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Up until a few years ago I assumed PTS meant ‘paint to sample’ - ie. you send Porsche a sample of a color which they then match. The result is a one of a kind car.
PTS actually seems to refer to colors that are not unique, but rather chosen from another predefined but much more extensive catalog.
Given the above, do cars in PTS deserve a premium in the secondary market? It’s just paint after all....
I am with you. I always thought PTS meant the same thing. But then i realized that Porsche has a reputation to safeguard, so they are very picky about the colors that go on their special cars. Hey, that’s where wraps come in!
As far as paying a premium for PTS? All personal preference. I would not pay extra for it, unless i really loved the color. But lots of guys feel it makes their cars more special. Nothing wrong with that. But yeah, it is just paint.
I think if one is getting PTS because they think it will reap more $$ on the Secondary market down the road- that is the wrong reason to get it and a flip of a coin if that will happen.
You pay tbe upcharge because there is a desired color you covet.
It used to be, until about a year ago, that paint to sample (which has been called “custom color” for a long time, but since it was called paint to sample historically, people use PTS) meant exactly that, you could send in what you want (including a sample or color from another manufacturer or era), they would test it, and, if it passed, you got your car in that color. There was a list of colors that had been previously approved that you could pick from and skip the risk and wait or feasibility.
About a year ago, paint to sample changed. If you picked from the list, it was one price, if you want a new color, they would charge you the price of the paint up front and then, if it was approved, you paid the same amount again (so 2x the price). If denied, they gave you your money back for the feasibility test. The thing is, once you get “your” color approved, it goes on the list and anyone else can order it.
The 992 configurator actually reflects the new process. You might get most of your cost from picking one on the list back because Porsche people are weird and pay for stuff like that, but no way you get more for “your” color because once approved it is no longer yours and anyone can order it.
Anyone remember that Porsche commercial touting PTS back in the 996 days? A guy points to his bright yellow sock and a bright yellow 996 comes by, next is a driver with a bright green hat then the camera zooms out and he's driving a bright green Porsche, etc, etc, etc. In those days it truly was Paint To Sample.
Nowadays you are limited to a "PTS Selection", likely because the actual cost of the true PTS was too much and Porsche couldn't make a profit. So now they have a "PTS + Limited Selection". Porsche said "Hey, they are willing to pay bucko bucks for this little piece of what not because to them it makes it special, let's create a selected set of colors and charge bucko bucks for it to make it special". And that may sound snarky to some, but to some it actually makes sense and is the reason they go the PTS route!
When I ordered my PTS gt4 I didn’t realize the hype. My dealer had an allocation that fell within a PTS window and I had that allocation. They actually approached me and asked if I wanted to do a “custom color” with my allocation.
For 5kish (at the time) I thought it was a steal, Considering some standard colors in the 991/981 range were 2/3k. I went with voodoo as it’s a color that was similar to my sprint blue RS4, which I loved. It really made my car unique and fit its character. However, at the current price of PTS it would be a tough decision to have 10% of the cars price be based on paint.
With that said, some day I’d love a slate grey porsche. I’m crossing my fingers on a 718 boxster spyder....or 981 spyder if there is one out there.
PTS was never an issue when Porsche actually had a palette of standard and optional colors up until cost cutting and conformist 2000s when colors disappeared. The 2000s cars were black, silver, white, a few tints/metallics on that monochromatic theme, and the occasional red or yellow. Customers began ordering cars for the next guy resale and leasing does not favor the bold. Then the value of something other than the norm developed and human psychology being what it is, the prevailing perceptions and costs came to fruition.
When I ordered my PTS gt4 I didn’t realize the hype. My dealer had an allocation that fell within a PTS window and I had that allocation. They actually approached me and asked if I wanted to do a “custom color” with my allocation.
For 5kish (at the time) I thought it was a steal, Considering some standard colors in the 991/981 range were 2/3k. I went with voodoo as it’s a color that was similar to my sprint blue RS4, which I loved. It really made my car unique and fit its character. However, at the current price of PTS it would be a tough decision to have 10% of the cars price be based on paint.
With that said, some day I’d love a slate grey porsche. I’m crossing my fingers on a 718 boxster spyder....or 981 spyder if there is one out there.
Up until a few years ago I assumed PTS meant ‘paint to sample’ - ie. you send Porsche a sample of a color which they then match. The result is a one of a kind car.
PTS actually seems to refer to colors that are not unique, but rather chosen from another predefined but much more extensive catalog.
Given the above, do cars in PTS deserve a premium in the secondary market? It’s just paint after all....
Only a premium if people are willing to pay. I am not. PTS to me is just another color.
Paint to Sample is a misnomer these days, more like select from a subset of available pre-approved and tested colors.
Yes, technically you can bring a color to PAG you like your car to be painted int. As it was mentioned above you pay 2x the PTS price (as 1/2 of that is the feasibility study - something PAG did not charge for prior - which likely led to many ppl just throwing colors at PAG and not following through with an order - hence this is a natural filtering mechanism).
What one also has to factor in, which is a big variable for GT production, is that PAG needs months for feasibility study. In the case of the GT3, unless you had a very late 2018 allocation and submitted a PtS color no later than early 2018, feasibility study would not have concluded in time prior to your build freezing. If the stars aligned for that, then arguable one could have had a unique 'true' PTS GT3, as by the time it was publicized by PAG that this is a newly approved color (and hence offered for anyone else), it would have been too late for anyone else to spec their GT3 in it.
true story
i was in the 1% for pts folks that dealer said you can have pts. I picked pts. They gave me production and delivery date. No hiccups. No delays. No set backs. Flawless. But I’m in the minority. I hope I’m this lucky next time.....
12-23-2018, 11:46 AM
PTS - am I missing something?
