MattW

I've just finished a contract in Victoria. I used to walk to and from Paddington in the nice weather, and at lunch take a stroll down to Sloane Square. Always a pleasure to see a Lambo, Ferrari or other exotica blip past.

billythekid

Pop over to Piston Heads Porsche forum. Lots of well know Pork specialists post on there to help with stuff like suspension set up etc etc.

Re insurance, I use Swift Cover for my 997 S.
Me and the mrs, both 28, no points and full NCB, £900.

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Spooky Mulder is spot on

Deep Singh - the clue is in the % ;-)

So £100k equates to £2k a year in interest...... actually less as I pay 1.89% on an offset and on say £90k (which is what the car will roughly cost with options) = £1700 a year in extra interest at the current base rate +1.39%

Dave - 4-5% is typically gross amount so not an opportunity cost to me, unless your saying you can find rates at that 'net'.... then it is a real OC. Otherwise real one is 40% less, or 50% less from April 2010......................?

At these rates outright purchase is very cheap (of course you need the capital to do it - no way I'm paying for a typical finance deal at 8.9% which is outrageously priced given the very low base rates - then again the cost of capital of our parent company is over 10%)

Opportunity cost on Interest £1700
Tax after first year £410?
Insurance say £1k
Servicing on low mileage say £300
Depreciation estimated at £7k a year

Annual running costs, excluding consumables approx £10k per year

zip106

Oh yes they do!

My middle rad just bust (stone damage we think) and that cost me £500 with the labour from an Indy garage. Normal middle rads are cheaper but mine's the X50....
Seeing as we have 5 front rads in total (including the air-con) it could get costly!

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

hmm
Will be happy is its just something at £500....

On the Scoob I have

Exhaust Manifold Flanges Warping
Cylinder heads cracking
Head Gaskets failing
Front hubs wearing out
Disc issues
Turbo's of poor quality

I dread to think of the amount of life consumed on the Scoob and I it only has 54k miles on it after nearly 10 years of ownership

Porsche will hopefully be able to take a lot more abuse on the Track - sure am hoping for some reliability

Spooky Mulder

Zip,

Hope you are still enjoying your tourer

I don't think getting stone damage is breaking in the sense that I meant it and you know it

Now I have a little tempation/dilemma as someone indicated they would be interested in my GT3 and I could be tempted to trade it up to a 997 GT3

zip106

When I say stone damage the thing is we just don't know.
No obvious signs of a hole but also no obvious corrosion.

So, it could just as well have 'broken'.....

But yes, the little time I actually get to drive my tourer ( )I find it quite enjoyable. Thanks.

.:mike:.

Same happened to my air con rad - seems like a slight design oversight on the turbo/c4s front grill having such huge gaps to allow stones in IMO. Some sort of mesh may be in order

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Well I finally got pissed off with Porsche Leeds (JCT600)
GT3 was ordered back in June 2009 and I was promised a car no later than March 2010
At the time I got my £10k down and decided to wait, afterall, they said that with luck some people would cancel or defer their allocations so I could get before Xmas 2009

As I had never driven a GT3 I was told not to worry, I would be invited to Silverstone once I put down by Intent to buy Deposit and would be able to try one out and decide on final seat and other specs in time to confirm build specs later that year. Was also told I would have some kind of exclusive access to their website

Well guess what - none of the above has ever occurred

I received a call from them when the GT3RS was coming out and asked if I wanted to upgrade. When I confirmed eventually that I did.. about 12 hours later it was sorry.. all allocations went virtually the time we told you... nice.... NOT

I received no other calls from them so in November and December I phoned them to say could I pay for the car now, to avoid the VAT rise.. afterall I had been told that I would have the car by March... I was told absolutely not.. VAT was dependent on the delivery date not the invoice date.. being a Chartered Accountant I know that is not true.. but I decided not to pursue

By start February I had received no phone calls from Porsche and getting anxious I called them to find out what was going on, afterall I noted on their website that the VAT rise had been passed on in full and not only that they'd added about another £3k to the price
I was then told that, well hey.. the March date was only ever a best guestimate and that as very few people had dropped out that I could in fact end up waiting until December 2010 for the car..... but that it may come sooner if I was lucky

I was, as you can imagine a tad pissed off at this point. I decided to sit on a decision for a few weeks
In the meantime I contacted Nissan to look at the GTR35.. nice car, very limited head height which I may be able to live with, with a reclined seat.... and steering wheel adjustments and I figured I may be able to fit an aftermarket lowered seat. I decided to order one (delivery due April). In the meantime I kept the Porsche Deposit...
I have in fact decided that the wife can have the Nissan.. Kids are a little older and will hopefully both fit in the small rear seats. (I think Baby seat for my 10 month old might be a very tight squeeze) and the car has a decent sized boot

So I was deciding what to do about the Porsche... received a call a week ago to say.. hey we've had loads of cancellations so we can get you a Porsche by May/June 2010... nice I thought... very bad timing as I'd just ordered the Nissan.. still I thought I'd go back on the Porsche site and look again at the specs

It was then that I noticed some kind of extended warranty for about £1k... so the price had now risen by about £7k on the time I ordered the car (VAT, 2010 price increase - seems the fact that you placed the order in 2009 was irrelevant.. so they dont give a monkey's about their customers! and now warranty)
I called them to say do I have to take out this extended 3 year warranty thing to be told yeah sorry, bummer isnt it...... !
It was at this point and taking into account the lack of decent service throughout that enough was enough... and asked for my deposit back as you are not committed to the Porsche at the time the £10k gets paid - just places you in the Porsche database
Now I am just waiting for the deposit back having given my bank card details a week ago.....

Trout

iTrader: (1)

I do wonder about Porsche Leeds - really sorry to hear of your dilemma as the product is fantastic - but the delivery system falls far short of reasonable expectation of any car, never mind a prestige product.

Matteeboy

Holy **** - that's the second mention of appalling service from Porsche. What's happened to them?! It's a recession, sales must be struggling yet this is another example of terrible service.

I'm gobsmacked. Ordering a "dream car" like that should be an enjoyable experience, not a complete ball ache.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Shocking mate! Sorry to hear that.

BUT...I reckon the GTR might be the better choice, anyway!

I hope Nissan UK treat you with the appropriate level of consideration and respect. Buying a car like this should be a pleasure, not a load of hassle!

stilover

The problem with Porsche, Ferrari etc is that the salesmen don't actually have to sell any of their products. They know the customers WANTS the car, so treat them with disdain.

You'll get better customer service with Subaru than with Porsche, because the Subaru dealer HAS to sell you the car, rather than just sorting paperwork out.

Personally, I'd write a letter to Porsche. I'd also attach my copy order from Nissan. Porsche people don't like the R35 much.

SPEN555

Hi Steve,

Sorry to see it fall through like that.

Nowadays whenever I order/change anything I just expect it to go wrong or receive bad customer service. It seems bad customer service is an acceptable norm

You should ring them up and press for a date into your account. If they can't do that I would show up in person and kick up a stink in the showroom, mention that on the phone and I bet the money will be in your account in the next few days

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I know what you're saying, but they still do have to sell their cars as the discerning buyer will have other marques of similar prestige on their shopping list e.g. Ferrari etc..

If you went to the Hilton and you were made to lug your own bags to your room you'd complain and rightly so,as you could have stayed at the Ritz. Fundamentally, you are a customer and they provide the service, the onus is on them to live up to your expectations or people will take their business elsewhere. Generally, the higher the cost of the product, the higher peoples expectations are. The people I know that can afford 80k+ on a car simply EXPECT to be treated like someone who is giving a company 80k lol and would walk at the earliest transgression.

Perhaps more than that though; staff represent a prestige marque and need to behave in a manner that befits this. The buying experience is a large part of buying a supercar and this needs to be up to scratch if the person isn't going to leave with a nice car, but a sour taste in their mouth about the company that sold them it. Recommendations are everything at this level: they don't trade on volume like Ford or Vaxhuall; they want Mr 'well off a' to talk to 'Mr well off b'

Using the earlier analogy: if you stayed at the Hilton and the quality was impeccable, but the staff made you feel like an imposition, you'd still not go back, and you'd not recommend your friends spend their money there.

Customer service is always appreciated!

Matteeboy

Well prestige brand dealers are supposed to be picked from the "best" in car sales. It appears that on many counts, that's not happening.

My own experiences of main dealers from buying, selling and servicing is:

VW - pretty good but servicing (R32) was pricey.
Vauxhall - one was utterly dreadful so used to drive three times as far to one that was average at best. Fairly cheap though.
Suzuki - pretty impressed but expensive
BMW - impressed so far but only had minor warranty work done. Sales experience from Sytner was excellent.
Subaru - very impressed indeed. Didn't buy but the service was so good, it nearky swayed me.
Ford - oh dear.

mamoon2

This seems to be getting more common.

Reminds me of when I went into a Honda dealership to buy a new Type R. I booked a test drive through the Honda website and when I turned up they were not expecting me and wouldn't let me have a test drive. Needless to say I walked out and bought another marque

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

I have had nothing but exemplary service from Nissan.. I am dealing with Nissan Mill Hill - a guy called Stuart Griffiths - at least I got to test drive the car.. which I couldnt with Porsche.... and the wholem process has been smooth - I got onto a cancelled order so there hasnt been much of a queue..
But then again we'll see what its like when the car is picked up and then again at the 1200 mile first service

Funny thing is I ordered the Porsche from the Leeds place (I am up there a lot and have a 2nd home there) as West London Porsche near Chiswick never, ever returned my phone calls when I enquired about the car in the first place... so thats 2 bad experiences

In terms of 'new cars' I've only ever bought five and 2 of these were Grey imports and 1 was a company car (Audi)

My Subaru STI5 which I bought from Interpro in Thorbury (North Bristol) back in 1999 and I still have the car now. Service was excellent.. the guy running the import side even leant me his trade plates for the weekend until mine was all legit.. and I had a scrath on the rear spoiler and they did a straight swap off one of their other cars and it matched perfect... bent over backwards to be great.. the guy who ran the imports side did a runner with loads of Deposits 6 months later.....

We had a new Renault Clio 1.4 16v several years back as a runaround for the wife... Electric windows and aircon packed in within the first 3 months and then we needed the coilpacks replacing after 6 months - and then we thought, sod this and sold the car....

I had a Company Car - Audi A3 S3.. this thing was great - though as with most Audi's it had very uncomfortable seats (if your a big guy) as the side bars on the seats dig into your legs (its exactly the same on the RS4's and one good reason I didnt ever get one.. guy at the Audi in West london said they could fit comfort seats!). Coil packs replaced under warranty. Then I had a head-on and when they had finally repaired the car (took them 3 months to get a new front headlight.. yep...) they had decided (Audi Bristol) to charge for additional airbags the car didnt have, rear bumper and lights repair (when these were mint) and........ apart from their being loads of bashes on the car and runs in the resprayed bonnet one of the staff had swapped my alloys for some heavily scratched jobbies (and I recognised my alloys on one of the staffs car as it had a certain scratch on it)......... nice... as you can imagine this was all sorted out once I threatend them with legal action and the Police...... and thats a friggin main dealer

We also bought a Subaru from Sparshatts of Botley in Southampton (think its SH). This came brandnew with dents in one of the doors and bonnet. What was rather galling was the fact that there was a slip of paper in the Glovebox stating these defects - they'd been caused in transit.. so not only had they not sorted out the dents, they'd even left the incriminating paperwork in the car!... this was sorted out but it does go to show you they dont care that much - happy to do the sale but once the keys get handed over...

Last purchase (before the deposit on the GTR) was a Subaru Forester STI in Black Obsidian... should have bought one of these cars years ago from Litchfield imports- so practical.. harder suspension than my STI5 and with 330/330 on tap not a slouch either.... no issues at all with the service

I will see what I think of the GTR and if I dont like then I'll maybe look at a 2nd hand GT3.. I decided that I wanted a 997.2 though and not an older one as the power is getting closer to what I consider acceptable.. I've come across a lot of the GT3's on track.. they are great into and out of the bends but dont have the power on the longer straights so I just go past them on the track.. funnily enough the 997.1 GT3 and the 997 Turbo have about the same speed on a long straight. (I havent come across a 997.2 yet).. but Subaru's are notoriously unreliable.. gearbox issues, Head gaskets, cylinder heads, warping brakes.. and if something goes wrong then the car can be off the road for months while you wait for someone to work on the car... would have loved Roger Clark to do every bit of work on my car but with wait lists of up to 6 months for the last 8 years I havent even bothered calling them....

I have completely digressed on this thread. I do get the impression Porsche dont care - there is still a healthy demand for the GT3's and especially the GT3RS's though I must admit I do like the look of some of the newer Lambo's coming out.. (cant see myself ever in a Ferrari think this is more suitable for a much older person in the UK..)

john banks

I think your main objection to the GTR will be the dealer costs if you track it.

If I did want to track my GTR I would get 18" wheels on it, aftermarket discs, aftermarket gearbox fluid and cooling as otherwise it is just too heavy on lubricants and friction materials, and also upgrade a few clips and bits and pieces in the gearbox. After all the above on a lightly modified GTR it makes an awesome track car. The GT3 is a car you can track all day out the box.

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

The weight of the GTR has always been a big concern and really not sure I'll be able to track it anyway.. Height of the car inside is an issue and will especially be with a helmet on
In the next few months my STI5 should be far quicker than it is in current guise anyway so not too concerned about getting the GTR onto track - maybe a couple of half days but nothing serious

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Not just the second mention - but the same dealer!

I met a friend yesterday who is looking for a new C4S and his local dealer offered him a rubbish trade in and tried to sell him two cars completely off spec.

One had the 'toys' spec but was a C2S; and one was a tiptronic in the wrong colour with no toys!!!

So my friend very loudly sat in the Porsche dealer and phoned another Porsche dealer nearby and got the deal and car he wanted!

SPEN555

Nice

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Steve,

as a counterpoint - having had a terrible experience in servicing my GT3 there earlier this year - they have come up trumps.

They were touting a returned order GT3 RS to their GT3 owners database recently. Anyway it got me thinking and by the time I had decided to go for it, the car had gone.

The very same day they called me back to say I could get a build slot for March for a GT3 RS for which I bit their arm off. And now, three days after making the intent to buy, I have just received my invite to Silverstone to test drive the car and enjoy the Porsche experience for final spec.

So they can get it right, even if not very often!

BTW they had the GT2 RS in last week - right up your street

tony de wonderful

Trout is this you driving your GT3?

Check out 0.57.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2RCEqfbj64&NR=1

paulwrxboro

took me about 20 seconds before i was thinking , this isnt the ring

wrx287

iTrader: (8)

That is some mental driving But great talent to catch that slide at that speed

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Dave
I've been permanently burned by Porsche from the JCT experiences in Leeds and West London Porsche..
Plus hopefully 16-17 months after I started looking at upgrading the 2 litre Scooby I am nearly there.. picked the wrong person to help out with sourcing parts and very well known in the Subaru community but you live and learn

Trout

iTrader: (1)

It's a shame - as I ordered my car in September for March delivery. The car is actually available from the end of January.

As for Scoobies!

Dingdongler

That's because nobody wants them Fishy. The second hand value of those things is about to fall quicker than these