been looking into it because i plan on purchasing the new chassis carrera when available..

with porsche you pay an additional fee for euro delivery (example for Cayenne's at least are: "for a base you pay $1,150, for an S you pay $2,250 and for Turbo you pay $4,075 for tourist delivery")

and i dont notice any incentives in the deal other than getting a free GPS unit for europe during your travels. (insurance is i think 30 or 45 days?)

for bmw to compare, they take a discount 5-8% off the price of the car ( http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...erYourBMW.aspx )

and then they even go as far as to comp your companions flight costs when flying lufthansa...


curious on how one company (BMW) can discount 5-8% off negotiated price for this luxury, and comp companions airfare, and others (Porsche) charge additional for the luxury.


im thinking maybe the bmw program does not include track time? and less insurance (says 14 days insurance)...

 

I've done European Delivery with Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and 3 times with Porsche. In 1984 there was a small discount available for Tourist Delivery with Porsche but in 1999 and 2009, as today, the program was extra cost. Here's what was included for the $2250 I paid in 2009 on my Carrera S:

1 night's stay in a 5 star hotel (Steigenberger Graf Zeppelin, Stuttgart)
Cab fare to and from the delivery center
2 weeks insurance
Use of a free GPS
Factory tour
Gourmet lunch
Museum tour
Complementary gifts at time of delivery (bottle of wine, key fob, etc)
Getting to drive your Porsche on German roads/Autobahn
Return shipment to dealer
First class treatment/amazing experience
(there is no track time as part of the package for delivery in Stuttgart)

Many of these same perks, plus price breaks, are available from the other manufacturers. Porsche obviously charges what the market will bear. Only you can decide if it's worth it. (It is!)

 

I think Porsche has cut back production considerably and the net result is higher demand vs supply which means higher prices for everything.

I'm curious if Porsche says anything different about the break in period for Euro delivered cars. I know it would be pretty hard to stay below 4000 RPM on the Autobahn!

 

Mercedes Euro Delivery is exceptional. You get buy 1 one get 1 free ticket with Lufthansa. A night at the Graf Zeppelin in Stuttgart, taxi vouchers from the airport to the hotel and hotel to the MB factory. 65 Euros to eat at the MB Cafe. You will have leftover money to get a bottle of wine. Free DVD navigation rental. They will program it for you if you provide them with a list of hotels you are staying. Free 30 days insurance up to 1 million. No Destination charge and 7% off MSRP. Their optional black forest/alps rally. gives you 5 nights at 5 star hotels, free breakfast and dinner for two at $1,200. I can't see why Porsche can't match.

 

I've done Volvo European delivery. (Plane tickets for two, night in hotel, taxi, 5% discount, plant tour, insurance and probably a couple of other things.) I would love to buy my next Porsche this way asked a dealer why Porsche charged extra [apart from the obvious--they can]. His reply was that the cost was necessary and essentially insurance to cover Americans who crashed their new cars on the autobahn.

 

I believe the main reason Porsche charges is to keep the Euro delivery numbers down. They simply do not have the room in Zuffenhausen to store finished cars that are waiting on customers. Once you go to the factory you will see how limited the real estate is.

 

Porsche charges more for everything, why not this too?

 

Porsche charges what the market will bear. I have picked up two Porsches over the years at Zuffenhausen. I kept my engine speed below 4500 rpm as suggested by their customer care representative for 2000 miles. Although Porsche only provided 2 weeks of insurance coverage you can elect to stay longer (which I did to amass about 3200 miles over there).

As with everything Porsche, their prices are high. Always has been. But if you would care to drive your new Porsche on some of the best roadways in the world, and also without limit on the autobahn, then there is a price to do it. Only you can decide whether it's worth it. Yes, it's a pain for Porsche to maintain a local customer delivery site at Zuffenhausen for people to get their cars. They would rather use it toward production. Here's the back of the delivery center--with cars queueing up, awaiting customers. when I picked up my car they had trucks coming in regularly dropping off Caymans to be delivered to their customers in Germany--this is when they were all producing in Finland. It's a lot of trouble.

 

I am with OP on this one! It's a DUMB move from Porsche and it should at least be free...

SO WHAT if they need to make room, or it costs them X to insure the car? They should think of it as a marketing expense. It's a HUGE INCENTIVE to be able to pickup a car like this in Europe, get a factory tour, and drive it around great roads. It will leave a GREAT impression on the buyer that will definitely impact their next choice.

I for one, would only buy brand new if I could do EU delivery... with the kind of depreciation these cars have, and with the level of low mileage 2nd hand cars available, it makes a lot of sense to buy a 1yr old car instead of new... unless, you realy wanted that *extra* experience and for sure the EU delivery will entice to get a brand new car!

I was always an Audi guy until I visited Zuffenhausenn... now, I can't think of another car as replacement!

 

only thing i can think of is that the other companies own shares in the airline companies and maybe get a bigger kickback from govt for bringing tourists into the EU?

maybe now that Porsche is with VW it might improve over time? i was looking and i could order a brand new M3 the way i want it for 60k european delivery.... too bad the new body style of that is around the corner as well....

 

They don't need to own shares. I will guarantee you that Porsche (and the others) have made arrangements with Lufthansa and the motels and are paying substantially less than you or I would for a ticket or room. Every major company I've worked with does this.

Porsche does this for the same reasons GT Silver is a "special color" you pay $3K extra for- because they can. I'll bet Ferrari does too.

 

I did three euro deliveries with Porsche. The last was a 1985 Carrera. On that one I received a discount on the car, a voucher for a free taxi from the airport to the hotel, a free hotel night with dinner and breakfast and a taxi to the plant the following morning. I stayed a month and put 3000 miles on the car.

Also, at that time the euro cars did not come out of the dealer's allocation which was good for the dealer.

 

Another thing to consider is that ED order time to delivery back at home spans about 6 months. The typical European car buyer does not have that luxury of time to replace the vehicle they are driving daily, so regardless of discount, very few take advantage of ED. If Porsche offered an easy way to discount their sports car models, they may have a lot more ED orders than they could handle. No doubt this was analyzed when the fee was established.

And with Cayennes and Panameras flying out of showrooms, there is no need to market a discount program for them.

Also note that MB and BMW somtimes limited the models eligible for discounts.

All that said, take advantage of ED while you can. Speed cameras in Europe are multiplying, and the years are numbered for both the Autobahns and the Nurburgring.

 

I agree its because "they can", but it's an oppotuntiy for them to GAIN new and long-term customers... imagine you're at the dealer, and looking at a brand new Porsche, the sales reps says... btw, if you order a new car to your spec, you get the option "for no extra charge, you can pick this car up in Germany and drive around EU for 2 weeks!"... I think it's a much more compelling argument to make you sit down, pick options and order the car, and after doing the tour, EU pickup, there is a much greater chance that you'd be a repeat customer.

IT SHOULD BE FREE!

 

I agree, it would be great if it was free. OTOH, I'm sure Porsche has done analysis on this issue. Shortly after I took delivery in June 2009, the Tourist Delivery program was suspended and the long time U.S. coordinator of the program, with whom I had dealt personally, was summarily "retired". There was some question about whether the program would be reinstated at all. Although it was, the fact that this discussion occured within Porsche, shows that it's benefit was, at the least, a point of contention.

IMO, saying that there "is a much greater chance that you'd be a repeat customer" if Tourist Delivery were free is highly overstated. I'm a 5 time repeat customer and was obviously willing to pay for TD. I doubt there are more than a handfull of Porsche owners who would be disinclined to buy Porsches again just because it cost them for TD. In short, for Porsche, the benefit does not outweigh the cost of providing free European delivery.