Why aren't these moving?
 

I was at my local Porsche dealership looking at the two 997's they have, one s and one non. Beautiful cars btw, and not asking a dollar over sticker, from what i believe. Why aren't these moving? Does this mean they will be taking off the sticker soon??!

Let's face it. The 997 is a great car in terms of looks and performance. The fact remains that it is simply a small evolution of the 996. I don't know of many 996 owners that are willing to trade in or sell their 996 in order to get into a 997. The car just isn't that materially different (from a conceptual perspective). Not too many non-Porsche owners are going to be awed by the 997 body style.

Don't get me wrong, the car is great. But the car needs to be materially different to find new and old parts of the market.

T

I'm thinking the same questions. I keep seeing dealers with inventory but the customer deliveries seem to lack the wild enthusiasm of the 996 arrival.

The 997 is a great car and a worthwhile advance over the 996, but that does not assure it of eager buyers in troubled times -- war, elections, economics ... indulgences like a new Carrera might not be on the to-do list for the well to do...

Cheers,

I sure hope that the people who are paying $100k for a 997s are really, really, really in love with their car.

I really like the car but I have to admit I walked right past the butt end of a 997 without realizing it was a 997. I have to agree that the styling is not a huge departure (it never really is) but its significant to note that to most casual observers the 996/997 would be hard to tell apart in the wild.

Re: Why aren't these moving?
 

Because they're ugly inside...

My dealer is not getting any cars for delivery before November. They gotta keep the ones they have around for test drives so they can take deposits.

I disagree on the interior, I think it is much nicer than the 996. That is one of the main reasons that I am going to switch to the 997 early, simply because after the 997 my 996 interior (in full leather) seems cheap. The interior is very attractive in person. They pretty much fixed just about all my complaints with the 997 that I had about the 996 with the exception of using Blose as the stereo system designer. Muffled highs, boomy base, but their market research showed people liked Blose the best!

Obviously different people like different things. I know some people love the 997 interior, and some don't like it at all. I don't like it at all. Here are some of my reasons...

*The visual impression is that the interior is very "boxy". There are way too many flat areas; the door panels are flat, basically vertical and made up of straght lines. The dash has a large flat, straight lined center console. The glove box is large with a flat surface. The vent openings are too big and flat without good proportion. The stalk controls are too large (bad proportion) and have large flat surfaces. Because of these visual cues, I got the feeling the whole dash was higher in my sight line, and that I was sitting lower in the car than I was. Not a good visual presentation for me. Porsche obviously wanted "flat", and they got it. It's not for me, and I don't think "flat" is very exotic looking. (I know, I know, Porsche didn't want exotic)

*The steering wheel is ugly and very cheap looking.

*The shifter looks (and feels) very cheap. Right out of a VW.

*The hand brake looks like it came out of a VW.

*Way too WAY many buttons and switches, all of which fell short of any kind of solid feel or look.

*The plastic between the shifter and the center storage compatment is cheap and flimsy looking. Maybe Porsche wanted it that way so they can introduce "new and improved" plastic in a year or two and charge a little more for it.

*Way too much badly painted and cheap looking plastic everywhere else.

*The door handles are too high and too far forward. And they add higher visual "mass" that contributes to all of the other large flat surfaces and the impression that there is alot of stuff in front of you.

*The cup holder engineering is really funny looking and requires opening a long plastic door before pulling out the cup holders and then closing the door again.

*There isn't any real visual continunity, or flow, as you look across the dash; except for the instrument cluster and strange curve in the middle of the dash, it's just straight lines and large flat stuff.

*The shifter gets in the way of the storage area in front of it.

*The interior is "busy" looking to me; my brain has a problem figuring out any type of flow. I had the same problem with some of my son's wood block creations.

*I don't like the ignition switch being angled relative to the dash. And it seemed to be a momentary contact kind of switch spring loaded to a centered position. I believe the Cayenne has the same set up.

*I don't like the window controls being placed high on the driver's door.

My biffest hang up with the 996 is that it looked like a worn dishrag after a year or two and 15-20K miles.

Its not the best looking interior I've seen but maybe it will wear better.

The HK logic 7 sound system in my Mercedes is superb, Blose couldn't touch it. Also, when I turned in my last Mercedes after 60K miles and three young kids it still looked exceptional. I am hoping the 997 can live up to that kind of use.

I prefer the 993 interior (don't call me "old school") but the 997 is surely an improvement on the 996! From materials quality to cabin noise levels, the 997 might be too much like a Cayenne, but it's better than the creaks and plastic curves of the 986/996.

I probably don't have any right to make the assessment, but the only mistake I've found in the 997 thus far is retaining the 996 engine and all the trouble people have had with the RMS.

As for things like the tinny exhaust sound, the mediocre audio system, the flat seats, the thin steering wheel, the long-throw shifter, the heavy flywheel, the soft brakes ... well, these are all happy news for the after-market tuners and good fun for 911 enthusiasts to make their car their own.

And if you've driven with PASM and Sport Chrono, you might already feel like PASM in "normal" mode is saggy and bumpy, while PASM in "Sport" mode is jiggly and jittery.

And one more -- the stock wheels on the S! They look a lot better in person, but I imagine they'll be eBay fodder en masse!

I'm coming to the conclusion that, if I had a 996, I'd keep it. If I was about to buy and had to choose between an $80K 996 and an $80K 997, I'd choose the 997 with no doubt. Then again, if the sticker were $100K to $120K (which is easily done with options on a 997S) I don't know that I could pass up the GT3 MkII engine for the 997S engine even if Walter can bang the S around the Ring almost as fast as the GT3... that's a tough one to call. And I have to imagine resale on the GT3 will hold better than the S once they're everywhere.

... hmmm ... should I rethink my S order ... :) ... why wait six weeks when I can snap up a GT3 off the lot for some instant gratification ? : )

Devek, your argument is well founded, but you'll pay 20K over a base "S" for a base GT3.

I have yet to drive the "S" with the PASM but will offer my thoughts when that happens. The 997 I drove was great, a definite improvement over the 996 in all areas though I do agree that the carry over of the 3.6 could be an issue.

Or you can all my dealer and have an S in a few days! It's gorgeous if you ask me! But the hard decision comes with buying a new carrera or buying a used turbo, which will blow the doors off the new 997, even though, I personally like the styling of the 997 better...decisions decisoins!

Both of my local dealer sold out til July on the S model and their initial inventory is sold out. There isn't even a car for you to look at. I got my lease quote of 1250$/month with 10k miles a year, 36 month lease, 5k down. Was not very happy. For that much I can truely get behind a 911 tt used. Anyway, if htey are on the lot then it must be geographically not selling as well.

RJH

Lots of people will "fall off" the list. Porsche North Scottsdale, the only Porsche dealer in Phoenix with 3+ million people, has unspoken for 911's coming right now. Their current allocations are spoken for but not the next one. Jan/Feb/Mar.