kosmo

When you said, "So long"
Left me standing all alone
Alone and crying, crying
Crying, crying

Yes, now you're gone
And from this moment on
I'll be crying, crying
Crying, crying
Yeah, crying, crying
Over you

mcsmcs1

Yes, he is in Bulgaria to be exact.

Bluehinder

This is what I've talking about re: priority of GT3 customers. Mass produced products for the masses is what drives the bottom line, not race enthusiasts.

We are a vocal and spirited bunch, but we are barely a decimal point on the bottom line.

orthojoe

Woah. That is pretty disappointing.

Very true. It would be short sighted of Porsche to ignore this group, though...

Nick

Moving April production to October should not have come as a surprise. All GT3 production was halted I believe Feb. 6th. Porsche announced engine replacements in March and priority would go to owners with delivered cars, buyers with built cars but not delivered and finally the production line.

Assuming Porsche is just now started to produce engines they need to build 785 engines for the cars already built. That could take 4 weeks. That would set back February, March and April builds by three months. In August the Porsche factory is on vacation.September and October dates makes sense. The good news is those cars will be 2015 models.

0Q991

^^Sharp analysis. I forgot about the August holiday.

orthojoe

Makes sense, Nick. Still disappointing, but I'll live.

Bluehinder

Makes perfect sense Nick. More people get 2015 cars which is good.

Clocked

Nick, one item to point out, some Gt3's like mine halted on the production line on 2/14/2014. PNA provided me my vin number and told me mine will be a 2014. If what you say becomes reality then I would get my car in October or November with a 2014 vin code. Again unacceptable without compensation as the 2015 model year will be on the same boat as my 2014 that was due April of this year. I personally would then request a 2015 allocation to arrive in April 2015. Start of next years driving season.

Regarding other posts about the size of this group and does Porsche care? They really don't no matter how many cars this small group has bought, our buying power is a pimple on an elephants butt. Do I think we will be offered some form of compensation? Yes I do and some of you have major dreams about that amount. Think in lines of free maintenance like some other car manufactures, $2k per month for being without your car and maybe a 2 year warranty extension. My best guess, won't be much more than that.

Let's all hope when we get our Emails from Mr. Tim Quinn VP, after Sales of Porsche Cars N.A., Inc. that a lot of major unanswered questions will finally get answered.

Have a nice weekend.

Nick

It is possible that those that received a vin# will be grandfathered. Can't be that many.

Those claiming that Porsche is not concerned about GT3 owners I believe are missing the big picture. The car world particularly high end buyers are watching what Porsche does for us. We (high end buyers) are a coveted customer segment. High margins for car companies come from purchasers like us. This is the one segment Porsche or any other car company cannot afford to alienate.

Porsche will do right by us. We will not get everything we want but we will get enough to keep us happy.

Bluehinder

^Great post going into the weekend. Love your optimism and hope you're right.^

doubleurx

I'm guessing that the 2014 cars that are still at the factory that are built without motors, will get the engines installed as quickly as the first 785 and shipped accordingly. The first 785 will see their cars back on the road before these factory 2014 are delivered simply due to the shipping, customs and pre-delivery time.

Conekilr

.

I absolutely agree and I'm expecting my April build/End of May delivery to be delayed. Only time will tell by how much (hopefully in 2 weeks we will have an idea)

+1.

This is Porsche's flagship sports car and they can't afford to get this fix wrong. Whatever the final warranty/financial compensation package is going to be, some will not find it acceptable and move on, but make no mistake this will blow over in a few months once all the existing cars are fixed and production restarts.

NaroEscape

From a purely business standpoint, the whole compensation discussion is a calculated risk that the company will make:
- Do NOTHING, and you **** off...what...a few hundred people (keep in mind, a majority of those affected are NOT here on Rennlist, so the discussion of compensation has NOT been in their face every day and they may never even expect any). Plus, once you all get your car back and running....you'll all forget about the compensation thing in a few months anyway.

- Do just a little, you **** off less because you at least satisfy some people, and surprise the people that expected nothing.

- Do a lot (like what everyone here is hoping for) and you may make 785 people happy, but upset shareholders, executives, accountants, etc.

VERY interesting balancing act they have here...

Mike in CA

Good analysis, Bob. The way I look at this is that Porsche isn't just selling a car, they are selling a total experience, and that comes through in virtually every advertisement we see from them. If they treat this episode as just another corporate product recall they risk undermining the message that they've been presenting to their customers for decades. Even the bean counters should understand that perhaps they can't afford to do that. I know there have been other issues over the years, but this one has had a lot of exposure, including before the general public, not just a few owners with an IMS failure, coolant pipe issue, or what have you.

A very interesting balancing act, as you say, and we're all waiting to see how it plays out.