WhatSpeedLimit

Hi folks, apologize for the long post but I have to get this off of my chest. I am not a Porsche owner yet, but recently placed an order with a dealer here in the U.S. Here's my story…

Two of my neighbors and I are buying Porsches (2 Cayennes and a Boxster S). To get a better deal, we all agreed to buy them together and then take European Delivery in October. We had read up on the new European Delivery program and knew that it was offered at no additional charge to the customer (see press release here ). What we found during our negotiations with every dealer is that the $2995 fee is seen as a bottom line cost to the dealer. The only way we could get Euro Delivery 'free' is if we agreed to take a higher price on the car. Because we negotiated a really sweet deal, the dealer actually refused to let us take European delivery (unless we paid more for the car to offset the price).

Does that sound right to you?!

Keep in mind, this wasn't one dealer, this was many dealers as we contacted EVERY DEALER IN THE US (even Alaska & Hawaii).



Every one of them continued to explain to us that it was a cost to them and ultimately that cost in one way or another is passed to us, the purchaser of the vehicle. In fact, because our deal would have put the cars under invoice with European Delivery thrown in, we were refused that delivery option.

I contacted a European Delivery Specialist at Porsche USA via email and this is an excerpt of her response:

Porsche USA clearly has the position that I should not have to pay for it however I don't think they anticipated our ability to negotiate to the point that the program became a loss for the dealer.

I wasn't satisfied with Porsche's answer on this especially given the dealer would not let us take Euro Delivery and emailed the specialist to get a contact in customer service:

I was directed to a General Manager, Customer Relations for Porsche North America. I emailed them and they stated very simply that the program was supposed to be paid by the dealer, listened to the fact that we were refused Euro Delivery and simply said that is how the program works. No real resolution and 3 guys are still wondering how they are going to get 'free' European Delivery.

At this point, I am really frustrated and thought I'd relay my experience here on the web to get your reaction. I feel that we are right and are getting selectively denied something that is being advertised by Porsche as free. Isn't that a violation of FTC rules? Bait and switch?

Check this out:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/free.htm


(g) Negotiated sales. If a product or service usually is sold at a price arrived at through bargaining, rather than at a regular price, it is improper to represent that another product or service is being offered ``Free'' with the sale. The same representation is also improper where there may be a regular price, but where other material factors such as quantity, quality, or size are arrived at through bargaining.

(i) Similar terms. Offers of ``Free'' merchandise or services which may be deceptive for failure to meet the provisions of this section may not be corrected by the substitution of such similar words and terms as ``gift'', ``given without charge'', ``bonus'', or other words or terms which tend to convey the impression to the consuming public that an article of merchandise or service is ``Free''.


http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/baitads-gd.htm

Am I off base? All I want to do is drive my Porsche in Europe and Porsche says 'no'.

That sucks.

Frank 993 C4S

It is in fact true that the dealers selling Euro Delivery cars get charged for the cost. It is also true that in return for that charge they get extra perks such as additional car allocations, etc. I guess you need to make a decision whether the total cost with the Euro charge is still worth it to you. My sense is that if you bought the cars at "list price", Euro delivery would be free.

Good luck!

red carrera

I feel your pain. I've owned Porsches off and on since 1988. I get annoyed with their pricing policies and buy something else, then come back again because the cars themselves are special.

Remember, you vote with your check book. In the end, it's your decision whether you support their behavior or not.

Will their behavior ruin your ownership experience? The final decision rests with you and your friends. At least you already know how the company, and their dealers, view their customers.

Kenoc

Since there's no real auto press, the problem is that you, I, we all read these articles on how porsche changed its program, when really they didn't.

Maybe write a letter to the German government. Maybe write a letter to BMW and Mercedes (who lose when Porsche lies).

Maybe write a letter to everyone.

Since you're waiting anyway, no harm to write. I think I will, since I have to wait 2 months anyway for my car to be made.

Thanks for the post.

trevor9098

This sounds like a scam. It would seem to imply that in order for the dealer to get to that negotiated price that they get a kickback from Porsche Corp. for stating you are doing an euro delivery or something like that. This way, when you ask for euro delivery free, as you're entitled, the funds used for that have already, surreptitiously been drained.

micha007mk

Might be too late for this response but I went thru all this with my dealer and basically changed dealers (I'm lucky enough to have 2 dealerships in close proximity) the second dealer explained the same to me but told me he'd split the cost so he knocked off 1k off the car instead of 2k, so when you add it all up I got a pretty good deal, because although they get an extra allocation I understand the extra cost to them.

alexbrick

They are good with there customers in general.But in few cases there might be few slakes and mismanagement little bit.I fine with there services comparatively.
Thanks for input.


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