No HTwo O

Well done!

Crazy Canuck

Stunning.

Well done.

Z356

I started my communications with 'Porsche Exclusive' in October of 2010 for what eventually became this order. I had already started thinking about a Spyder back in late summer of 2010. I posted on this forum the following thread (see link), which has gathered to date nearly 7,000 hits, 135 posts and was active for nearly three months.

https://rennlist.com/forums/987-foru...y-is-huge.html

It was my first attempt to come to grips with this Spyder 'phenomenon', a vehicle I had paid NO ATTENTION whatsoever when it was first announced back in 2009. Here is a quote from that thread, which for me was the seminal seed for my eventual Spyder acquisition:

"Since last year, my thoughts for a new sport car have been concentrated on the newer 911 gt3's - a glorious Orange or Green RS .1 or an improved .2's. Lately I started considering more 'practical' alternatives since I am not a real track junkie, so I have been studying the Audi R8 market and attended the R8 Driving Experience at Infineon (Sears Point) to get some seat time in that car. Then about four weeks ago I started reading the experiences that some of you have had with this new Boxster Spyder since early spring. The first glimpses I got were at the Rennlist gt3 forum by the postings of Savyboy, Zellamsee, Polar and others that own BOTH a new gt3 and a Spyder! I was blown away that they would compared both of these cars (so far apart in price!) in the same terms and with similar praises. I have since tried to read all the reviews & forum talk on the Spyder by you, Smithees and others. It is still difficult for someone who drove the initial '97 Boxster for all of those years to fathom that this same platform in Spyder form (albeit with advances in horsepower, suspension & lighter weight) could be the subject of so much glorious jubilation! But that is apparently the case. But please try to understand my initial amazement! Now, after the many months since its first deliveries in the Spring, I would be really interested to know more details as to why the Spyder continues to enthrall its many owners...and some of its downsides that you have found out from your own practical experiences. And do any of you Spyder owners think that a better car might be the Cayman CS/R and we should first wait to see how that turns out?"

I got side-tracked three times in my Spyder quest. First, I almost bought a used, low mileage '10 .2 gt3 RS (grey black with red trim) in mid-September of 2010. When that deal soured, I decided to concentrate on a new Spyder order. That is what started my conversations with 'Porsche Exlusive', of which I will discuss next. The second bump in the road was the arrival of the Cayman R. I attended the LA Auto Show last year for that debut and seriously considered ordering that vehicle instead of a Spyder. Principally because I could get a MY2012 Cayman R then, but only a MY2011 Spyder. This was a time when most dealers and forum folks thought there would NOT be a MY2012 Spyder produced. My final detour was when I bought the used .1 997 Carrera S in PTS 'Signal Green' from a friend in February of 2011. It was only after March, when PAG & PCNA finally announced there would be a MY2012 Spyder, that I decided to finally get my Spyder. However, back then, we had no idea that MY2012 production would be so limited. In fact, as it turned out, MY2012 Spyder allocation for the US was only around 125 units and production was halted in late July of 2011. I ended up, by a bit of luck and the fact my order was complicated by many of these 'Porsche Exclusive' options, getting one of the last cars produced for the US market.

The following is the start of my 'tale' on this Spyder order. Although it will not serve anyone ordering a new 'Spyder' since production has stopped, it will help EVERYBODY understand how the custom ordering process works at Porsche, learn a bit more about the often mysterious ways of 'Porsche Exclusive', and perhaps put this knowledge to use on your next custom order of a Cayman R, the upcoming new platform Boxster/Cayman or the 991!

I had no special 'insider' introduction to 'Porsche Exclusive'. My first correspondence was to a general email address, <customercenter-exclusive@porsche.de>, which I had taken right off the PCNA website re: Personalization. I had basically memorized the PCNA configurator but knew certain options, which I had already seen in cars in US inventory, were not listed. So my first inquiries were about PTS & 'deviating stitching'. I got a response from Michael Hack, who works there in Zuffenhausen and whom I would later meet in person at the LA Auto Show in late November that year.

My first question was 'Is PTS available'? 'Not at this time' came the answer. The next set of questions involved deviated stitching which are NOT listed in the configurator. In this post, I will concentrate today in talking about these options because I think they deserve special attention and understanding by the ordering public. When done well, deviating stitching could really set your interior apart and make it 'pop'. It is a hard subject to understand well and few dealers have mastered the art of ordering 'deviating stitching'.

A) Deviating Stitching was available on the Spyder from day one. Here are some #'s I remember and prices from MY2011:

bucket seats Opt # 25080 $630
sport leather seats Opt # ? $630
dash Opt # 26241 $310
door upper trim Opt # 25103 $310
center front console Opt # 25104 $310
door handles Opt # ? $470

These are stand alone options. If you ordered, for example, 'Black Full Leather' interior and you wanted 'Guards Red' deviating stitching, you would need to specified each of these options on your order, otherwise you get the standard default 'grey' stitching. On a 'Carrera Red Full Leather' interior, the default stitching is 'Guards Red'. If you want another color stitching, e.g. White or Black, you need to order it using these options codes.

Now, if you order your interior with deviating stitching, each additional 'Porsche Exclusive' leather option you order will not necessarily be done in that deviating stitching color. You need to order the special 'catch all' Option #z-09991 and pay $290 in order for you to get deviating stitching on any other option (e.g. leather gear trim, sunvisors, etc).

B) These stitching options were available in these colors for the Spyder in MY2011 and most (except Cocoa perhaps) also in MY2012:

- carrara white
- guards red
- stone grey
- speed yellow
- cocoa
- black
- silver
- sand beige

For each model and time, PAG offers different deviating stitching colors. For example, for the '07/'08 .1 997, gt3 and gt3 RS, these were the colors offered for stitching:

G1 Guards Red
X4 Speed Yellow
B4 Carrara White
X1 Artic Silver
A1 Black
E9 Midnight Blue
N2 Orange
E7 Dark Grey
TG Sand Beige
DF Stone Grey
RA Cocoa
J5 Green

C) The stitching of the gear selector and the handbrake lever stays standard. Unfortunately there is no option available for the US market for having these parts with deviating stitching on a Spyder. This varies from model to model. For example, we saw it being done in some 997's (especially Turbos), although seldom ordered since it was pretty difficult to know the code(s) you needed to specify. As a result, you will see that most gt3 RS were never ordered this way, although it may have deviating stitching on every other interior leather panel!

D) Because of safety issues, PAG was not able to customize the steering wheel for the '11 Boxster Sypder with a deviating thread. The supplier only offers the steering wheel with the standard thread. Because of the airbag functions they were not able to retrofit another thread after the steering wheel comes from the supplier.

There was a modification on this subject in MY2012. On the Spyder, there was a $1025 option (#CLU) a SportDesign steering wheel with deviating stitching with the following colors:Guards Red (G1), Flamenco Red (W40), Speed Yellow (X4), Giotto Grey (GI), Mahogany (2LX), Black (A1), Espresso (NA), Lipstick Red (LPRD), Maritime Blue (MTB), Carrara White (9GA), Magnolia (MGNL), Red Brown (RDBN), Carrera Red (07), Sand Beige (TG), Stone Grey (DE), Ocean Blue (FD). On the Cayman R, one could order the same PorscheDesign steering wheel with one of the following deviating stitching colors: Silver, Speed Yellow, Guards Red, Black,White, Stone Grey, Sand Beige, Terracotta, Cocoa, Grey, Carrera Red, Cream, Nutbrown, Magnolia, Palm Green, Lipstick Red, Giotto Grey, Ascot Brown, Titanium Blue & Red Brown. To date, I have not seen one steering wheel ordered this way on a MY2012 Spyder or Cayman R - but it's available.

F) Not every of the Alcantara options would come with a deviating thread.
- Boxster Spyder Interior Alcantara Package: Not available with a deviating thread for the US market
- Boxster Spyder Interior Alcantara Package for PDK: Not available with a deviating thread for the US market
- Boxster Spyder Additional Alcantara Interior Package: Available with a deviating thread by ordering the Z-option 09991 "EXC-options with deviating thread"
- Lid of Storage Bin in Alcantara with Porsche Logo: Available with a deviating thread by ordering the Z-option 09991 "EXC-Options with deviating thread"

These 'leather' options are also not available with deviating stitching, regardless you ordering the Z-option 09991.
CJX - Floor mats with leather surround
CPU - Key Pouch in Interior Color Leather

On the other hand, 'leather' options like these could be ordered with deviating stitching if you order z-09991.
XMR - Leather sunvisors
XV1 - Defroster Trim in Leather
XNS - Steering Column in Leather

I ended up not ordering deviating stitching, but only because it is mostly muted when it comes on the extremely bright 'Carrera Red' full leather interior. Had I chosen 'Black' or 'Sand Beige', I would have taken advantage of this unusual option. I have admired for years the orange deviating stitching in many .1 gt3 RS and I will order deviating stitching on my next Porsche for sure!

First lesson over! Saludos, z356

Marine Blue

Thank you for the write up Eduardo. It is certainly helpful to know how Porsche operates. Regarding contact with the exclusive department in advance, did this impact price negotiations at all since the dealer knew in advance that you were going to order the car no matter what?

I like the idea of deviating stitching however it does bother me that Porsche doesn't package this to cover all areas. Having partial deviating stitching just doesn't make sense to me.

Z356

Afshin: No, it had no impact. First of all, 'Porsche Exclusive' answers the emails directly to you. It doesn't know who your dealer is (unless you tell them) and it doesn't copy its response to anybody but you. I will end my discussion of this 'tale' in a future post with the final price negotiations I had with the dealer on my eventual order in May. Because of allocations issues, it is not the same dealer that I thought I would be using back in October of 2010.

Overall, Porsche offers the most latitude of any German auto manufacturer I know in the ordering process. There is no 'adult supervision', however. If you chose the wrong options, they generally will not be there to correct you and lead you out of the mess you create. There is no guide for ordering deviating stitching. In fact, since it's not listed in the configurator, you are in the 'twilight zone'. It is an option that looks good but Porsche doesn't officially encourage you to take a chance with it. That is why it's so important to know as much of the process before hand. Only then you will have the confidence to order your custom car to your own taste, knowing all the choices you have at your disposal.

The closest thing you will have in 'guidance' is your dealer or your 'Porsche Exclusive' contact. The former has to input your choices into the PCNA computer. So it helps if the dealer you chose has some experience in ordering a car correctly. Even within a dealership, you have some experienced salesman...and others that have no clue as to custom orders. So it's a bit of pot luck and that means you need to do the homework on your order ahead of time! For example, you can bet that approx. 95% or more of salesmen at US dealers don't know most of the information I have just posted above re: deviating stitching!

'Porsche Exclusive' can assist, but it all depends on the quality of the questions you ask them in the first place. They will give you answers, but rarely suggest what you should do. It is all a very nebulous road. And even when you have the information at hand, you often don't understand the implications it has on your order. For example, at the last minute, I decided to add the 'Additional Interior Alcantara Pkg' to my Spyder's order. I wanted to have one more location in the cabin for the black Alcantara (actually, more like charcoal in color). It was meant to visually balance out the Alcantara seat inlays in my ordered Sport Bucket seats. Well, I should have remembered that the stitching on that option would be default 'grey' while everywhere else in the 'Carrera Red' leather interior would be 'Guards Red'! So to get a 100% coordinated stitching look in my car, I should have ordered the stand alone 'door handle' option in deviating stitching - adding at least $470 to the order. In the rush to get this option in before the order was 'locked', I failed to consider that aspect of the stitching's color. In the end, I don't think it affected the look of my interior that much because you almost expect something different with the Alcantara surface in that location. It would have been more noticeable if the option in question was leather, where all the stitching should have matched in 'Guards Red'. But this incident tells you that even those trying hard to be 'educated' as Porsche consumers sometime make mistakes...and PAG or PCNA is not there to point it out or correct it!

I have seen several custom orders where deviating stitching was done wrong. There was PTS 'RS Orange' 2009 911 Turbo at a dealer in Florida that had deviating stitching in seats, dash, front console and doors, but not in rear side panels. It looked odd. And I seriously considered a PTS 'RS Orange' 2010 gt3 at Porsche of Roslyn that had the same inconsistent pattern of deviating stitching on the interior. In this case, the front console & rear panels had default 'grey' stitching and everything else had deviated 'orange' stitching. I was so intrigued by the 'RS Orange' exterior color, I was willing to overlook this bit in lack of coordination!

Porsche is trying to do more to educate their US dealers and customers about the advantages of custom ordering via 'Porsche Exclusive'. In the last year, PAG has assigned one of its German employee from that group in Zuffenhausen to Los Angeles, in the hope of marketing this service more effectively to us all. His name is Sascha Glaeser. I will talk more about him in a future post. z356

Marine Blue

I would love to work for Porsche and help people pick options, great fun helping others spend their money!

I'm sure that Porsche Exclusive will never make any recommendations/suggestions due to the legal ramifications. If they suggest something and the customer isn't happy they may end up footing the bill to correct it or potentially lose the order so their approach is the right one. However it would make a ton of sense if they offered packages for items such as deviating stitching since it is something that really needs to be done throughout the cabin to make sense.

I do think it's cool that they allow so much customization on a car and I know it made all the difference for me when I was finally ready to buy my Spyder.

Only1Buck

Thank you for this write up ...

RollingArt

Interesting write up Eduardo. Thanks.

I have to confess though, I'm more confused than ever about the whole process!

Dino944

Great write up Eduardo. Its interesting to see the process of obtaining a few special options from Porsche Exclusive to personalize your car.

I agree with Afshin that if they are going to offer deviating stitching, it should be available as a package. That way nothing important that one would expect to find in deviating stitching has been left out. I saw a GT3 sometime ago and whoever ordered the deviating stitching in it, botched the order and it just looked kind of random and detracted from the vehicle.

Thanks again for some very interesting information.
Best regards,
Dino

mile2424

I was also recently told by someone at Porsche Exclusive that they are opening a Design Studio in Beverly Hills to help people go through this process. I don't know how detailed it is, but it does seem like a good idea if they could have a Porsche Exclusive Configurator so it would help us visualize our choices.

Alan Smithee

I went down the 'Exclusive' road with a 997S.2 order in December 2008. It appeared that the shifter and e-brake could be had with deviating stitching on that model in conjunction with Z-09991 and Exclusive shifter and e-brake options. However, I could get no guarantees, and I thought the Exclusive shifter and e-brake were sort of ugly, so I abandoned the deviating stitching - should be all or nothing, IMO. Ended up ordering Alcantara sport buckets and red seatbelts to make it a unique Carrera S. Was very pleased that these items ended up being standard equipment on the Spyder - but had no interest in the headaches of another Exclusive order.

While it is nice that Porsche sort of attempts to provide deviating stitching, unusual leather options, and PTS to create bespoke automobiles, they really do a poor job of implementing these options. IMO, they should either make it real (like Aston Martin), or realize they are a mainstream brand now, and abandon the whole idea.

stevecolletti

Agreed, it would actually be easier to have one package that captures all the sections, and allow you to drop an area you didn't want it (I've never liked it on the speaker panels!).

Z356

Phil, did you take all your medicines today?

Dino, Sascha and the folks at 'Porsche Exclusive' in Zuffenhausen will eventually get to read this thread. I hope it prompts some changes in their ordering system for deviating stitching! I think what you and Afshin are proposing makes perfect sense.

Well, that operation 'is' Sascha Glaeser, but I don't think it's a 'Design Studio' as such. Sascha has brought his large screen configurator to the hospitality tents at events like the Porsche World Roadshow driving experiences and at the Quail Lodge for the 'Historics' in August. It is not that much better than the standard configurator available to all of us via the PCNA website. Again, the key is knowing all that is possible and/or available, then you can decide if it's worth ordering. If you don't know you can order deviating stitching, you never will! The best part of that configurator at these special events is that you have someone from 'Porsche Exclusive' in front of you to answer questions about possible options! Since some of you have not yet met Sascha in person, I am taking the time here to write what I have learned from my custom order experience to help others plan their own! It also will prepare you for a more productive encounter with someone from 'Porsche Exclusive' when you are ready for that step, since it alerts you to some of the many possibilities.

Right on, Steve. There is certainly room for improvement in Porsche's system of ordering. Speaker panels stitching has always been optional. As someone that pays attention to things visually, I think it works for the center top speaker panel on the dash of the Boxsters, Caymans and 911's. That is part of the 'Defroster Trim in Leather' option I ordered on my Spyder. It was less desirable to me on the door speakers on any of these models. However, in the 911's, I do like it on the rear side panels where it also highlights the rear speakers! So we have choices and can put them to use as we think best! Saludos z356

stevecolletti

You're right, I should have said door panel speakers. I've never noticed it on the other speaker panels, but that's probably me.

mooty

eduardo, i will buzz you when i order my next car ;-)