I have a 991.1 Turbo S. It’s been an amazing car- incredible to drive and extremely reliable despite numerous modifications. It was one of the last of the 991.1 series and I bought it right as the new 991.2 line began to roll out. Part of me superstitiously thinks it’s been so excellent because it was the last of its generation and they had all the kinks worked out. I decided that I would upgrade to the 991.2 when they announced the 992 series.

It’s been a few years now and my Porsche rep called me back in April and said they had one of the last 991.2 allocations. I jumped on it and we decided to make the car truly special. A rep from the Porsche's Exclusive division flew in and we picked out all kind of fun stuff. Paint to sample (sport classic grey), custom interior (black, custom grey, and alcantara mixed together, chalk accents including piping on the seats, custom leather frunk, etc), and lots of additional cosmetic upgrades- everything we could do has been done to this car. The build would have been 300K+.

As fun as the car has been to configure it’s also been quite a roller coaster.

At one point my rep called and said Porsche told them we’d put the order in too late and we couldn’t do the paint to sample. Okay… I was alright with Carrera Metallic White… no problem. But the Porsche gods were kind and we were able to pick up the very last paint to sample 991.2 allocation Porsche offered a couple weeks later- back to Sport Classic Grey.

Porsche ultimately said “no” to some carbon fiber and trim paint tweaks I had requested explaining that it would make the car too close to the Exclusive edition. Understandable.

Porsche later called and asked if we could tweak the interior. They wanted to lose the alcantara (asserting that it might look too patchwork-ish) and stating that they didn’t have the capacity for a leather frunk. Disappointing, but not a deal breaker.

A couple of days ago I got another call. The dealership wanted me to swing by because they needed to discuss a color situation. I went by and the Porsche out of state rep who handles some of the custom details of cars was at the dealership. I figured they were going to tell me I needed to pick another interior grey, or something. Or maybe they had an awesome new color they wanted to show me! Not so much. The CA rep was very apologetic and said that they had gotten the color of my car wrong. He’d submitted it as Dolphin Grey instead of Sport Classic Grey.

I chuckled. That must be a joke. But they had the color samples set out on the desk to show me what Dolphin Grey looked like next to Sport Classic Grey. I was at a complete loss. The car hadn’t been made- there must be a way to change things. But apparently it was far enough along that the order was immutable. The last paint to sample 991.2 Turbo S will be Dolphin Grey. I kind of fumbled a few “I’m not mad”s around to everyone and asked for time to think things over. I still don’t feel mad at anyone or at Porsche, and this isn’t meant to be venting or a smear campaign at all- I’m just looking for some support and advice. Admittedly, I have a hard time understanding how an error like that gets made.

In more recent follow up with the dealer they said they had been working to try and understand what happened or find some kind of solution. No luck so far. So that’s where I’m at: take the Dolphin Grey car or nothing. There are literally no customizable 991.2 Turbo cars to order now. People have tossed around a few ideas, some consolation prizes and such but I just don’t know what to do. Dolphin Grey isn’t a bad color or anything… it’s just not what I ordered. And after already having part of my interior diminished I’m really second guessing everything. I suppose these are all the options I’m considering at this point:

1) Just pass on the car. Not to sound spiteful but at this point some of the fun has been taken out of this experience. Maybe they are doing me a favor.

2) Accept the Dolphin Grey if they will reinstate my original custom interior & frunk. I think I’d be okay with that solution.

3) Accept Dolphin Grey if they renegotiate on the car with me (i.e. knock off the paint to sample cost & honor original negotiated discount). That doesn’t seem fair to the dealer though- they didn’t make the mistake so I don’t see why they should have to eat any of the costs.

4) Raise a Nick Murray level ruckus and see what it get me (this is really just a joke- I don’t have any intention of slandering anyone).

Any other suggestions? I’m curious to hear what people would do in my place. What are your thoughts on Dolphin Grey vs. Sport Classic Grey? Just for the record: I currently have a white 991.1 and was hoping for something a little darker which is what drew me to Sport Classic Grey. Maybe this an opportunity to try out another brand… I just don’t know.

Thanks for any input!

-Cam

 

Wait and get a 992TTS when it comes out in a year or so.

 

I’d push for my color of choice, but be willing to accept dolphin with a leather frunk as my next best option .

I would always push for compensation in one way or another, but I see your point about fairness to the dealer. That doesn’t quite concern me as much as I am sure you will give them more business, directly and indirectly, in the future.

One thing I would also throw in is first right of refusal at MSRP for the next big limited production 911, think GT3/2RS.

 

I have considered going the 992 route- especially given that my car may not even be delivered until 2020 (it's a November build).

 

I'm not feeling like a leather frunk is on the table at this point.
If I ended up taking the car I'd definitely want it to feel like it was a good deal. If I don't take the car apparently the dealer has to take the Dolphin Grey Turbo S (although they can still strip out the interior at this point).
Love the idea of a GT3/2RS at MSRP 👌

 

At the end of the day, it's just a car. For 300k you should get exactly what you want. There will always be something else.

 

Agreed- it's just a car. Although it's the last of it's kind... but there will eventually be something else.