It is correct what I'm saying.
Macan S comes with 8-way Alcantara/Leather seats as standard. The premium for 18-way partial leather seats with leather package (standard on Turbo) is $3450. This is included in the Macan Turbo's MSRP. If one prefers the 14-way over the 18-way, then it's a no cost switch (should actually be a $370 discount, but Porsche doesn't do discounts). The most expensive seat is standard in the Macan, so a downgrade is 'free'.

Now back to your example of the Full leather 18-way seats, which cost $5180 on the Macan S and $1730 on the Turbo.
This is because the difference of $3450 is already included in the Turbo's MSRP.
On the Macan Turbo, you only need pay for the upgrade from partial leather seats to full leather seats, while in the Macan S you have to pay for the upgrade from 8-way to 18-way seats AND the upgrade from Alcantara/Leather to Full leather seats. All together that's $3450...


Of course the price difference only applies to cars that are offered both in manual and PDK. The difference here is that with PDK+SC, you get the Launch Control function. With a manual+SC you don't get Launch control.

Sport Chrono on a manual car = $1850
Sport Chrono on a PDK car = $2370

PDK on a car that comes with Sport Chrono as standard (i.e. 981 GTS or 911-50), is therefore $520 more expensive than on regular cars that don't come with SC as standard.

 

Since I typically have different brands of cars, finding the correct key is not an issue. But that's a good point, and a good rationalization for getting the key painted.

I did not know that.

I did not know that either.

X51 (X50?) probably comes with or requires SC, so I suppose they (Porsche) have to beef up something internal to handle the launch control. Or, maybe they're just gouging us a little bit more.

Laughing all the way to the bank, they are.

 

What bugs me most about the PDK is that you have to pay another $560CDN to get the paddle steering wheel. NOBODY likes the button steering wheel. It's a complete failure. They should have just made only the paddle steering wheel after the first year and not charge extra for it. It's like making square tires and then charging extra for circular ones.

 

Agree, but that problem will be solved with the facelift of the 991 and later the 981. All future models will get the 918-style steering wheel, first seen in the Macan, from now on.

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The Macan S shopper must shell out the 3450 otherwise he gets a partial leather seat . I see no option where he can retain the standard trim with a leather seat (which BTW was once an option .. I had it on my 02 996). So he must upgrade the trim just to get the seat.

In fact it's the long option list on the Macan S which first led me to evaluate these prices because I see shoppers ordering cars and skipping options . A base Macan s is 49K yet I have yet to read one post of someone who ordered a 49K Macan S (because a 49K Macan S comes with nothing !!!). Most basic Macan S cars price in the low 60's and higher spec are in the mid 70s .

Even the Turbo (which i have myself) base price is 73K and has more options standard (like infortainment, Bose , leather trim . all of which are options on the S) still price in the 80's to low 90's.

With the 991 it's similar . In fact if someone ordered a base 991 or a 991 S with NO added options please speak up . Let us know what its like driving the car with nothing added to the base price .

In your replies you seem to accept that :
1) Leather ought to be an option
2) Sport Chrono ought to be an option
3) PDK ought to be an option

Porsche has convinced you and others that this is ok . How can they even release performance numbers for a car when there is such a variety of cars speced ? A macan S on steel springs with no sport chrono or PTV or PASM is not t5he same Macan s as one thst has it .

Conclusion -- my opinion -
1) The only cars which have a full set of options standard are the model flagship . For the 991 it's the Turbo S . Otherwise one can have a 110K 991S as well as a 145K 991S and these are two very different cars !!

2) If one orders a non flagship model (like base Boxster. base 991,base macan etc) then the stripped down model really gives up a lot. If he loads it up he will not recover the cost . It's almost like a purchasing stalemate .

2) An option that is free on one car ought not be charged on another .

3) The sad part of this is that so many accept it (even if it means skipping an option) and in some cases paying full MSRP (for a high demand model) .

 

Couldn't agree more with your conclusions!!

And keep in mind that you are lucky to get cars that are better equipped as standard than the European models. We still have to pay for simple things like floormats, even in a 991 Turbo S!

If you want a nicely equipped Porsche, you'll need for about 1/2 of MSRP on options (at least). Have been looking for a Macan S diesel as my daily driver. In the end I got up to 90% of MSRP on options alone, just to make it (almost) equally equipped as my current daily driver!! Completely rediculous. And that's for a downgrade from a faster and more comfortable Audi 6 diesel to a Macan diesel!

It's one of the reasons why I said goodbye to Porsche for now. Besides that, they are too arrogant to adjust their prices to the EUR-CHF exchange rates here in Switzerland. Every single other brand does adjust their prices (even the ones in the VAG group), except Porsche.

For example... Porsche 991 Turbo S is more expensive than Ferrari 458, McLaren 650S, Bentley Continental GT V8S... Just to name a few cars. And with the 991 TTS you get an interior that looks almost the same as the interior in a Boxster that costs less than 1/4 of the price. To make it look and feel as special on the inside as the other cars I mentioned, you'll need the help of Porsche's Exclusive programm and their prices are out-of-this-world rediculous.
Okay, the same can be said for Ferrari or Bentley options, but at least you get a car that is somewhat special. Definitely more special than a Porsche 911...

The only P-car I'd buy at this moment is a Boxster GTS, but even that one costs CHF 93,400 ($103,800) baseprice... (without floormats....) A nicely equipped one, with GTS interior, black exterior package, etc. (no crazy options), will cost about CHF 135,000 ($150,000). To me, it would probably be worth it, because the GTS really is a nice driver's car. But it's still a lot of money for a Boxster.

I spoke a lot of people recently, most of them long time Porsche owners (over 30yrs), that are now looking to other brands because they're not satisfied anymore with Porsche. "Porsche has lost its magic" is what I hear a lot...
The 991 Turbo S for example is an absolute great car, but it's almost too perfect. It's boring... It lacks any kind of emotion and to make the car a little bit exciting you'll need to exceed the legal speed limits by an awful lot, risking your driver's license. Yes it is very, very fast, but you'll get used to that performance very quickly and then it becomes just another 911 that looks the same as all the others, but you've paid an awful lot more than the guy next to you in his Cayman, who's probably having more fun for his money than you....

It really hurts me to say and I still love the brand itself, but I think I'm done with driving a Porsche. At least untill they come up with something.

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This is a very interesting post . I believe that awhile back (when you were considering a 991 Turbo S )you arrived to the point that the most value was found in the car which had key options as standard .

Much as you describe with your Macan Diesel configuration the option list is unbelievable and this seems to be the direction in the newest Porsches .

I bought the Macan Turbo and it also had quite a few options (my car MSRP was 90K with a base spec at 73K --17K in options) but nothing like the model Macan S .

What's also interesting is that there once was a huge gap within the same model line . The delta betwen a 911 S and a 911 Turbo was once huge but nowadays if one highly options the 991S it becomes narrow . A C4S with a powerkit might even cost more than a base Turbo .

My cars all have low miles and I likely will buy another Porsche at some point. I am not sure what it will be. The options and configurations do play a role in making the choice .

 

Very insightful analysis. Thanks for your comments. A few points I came up with.

1. The competition is getting better and fiercer.

2. Not everyone can be Mercedes. Obviously they have marketed and are perceived higher end in the US than Europe.

3. Most buyers want to feel like they have something exclusive spending 150K plus! Not everyone can be Mercedes...

4. Porsche has a bit of arrogance being the golden child for VW for now. Things can change pretty quickly though!

5. This European pricing policy is plain incompetence.

6. Once you lost a customer to another brand, you've lost loyalty and they may NEVER return.

7. The competition has Porsche posted on a dart board as it's target, while Porsche is sipping Cappuccino at the local coffee house.

8. The high income buyers for car brands are getting less loyal. The long time 20 plus year brand loyal Porsche owners will not be as common in the future.

9. I wish their marketing and executive team had the brains to read 6 Speed!! They might learn a lot. Oh I forgot, it's Cappuccino time.

 

Am I a fan? Yes... Do I love it? Yes...

Am I overly impressed with the new one? No.

At the end of the day, it's just a bigger overpriced phone and a lot of hype... I realize that ...

Never get complacent. All empires eventually crumble, and history does repeat itself..

Same goes for the car business ....

 

When I was looking for a 911, my focus was in the first place on a C4S. I wanted a car that was usable all year long here in Switzerland, so AWD was must for me and besides that I just like the way the car looks.
When speccing the car, it became so expensive that, like you say, A Turbo S wasn't much more expensive with the same options and after driving it, I really liked the additional torque of the turbocharged engine)
However, when I started looking for the white metallic (Oryx White pearl) that I saw on the Frankfurt motorshow, I was forced to go the PTS way (Carrera white metallic wasn't available at that time). Because I was spending that amount of money already, I also wanted the interior to look a bit more special than the Boxster I was driving at the moment. All in all I got a quote of CHF 22400 ($25000) just for a different color two-tone leather (black-tan) and a metallic white paint. In the end the car would have cost me somewhere around $350k! (oh and that was including a 11% discount on the CHF 271,000 costing base car!!)
This is when I started looking at other brands and realized that I can get, for example, a Ferrari FF for just $15k more in Switzerland (Ferrari gives pretty nice discounts over here). That's how expensive the 911 has become (at least in my case).
I understand that not everyone wants a lot of interior- or leather options, but it's rediculous to buy a 911 for an almost similar price that a Ferrari FF, which is IMHO a much more special car than a 911 and even more usable all year long. (4 decent seats and luggage space).

Since my Boxster provided me so much joy as a weekend car, I decided not to buy a sportscar as a DD at all, but keep the Boxster for a while. The car offers 90% of the fun for 40% of a 991 C4S' pricetag, at least for the way I used the car, which is an occasional nice spirited drive in the mountains or on twisty backroads. I also got over the idea that I "needed" a 911 to have a real Porsche. The 981 is as much Porsche as a 911.

If I wanted a 911 right now, I think that I would probably spec a C4S (for the looks) with just a few options and use it only as a weekend-/fun car.

I'm not sure if Porsche is on the right track at the moment. Yes they are very profitable now, but I have some doubts if this will remain on the long term. The brand is becoming just another BMW, Mercedes or Audi IMHO. They have troubles keeping up with producing enough SUVs and meanwhile their Halo cars are having reliability problems. First the GT3 recall, now the 918 recall... Not a good sign if you ask me.

I'm still a big fan though. But the love is getting weaker.

 

Spot on!