The nightmare continues. As any Rennlist member will attest, I've been prowling here for a few months since I ordered a new 997S Cabriolet. Apparently a couple of my options are proving to be too hard for Porsche. Tourist Delivery, and Paint To Sample.

I approached my local dealer in late August 05 to start the wheels turning on an order,--with the European delivery issues and custom paint clearly stated as requirements up front. "No problem," they replied. They took the very modest deposit and we started the paperwork. It was officially not submitted until early December to PCNA. In the meantime they started to research the color locally,--"Gulf Blue" was found to be number 328.

By 15 December PCNA came back and said, "we can't paint Gulf Blue." They claimed problems with varying clear coats from the different vendors that provide parts to the car (e.g., door handles, nose pieces, spoilers, etc.) which would result in a mismatched appearance to the customer. As a result, they have taken roughly some 150 colors off their Paint To Sample list and at present will be unable to shoot them. Mostly, they claim, the problem manifests itself in the lighter non-metallic colors. So, after some research, I selected a new color that was blue, but darker, and was sourced from a vintage Ferrari race car color. That was provided to PCNA around 17 December so that they could get on with it. Within a couple of days I found that my sample was very close to Porsche's 1996-7 color, Blue Turquoise,--J1,--a nonmetallic color seen on very few 993 Porsches. I suggested that they simply use the J1 color as the color since it is so close. They pressed on.

On 23 Feb PCNA and PAG came back stating that they couldn't paint my color choice. Here we go again, I thought. What was a growing issue was the delivery date at Zuffenhausen, 12 May, was approaching! (It was supposed to be delivered during the Grand Tour on 11-12 May).

A trans-Atlantic conference call later between my dealership, the regional PCNA representative, PCNA in Georgia, and Stuttgart, resulted in the latest news,--Porsche can paint the J1 color but it won't be ready by 12 May. It will be ready either late May or early June. So the ball was back in my court,--select a regular color off the MY06 list or go with J1 and shift my trip.

As a result, I'm shifting my trip to the right whatever it takes to take delivery in Zuffenhausen of the J1 Blue Turquoise Cab. Unfortunately, after three weeks of European touring, and 8-10 weeks of shipping time, I won't see the car on the west coast until September! Oh well,--at least we have good weather pretty much year-around so that's not too big a deal.

The lesson here,--start with your dealer very early. Pick a proven color with Porsche (something they have actually painted in the recent past) and make sure you first get a list of the banned colors from Porsche before you even start this ordeal.

So,--here's the latest list:

997 S Cabriolet 6-speed
98 Non-Metallic Paint to Sample (J1 Blue Turquoise)
06 Natural Leather Brown
CUC Painted Model Desig Rear Lid
M6H Brown Floor Mats
P01L Adaptive Sports Sts Lthr Int
V9 Black Top
XCZ Sport Shifter
XJT Rear Ctr. Console Makassar
XLF Sport Exhaust System
XRR 19" Carrera Sport wheel
XSB Sport Seat Backs in Leather
267 Self Dimming Mirrors
342 Heated Front Seats
446 Wheel Caps w/Colored Crest
450 Ceramic Composite Brakes-PCCB
451 Makassar Str Whl Multifctn
482 TPMS
498 Delete Model Designation
550 Hard Top
640 Sport Chrono Package Plus
672 Extended Nav Module
680 Bose High End Sound Package
692 Remote CD Changer
801 Makassar Package
TD5 Tourist Delivery (Summer 06)

Dan

 

Dan, sorry to hear the bad news of another delay. I am sure you are very disappointed. To your credit, I must say that any frustration or disappointment that you are feeling is not readily apparent in your "update." Hang in there and keep your chin up! We will wait with you!

 

they did gulf blue on this one

gulf blue cgt

 

ridiculous, other cars are that colour
I would've told them to leave the car in primer and let me paint it myself

 

Well Dan, you must be a very patient man, that's all I can say. But still, the frustration you've been going through will make anyone's blood boil.

Your car will really be special once you do finally get it, that's for sure.

 

Maybe too much wine tonight, but give me a break. Sure you would.

 

Oh I'd say it, but just in an angry fit of rage of them having pushed me so much.

 

i bet doc wiedeking would'a been shakin in his boots then!

 

Fair enough. But at the end of the day, if you really loved the car, you would find a color to make you happy. Right?

In vino veritas!!

 

Of course! Nearly any color 997 is a GREAT car! (But sometimes you want to go over the top!)

For the Carrera GT you CAN get it in Gulf Blue. Their processing is considerably different for those truly hand built cars.

Dan

 

now that sucks . . .

 

I'd order it in white, a no cost colour choice, and have it resprayed.
Maybe.

 

You must be new to Porsche,--or to painting a car. A color change on a car is both expensive to do while it would lower the value of a car as it no longer factory paint. Both are costing you in the wrong direction. Time is on my side. Patience is what age provides.

dan

 

Nice color choice! I have been looking for a 993 but have recently started thinking about ordering a 997S instead. I like Blue Turquoise and Riveria blue and am considering the Paint To Sample option. But I'm concerned that there could be problems if you ever needed some of the paint for a respray or touch up etc. I realize that they are both previous Porsche buat as they are relatively rare I wondering how easily obtainable the paint would be and whether it would be a true match

 

Matching colors is always an art. But with today's computer matching it is a lot easier than you think. I wound up with a factory color for that reason,--can obtain colors in touchup sizes easily from folks like this:

www.paintscratch.com

Dan