Jim Michaels

Murat: Congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you'll make a fine couple. Your first assignment is to read your owner's manual. There will be a test on it Friday. I don't know anything about Tips, but there is always a warm up period for the engine, even after break-in. You can drive off very soon after starting, but stay below 4200 rpm until the temp gauge shows normal temp. Your owner's manual will also provide "break-in" hints/tips for the engine, tires, and brakes. You won't like what they suggest you do to gradually break in the engine. I suggest that you use all of their tips, with the possible exception of limiting engine speed to 4200 rpm for 2000 miles. Some do that, but many don't. I compromised that break-in tip considerably.

Carbon_Ted

published $4K discount-
http://chambers.porschedealer.com/ev...hp?newsid=1340

busaganashi

I'm in Portland, Oregon and the dealer here doesn't seem to want to offer any discount. This made me want to look around at used Cayman's. On Autotrader the dealers are asking close to new retail for used ones and private parties are asking about $64K or so. Seems to me if some dealers are offering $6K off of retail for a new one, which typically are MSRP'd at $71K, then a used one is worth around $58K.

Does that sound about right to anyone else?

Jim Michaels

New or used, dealer or private, sellers want to get as much as possible for their cars, while buyers want to pay as little as possible. This means the worth or value of a car is whatever someone is willing to pay. Buyers can now shop a wide geographical area to find their best deals, either from a high volume dealer or a desperate dealer. Asking prices and selling prices were about the same (MSRP) everywhere last year for the early orderers, but with plenty of Caymans now sitting on lots, the gaps between asking and selling prices must be widening.

mooty

busaganashi, if your dealer wont move, why dont you just fly to SF and get one at 4-5k off easy. pm me and i will put u in contact. no, i am not a porsche salesman, neither do i work for/with or own any dealership.

schwank

busaganashi, That in a nutshell is Sunset. They go all out to get people to order parts from out of state, at a fair discount, but they could give a crap about the locals... as the only Porsche & Audi dealer within a 3 hour radius, they make no effort to compete on price for locals. IIRC, they won't even match the parts prices for in state customers.

I have talked with many folks both Audi and Porsche who have travelled to Seattle or Bend to pick up new cars, and saved thousands by doing so. Sunset loses all these sales due to just being stubborn... then again there are enough locals who want the cars for status and will pay the outlandish prices. I've checked out several used Boxsters there, but they have them priced within spitting distance of a new one... why would I pay 85% of retail for a 3 year old lease return, even if it is certified? Crazy folks I tell ya.

Heck when I called a couple weeks ago to ask on order guide availability they had not even heard of the base Cayman's announcement, and the sales person had to look it up in the computer...."Oh yeah, thanks for calling, we didn't know about that one...". This was three days AFTER we had discussed it to death on this very forum... so the news was surely out.

Take the advice of others here... buy a plane ticket, pick up the car at 5K off, and drive it back. Then print out the coupon for 4K off MSRP, walk into the dealer, and hand it to the sales guy. Smile, walk out, and drive off, knowing you still have an extra 3000 or more in your pocket after your little vacation.

I wish they were not this way, but alas, without competition, they don't need to care unless you've bought multiple cars from them before. I too am looking into ordering a Cayman, but I actually dread the drive out there... might be talking to you soon Moooty

Carbon_Ted

Agree with Schwank, you have to get out of your captive market.
Mooty has a good idea to save big on a new Cayman S by buying where deals are readily available--- without dealer head games. A road trip home from Cali would be a breeze, get some break-in miles logged.

busaganashi, low mileage pre-owned asking prices are all over the map.
If I were you I would make a low-ball offer to a pvt party and gauge the market that way.

A pvt party asking $64K probably has already received (or would reasonably anticipate) a firm offer/trade-in from a Porsche dealer of about $54K for their Cayman S. So the way to approach this is to all-but-ignore the $64K asking price, and consider that seller's absolute rock bottom price may be more like $56K- 58K to you.

If a low-mileage private party car fit my desired specs and the car was out of town, I would still make an offer-- any purchase offer can be made contingent upon seeing & driving the car once you step off the plane. Give it a try, always make sure the private party seller has your email address ahead of time-- even if the seller rejects your initial offer, they may reconsider (from my experience usually a few days later after the seller's wife threatens to REALLY go militia on them ) especially if you know that the car has been advertised already for several weeks or more. I got a great deal on a pvt party BMW M3 this way.

busaganashi

Thanks for the tips. I've been trying to find a car within 1000 miles. I'm a little wary of shipping the car from the East Coast and don't want to drive 2500 miles.

I'm still deciding on what I want, 2006 Cayman S or 2002/3 911 C4S. I think both can be had for the same price.

RaceCarDriver

My local dealer in New Jersey was giving $5k off MSRP. They had 12 in stock. I think you could negotiate another thousand out of them

qrobinson

HBL in Tysons Corner VA offered me 11% off sticker on their cars in stock. I asked for and received 8% off a lightly optioned 07 Cayman S order. Good time of the month AND year.