NCThirteen

I was having my 911 serviced and thought I would ask the dealer about the new GT4 and if they had any info or pricing. The service advisory got me a sales consultant to talk to and he told me they had no information at this time but he would be happy to let me know when they did. He then asked what I was driving now and how many Porsche's I have owned. I told him I have the 2013 911 currently and I have had a 2007 Cayman. He then asked if I bought them from them. I told him no. He said he would get my contact info from my service consultant. The next day I got the following text:

Hi, this is L*** with Porsche **** *******. Thank you for coming out yesterday. I'll let you know whenever we have information on the new GT4. Just a heads up, we only give those appreciating orders/vehicles to our previous loyal clients when new. When we get them traded in then we sell them to whoever is interested. If you see any car on our lot that you like please let me know. This way we can start a business relationship. I'm glad to help anyway I can!

I was a bit taken back by the response, or maybe I am reading this wrong.

golfnutintib

here we go

paging martin

Gamecock718

I'd have fun with that guy.

subshooter

Sounds like normal policy to me. I give the guy a thumbs up for being straight with you. He didn't have to tell you the truth. He could have just taken your name, put it on a list and not told you that you have no chance.

My dealer in Philly told me they wont sell any GT cars to an out of area client anymore. They stopped that policy two years ago because of all the flipping and pressure from PCNA. They only sell them to previous local clients. I get it.....it makes sense. Local buyers are more likely to service the car at their dealership and buy more cars from them. Guys that have already bought a car from them are Porsche nuts who will also probably buy more cars from them.

I'm in a similar situation. I want to get a GT4 but just moved to NOLA from Philly. I bought a 2014 Boxster and 2018 911 from that dealership and had a fantastic relationship with them. My wife and I were in a TV commercial for them and I am still active friends with two of the SAs on social media. I am hoping they will still sell me a GT4 even though I am out of the area. I'm sure Porsche of New Orleans wont give me an allocation - they don't know me from Adam.

NCThirteen

The thing is they have done service on my Cayman and they have done all the service on my 911, including recently $6000 in repairs to the door panels and rear spoiler. I am local but yes I have not purchased from them before. If that is the way they are wanting to do business I can take my money down the street to Audi, BMW or Mercedes.

sobiloff

To be honest, they won't care. You can't get a GT4 from Audi, BMW, or Mercedes, and they aren't going to have a problem selling all the allocations they get. It sucks, but that's the reality—and the guys who are buying new cars from them regularly would be mightily pissed if they weren't getting placed at the head of the line. Again, I wish it weren't so, but that's just the market and nothing against you personally.

subshooter

100% agree with what you said.

Also don't forget about the previous PAG agreement with the 918 buyers. They get first dibs on GT car allocations. I'm guessing 2000 GT4 allocations in North America so the 918 guys will take a huge chunk of that number. The lowly GT2, GT3RS and GT3 buyers will likely get head of line privileges after them.

The guys who actually want to track a GT4 instead of flipping it or putting the car in a garage with a car cover on it are at the back of the line.

If the GT4 ends up with a detuned GT3 engine, then the OP and I can forget about getting an allocation. Everyone is going to want it.

NOVA718

Amen brother. I often getting the feeling that a good chunk of these cars are just trophies and never get used for their true purpose. But as a business, Porsche should not care.

I do wonder whether they would ever consider having longer build runs in order to have supply closer meet demand. The flipping clearly indicates the cars are too cheap or they don't build enough of them. Sounds like the GT4 might have a MY20-21 existence, so there may well be more built in this run than last run.

Yellow Submarine

This kind of BS is not happening in Belgium. Even though we are just as crazy about Porsches as Germany, UK or USA. I asked about the 718 GT4 the week before New Year, was informed about the build slots they had late 2019. I thought about it for a week and payed my deposit. No premium, no discounts on GT cars. I am sure everyone who wants to order one, will have the chance. Just like the previous GT4.

I "thank" the Belgian car taxing policy for that. A 4,0L is considered no good and is taxed accordingly. Always has BTW. From 2,0L onwards, some exponential calculation is applied... In UK and Germany it's a lot cheaper to own a GT4 or the like. So getting an allocation for a GT4 if you have no real interest in actually driving it, makes little sense here in Belgium.

Hence, raise the taxes!

py0413

Fred V

Coming from someone who's in sales for Porsche in Canada; this situation is simply difficult for everyone.

For every allocation we have, we have 10 customers wanting to put a deposit on it. We do not sell the cars over sticker, or to someone in another area. We have no choice but to decide who to sell the cars too, and obviously the customer who's daily driving a Cayenne, has a 911 in the parking for weekends, bought a Macan for his wife and kids will have priority. We don't even have the luxury to choose otherwise; if we don't this same customer will buy from the competition and receive said GT car.

The best we can do is prioritize customers who attend the events, track the cars, and promote the brand.

caysraff

Sounds like a case of Porsche not meeting the demand and leaving money on the table.

AZWCat

I was listening to the Smokin Tire podcast and they said 40% of all 911's sold in the US in 2018 were GT variants. I was blown away. GT cars are supposed to be "special", but apparently these are the only 911s in demand. And they are making a lot of them, so they aren't really that "special". I think this spells trouble for Porsche in the future (along with the growing trend away from cars, sports cars, and in some ways car ownership itself).

sobiloff

No, what that means is that Porsche isn't leaving cash on the table and is producing what people want to buy. The death of the individually owned car (not to mention the IC engine) is greatly exaggerated.

AZWCat