Porsche Repair

As an auto business started by an American engineer and a German technician, Continental Imports was destined to be a leader in testing technology.

For over thirty years, Continental Imports has met or exceeded industry standards for both training and up to date tooling. Our list of industry-standard and vehicle-specific special tools is too large to list, but for those truly interested in evaluating a modern specialty shop, the current benchmarks of a consummate professional are the diagnostic computers employed. Once a luxury for independent repair shops, the diagnostic computers created by car manufacturers are now becoming necessary for even the simplest of repairs on modern Porsche automobiles. From tire pressure monitoring, to battery charging and energy use regulation, to the safety and drive management systems, everything now is controlled by computer and diagnosed via onboard diagnostic protocols.

In 1986, Continental Imports became one of a very small number of Bosch Service centers in Florida. In the late 80s, Bosch developed and released with the first European hand-held computer diagnostic tool/scanner, and it became Porsche’s factory-specified tool. The tool became widely known as “the Hammer” because of its shape and influence on the cars’ systems.

Continental Imports bought this tool in 1989, and we still use it on early 90s 964 and 993 models. It is the only system for communicating with the air conditioning and airbag systems on those models to this day. When Porsche moved on to a PC-based tool called the Porsche Systems Tester II (PST2), Continental Imports acquired that tool as well.

As its cars got more complicated, Porsche’s tool also evolved, with the move to the PIWIS (Porsche Integrated Workshop Information System) and then PIWIS II. The computer networks in the Cayenne and the other models make working on these cars next to impossible without these tools.

As with the other car lines Continental Imports specializes in, these tools are all available to the team that works virtually exclusively on Porsche. This depth of focus provides a level or expertise one would expect from a dealer. As members of “Porsche Techs,” an Internet association of dealer and independent Porsche technicians, Continental Imports has the ability to augment the experience of our master Porsche techs with the know-how of other Porsche techs, located across the English-speaking Internet.