tkids

Can't wait for the test ride around Weissach. Hopefully it is a Turbo they drive me around in!! Insurance is an 320 dollars a week! 4x that of Mercedes/BMW. Grand Tour or bust.

"Tkids
The Euro Delivery program is worth every penny. The Grand Tour is fun but only for the test drive on Weissach. If you are going outside the tour times, ask the PR dept to setup a factory tour. They usually don't mind if it's a small group.
Also remember to buy additional insurance cos now they only give a paltry 16 days from date of delivery."

gota911

A little over a year ago I was looking for a 2004 996 or a 997. I test drove the 997 and really liked it but didn't want to spend $85k+ at that time since my daughter starts college this coming fall. The local dealer also had a new 996 with few options MSRP of $74K. The salesman called me one afternoon and said they were willing to be "very aggressive" on the 996. So I left work early and made the 50-minute drive to the dealership.

I talked with the finance guy and he said that they were "willing to knock off $2,000" on the 996. Well, I told him that they had wasted over 2 hours of my time and I didn't appreciate it at all. I also mentioned that the car was officially 1-1/2 years old and $2k off of a $74k car was not what I would call “very aggressive.” I told him that discount was “chump change.” The finance guy knew I was pissed, too, because his eyes got as big as saucers. I walked out of the dealership and the salesman was in front of the building and he asked how it went. I told him the same thing I told the finance guy.

As I was opening the door to my car, the sales manager came running (literally) out of the front door, and asked if he could speak to me. Well, as it turned out, they “found” some Porsche money and were willing to discount the car $10,500 and sell it to me for $63.5k. I told him that I was too pissed off about the whole thing to make a decision then and said I would call back the next day with an answer. I ended up not buying the car, because it had too few options.

A month later, I found a 2004 996 with 6,450 miles that I bought for $65.3k (original MSRP $81,730). Whenever I get ready to purchase a car I always make sure I am ready to walk away from the car if the deal is not right or if the dealership is not right. I have walked away from a few deals and have never had any regrets.

Le Chef

Mine are great. They price right to keep me as a customer, knowing that I know the numbers. I have a standing offer to meet up with a couple of the guys for breakfast on Saturday mornings. So I don't really think they fit the "bad" dealer model.

BMW and Mercedes otoh and a**holes who know jack sh*t about cars and treat you like the oily rag. I wouldn't p*ss on them if they were on fire. Audi otoh do a great job of being real and they will get the replacement for the allroad when that comes up.

Eggplant Cab

Ah then you need to do this. Get a letter from your US insurance stating how claim free you are for the last 5 years and you get at least a 50% discount. I had a buddy deal with all that stuff but I know the german autoclub ADAC sells 1 month green insurance and it's less €400 for €100 deductible. It's worth it if you are staying longer.
I would also make sure you note the mileage of the car when handing it back. I've heard a few stories of over 100miles being added to the car after the factory takes it back. That's not suppose to happen!
I think many car dealers will promise the moon on the phone. I always say ok give me the discount in writing and I'll send the check right now. Don't want to waste time going up and down. They either put up or more often shut up.

Vancouver83LTD

in the car buying process you just have to be boss, and not treat them like **** but you have to stand firm and not take crap.

icon

how many new cars have you bought?

gr8330

The dealer I bought from is excellent. The whole experience from purchase to service has been unbelievable. I'm looking at a BMW and a Porsche for my next car and the dealer experience is making my decision to buy a 997 comforting along with damn exciting. They have placed and set the hook in my lip and are starting to real me in. They, I hope to finalize my choice tomorrow and get this car ordered. The only other good experience was from a Lexus dealer when my wife bought her car. To be honest the Porsche experience was a couple of tics better. In the too many years and too many cars I’ve purchased this is a first for me to talk about a dealer this way. Could it be the wine and age are taking its toll?

LuisGT3

What I find every time I go into a Porsche dealer (In MN and FL) is that any sales person that I deal with is completely uneducated about the marque. Used car sales people are especially clueless.

Legalkix

I've only purchased one used car in my life. All of the others have been new. I've dealt with Nissan/Toyota/Acura/Ford/Chrysler and Mercedes. Every one of them -- even down to the idots at Chrysler make the guys at Porsche look like amateurs at customer service. Buying a 100K+ vehicle I had to beg for a vehicle brochure...which I couldn't even get until after I'd ordered. There was not a single 997 on the lot to look at or test drive. There were no color samples of paint, interior leather or top materials (cab). The dealer HAD to know that the color depictions on the website are **** poor but said nothing.

There was NO help on options, virtually no communication, and the guy who just made my commission was too busy with another walkin customer to even handle the closing. The kid that was supposed to walk me through the vehicle didn't have a clue and I knew more about the car than he did. I learned 100X more about the P-Cars on this forum than I ever did from the dealer.

When I got my Benz, I had 5 calls within a week to make sure everything was great. Service meant they flatbedded a loaner out to me and picked up my car, trucked it to the dealer and returned it fully washed and fueled...to my house or my office whichever I preferred. I had trouble getting a commitment for a loaner from the p-dealer. Oh..I did get a nice plant to thank me for my business. I have had better experiences buying an $18,000.00 Ford Truck for my daughter than buying this six figure vehicle...

I feel better now...

Vancouver83LTD

I've been the friend that has been the hard noser and been the one who says no.
as for new cars, I went quite a ways with one dealer before it fell through. That was on an 05' mustang

DTMELM

Seems to be a common theme here...We just bought our first "new" Porsche. We had a 2001 Boxster that we bought in 2002 from a private party. Over the last 3 years, we've purchased 5 cars: A Subaru which was sold for an Acura. My daughters Honda Hybrid. My Chevy Avalanche. And finally, the 997 (which we sold the boxster to buy). So I've been in Acura, Chevy, Honda, Subaru and Porsche. Hands down, the Porsche dealership experience was absolutely the worst (Stevens Creek Porsche in San Jose).

Not in the pricing (we ended up around $3k off MSRP) or the quality of the vehicle. No financing issues (cash purchase) either. But geez...$95k+ vehicle and the sales team is more interested in our giving them a good survey rating (JD Power) than they are in actually making any post sales contact to make sure all is ok? We had a salesman that had been there 8 years (his story) but didn't cover any of the break-in rules (thank goodness I'm the "read the manual cover to cover" guy), didn't know that the CD player in-dash worked even with the changer, promised all kinds of "goodies" but then conviniently forgot all about that once the deal was signed.

So I speak (a week later) to the finance manager and conveyed my experience and told them there was no way I would rate them "10's" on the survey. Wants the list of all the issues/concerns. So what's he do? Tells the salesman that "he better call the customer who's really p***** off". So the guy calls and confronts me? Geez...

Best experience? Acura. Chevy wasn't far behind. Honda was pretty solid and even Subura wasn't bad. Porsche plain sucked. Oh...Did I mention I had to beg/borrow to find $1.10 to get my wife a soda as we went through the process? Not $1...Not complementary...But bugging the receptionist for a dime to exchange 10 pennies! Double geez...

Great car and we love it...This board has been an enormous help...Just the sales experience that wasn't even close to the caliber of the product!

Derek

Holli82

Can you say Quaker State 10W-40??

Holli82

I had a wonderful experience buying from Braman in Florida. Never met my salesman or sales manager in person. I did everything via phone, fax and e-mail. They were great to deal with and I would not hesitate to do it again.

They also arrange a courtesy delivery in California(Hoehn) after my local dealer refused to accept the car. The folks a Hoehn treated me like I was one of their customers with frequent phone calls and updates. The delivery and orientation was first class.

Matt(inMA)

I had a wonderful experience going myself... right up until I sat down with the "finance officer" and proceeded to get the high pressure sales BS for "full interior protectant... special paint protectant...extended this and protected that...blah...blah...blah". I went from feeling like I was buying a special car to feeling like I was on a used car lot.... It really ruined the entire experience... My sales guy, who's been awesome, was not there but I intend to spend some time with him next week to share my disapointment.

By the way - the dealer is Herb Chambers Porsche


Matt

PDQ PDK CAYMAN S

I had a good dealership and a very bad salesperson. He left the city because of my deal, had been in Porsche sales for 32 years. It is a 2 beer story but I did not get the options I wanted and he lied about the delivery. The car was an August delivery and it showed up November 15th which was him and not the dealership or the factory. The dealership offered to order a new car and I declined. When you fill out the survey they get the feedback and can tell who wrote it or they are told. I have heard this from my dealer.