NJcroc

i think to many are forgeting that porsche is insuring that tires are available to porsche owners. you may not agree with how they are doing it but they are doing it. I have seen other times when i needed a tire that the manufaturer no longer made that type of tire or it was unavailable and i had to buy 4 more tires.

now the funniest thing i have read here today is even thinking about tirerack making tires morre expensive. they have done so much to make sure we have a better supply and much better prices than anyone else i can think of.

as another side note mdrums if you are now getting you porsche fitted with tires at a porsche store by a porsche mechanic(who ownes a torque wrench) instead of costco you are doing much better even if it cost a bit more

BlueJay73

They're insuring we can get the product only from THEM. The same amount of tires exist no matter who has them to sell. We find who has the best price, and they sell the most tires(do the most business). That's competition. What PCNA is doing is a velvet hammer--they have the tires alright. All of them. That's anti-competition, and the Federal Trade Commision is supposeed to vigorously prosecute anti-competitive practices(price-fixing, collusion).


So, now I can't go to whatever tire installer I want to go to? If I was a shop owner, and I'm now prevented from working on Porsches,I'd be pissed.

Respectfully, JIM

GSIRM3

The same amount of tires may exist, but at least this way they are limited to Porsche car owners. If this was not the case, then anyone could buy the tires for any car. Then when you need one for your 911, you maybe can't get one. At least this way you can probably get a tire from the dealer.

uzj100

NJcroc

buy them over the counter at the porsche dealer and bring them wherever you want. just like filters and other assorted parts

mooty

i had my indy ordred them from tire rack. we didn't have prob.
he didn't ask for my RS VIN either.

but i know what you are talking about as my previous POS audi S4 had tires that was only available from dealer for a period of time.

jnx

I don't believe that the imfamous "N" tires mean anything to anyone else....... They really don't mean squat to me, as a matter of fact I will now go out of my way to make sure I don't purchase any.

elh0102

I bought my tires yesterday at the dealer parts counter; will put them on next month after a track event.

All this talk about price fixing, restraint of trade, good grief! I paid the Tire Rack price at the dealer. Does anyone really believe, given the margin Porsche makes on cars, that they are viewing these tires as a profit windfall? Think about it. Porsche is simply buying the current Michelin production of this specific tire. And if word got out that this tire was in extremely high demand by Porsche owners, and a supply was not assured through the dealers, how many tire distributors out there do you believe would show mercy on us poor Porsche drivers, and not jack the price up? At least PCNA has the additional incentive of servicing its cars and satisfying the owners.

And for those bothered by this, just buy the non-N PS2 tire. It's specs are fully equivalent, even has a higher load rating. I'm surprised at folks so concerned about this "Porsche" tire thing, when many of the same owners don't hesitate to install aftermarket wheels, brake, engine, exhaust and suspension components. All of those present a much greater potential warranty risk than other tires of equivalent specs.

sandwedge

And someone else was quoted $40-$90 mark-ups from various Porsche dealers.

Please. What business do you know of that doesn't look for another way to make a nickel? American Airlines removed one olive per salad plate a while back to improve their bottom line.

Frankly, that kind of mindset bothers me much more than the money we're talking about here. Whether it's politics or business, why do so many people just roll over to anyone or anything that has more authority and/or money than they do. If Bill Clinton or GW Bush say it's good for us, then why ask questions? Surely they know better. And if PCNA say they need to establish monopoly on certain tires - of course they do it out of compassion for their customers. We should be thankful rather than scornful.

Submissive citizens and consumers create much more problems than citizens and consumers who probe and inquire and maybe that's where most of the disagreement stems from on this particular thread. Not necessarily a $30 mark-up on tires for a $100K car.

By the way, when and where did PCNA make a commitment to Porsche owners to make N-spec tires available at all times? If they did, it's in fine print somewhere. And if they didn't, why don't they focus on the commitments they did make and leave tire sales to those who specialize in it?

GSIRM3

I don't think anyone is rolling over here. Some of us just don't see the problem, at least those of us that have been able to get tires when needed at the Porsche dealer at the same, or very close to same, price as Tire Rack.

BlueJay73

I recall an article I read (maybe Total911 or Excellence?) within the last year that was about Porsche, as an organization, company, or whatever German legal entity they are, instituting a sales concept whereby they, the company, would be the sole dealers for their cars. These would be Porsche Centers that would be the exclusive sellers of their new vehicles. The traditional dealerships would be discontinued. Well, as you might imagine, the existing dealers strongly objected. After some infighting and legal threats back and forth, the concept was shelved. Porsche, as a company, appears to want to monopolize every aspect of P ownership that they think they can get away with. The dealerships objected to Porsche's tactics and prevailed.
What is so different about this issue where we, the consumer, find ourselves at the short end of Porsche's big stick?

JIM

jhbrennan

I may be way off here but I think Porsche did exactly this in the late 80's early 90's and it nearly drove them to bankruptcy. One of our historians probably has the "true" story.

cmoss

Legal or not, I think you're on to something here. Recently a local import repair shop closed due to lack of business. And one reason was the fact that so much work is now to be done at the stealers. A mechanic can not even fix/repair most new porsche engines. Anything more complicated than a simple error code readout means the entire engine gets pulled and shipped back to "Churmany." BMW as it's program of doing all tuneups for the first xxx,000 miles. These large car companies are really trying to capture all revenue from cradle to grave for our cars. The problem is that after the cars are out of warranty it is almost impossible to fix them locally. Just throw them out and buy another one...

mdrums

Well I was suposed to get new tires today installed AT MY DEALER but the fronts did not come in. Yeah this hold the tires for dealers to sell to Porsche owners is working like a charm!
So since the PS2's or PZ's are really the only other choice for my rear sizes I went back to check the prices and they jacked them up the last few weeks.

Fahrer

It is illegal for any auto manufacturer to tell a dealer a which price a car can be sold. It is also illegal to control markets( and drive up prices) through COLLUSION. If Porsche has obtained agreement from tires distributors to limit inventory or distribution of tires in order to drive prices upward they could be in big trouble. If that were the situation who wants to spend the time and money to put together the case? Porsche is, I imagine, trying to ensure that the 911 buyers will be able to get tires. Sometimes these things backfire......like the government getting involved in oil/gasoline supply and demand... anyone remenber the 70s?