Mike in CA

Very true. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I doubt there will be an increase until the middle of the 2014 production run at the earliest. Mid year bumps haven't been uncommon on other models.

Macca

No comment really. These issues were picked up by radiography quite a while back. This isnt an issue of a engine failing in teh hands of a tester or journo this is simply a review of engine internals after many 1000 hours abuse and the new lower fail tolerances that have been introduced by Porsche Motorsports Dept starting from 991 GT3. Essentially you could say they wanted to take no chance and as they have tightened tolerance they have decided to strengthen a few key components that could wear prematurely under constant duress. Nothing new here. I dont think this was expected to affect any but the early deliveries such as mine and the Dubai ROW guys on this board as USA and UK orders were never scheduled earlier than Nov/Dec/Jan delivery whereas our early orders were scheduled initially October delivery (week 41 production) and around 8 weeks ago we learned they would be pushed out (week 46 for me). Unfortunately it seems Porsches supplier cant make exotic re designed components in quantity quick enough so we will see further delay of early orders although I suspect by plugging Turbo 991TT/S into vacant 991 GT3 production slots that when the parts do come on line they will catch up very quickly - likely not affecting production weeks 2 (2014) onwards. Its really early production weeks 38-44 that have been impacted here but this was not the original plan.

As for the idea these extra components will increase the cost of the 991 GT3 I do believe they will from a BOM point of view (maybe with both solutions perhaps 1K+usd). I believe the reality is that the 991 GT3 will increase by price almost 5% over 2014. PAG expected the Euro to weaken against major currencies when setting these prices but that is yet to happen and I know there is significant pressure on price now. In our market Porsche distributor retains the right to change the price at any time and with GT3 it has been communicated that the distributor will "try to keep it at $XXXX + on road costs"! I suspect after first delivery we will see price increases and by RS launch again more price increases....

By the way the 997 GT3 variants were also delayed in production as were other special editions for similar reasons (component supply, last minute re designs or change of supplier etc) but we never heard of those as they were addresses earlier and capacity wasn't under as much pressure now. Today PAG can barely keep up with demand and they have resources directed to new production lines (Macan & 918) so to miss component call of in JIT platform means re scheduling production initiation and massive T&P alterations for suppliers.

TRAKCAR

Makes me wonder about that 180k RS price. Back when you ordered a 997 RS with std dem LWFW and seats it was not much more than the GT3.

I want to lust but worry too much I guess.

jfr0317

Thanks, Macca. I very much appreciate your posts on this.

Macca

Hi Pete. Life's too short!

We will track this car without insurance, so what about warranty?

No different than my 993 which owes me more than a GT3.

If its a recognised recall/failure Porsche will have to fix regardless of use. Life's way too short to be always concerned about longevity/warranty - heck on the track the chance of doing 30K damage in an armco is far greater than a rod failure.

If someone want to worry wart this car they should buy used 2005 Cup car and a 911 road car and sleep just fine.

As for RS I still think for hairy chested. A good driver will keep pace on a local track with a GT3RS in a non RS variant - sure at 10/10th same driver the RS will be faster but otherwise this is all pusedo "track cred", pub rights stuff. The true hard asses round our way laugh at any car that isnt trailered to the track. If its a 2009 Cup then good for a gold chest medallion along with Ultima, XTR2 etc but if its a street legal/driven GT3 its just a fast road car.

991 GT3 with LWFW, PDK-S ECU "RS" shift point remap, ECU remap, Aftermarket (Akro?) exhaust & 4WS ECU remap to "RS" spec should be as quick as RS version without the Asian cartoon looks for a saving of 30 large or a couple of years track fess & consumables....easy choice really?

CAlexio

Glad there are auper informed guys on this forum to counteract my jabbering. Didn't know my price wasn't firm, didn't mean to throw out something blatantly inaccurate. Lets just say that now I HOPE it doesn't change. :-)

Macca

CAlexio. Lets just say it wold be highly unlikely for the price of your US 991 GT3 to change given you already have an order in the system and you have been likely affected by delays. I do not think you need to worry in the least. However Porsche will likely take every chance they can in my and other ROW markets to adjust the pricing upwards in 2014. Here is a direct cut and paste from the MD of the Porsche Distributor for our country to me a few months ago. Note the words "anticipated". Same goes for Australian market. It has been well documented by others I know pwersonally that the proice has changed at time of delivery As I say unlikely to be an issue in ligiatious USA but Down under where we subsidise the worlds cars so other markets enjoy competotove pricing this is not always so LOL!

P.S. that price is excluding on roads costs etc and is in NZD (83 USA cents = 1 NZD)

"Thanks for e-mail.

Yes our anticipated RRP is $275,000.

Our allocation for 2014 is yet to be advised, but judging by initial customer enquiry / demand I will be requesting quite a few (in relative terms).

Regards"

Nizer

Intake butterfly issue impacted Cups as well. PMNA recommends replacement and does so on all rebuilds.

Center-locks, clutch, and coolant fittings did not.

CAlexio

I'm amazed what people pay for cars in some parts of the world, and how little competition you can benefit from for pricing pressure. There are probably 3 Porsche dealers within a very short driving distance, and 5 if I'm willing to drive 50 miles. On a macro scale also, you can call anywhere around the country and have dealers compete with each other.. Maybe not on a gt3.. But on more mundane cars you can literally get 100's of dealers to compare prices. I know it's been discussed before, but whereas X Income can afford you a gt3 in the US, I realize it takes 2-3x that income to keep the same ratios in NZ and other places... It's not fair, and I'm grateful to be buying at $131k and not that really big number you just wrote which almost made me throw up. :-)

Macca

CAlexio. Yes the 991 GT3 is approximately $250K USD on the road here lightly option. This is a country that has no import duty on cars and 15% sales tax (GST) on importation. So you can imagine how it makes me smile when guys on here complain about small stuff like Porsche not bending over enough and taking it. We have 4 dealers nationwide (4 mill people population) so no competition. Finance rates around 12-15%. If we are lucky we will get recalls done if you guys in the states kick up a stink loud enough for Porsche to follow. Its no wonder a few guys like me seek to buy our cars new and parallel import them from other countries! Unfortunately this does mean paying in 100% cash before delivery.....

What makes it worse as you say is we are 5-6X poorer than the states and on average probably earn 1/3rd less average per head capita. We are also a 1st world country not a tax haven nation in deep Africa waging taxes on wealthy expats. Oh....but hang on....its green here, we have Peter Jackson, are nuclear free and have clean air.....nah - sorry - rather have cheaper Porsches and other cars myself LOL!

I get to the States maybe once every couple of years and I just go wild in the shops. I even go to dealerships and look at things like Merc SL55's etc that are effectively half what they cost in NZ. And your real estate is so cheap right now (and your mortgage interest rates). A decent house in Auckland is twice what you'd pay on a good suburb in a good state in USA. Im jealous but they wont let me in your country to stay. I not Hispanic LOL! Obviously Im not very Politically Correct either!

Anyway. That's the way it is. To justify a new 991 S in NZ Id say you really would have to have a net wealth of $2 mill USD using the 10% rule. For a GT3 obviously 2.5 mill USD. In the states using same rule maybe 1.4 mill USD.

There will always be people buying these cars through the business or on credit who have a much lower net wealth but IMHO you shouldn't be buying the 991 GT3 in the USA if you are even a little fiscally prudent unless you have at least 1 million USD net wealth!

Hey - thats a good idea for a poll?

CAlexio

So, as soon as I'm done with my gt3 I'll find a buyer in NZ and ship it over and make a mint :-) Net income and wealth are separate things, I'm not embarrassed to say that I don't yet have a few mil in the bank, but I'm happy to buy the gt3 Nd keep it for a bit, then when it's time for kids and family I'll realistically sell knowing that my yearly carry costs and depreciation are relatively low. I'm 35, if I don't do it now I won't do it again until I'm 55-60.. And, I can't wait that long :-) Stock market has actually been amazing his year, and if I keep trading my portfolio as well as I have, I just may be buying the car purely from stock profit by next summer.. Which is the nice "immediate gratification" type of transaction I love :-). I can't imagine any of the married guys at my work and similar income considering a car of this cost, their wife would request a $130,000 addition to their house, or kitchen upgrades or all that stuff which makes a young man get a fat belly and give up on his autonomy and dreams. In fact, my coworkers are already pissed at my stubborn single man status which allows me vacations and autonomy, so I wouldn't want to rub a gt3 in their face.. This one will stay secret and ill drive my trusty 535i wagon to work.. Hee hee.

Macca

CAlexio. Your plan is a fine one.....except we drive on the other side of the road!

You are younger than the average age of 991 GT3 new car owner I should think. I am (just turn 43) probably closer to the mean age of ownership (45?).

Enjoy being single while you can, as you say. I married late at 35 and have no kids. Once you get a certain level of fiscal comfort you can enjoy such toys without feeling pressure or stress. It certainly makes the ownership experience a little more enjoyable. But again its better to have taken a bit more risk and owned such wonderful machines than never owned them at all and died the richest man in the cemetery! Afterall its no point being to old to really enjoy these things.I am just starting to enjoy track and tarmac rally in the 911 and it is not cheap to do so with the 993 and GT3 but I realized its something I may be too old to enjoy as competitively when Im 60+ years old as you say....

CAlexio

Yep.. I "invested" in real estate, both small houses and land and saved every penny of my savings when I was in my 20's instead of enjoying myself.. Market crashed and I lost it all.. I would have been better off buying a Ferrari and driving it without and oil change for 100,000 miles and let it explode... Would have been cheaper and more fun.

Now I try to strike a balance.. Nothing crazy, but this baby is in the cards for a bit.. I'm just concerned that once I drive this ill never be satisfied with anything else again.. It's dangerous to become accustomed to the finer things.

Macca

Yes I think I have a similar T-shirt somewhere for property post GFC too!

With you 100% both on balance of life and also fear that I may never want to part with the 991 GT3 and being spoilt forever!

Bring it on. Cant wait!

CBG

This is simply false information. I personally know of two 'real' big end rod failures with parts exiting the cc on press cars during test drives.