Ferrarisimo

Hello,

It's been a harrowing 14 months, but I finally got my long-awaited allocation. I actually got it a few weeks ago, but haven't wanted to jinx it by talking about it prematurely. I remember Ortho Joe constantly saying that, as with the GT3, anyone who wanted a GT4 and was patient enough would eventually get one. That got me through some pretty dark times, man!

At any rate, I finally got it. Build locks on April 28, I get to configure it the way I want to, and I get it for MSRP. Additionally, for waiting so long, my dealer is offering ED at no charge, and I'm participating in a group-delivery event in Leipzig that includes a couple of nights at the Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof, a couple of Porsche-sponsored dinners, and a track day event -- with Porsche floating the bill for all of it. So I'm a happy camper.

That all said, I'd love some advice about my Euro delivery plans, especially as it relates to 1) can't-miss things to see along my route, and 2) hotels where I can park the car in peace. I posted a similar thread on the European Delivery subforum looking for advice, but that place is a ghost town.

All this is happening in mid-summer, by the way:

Day 1:
Arrive in Leipzig
Porsche dinner
Staying at: Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof

Day 2:
Pick up car
Porsche-sponsored stuff
Porsche dinner

Day 3:
Depart Leipzig in the AM
Lunch in Heidelberg 4 hours later
Afternoon in Karlsruhe to visit friends
Arrive in Strasbourg
Staying at: Regent Petit France, Villa Novarina, Les Haras Hotel, or ???

Day 4:
Relax in Strasbourg

Day 5:
Depart Strasbourg
Lunch in Colmar
Pit stop in Freiburg
Continue south through Black Forest
Arrive in Basel
Staying at: ???

Day 6:
Depart Basel
Lunch in Zurich
Pit stop in Uetilberg
Arrive in Lucerne
Staying at: ???

Day 7:
Depart Lucerne
Pit stop in Bürgerstock
Arrive in Interlaken
Staying at: ???

Day 8:
Explore Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, and Mürren

Day 9:
Depart Interlaken
Arrive in Bern
Staying at: ???

Day 10:
Depart Bern
Lunch in Fribourg
Arrive in Geneva
Staying at: ???

Day 11:
Explore Geneva + surrounding area
Drop off car

Day 12:
Head to GVA for the flight back to the US

Again, any tips about nice, car-friendly hotels along the above route (or feel free to propose entirely different routes!) would be greatly appreciated.

Glad to finally be joining the family.

ExMB

Do you have any experience driving in Europe? Don't go by google maps posted times. Very easy to get caught in traffic - rolling speedlimits depending on time of day and location. Include time, stops for exploration.

Ferrarisimo

Yeah, I've driven in Germany, France, and the U.K. a bit, and am worried about spreading myself too think between destinations. Do you think that's a problem based on my itinerary?

ExMB

Nobody can tell you what to do. Categorize by importance. Leave room for add-ons. Enjoy and don't rush. This is not a tour group that has a schedule to keep.

Dr. Ferdinand

Congrats and look forward to your ED journal. You mentioned dealer offered you ED free - isn't it free to begin with??? I know Porsche used to charge for it, while Mercedes, BMW, and Audi gave you meaningful discounts for actually doing a ED option (from 5% to 8% off, which is not insignificant). Additionally, I know BMW partnered with Lufthansa and you got BOGO free airfare.

When I did ED on my 1///M I had a bucket list of an experience. Visited 5 countries (DE, CZ, SL, AU, HU), 2 F1 tracks (Nurburgring and Hungaroring), drove on the Ring, was hosted by the Ferrari F1team for a paddock and behinds the scene experience, visited top auto museums across Munich, Stuttgart, Zuffenhausen, Ingolstadt, etc. while driving through some picturesque roads across EU, indulged in culinary experiences, etc. etc. Long list of highlights. I summarized all that in a long thread on one of the BMW boards, happy to point you to that one for some ideas if you like.

Pls do share your experiences, we can always live vicariously

ExMB

ED is a free option on the configurator, but the dealer gets charged as well as gets an additional allocation. If you search you will find that dealers still attempted to get that fee covered by the buyer, with success in a lot of cases.
And the BOGO Lufthansa airfare deal also exists with Porsche. But sometimes you can find a better, cheaper, etc flight. In my case I got a cheaper, faster, more direct flight than that offer.

orthojoe

Sweet!!! Congrats!!!

docfink

Ex-MB is right. The fee for a customer's ED is paid for by the local dealer, then said dealer gets an extra non-GT car allocation. My dealer isn't charging me anything extra for my euro delivery, and from what I understand, the SA doesn't lose any commission on the sale.

user1029

Day 12: decided to start a new life in Europe

Ferrarisimo

Day 19: Ran out of money. Send food + a cargo ship for the GT4.

Joemat

Congrats on the new car. ED should be exciting.

My car will be completed by end of April but the ED program was backed-up to July I was told. Since it would then take almost 4 more weeks to get the car back home I would not have it until almost the end of summer which bummed me.

Going to compromise. Taking dealer delivery on the car but going to Germany in May for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

I would add a run on the Nurburgring to your list for sure.

otisdog

Not any more.

switchface

I never made it up to Leipzig, but if I were to do my trip again, I wished I would have had a little more time in each spot. I felt a little stretched in that I had to be at the next spot the next day which caused me to hit the road without fully getting to smell the roses. This was my first time ever in Europe so I'm sure that played into things as well.

With that being said, I needed the miles to break in the car anyways so I could hit the Nurburgring and Spa and enjoy the redline.

matttheboatman

My wife and I thought Leipzig was very interesting. I see you plan 2 nights so you will surely enjoy.

I little thing that I'm sure you already know having traveled in Europe - don't skip the breakfast! Hotels pride themselves on how well they can display the edibles - I recall commenting how Steigenberger trimmed each fried egg so the white was perfectly round. Amazing, you'll love it!

Ferrarisimo

Confirmed with Jamie that this is no longer the case. Porsche is apparently negotiating for something similar with Delta in the near future.