Inrev

My first question was ask him why US cars were much cheaper of course and right away his first question was: "Do you want to get service or have your car wait for a month before you get it fixed?"

Of course I proceeded to explain to him that as a business person I really don't like getting ripped off on a similar product that can be had for 15% less 2 hours away.

He then starts to explain how much trouble it will be and how much money I'm gonna lose on depreciation which I think is BS. Then he proceeds to try to scare me by telling me how hard the market could crash and how fast I may need the money from selling the car fast. (BS i'm not dumb enough to put money i would need for survival in a car, I'm quite prepared already)

Of course I ask him if the other Porsche dealership in town would treat me like **** as well and he says "Of course" Way to represent your products buddy!

The guy was the biggest windbag salesman stereotype there is. I can't believe people actually buy cars from that guy who's a very obnoxious, in-your-face, I-love-to-hear-my-own-voice salesperson.

BTW he works at Prestige Porsche here in Dorval, I'm wondering if he's talking out of his *** about service or if they both give crappy service when you have a US car. Can anyone from montreal with a US car chime in please?

pongobaz

He's so full of sh*t, that he should be painted blue and white and used as a porta-john! These kind of scare tactics do nothing to improve people's perceptions of car dealers; if I was consulting for that dealer and witnessed that kind of behaviour, I'd recomend that they look at whether or not he should be part of their team at all...he's a PR nightmare. Ironically, I was in a meeting with a Principal owner and general manager of a Porsche store out west on some unrelated business and they both spoke about how PCNA has created this situation and isn't doing anything to adjust the price gap between Canada and the US. They had no issues with clients, it's PCNA they were pissed at.

Inrev

The guy was a total douche. Bisson is his last name IIRC. I don't care if the dealers are pissed at PCNA or people, it's still the customers that are on the receiving end of the ****storm

Christien

PCNA's position is just the opposite - I understand they say they're working on behalf of CDN dealerships to prevent US cars from entering Canada because the CDN dealerships don't want to lower their prices, as (according to them) it would devalue the cars recently purchased by their clientele.

And that line about waiting an extra month to get a US car serviced at a CDN dealership is the same here, too.

I say screw 'em all and buy a US car for 30% cheaper. That's what I did. Three times now.

Targa Tim

I guess we are lucky in Vancouver. I have no problem servicing at MCL Porsche. My 997S was from US, while Cayenne S was bought from MCL. No delay in booking either car.

Sure local dealers are losing some sales due to US import, but MCL still has waiting list in getting new cars for local buyers that I don't think they are being affected too much.

As for resale, I think the opposite is true, that the US import is hurting resale of Canadian cars. I don't think that because you have a Canadian car for trade in, the salesperson will offer you more money. They will screw you just as much no matter where the car is from.

turboGary

Are you talking about a new car, used or both?

Christien

AFAIK, the salesman are trying to scare potential customers into buying CDN cars, saying that when they try to sell their US cars privately (i.e. not as a trade-in to a CDN dealer) they'll get screwed on the price. That would only be true in the case of selling to someone who was aware of the price difference and wasn't willing to pay the artificial CDN price. There are still lots of people that aren't aware of the price differential, who will pay CDN price for a US car. It's a great opportunity to flip cars, if you've got the time to do the paperwork.

BioBanker

I believe that it is true that a US car will fetch less (probably only slightly) than a CDN car (if resold in Canada), but suggesting that "we will give you crappy service if you dont buy from us" is a really great reason to buy and service somewhere else.

It wont take long before their techs are standing around looking at eachother if they stick with that bum attitude. That'll learn em.

Christien

Unfortunately we're talking about Porsches here, and there are tons of people who will just go to the local dealership to lease a brand new status symbol 997 or Cayenne to show off to their yuppie friends, which will keep the service guys in business forever.

dvkk

Nobody is going to know the difference, so why would the resale value be any different?

Here's a ploy that may work to make them eat crow. It will only work if they have never seen you. Go into one of those stupid dealers that discriminate against US cars and ask for service. When they tell you about the 4 week wait for US cars, look him straight in the eye and tell him you are a US citizen and that you just recently moved to Canada and brought your car with you. If they still want to stick with their stupid policy, ask them what do they expect you to do, sell your US car and buy one when you move into Canada?

Christien

Heh, good idea.

The difference will be noticed on most cars with anything more than the most basic lookover. Obvious things like the heat/ac readout in farenheit, the speedo in mph (analog part, not digital), different daytime running lights, nhtsa compliance sticker, and of course any carfax or title search. Of course, it was still built by the same Hanz and Fritz that built the US one, with parts from the same bin, bolts from the same box, paint from the same can, etc. so fundamentally yes, it's exactly the same car.

AllanJ

The whole situation is messed up and PCNA and the dealers need to figure something out. Bringing down the CDN prices of new cars seems to be the way to go. Comparing GT3s for an example, my choice could've been this:

- Buy a new 997 GT3 with PCCB and a few other options. My price at MSRP would be over $160K.
- Buy a used 996 GT3 with PCCB and 16K kilometres from the US for just under $100K.

So....factor in the tax difference and a 997 GT3 would cost around $70K more than a used 996 GT3? Something is very wrong here. Yes, on several levels the 997 GT3 is a better car than the 996 GT3, but $70K more??? Maybe to some folks, but definitely not all.

NOBLEGT3

us cars do not resell well up here. thats why you see cars ads that specifically say "canadian car"
yes you can get great deals from the US but you dont always know the cars history and carfax means nothing. FYI many katrina cars are now being sold and dont have salvage titles or any paperwork that states they are flood damaged.
and, fournier has a 2006 carrera S with 1100 kms on it for a cheap price that hasnt sold and its been for sale for a long time. why? US car

pongobaz

actually, you can switch the AC readouts, odometer, trip odometer to metric through the OBC with a couple of clicks of the stalk. Only difference will be in the analogue readouts for the speedometer, oil pressure and coolant temp guage...unless you swap out the cluster.

Christien

Hmm, in my boxster I tried to change the ac/heat to C, and couldn't find any way of doing it. Of course the digital speedo and odometers changed to metric, I had to to pass RIV. The embient temp readout is also in F, which is annoying.