BigRed911

Hoping I get some feedback form other members experience so I can make a decision on wether this is normal to lock the allocation in.

Drew46

Many, many people. Tons of posts on this.

itrocks4u

Yes - this is normal. You can either

i) See if you like the watch and need one, that's a nice way to spend $5K
ii) trade-in without watch
iii) negotiate to exactly what YOU want i.e. if you dont need the T right now and content with what you have, say no. Alternatively propose what you want.

Ray K.

I assume the size/volume of the dealer makes a difference. I’m #2 as well at smaller dealership since last March. I got on another smaller dealerships list as #2 last week. I highly doubt either will get 2 of any trim in any quarter. At a larger dealer the lists are so much larger.

Shambler

From what I've deduced, it's volume of the dealership. The dealers that sell more get more allocations. It is frustrating to be on a list and see an unsold car show up at another dealer.
Porsche USA is giving preference to volume dealers and they don't look at the lists to place cars.

Reasoning: TWO C4 coupes are available in SoCal (Irvine and South Bay). Each car is built and is unsold. It seems they were locked in Nov/Dec 2022. I've been on a list with smaller east coast dealer since Jan 2022. If Porsche gave a crap about the lists and people, one of the cars would've gone to a spot on a list. Instead it goes to the dealer for general sale.

BigRed911

Thanks for confirming. So essentially buying the car with a $5k markup lol. I really don’t need another watch, my wife and I have several Rolex’s we gifted each other last year - for our anniversary and Christmas. But I still went on the website and the watch I would buy is out of stock like many others on their website. I’m guessing you place an order and just wait until it’s back in stock? Similar to waiting for the factory to build the car the customer orders 😂

I’ll call the dealer and get clarification on the watch order. I’m guessing I would show them the order and they lock my allocation in?

Thanks again for all the feedback on this!

Radiationman

My guess is that they want you to buy the watch from them and not from the website. The dealer is trying to pump up the sales in their accessory store so they don't want you ordering via Porsche's website.

BigRed911

Good point. You are probably right about the watch. Waiting to hear back from the dealer.

atlrvr

I'm sure Porsche AG is pushing dealers to sell more watches. Before, they were pushing dealers to sell more European Delivery, and now all spots are booked. Allocations are the best sales incentives they have.

If you want the car without a watch, try to negotiate something that may have more value to you, but still increases dealership margins.

Wheel/tire protection. Let them arrange financing if you were planning to finance. Extended warranty. Dealer preferred PPF vendor. Agree to minimum option build on your car. Prepaid annual service plan.

All the dealer is looking to do is maximize margin, satisfy PAG goals, while maintain the appearance of a MSRP dealer. Most of those options above probably help them and might be aligned with something you would want already.

BigRed911

Good recommendations thanks. I will pursue these options with the dealer.

Jasonamayes

^^^This is spot on..

itrocks4u

"Agree to minimum option build", what does this mean?

malba2366

The watches are high margin, and relatively high priced which is why they are pushing them...they probably have a 50% markup at the dealer.

atlrvr

Dealer margins on specced options are higher than the margin on the base car itself. I just meant, agree to something like $35k in options if getting an allocation at MSRP, but only if you value those options.

I agree the watches are very high margin, and PAG either has sales goals or incentives tied to dealers selling them.

A $5k watch probably is $2500-$3000 profit to the dealer (plus makes Porsche AG happy)

My point is if a customer offers is willing to buy enough add-ons that generates similar or more excess profit for the dealer, most dealers would entertain that.

Going back to car options, I believe most are 15% margin to the dealer, so agreeing to a spec that is $20k higher than an average Carrera T build should make the dealer happy, but some combination of the ideas I provided above should work.

I'm also talking in general terms about how a dealer would think about it. Some dealers have more rigid policies than others.

ipse dixit

Try 90%, if not more.