beers4all

Sorry I missed all the action in the last couple of days ...
Some interesting points raised. My motivation for purchasing south was two-fold:
1. Selection
2. Price
(in that order)

I couldn't find a decent example of a 98 993 C2S in Canada - and I even looked out of province. Since my purchase was completed, I did see a comparable car in BC come available. It was a 97 C2S with the same km's and comparable options. The dealer is asking 27% more than I paid (complete) for a car that's one year older!!

In the case of a slightly used 997 or 997S - just look at the number of cars availavle on the US market - there are loads of them. If you do a quick search on the Porsche (Canada) used inventory, there are only one car that come up today. Slim pickings if you ask me.

With respect to the dollars, the numbers don't lie. If a used car is in your future, the US market should be evaluated. Just look at how many high-end used car dealers are doing the same thing - importing P-Cars and other performance cars by the truck-load. Do they know something we don't?

On a resale note, don't even think for a second that a dealer is going to give you a "retail" trade-in value on a Canadian car. The dealer will assess the true cash value of the trade and compare it to their cost on the new vehicle. If the difference you are paying them is an acceptable number to make a reasonable profit on the new car AND take the trade into inventory at a level where they can price it appropriately to the public and, again, to make a fair dollar and move the car, then the dealer will do the deal. It's that simple.

In a market where supply of decent P-Cars is limited and demand is still pretty good, any potential purchaser (including dealers) will look at cars on a case-specific basis. If it's a well maintained example with a full service history, all import documentation and modifications, desireable colour, options and model designation, I don't think you will have a problem selling her.

Regarding service with the big T.O.dealers, for the volume of cars these service writers and mechanics see, I would suggest they don't have the time nor the inclination to figure out where their service client's vehicle originated from. They are there to provide a service and process volumes of work-orders. It's really just a numbers game. Keep the customer happy, sell lots of parts and get the car back to the client on time. Service and Parts Managers are happy just to see the volume.

In my case, i use a "retired" factory tech that started up his own thing. He has invested in all the appropriate diagnostics and does a super job (as long as I bring him a cup of Timmy's in the morning) He doesn't discriminate.

If you aren't getting top-notch service (regardless of where you purchased), head for the hills. There are many qualified and eager service professionals out there.

Sorry for the long post.
just my $.02 (USD) plus duty, RIV fee, Mods and air tax

Bob

steam_mill

beers4all,

I think I can see where you are coming from. I've been searching for an eighties 911 since August. I've only come across 1 that interested me(it was gone before I could arrange a PPI).

Although you seek a more recent 911, I have to agree that there appears to be much more inventory south of the border. I have already resigned myself to purchasing a 911 south of the border if nothing comes up by early summer '06.

Just my 2 sents(sp).....

beers4all

I'm with ya steam_mill
The import process is pretty straight-forward so there isn't much of an obstacle.
I guess we can look at the bright-side ... even though we can't buy Canadian, at least we're increasing the P-car population in the G.W.N.
Cheers,
Bob

pongobaz

I'm in the same boat too. I'm looking for an '02-'03 C4S and while I would prefer to find one in Toronto, I can't justify the prices TO dealers want for them. Even buying a CPO p-car from a US dealer at full asking (not likely), I would still save an average of $15,000CAD after paying exchange rate, duty, GST, PST, DRLs and speedo mods, etc... Plus if it happens to be in SoCal, I can tie it into a nice drive back across the continent. Just put together a very simple spreadsheet where you can track comparable p-cars in both countries to see what the ACTUAL costs differences are...it's an eye opener.
I don't really understand Porsche's attitude in Canada; considering the rising value of our loonie, why would they raise the prices for 2006 (according to Pfaff) and increase the price gap between Canada and the US? It's just going to encourage more people to shop stateside. I'm quite happy to read in this forum that the importing process is pretty straight forward.
Just my 2cents.

500

I think Porsche finds itself in a quandry with the large shift that has occured in the exchange rate between Canada and the US. If Porsche were to adjust (i.e. lower) their Canadian prices to match the effective cost of the cars in the States, then customers with one or two year old cars up here would scream as thay see the value of their car instantly drop by thousands of dollars.

imcarthur

Prices in Canada are always higher on certain types of goods. Taxes, duties etc but also the fact that we are a small market. Porsche USA is selling to a consumer group of 300 million (total pop) where Canada is only 10% of that & always has been. Yet the cost of marketing goods in Canada is not 90% less than the US for a Canadian distributor. Porsche's & the local Porsche dealer's advertising, labour, distribution cost, parts warehousing etc etc demand a higher margin to maintain the same level of profitability because they sell a lot less cars to a lot less people. (btw they are only one example - the consumer electronics industry is another one) And of course, they have to have a cushion for currency fluctuations, which also affects a small inventory more. Technically, they don't make more money they spend more proportionally.

And because cars are more new, they stay higher as used cars too. The smaller pool of inventory is a factor also, of course.

Btw I’m not defending, simply trying to throw out an explanation. I bought my Porsche in the US because it was cheaper & far more selection.

Ian

steam_mill

I don't know if I necessarily agree with Ian's comments.

I used to work for a major U.S. software/consulting services company. The consulting services area of the organization had a standardized hourly rate. $U.S. in the U.S., $CDN in Canada. The numeric rate was the same! If you went for training in the US, you paid US, in Canada you paid $CDN.

I've seen this in several software consulting companies.

I do have to agree though that cost of doing business in Canada is higher than in the States.

I'm now in a position to be able to afford my dream car, an eighties coupe 911. I'm a little frustrated with the lack of canadian inventory. Besides parts being expensive, just getting parts appears difficult. Hard to find service people etc.

I have a couple of boats (bowrider and a fishing boat); same issues with boats. My American friends can get parts at NAPA!

Joe

SCAN Automotive

Hello all,
Just thought I'd add my 2 cents. I recently purchased my 03 C4S from the United States for the following reasons and this was my account of the experience. First off, there is one hell of a lot more cars to choose from in the states and they are generally more heavily optioned than the cars around here. This creates a couple of problems. Which one do you attempt to purchase? (I say attempt as most sellers are weary of a Canadian purchaser) There are so many to choose from it is incredible, and how much time are you going to spend if you can find the right car in town now for a little more money. If you have the loot to purchase one of these cars I am sure your time is valuable, as mine is. Secondly, there are some god-awful colour combinations and option lists in the US, not to say that they are tasteless, they just don't spend the money right at time of purchase on Porsche's myriad of option combinations. I was fortunate, after 3 months of intensive searching I uncovered MY car. Arctic silver, black full leather, sports exhaust, stainless exhaust with the quad pipe looking tips, arctic silver center console, short shifter, memory seat package, bose sound, heated seats, blah, blah, blah, no navigation system (useless). Then, once the car is found you hope to god the history is right (again I was fortunate as the last two OWNERS, not lessees, were fanatical PCA members who LOVED the car). The cars also tend to be high mileage (and subsequently stone-chipped to hell, or have re-painted noses). Then you take the time, energy and money to fly down and check the car out yourself if you don't have a load of money to waste (seen many people buy cars over the internet only to have them shipped up and find that the seller was a really good talker/photographer). Then you have to really know what you are doing with the state you do business in for insurance, ownership transfer, etc. and get your paperwork sorted asap, hopefully the owner doesn't sell the car to someone else who isn't as much of a pain in the keister in the mean time. In the end I got the car I wanted for now, and I saved a few dollars, but it wasn't without a lot of work.

Just my thoughts,
James

ientre9y11

I bought my 98 C2S in the US. I used Dave Maynard, a Porsche broker who mostly represents buyers. I found all the cars we looked at but he knows Porsche's inside out, is very meticulous and has contacts all of the US. He is very active in PCA racing and has people that can look at cars and garages to PPI's all over.

What I paid to him I would have spent on a couple of trips. He was invaluable.

If anyone is interested, his website is www.europeanlocators.com

No affilition, blah, blah, blah.

KrisKringle

SCAN,
would you mind telling us how much you paid for the car? Thanks.
You can also pm.
Cheers
KK

SCAN Automotive

I purchased the car in Reno, Nevada privately. I also paid higher than the average going price for these cars because it was exactly what I wanted in a C4S (well, it didn't have the small aluminum package with the shifter and park brake handle, but that's been easily remedied). He was asking and received 67k USD. Yes, I have seen cars very similar, minus a couple of options, priced almost as low as 60k. But this car is special.
Regards,
James