Very good points. Dealers get allocations, by model. Sometimes, no matter how good a customer you are, if they know they can sell to many people at MSRP or over or slightly under, and some other dealer is willing to sell to you at 5 under or whatever, "your" dealer will (legitimately in my opinion) keep his limited allocation for the sure thing MSRP buyer, rather than "waste" it on you at below MSRP.

Different story if he has all the product he can possibly sell, and moving one to you, even at only $100 profit, makes more sense than letting it sit on the floor.

 

Funny story...

I bought a 14 991 Carrera and the dealership sent me a nice Porsche gift and a massively impressive bouquet of flowers (wife approved).

Friend just bought a Turbo S and received jack squat!

Inconsistent to the bone as each dealer is privately owned.

 

Go have an experience with your local Ferrari dealer and chances are you will feel much better about the Porsche store : )

 

I'm pretty surprised. I've not done business with Porsche Van or Calgary, but i've never had a problem getting a hold of them and getting information on cars i've been looking to buy. Talk to the GM or the Manager of the dealership and let them know your experience, hopefully they'll correct their mistakes.

 

Same here. I really like my home town dealer.

 

It really bugs me when sales people don't know their products, regardless of what it is or how much it costs. That's their job... they should be professionals and know their stuff. But maybe that's just me.

Waste time? Really? Making contact with people is their job. Why do you think they offer specials on service? Have release parties? Do other things to get you in the door. You're not wasting their time, you are increasing their chances of selling you a vehicle. Any sales person who considers contact with potential customers a waste of time will not last as a sales person for very long (I know this and I'm not even in sales!).

As for asking for discounts for $100K cars being ridiculous, how do you think we all got to the point we can even consider $100K cars? By not maximizing every deal (whether we are paying or selling) we make? No, we've gotten to this point by hard work, negotiating hard and making the most of every deal. There's nothing crass about negotiating as hard for a Porsche as for a Toyota. And if you can't make the deal, you don't get the product... and the dealer doesn't get the sale. But anyone who gets butt hurt about hard negotiating shouldn't be in sales, either. And, as a customer, if you don't get your price, you should either be willing to walk away or not be bent out of shape because you paid too much. If you agree to a price, you didn't pay too much... you just paid more than you wanted to!

In this day and age, internet bargain hunters are part of the business model. Dealers that get irritated by this segment need to reassess the current environment. I wonder how much of a dealer's business is done this way now? If not a lot, just don't participate and live on your showroom sales. But getting irritated? That's just dumb on their part!

For me, if someone makes me go find a better deal and then says they'll match it, that's not quite good enough any more... they have to beat it. Even if it's by 1%. If they could do that deal the first time around, but made me spend time getting the better deal, I expect them to beat it, not match it. But that's just me. Practicality plays into it, too, of course; service, distance and other factors make that not an absolute rule.

I agree, but... building a relationship with a dealer, overall, so that they'll go to bat for you on service/warranty is important and worth cultivating. Sales people usually do play into that relationship, so being friendly doesn't hurt anything, of course.

I wonder how many of the people saying they need to build a relationship do so with their local Walmart, Best Buy or grocery store managers and check out people?


I don't care how exclusive a product is, or appears to be, being subservient to get the privilege of buy a product is just wrong. I'm not going to stand in line, either.

I've had issues with getting calls returned. Spoke with the GM and wound up doing the rest of my deal with him, but also resolved the responsiveness issue with no hard feelings evident on either side.

For a sales person - especially with a $200K deal on the table - this is their job! Not making a simple call back? Seems like sales suicide, to me.

To the OP: I don't know the rules or laws, but can you come south of the border to buy? Our dealership here - just about an hour south of you - is pretty damned good. Not sure what kind of deal you could make, since they're not a high volume dealer, but they'll take care of you and get you the vehicle you want.

 

Lol!!! Best response

 

A lot depends on where you live. In Vancouver and Toronto right now you have a lot of foreign money pouring in, driving up real estate and demand for cars. In the last 8 years, home lots on my street have risen in price from $ 1 million to over $ 4 million (thanks China). The same people buying these properties (and their real estate agents) are fueling demand for high end cars. It's not uncommon to see an 18 year old driving his own Aventador or 488. All the high end dealers now employ Chinese speaking SAs. The demand is very high, therefore minimum or no discount, and if you don't buy now, someone else will.

 

I am currently waiting for my second Porsche to be built.

Before I went into the dealership, I did my DD an found a competitive price on the internet, then sent it to him and simply asked if that was a deal that he could do. We had a good starting point for negotiations.

My dealership is excellent. The salesman strikes the perfect balance of being responsive without being intrusive. He is extremely knowledgeable about the brand and explained many hidden features that are also important to me about the build quality. When asking for advice about options, he also brought in the head of service to give views and opinions.

The service department is brilliant.

My dealer is Porsche of Tysons, owned by Penske, and my sales rep is Pat Driscoll. They are truly 5 star.

 

In life we connect with certain people and disconnect with certain people. Keep trying you will find a connection that makes you feel good,and hopefully have fun during the process.

 

This tells me your wealthy friend wanted the Mercedes more than the 911. Nothing more. Nothing less. Wait till he sees the AMG depreciation.

 

Makes no sense to me when you consider dealer sales incentives from the manufacturer.

 

I manufacture and sell dresses to specialty shops in America and directly to ladies who want an added touch of custom work.

My friends call me judgmental at times for my strong opinions and stubborn rationale.

If you were a woman, I would dread even moment you were in my showroom.

There's a difference between being a tough negotiator and a snob.

You seem to be the latter.

 

My exact experience when living in the SF Bay Area -- little to no discounts. In Southern California better deals are possible, based upon my latest 991.2 TT purchase experience. Truly surprised me as these models are in such high demand and allocations are scarce. I contacted three dealers via Costco Buying service, and I think True Car. Got responses right away offering 3 - 5.5% discount (back in May). No grinding / or any unpleasantness was necessary. My transaction was done via internet / email -- the only dealer I visited was Newport Beach, and they insisted upon MSRP -- very polite, nice people, as were all my Porsche contacts. Furthermore, Newport said there was no reason to discount, as they can sell all their cars at MSRP -- more power to them. But I'll drive 30 minutes further to save $10K -- and it should be in my driveway within the month -- on a ship right now in the Atlantic. My SA is exceptional -- very responsive, and pleasant. I still like Newport very much and plan to have my service done there. No hard feelings on either side.

My general experience with my treatment at Porsche dealers over many years is positive. I do dread negotiating with dealers, as its a waste of time as they saunter back and forth with their managers, just to play with your mind. Car buying services eliminate this hassle, and don't waste your time -- highly recommend. Most dealers I've encountered have a SA dedicated to internet sales -- maybe call them direct, or the Sales Manager, if you are not proficient with the internet.

 

I have nothing but positive things to say about Brett Payne @ Sonnen Porsche in Mill Valley.

Professional, responsive, helpful, knowledgeable, and will negotiate a reasonable deal as well.

Once you have the car Gary Wright the SA there is simply the best.

I would not hesitate to highly recommend either of them.

- Larry