, I cannot see how they can resist a warranty claim.

If it is not an imposition, would it be possible to post pictures of the yellow CfK so that it is clear what degree of yellowing is occuring? Thanks.

Kind regards

Steve
Old 07-16-2007, 09:22 PM
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VRAlexander
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Originally Posted by icon
alex,
i was just kidding about the veyron having seen where you had test driven one.
black/black/black in a veyron sounds pretty interesting!
ccxr? you mean a koenigsegg ccr or ccx?
i know a fellow that passed on a veyron and got a new ccr at a real good deal.
i'll check w/ him on how he thinks they compare and let you know what he says if you havent gotten to drive a k.
no doubt the veyron is more sorted and polished.
sure would like to see one in blk/blk/blk!
jeff

Here is a quick clip of the CCXR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5iUZt_AjaI



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