Fred R. C4S

It's time for one more Euro Delivery before I kick the bucket. After four with Porsche and BMW, I'm coping with the ED hassles PAG throws at you. Ive decided to take my 14 year old grand nephew along for an adventure. I placed my order in October, requested a June 2017 delivery and got a confirmed date yesterday. I opted for the base 911, not the S. $14K is a lot of money for 50hp and 20" wheels. Here's the rundown:

2017 911 Carrera


Exterior Color 0Q White
Interior Color AJ Standard Interior with Leather Sport - Seats Plus (4-way/18-way) in Black
P07 Adaptive Sport Seats Plus (18-way) with Memory Package
Packages P3F Premium Package i.c.w. Adaptive Sport Seats Plus (18-way)
• Porsche Dynamic Light System
• Auto-Dimming Mirrors
• Seat Heating (Front)
Exterior CWJ "PORSCHE" Logo and Model Designation Painted Exclusive Chosen color: Black
625 Porsche Entry Drive
651 Electric Slide/Tilt Sunroof
529 SportDesign Exterior Mirrors
Performance 487 Manual Transmission
658 Power Steering Plus
QR5 Sport Chrono Package
176 Sport Exhaust System
Wheels 433 20" Carrera S Wheels $1,580
Wheel Accessories XDG Wheels Painted in Black (High-Gloss)
Interior 457 Lane Change Assist (LCA)
630 Light Design Package
858 GT Sport Steering Wheel
541 Seat Ventilation (Front)
583 Smoking Package
581 Luggage Net in Passenger Footwell
XSX Seat Belts in Guards Red Exclusive
Interior Aluminum X70 Door-Sill Guards in Stainless Steel
Audio and Communications 9VL BOSE® Surround Sound System
Delivery Experience S9Y European Delivery (Leipzig)

This should be interesting.

brake dust

Nicely specked! Enjoy your trip and post a follow up report!!

subshooter

What hassles are you dealing with PAG about? I did not in 2013 and planning another one this summer. Everything seemed pretty smooth.

Fred R. C4S

Compared to BMW, with whom I've had experience, and MB, from what I've heard, PAG's process seems to imply they really would rather not bother with this whole ED thing.

My first three EDs with Porsche were in '84,'87, and '93. In those days you got a 7% Discount from MSRP as a start with more you could negotiate from the dealer's margin. Later they began charging $2500 for a ED. Now at least it's a no cost option.

Allocations - does your dealer have one they'd like to use for this sale? They eventually receive one to make up for this one, but claim they somehow get dinged $3000+ for a ED sale. That all occurs "behind the curtain" but it discourages small volume dealers from selling via ED.

My dealer who also sells BMW told me he could order 30 BMW EDs and it would be treated as 30 extra sales to BMW and have no effect on his allocations for the year.

VAT - in the past, Porsche wanted a $10,000 deposit towards the German VAT in the event you didn't export the car from Germany in 6 months. They even paid you back interest for holding your money. Now they ask the dealer to collect and hold 20% of the purchase price. Ultimately this is up to the discretion of the dealer but is not explained that way in the PCNA brochure. One small dealer told me it was necessary, a larger dealer from whom I've purchased in the past said they trust that I was good for the money in the unlikely event it was needed later and waived the deposit.

Porsche pays for one night stay upon arrival in Germany. Others companies also have preferred pricing with Lufthansa to lower your airfare cost.

Porsche wil not lock-in you delivey date more than 6 months in advance. I ordered in October for delivery in June, but could not get a date confirmed until mid January. This had an effect on what airfares I could secure.

The delivery center at Zuffenhausen is closed until summer 2017 due to construction in the area. I'm sure they have a very nice facility for deliveries, but the simple office and warehouse setup they used for years would have been adequate for now. Surely they could have found something like this on a temporary basis. For now, all EDs occur at Liepzig, which I understand offers a wonderful experience. But it's a bit off the beaten path in the parts of Germany I plan to revisit. The good news is they don't drill holes in the front bumper for license plates at Leipzig, they have two workarounds. Either a tow hook bracket or a decal applied to the front bumper. Also, with only one delivery site they are limited to the number of EDs they can accommodate. In essence the capacity is half what they would normally have. So they are accepting fewer ED orders. Rumor has it that they may cut new ED orders off until Zuffenhausen is back on line.

So that's been my experience over the years. Most of my complaints are minor but the whole allocation and date confirmation dance is a needless PITA. I wasn't wild about writing a check for over $20,000 for a VAT deposit. Neither BMW or MB even mention VAT. Their other competitors make the upfront process much easier for both the customer and the dealer.

gregv8

+1

I bought my last car from BMW via ED. Super smooth and simple process, with an additional discount off the dealer's already discounted price. The dealer was happy, I was happy, BMW was happy. Wonderful experience.

Porsche really doesn't want ED customers. I just saw in another thread that they even charge you for dropping off the car at other locations. Again, BMW has locations all over Europe, it's your choice at no cost. The dealer is discouraged by Porsche ($3k dealer cost), so the dealer discourages me, and so on.

Honestly, I have not experienced any hint of luxurious treatment from Porsche yet. My dealership is nice, with super nice people, but no love from Porsche. I hope the driving experience will live up to its name and the car itself will be all that matters! I'm looking forward to it!

24Chromium

I've done it once now, and I'll most certainly do it again. And I even had to pay for mine, as it was a GT car and the dealership wasn't budging on the $3k hit to their profit. Other than that... I found the experience to be delightful. The ED staff at PCNA, especially Jamie, are fantastic.