Ray S

I ordered my Boxtser new and I was able to negotiate a similar discount to what they were offering for a car off the lot.

Best of both worlds.

Bottom line to remember, they don't want to see you walk of the lot and order from another dealer.

KBS911

I ordered my first Porsche, a Cayman S, then was prepared to order an 08 C2S when i found a car that matched my spec down to red seat belts. The only thing missing was sport exhaust, but the 10% discount i got at the time compensated for that non-essential option.

Fast forward: I just bought a 2010 GT3, picked it up yesterday, after having placed an order for an October build. The difference, I got a white versus black car, but white was my original choice anyway. I was able to get a car now, with $3K more options for 1K more than the car i ordered, but I am driving it now.

As far as I'm concerned if you are somewhat open minded you can work a better deal on an existing car. Worked for me.

hidalgo

I have bought off the lot and and speced an order. I have to say I really enjoyed the process of specing my own car but man it really costs you! on the other hand I believe I am so happy with my ordered car that I will keep it longer so it may somewhat even out.

I currently am looking at the new GT3 and I think I will order ( unless I see one on the lot in GT Silver).

997, esq

I am generally skeptical, but I really doubt people routinely lie about the price they pay. Imagine how pathetic someone would have to be to lie about something like that in order to look good in an anonymous internet forum!

I found the information posted on here useful and reliable when I went to buy. I even quoted prices to dealers that others reported on here and 6 speed. Dealers have the auction prices on used cars and have tons of information re new cars, so they should be able to point to evidence that a particular sale price is too low, if they believe someone has underreported the price they have paid. I never found that they did that.

My goal with a car purchase isn't to squeeze out every last dollar, but to avoid overpaying by 5-10%. You can certainly overpay by that much if you are ill-informed or you lack resolve to negotiate. Dealers are generally good at negotiating, and the Internet has certainly allowed a resourceful buyer to even the playing field. Even if you have a lot of money, you might have a distaste for paying too much for something. I'm like that. I have friends who admittedly wouldn't bother, however.

Rob in WA

I think it all depends if you're going to keep the car for a long a time and how much disposable income you have. I ordered my 996 and plan to keep it a long time. If I was a guy who flipped cars every few years, I'd probably buy off the lot.

There is such a thing as dealer trades too. It usually only costs us a few hundred dollars to get a car from another local dealer.

If it's a Jetta TDI though and you have a clunker to trade in this week - fuggitaboutit.

Nugget

Well if it makes you guys feel any better, I hate negotiating, I'm terrible at it, and I got absolutely cheated by my dealer when I bought my car. I'm positive you got a better deal than I did. Some people just aren't wired that way and I basically get screwed any time I buy or sell anything large.

Rob in WA

I paid MSRP for my 996 too, but that was in 2001 - it's a new ball game out there now.

Pincomar

Well, I think this thread proves that this is a personal choice! I am on my 4th car, and I have ordered them all. Porsche has one of the widest options lists available and I like getting the exact car I want. My car is my daily driver. For instance, I want a rear wiper (something about growing up in England) that many others here actively don't want. That said, I recognise that there are better deals around on cars in inventory. Although, to be clear, today you can negotiate good discounts on ordered cars.

Waiting is something else. View it as eager anticipation and part of the fun?

Tcc1999

I ordered in early November 2007 for a March 2008 delivery. At that point dealers had most of the power but I negotiated a bit. I'm sure I left a few percent on the table but it was an okay deal - I was satisfied/dealer was probably happy. Color was the reasoning for ordering. Because my 9 y.o and wife agreed to Speed Yellow I ordered b/c I didn't want many options (just manual, heated sports seats and Classic rims) and the only S.Y. 2S models in inventory (just about anywhere) were north of 100K w/ lots of options I didn't care about. (The options are great, it was just my choice to go bare bones.) I'm sure I could have gotten almost exactly what I wanted in silver or black off the lot (not that is anything wrong w/ those colors).

tkids

I would take it off the lot, if I could find a car that matches most of what I want. The shorter the transaction with the salespeople the better. By ordering you will be most likely frustrated somewhere along the way. And for Pete's sake if you do Euro Delivery, ugh!!! (Euro, if you qualify for the "case by case basis").

Macster

info that others have posted at various locations.

Someone can always supply a story that a friend of a friend got same car for much less money story. The few times I've bothered to try to nail these down the same car wasn't the same car or the less money wasn't less money.

However, I do not believe for one second I got the best price ever when I have bought a car. But I've gotten a price that my research and my faith in my buying skills has helped me get. I'm happy. If dealer sold me car he's got to be happy. I just don't want to leave him deliriously happy, giddy, jumping for joy happy, you know what I mean?

Sincerely,

Macster.

Macster

Basalt Black is a very nice color. I was tempted by several basalt black new nad used cars.

Sincerely,

Macster.

1Carnut

I have owned quite a few, and just about every one was purchased off the lot. I guess I was never patient enough to wait for a car (the wait on the Ferrari's I speced out killed me), and I have never left any of them stock so I just either added or took away what I did or did not want. I am now changing my interior to all leather, have all the parts except the dash board. I will admit, I am a different type of Porsche owner, and I have never cared about warranties, or what my cars were worth when I was done with them, though they all found new homes when the time came for them to go. I am though, going to order the Pana, and have it built to my spec, I am in no rush for this car and I want this one a certain way. I think most owners would say regardless of whether they ordered the car or bought it off the lot, they wish they had or did not have one option or two.

savantauto

I am a huge fan of the custom order. It is worth the extra wait time and added cost for the "qualitative value" I get from the whole process. My 03 Mini Cooper S, 05 987, 07 997 and 08 Volvo XC70 (and hopefully in the next 12 months a 997.2TT) have been/ will be a factory order.

My boss has done several BMW ED vehicles and they even had his last name printed on the window sticker. Awesome.

mambodoc

My 06 Cayenne V6, 6 speed manual was a dealer trade, eqipped as desired and an ok price. Six months pater, my 06 Cayenne Turbo was a dealer trade, equipped as desired with a great price. Went to check out a Cayman S Sport leftover on the lot and fell in love with a C4S, a leftover as well, and luckily... equipped as I would have done for the most part and priced right. Great dealer assistance all the way since my first purchase. I'll probably add Sport Exhaust to the C4S but all in all I'm pretty excited about picking it up. I've had great luck and help from my dealer with my vehicles to date though I suspect at some point I'll order one and opt for european delivery since I lived there for about 9 years and would like to get back. I sometimes think that I would go crazy if it were up to me to build the car. I also enjoy the pursuit of the existing model search, deals, etc...