ive heard that due to the sluggish US economy, porsche decided to take cars away from the US and send them to china and the middle east instead

smart move, dont think people in the middle east haggle too much on price like we do here, in fact, its probably more like a bidding war over there

 

I'm on an out-of-town business trip this week and have to think about more than just Porsches

Yesterday's events: I spoke to a friend at the first dealer, and he said the best they can do is fleet price. Very unimpressive considering the double digit discounts I expected from answers here. So I called the dealer where we bought our 2 current Porsches, gave him the scoop, asked about what kind of deal we could get, and replied that I'd be happy with 10% off MSRP. He is supposed to get back to me. Haven't heard anything as of tonight.

I'm in Albuquerque now, and I see that the local P-car dealer is a Premier Porsche dealer. I think I'll stop by there and see what kind of deals they're making after tomorrow's meetings

 

i think my wife spent about 8 hours on it over about 2 months. i decided on what i had to have (short list, CS w/pasm, something like convenience package 2, PCM, NAV(if i had it to do over again...)). she then checked pretty much every dealer's website inventory. if they had what i was looking for, then she sent them an email.

got about 25 responses, about 10 of which were the "they always sell for list". those folks got dropped immediately, and second email went out for details. a couple of the cars were stale on the websites, at least one was an 03 marked as an 05 on the inventory and there were other issues. about 6 got phone calls to the sales managers, then we both got busy on other things for about 3 weeks. during that 3 weeks we got a series of increasingly desperate emails about the purchase, with rising discounts as "sales" took place. bluegrass porsche in louisville came into the game fairly late, we saw the cayenne show up on the website and sent them an email. they called and the wife told them where we were at with the other folks. they matched at once and i went to get the car.

jackie cooper (the only place we had actually physically been) called about a month after we got the CS to tell us that the car they had (69k sticker) was now on sale for 68k. needless to say, they missed the boat, and i think that car was still there 6 months later.

 

there are 38 CPO'd 2006s on Autotrader (124 of all years), from a CS with 1 mile to a 60k car. the prices are all over the place, and if anyone is actually trying to hold the line, they are only succeeding in their local area with folks who don't know about the internet. there is a CS with 40k miles for 36k with CPO, which isn't really a bad deal on a used, plain CS with iron suspension.

 

Stopped by the Abq. dealer late this afternoon after meetings. Very nice looking dealership, although pretty deserted when I got there. Greeted right after I walked in the door, but the salesman was expecting someone. Still, extremely cordial and helpful. Very upfront about dealing, and willing to offer a great deal, just several $K over invoice. Unfortunately, I would probably have to wait until late summer for a build.

We sat down and talked about Porsche inventory for a while. In the past, he said there were plenty of cars to go around. Now, much fewer cars planned for the next year, and allocations for the more desirable sports cars, like the new GT2, are planned out a year in advance. The Carrera GT was specifically mentioned as a sales disaster - way too many cars produced for such a high price. No wonder Porsche cut the production run lower than originally planned. (I still wouldn't mind having one in my garage.)

The salesman has my card and contact information in case they unexpectedly get more allocation in the near future. We're in the market for a car now, not in late 2008, so may have to tradeoff a great deal for a car now. It does sound like conditions are different than a few years ago when dealers would drastically cut prices to make deals.

I still haven't heard back from the salesman where we bought our 2 Porsches now, even with a counter offer of what they would be willing to take off. Maybe he's off for a few days, but I should know more by the end of the week when I'm back in L.A.

 

I know i'm a little late to the game here, but, send me a PM, or email me at alfied@iramotorgroup.com, and i'll see what i can work out for you .

 

All good advice. I wouldn't drive my Porsche though to a Toyota dealership. I did this with my wife to one dealership and then her Suzuki to a different dealership when we were shopping for the Highlander. Came away with $500 over invoice at the dealership when we drove the Suzuki and $1500 when we drove in with the Cayenne.

 

Back 06, My CV6 was 49K sticker, paid 44K. Over 10% off...

I tortured his ***

 

The democrats are going to come and get you for "torture"... please confine realisitic descriptions to innuendo or type in German

p.s. I got more! but then who didn't?! (kidding, sort of)

 

I have an GTS on order, expecting the car in late Feb or early Mar; they gave me a $2k discount but after reading all of the posts I'll see if I can do better.

 

I got 10% off sticker for our '08 Cayenne Turbo buying it from the dealer's lot on a Friday August 31st and walking out the dealership a couple of times!

 

First - thanks one and all for the great inputs and suggestions

Here's a quick summary:

I talked to a few dealers across the country as well as locals. I couldn't have kept shopping for the "best" deal, but at some point the car has to be ordered and built, or another year will go by.

Every Porsche dealer I interacted with was great! I would consider doing business with any of them in the future

Dealer relationships DO count - local dealer where I bought our last 2 Porsches stepped up to the plate and came up with a fair price better than most, and had allocations to get the car built in the near term (i.e., next few months). I could have gotten a better price elsewhere, but would have to wait for an '09 model.

Understanding all the options and what you get (or don't) is important. We added one option on the way to sign off on the order, since we realize this is a car being built for us, we tend to keep cars a long time, and the option (Porsche crest in headrests) isn't super expensive. Dealer inadvertently added an option before we got there (light comfort), but we realized we wanted it to get the dimming mirrors when talking to the salesman about it.

Knowing prices ahead of times helps negotiations. I emails our salesman the Edmunds page with specs, showing Edmunds view of invoice price for options.

Keep in mind the salesman and dealer have to stay in business and eat. It all depends on your definition of "fair". I feel we got a fair deal (not the best, not the worst), but it was reasonable and I can live with it

Buying a car off the lot means you might be paying for some options you really don't want (e.g., roof rails) and then have to spend more time getting rid of the option

Cayennes don't seem to be in excess capacity, and the deals from a few years ago aren't there, or at least not in this area (L.A.), even though the economy and price of gas can't be helping matters. Porsche's growth areas are outside the US (Middle East and Russia come to mind), and those areas seem to be less price sensitive with fewer "deals" to be had. I expect Porsches to maintain their resale value better than when Porsche was selling every car here they possibly could and dealers were discounting the cars to move as many as possible.

Keeping the Boxster and Carrera when buying the Cayenne definitely gets the sales manager's attention

Car is configured as follows:

Meteor Gray Metallic
Black Leather Interior
Front & rear floor mats int color
Light comfort package / memory
Preferred package plus
Porsche crest in headrest
Soft look leather
Comfort Seats memory
Park assist
Compass Display in mirror
Air suspension w PASM
Var assist power steer
19" Cayenne design wheel
Dark wood package w lever
Exterior package black

This is a combination of options I wanted and my wife wanted. Way more negotiation and compromise in this household than with any dealer

And now we wait

 

Any opinions on getting a break on the MSRP for a GTS? Or is that wishful thinking?

 

for a couple of months, or until the 09 changeover.

 

GTS is new and sounds like a wonderful sports car, even if it's an SUV. When we bought the new model 2005 Carrera for my wife, we walked into the dealer to spec out a build-to-order car for her and were prepared to wait. The ideal car was sitting there, having been custom ordered and then refused by the buyer. Three people lined up waiting to buy the car on the spot before we happened in that day. Our salesman disposed of all groups and we bought the car. We paid full MSRP and felt we got a fair deal.

Dealer in Abq. said really tight allocations of new GT3s and dealers have to project out a year in advance for the '09 model year. On a new Cayenne, he said dealer invoice plus $3K, but the car wouldn't be built until August or September. PM or email me if you want his name and contact info.

Cayenne production is cut back to make capacity for the new GTS. The 2 dealers in L.A. I worked with were both giving me a little break off MSRP, but no double digit discounts. Like I said, relationship with your salesman and dealer do count.

Read back a few posts from this one and see if Alfie can do anything. We never got as far as talking price, but he's on here and has been paying attention.

I wouldn not expect any break off of MSRP on a new Cayenne GTS to be huge as others reported in the past in this thread. If you get a GTS, please don't say how great it drives or I'll be jealous!