Just keep in mind that if you rent a Porsche at Avis, your sightseeing is limited to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (see http://www.avis.de/avisonline/terms....te%20MAR06.pdf).

 

Yes, Germany and Austria are definitely beautiful cities...

FORGIVE ME, Steel! I just had to point that out...

 

A European Delivery is ordinarily not a complex thing. After placing your order they will work with Gabriele McFarland at PCNA on when the car will be available for pickup. They deliver 40 cars a day over there to people who simply drive in and 'collect' their cars. (Most are Europeans). That still makes it a little harder for scheduling it. Just hold off on your flight reservations until you can get a solid delivery date from PCNA.

You can certainly get a price break if you are a good negotiator. Having a Euro Del does not prevent that.

As you have read, Porsche will loan you the Euro navigation DVD and you will be set! Although I'm pretty familiar with Europe having lived there off and on over the years, things are changing all the time. The navigational system is first rate and works better over there than it does in the USA. In fact, they have free real-time traffic advisories that integrate well into the Porsche nav system so you won't get held up in traffic often. Trust it. It speaks to you in English. Come prepared with the addresses, city codes or even Lat/Long coordinates of your destination hotels or sights.

Porsche gives you two weeks of insurance and licensing coverage while you are there. Most Americans underappreciate just how large Europe is and they suddenly find that they are running out of time to see all the places on a driving itinerary. Plan for at least 3 to 4 weeks. It will give you the time to travel, stop and relax, and yet still log some miles on the car in order to break it in. Once you and the car are broken in you can really push it along! Keep in mind that keeping the car below the factory recommended constraints will STILL allow you to do about 140 mph. 6-speeds are nice. Just take your time adjusting to the car.

Don't be fearful of traffic or other drivers, etc. If you have done any international driving you should be used to things being a little different. Just drive like the locals and you'll be fine.

Security. Use common sense on where you leave your car. Break ins are very common in Europe if you are not parked in a great stop. There is a big difference between those with and those without over there. Mine was keyed the second night I had the car when parked in front of a friend's house in a very nice neighborhood of Heidelberg. I suspect it was some young German man,--who else would do that sort of thing? Ironically, I was bringing employment to Germany by buying a Porsche instead of a Ford that was 'paid back.' Clearly,--not thinking. It's like having gang violence in a tourist town. You're not going to keep your tourists for long. Most hotels today have secure parking locations. Germans and other Europeans have a generally high regard for other people's things like cars and you won't have to worry about door dings. They're sensitive to that. But, remember that Europe has changed with the influx of most eastern Europeans. Porsche AG claimed that vandalism to cars during a European Delivery are unheard of. I'm not sure I believe that. Their underwriter got to deal with my claim.

In summary, plan to spend some time over there. Figure out what you want to see and do and then get out a few maps of the area and figure out what sort of driving it will take to accomplish that. What I did was to schedule some nights in advance particularly are popular areas, and leave other nights open. I just winged it for those nights. If you lock yourself into hotels and dates be conservative on your daily mileage figures. Plan on spending a few bucks on fuel. Last summer it was averaging $6.50 a gallon (adjusted). Porsche will advise you which fuel grade to buy,--you don't need to buy super high octane. Their second level down is adequate. Oil is expensive over there ($25/litre). I found I needed a quart every thousand miles. I amassed 3200 miles in about 30 days. Not a lot, really, as I spent some time at variously destinations where I didn't have to touch the car. The cars are reliable from the start. I had not one computer fault code the entire time I was there. If you're fearful of that sort of thing then maybe a trip outside of your neighborhood would be too much!