Dr. G7

I’m having a Porsche dealership refusing to sell me a Taycan they have in stock because I don’t live in their local territory. Knoxville Tennessee. Ever heard of such nonsense? I found the car through the Find my Porsche, Porsche.com

MrOhnoez

I'm not high up at a dealership so I don't know the politics behind it, but yes, we've been told by high up in Porsche to do the same.
Used cars are not a problem, but new inventory we have a list of approved zip codes is my understanding.

ipse dixit

Yes, happens all the time.

Dr. G7

Just curious, if sales are limited to local territory, why the car is listed in the Find my Porsche by Porsche.com? The advertisement on the website doesn’t disclose the “sale limited to local zip code”.

What next, “sale only to experienced Porsche owners?”

“Blue eye, blondes?”

Captain Scurry

15 months ago when I bought my Taycan, I had dealers from all over the country salivating at a potential purchase (even way below MRSP). I never felt more wanted by a dealership, and eventually bought it from a dealer 2000 miles away. Amazing how times have changed.

Dr. G7

Just my thoughts: there’s a bigger picture here. Since the Knoxville Tennessee dealership told me they can only sell locally, yesterday I set up a subsidiary clinc in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now they are saying “we can only sell if you have a residential address.”

Dr. G7

please see my follow up.

SFBayTaycanCTGuy

I received this feedback from a dealer as well, also in the south. The reason I was given is that they don't want for Porsche to see their most valuable cars being sold to other zip codes, especially zip codes like the bay area, because then Porsche will end up giving the allocations in the future to these areas, and end up with fewer cars. This is especially true for high spec cars.


I don't know if that's true, but that's what the dealer told me, and it sounded believable to me. in other words they're just trying to protect their dealership.

armanslr

Common practice now unfortunately. Dealers can pick and choose who they sell to and prefer local who will bring the car in for service and possibly trade-in the vehicle in the future when they upgrade.

gnop1950

Which makes perfect sense from a business perspective. I recently bought a small truck, Tacoma, for my hobbies. The local Toyota dealer will only sell new trucks, all of them at MSRP, to people that live in our county. I'll definitely reward them by taking it into them for service. I bought my Taycan at MSRP from my local dealer. While they do sell to out-of-state, they only sell at MSRP to "local' buyers and have very large markups for non-local buyers. Local buyers also have the first shot at any new cars they get. Although with the current car buying envirionment new cars never seem to be on the lot for more than a couple of days.

ipse dixit

Because that would potentially run afoul of anti-trust and perhaps price-fixing and collusion laws.

Limiting sales to geographic limits helps PAG protect its U.S. dealership network.

PAG invests lots of time and effort in determining which markets need a new dealership, or funds to remodel an existing dealership.

To ensure that each existing dealership survives, there has to be some implicit acknowledgment that there are territorial protections and boundaries. Otherwise, large dealerships like Champion in FL or Beverly Hills in CA would essentially cannibalize smaller dealerships, say, in Albuquerque NM.

In times when supply exceeds demand, this gentlemen's agreement amongst dealerships and PAG is less strong, but in times like these where demand outstrips supply, a dealership in NC does not need to poach a customer from CA. There are more than enough fish in NC to fulfill the NC dealership orders.

ipse dixit

While this is true, I think it is true only to a limited degree.

Let's say you bought your Taycan from NY but live in Los Angeles. Would you really not go to a dealer in LA to service your Taycan? Surely, you wouldn't go to the dealer in NY where you purchased the car, right?

And of course, if let's say you're in LA where there are dozens of Porsche dealerships, just because you bought your Taycan from Dealer X is no guaranty you will go back to Dealer X for service when in Los Angeles there are Dealers A, B, C, D, etc. all within, say, 15 miles of you, especially if they are more price competitive (or have better refreshments and snacks in the lounge )

But, yes, generally buyers will tend to be more loyal to the dealer that sold them the car, but there are limits to that loyalty.

gnop1950

I get your point and large metro areas are a bit different. LA, NY, hmm, I don't think I'd ever live in either place, but if forced to choose I'd probably choose NY since I grew up on the East Coast. However, if I lived in NYC I'd probably do like my cousin and buy an old classic car and keep it parked except when I left the city

I guess the bottom line is that dealers are pretty independent and, within limits, can pretty much do as they please when it comes to prioritizing who they sell to.

Dyim

Maybe you can try offering them to buy extended warranty, PPF…things that add to their bottom line?

RCorsa

Rent an studio apartment there for a month and register it there then move the car wherever