Rick in Colorado

So many threads on this forum are on the general subject of: “where can I get a fair deal with good service”, that I thought I’d post my own experiences.

I started my search for an ordered 997 C2S in early December and found basically three versions of responses:

1. We will give you a good deal, but when push comes to shove, we can’t come up with an allocation – basically the automotive version of vaporware
2. We are flush with allocations, but (nose in the air) we don’t discount, or our discounts are in the low single digits.
3. The rarest of all breeds, the combination of the first and second scenarios (in a good way) – a fair deal and we have a build date.

Chris Sanner (Porsche of North-Olmsted Ohio), within an hour of my initial email, came back with a very fair deal, and then secured an allocation to back it up. As many of you know, the new PCNA system has been at various levels of effectiveness since introduction, and so finding me a quick allocation was mainly done the old fashioned way.

Please don’t ask me for details of my deal, but I’d suggest that you give Chris/Bernie/Chad a try for yourselves.

E55AMG

I've ordered my 997TT from Chris as well. Every e-mail is usally answered within an hour and they have been great.

With that being said I'm going to kick his *** when I see him for his mean trick he played on me in the TT forum LOL "THe wait is killing me" thread

Dave07997S

Well that makes 3 of us ordering from N. Olmstead in Ohio..I dealt with Chad the Sales Manager right under Bernie over there. N. Olmstead was a referral I got from a former roadfly member on the M3 board. Once again kudos to N. Olmstead.

Dave

wetstuff

#4. Chris picked me up from the airport and in about 90min+- I was on the Interstate headed home to Maryland with my prize. Thanks Bernie/Chris.

Dave07997S

Sweeeett. I guess N. Olmsted isn't such a secret anymore...

Dave

500

Gr8 pic. The silver against the gray gravel looks excellent!

911Dave

Grrrrrrrrr. That license plate has to go though.

jplanaux

Rick In Colorodo >> Please don’t ask me for details of my deal, but I’d suggest that you give Chris/Bernie/Chad a try for yourselves.

I am happy that you feel that you got a great deal, but I am confused why you would want to keep the information to yourself. My impression of this forum is: a place where people with a common interest can share experiances, stories, etc (i.e. I found this little trick to change xxx on my Porsche, but please figure out how to do it yourself)

I just purchased a Porsche in November, and I scoured these forums for any type of info which would give me more confidence in presenting a "fair" offer. For those who presented factual helpful information, I applaud you; you assisted me in saving me thousands. For those who provided nothing, well, have a nice day.

Baggerdude

Make me #5 for choosing Porsche of North Olmsted. (and there are many more satisfied folks, too)

I got the lead from a PM here on the board. I called Bernie and have emailed him and Chad several times. Very prompt and courteous folks at PNO. I highly recommend them. I plan to fly there and drive back to CT in my C4S sometime in March.

Rick in Colorado

My logic is this: my "fair deal" with Chris wasn't the result of a protracted negotiation - he gave me his best and final price on our initial contact. I provided his name/location, so a potential buyer can get pricing from him directly. I have no idea whether I got merely a good deal or a truly great deal, but I did do the heavy lifting for you – I pointed you to Chris. The next step is a five-minute email away.

Potential Porsche buyers think nothing of buying a car long distance, so dealers are very competitive with each other and protective of pricing information - not from us, but from each other.

Let me give you another perspective: I'm the CFO of a publicly traded company in a very price-competitive industry. When we sign material contracts with customers we have to publicly disclose them per SEC rules. We spend enormous amounts of legal time redacting competitive information (mainly pricing) from those disclosures to cloak them from our competitors. However, if you approach us as a customer, we will freely discuss pricing terms. Same scenario – only in this case the public forum is Rennlist not the SEC edgarization, but the same "redacting" makes good business sense.

jplanaux

Rick in Colorodo >> ... came back with a very fair deal ...
I am asssuming that you got a price less than MSRP.

Sounds like I can get that from pretty much anybody who has an allocation. So , so far nothing really that special.

Rick in Colorodo>> Potential Porsche buyers think nothing of buying a car long distance, so dealers are very competitive with each other and protective of pricing information - not from us, but from each other.

OK, so I am looking at it from the view point of buyer since the majority of us are buyers. Since we are buyers and they (dealers) share the information with us, maybe we (buyers) should share the info with others (buyers)?? And isn't it US (buyers) against THEM (sellers) really?? They (sellers) are going to make money from us even by selling cars to us below MSRP.

Rick in Colorodo>>We spend enormous amounts of legal time redacting competitive information ...

Unless I don't get it, the view point you talk about is of the seller (them) - but you were the buyer in your case - not the CFO of the Porsche dealership. If you protect the sellers information, you make it sound like it is good for who?????? .... I am assuming that it is good for the sellers. My viewpoint: I really want me to get the best deal possible. I can only make an evaluation if I have some type of data. My only source of data comes from this group.

Anyway thank you for pointing me to Chris. He sounds like he will give you some type of deal that will be lower than MSRP (could be $1.00 under MSRP or could be $1.00 over invoice). I am assuming this covers 99% of the Porsche dealers out there.

Seems Chris will get you an allocation. I guess that would be 85% of the Porsche dealers out there.

Seems Chris will deal over the internet and get back quickly with pricing. I am assuming that this is probably rare.

Anyway congrats on your acquisition - you have a nice car. And thanks for using some big words like protracted, redacting, and edgarization. I am the CEO of a privately held company and I had to look each of those up.

Rick in Colorado

As I always say - "No good deed goes unpunished" - I tried to provide information and explain what I thought were the business issues in play. My experience is, looking at any business transaction from your side only, tends make it less than it could be (I almost used "suboptimizes", but I wanted to avoid having you look it up).

Here is as simply as I can put it in non-business terms: You don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

jplanaux

Rick in Colorodo >>You don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

In non business terms: If you disclose the golden egg (great deal) that they you are getting, then the goose dies (they go out of business or something like that). Oh, I finally get it. Sorry for the confusion. I understand now. Sorry for the punishment. I think I will forget all of this business stuff since we both seem not to understand each other and take a drive on this beautiful sunny day. Cheers.

gravedgr

I take it you don't spend much time working on customer sat.

Rick merely pointed out that someone had made him a good deal and provided the contact information. If you want someone to hold your hand and tell you what to ask for, I'm sure someone else will provide that information. I received a roughly 7% discount from Hennessy Porsche in Atlanta - if you'd like, I can give you my salesman's info and he will be glad to work with you.

I also got a similar offer from Chris Sanner, but wanted to give my local dealer first chance. Chris was very accomodating and I wouldn't hesitate to work with him in the future (and have sent deals his way).

Dave07997S

It has been discussed on not only this board but others on the kind of deals that can be obtained on a C2 or C2S. I normally think that discussing the particuilar deal someone gets is in bad taste. Normally it is enough to disclose the source of the great transaction, but the particulars should normally not be discussed on a open forum.

Dave