Great point Jon and eloquently said.

K

 

The funny thing about threads started with a story about a leaked report, reported by journalists, written into an article and then excerps posted to this board. If the whole story had been either known, reported by the journalists and posted by the poster a very different story would have emerged. I admit not to having the article, I have no idea who these journalists are or who they work for and I have no idea who the poster is. However I do have in German the FULL report as reported in Auto Motor und Sport. The poster is quite correct with the statements about Mercedes. They got slammed for quality, customer support etc. What is missing is, so did Porsche. Not for the 986 but primarily for the 996 interior. The use of CHEAP plastic low quality parts, lack of warranty support and a few other issues specifically related to the 996 from 1999 thru to 2001. Porsche were also forced to admit some failures and have made committments to fix these things up. BMW, Audi, VW, Ford and Opel also have some black marks on their report cards. However BMW are way ahead in the quality issues, except for their products manufactured in the USA. I only posted this in order to show that the whole story is a lot more complicated than some people try and make out. I do not know who the poster is but I really wish she/he would identify themselves,
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

PS: We are stuck with the SUV anyway. It has been delayed again but it is coming out. It is time to put our bad feelings away and get used to it. People are going to be buying them and what is each of us going to do when a Cayenne owner comes up to us in our 911s or whatever. Tell them to rack off, tell them they do not drive real Porsches, ignore them, be rude to them or are we going to get with the flow and welcome them. Me, myself and I will welcome them as Porsche owners.

 

Adrian, please understand that in the USA, we have a Constitutional Right to "Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness". The later is often interpreted as "bitching & moaning". Have a great weekend!

 

It'll be kind of funny if new Cayenne owners look at the 9series guys and tell us to **** off. After all this is a new chapter for Porsche.

Something I noticed at The Breakers in West Palm Beach was that the old Ferrari guys didn't really mingle with the new. Old money vs New I suppose, and then you had the "348 and after crowd, and the 328 on down crowd. Anyway, each era had it's place.

K <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

 

So, I've now got two German S4 cars. A 928 S4 and a 6 spd Audi S4, black on black. Far as I can tell the quality on the Audi looks n feels good and current owners have nothing but praise for them. Especially after they're chipped for 300+ hp. So that's that.

K <img src="graemlins/r.gif" border="0" alt="[king]" />

 

You used to be able to hear the build quality in the doors of these cars.....THUD! That is hard to find anywhere these days! But on the flip side, the price premium for a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche is not as high as it was, say 10-15 years ago. These companies can't afford to build them like they used to. You can thank the Japanese for that.

 

Kaz,
I just bought a 325 Sport from New Century in North Hollywood. They will work wih you if you are serious. I beleive they were going 2 Grand over MSRP on the M3 Coupes. They might even go lower. Ask for Gyale, she will work with you. I got a good deal on mine.

 

Thanks Agent. Actually Southbay BMW had an M3 for sticker which was 50 grand and change. The car however had just about zero options save a sunroof. So I checked out the Audi S4 and got a 2002 6 spd, fully loaded, black on black for 9 grand less. Once I chip it, and put some suspension mods on it, it'll be just as much the beast the M3 is. Bought it over at Keyes in Van Nuys.

K <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

 

AND......

You will actually have a car that you can drive fast in the rain.