The lack of demand for the 718 GT4 is not limited to the mainland US......my dealer has 3 on stock! Compared to the 981 GT4 5 years ago it's a 180 degree situation.
I think this time the increase in price, covid and uncertainty worldwide is putting the brakes on 718 GT4 sales.
Also, dealers are taking in all allocations instead of refusing or exchanging them for other models so the cars end up on their inventory.

 

Don't discount PDK, I bet that is a bigger factor than some think. There are some decent sized performance gains when you click the PDK option box for 2021.

A good amount off 0-60 times
An improved locking rear diff.
More TQ
Shorter gearing

I think the 2021 with PDK option will be the e-ticket, only the purest want a manual. Even though the GT4 is supposed to be a purest car, the vast majority still want the PDK.

 

Look at 992 cars available across the USA, on cargurus, out of 375 992 for sale, only 5 are manual, so that speaks volumes. I think this is occurring for 2 reasons, the generation that grew up with manuals are getting older and finally want pdk and secondly, the younger generation doesn't know how to drive a manual. I can't find a nicely spec'd 991.1 manual with cpo across the usa, so hence why I'm looking for gt4, only car readily available with all kinds of specs and manual.

 

My 992 MT is sitting in the Port of Houston. Once released from emissions approval hold . . . it will be the 1st one my dealer sells. Rare and cool. Never underrate either.

 

These two observations are true but there is also another factor to consider when comparing manual and auto transmission available even up to the 90's compared to today.

Back then, manual gearboxes had more gears than auto so whereas most autos started with 3 speeds or 4, manuals had 4 or 5 respectively. Manuals also used to be the cheaper option and because of the extra gear, they typically did better with mpg so back then a lot of cars had manuals because they just were the "better" option. Keep in mind, the autos back then aren't the same as today either. They shifted clunky, shifted slow, had only 4 gears and then 5, and just weren't designed for "performance" such as holding gears through turns, etc.

Fast forward to today and the auto is a way different animal. Now when I say "auto" there's an automatic transmission in the traditional sense with a torque convertor and an "auto" used by Porsche which is still a "manual" transmission with twin clutches that is automated called a PDK. Torque Convertor autos have come a long way and now shift very smoothly, shift quickly, are reliable, and have 8 gears to 10 gears. A lot of good torque convertor autos also have had their shift logic programmed to perform quite well for performance driving such as holding gears longer and through turns, etc.

With that being said, I think because of how far the auto transmission (both torque convertor and PDK) have come, we're seeing people adopt them more and more. Money speaks and Porsche may be the last manufacturer holding out on manual transmission cars. Frankly, I believe Porsche is very smart to not offer the PDK in the first year because by only offering the 6MT in the first year of production, people are forced to buy the manual if they want the GT4/Spyder. This helps them recoup the cost of the development and I'm sure Porsche knows that they will have more takers when the PDK is offered and therefore they won't be concerned with taking a loss on the 6MT development when the PDK is available congruently with the 6MT. Again money talks and Ferrari doesn't even offer a manual in any of their cars. BMW have completely gone torque convertor auto for their M cars and AWD might I add except maybe the new M3/M4 will offer a 6MT on the base is what I'm hearing. I haven't seen a manual in an MB in like forever.

Nothing wrong with choosing either transmission. All the haters are just people that hate change. I kid. There are a lot of positives for choosing Porsche's PDK and once Porsche released the specs, that might have pushed some people to drop their 6MT order and switch to a PDK spec.

 

I just searched AT. 128 GT4s. Except 29 of them aren’t GT4s, they’re regular 718’s. 12 more are obvious scrapes and not real cars. So, like I said, about a third are not real GT4s for sale. Of the remainder, half are big build ($122k-$143k), which means lots of options, which means either you compromise on something or you negotiate a faux discount. Yay I got $5k off a car with $6k of options I didn’t want...

And if you’re reaching out on 20-30 builds, it means you’re willing to compromise.

 

Is 100 cars spread across couple hundred dealers in a country of 330M really “a lot”?

On a related note; why is there only about a third of those numbers for Spyders? Less allocations or more desire?

 

That's still 80+ brand new GT4's for sale -- pretty large number by GT car standards, maybe even a record?

 

Well, once again, possibly, but i would disagree 😆. A gt4 is a gt4, no matter the configuration and just because you think certain builds aren't considered good, I'm sure plenty of people out there would disagree with you.

Now, for me, I'm not one of those people who must have 10 specific items, I'm pretty flexible and if it has BOSE great, if it doesn't, not end of the world. I think there are many great builds out there, I just can't decide as to what spec I want, bucket vs 18, steel vs pccb, leather vs Alcantara, LED vs Bixenon, etc. I have had in my previous 3 911's steel, 18 way, Bixenon and leather, so maybe this time I mix it up, try something new, so hence why I'm looking at 20 to 30 good possible candidates, so don't assume that I'm comprising at all.

😜🤪😝

 

I have been actively searching for GT4 canadian inventory too, I can see GT4 inventory is way more than all other 718 caymans (used and new one) add up together but none fit my specs! What I want is guards red + 18 way + steel brake (red calipers), I am flexible on the other options but searching every dealer in Canada every day still no luck.

 

What does the Spyder inventory look like?

 

Autotrader.com only has 25 listed of which 4 could be false... auto posted cars already allocated to customers? In contrast there are 113 GT4s listed.

 

I checked out all those 100+ GT4 and all specced for others, likely backed out due to pandemic, and none are for me. For $120K+ car it should be exactly what I want, no more no less. Mine will be here soon enough.

John

 

And of those ‘113’, 29 are regular 718s that are miscategorized and 9 are scrapes. If you compare the actual cars on dealer lots for sale between the Spyder and the GT4, they're generally consistent with production volumes.

 

Where are you finding this list of GT4s on the market? I've been trying to track down a car on the lot or coming in soon and not having luck finding what I'm looking for. The market seems to be all over the board based on the dealership.