Hi,
new member here, great forum!

So I test drove a few 911s and got hooked - really itching to get into one and ready to execute on a CPO '05 or '06 997 C2 or C2S coupe at a fair price.

A few dealership visits later, I am left frustrated and a little puzzled...

• First guy lets me drive a few cars and never follows up, not a phone call, email or anything (I'm wondering why they make sure you leave your contact info). I had to follow up with a few questions and was greeted with a not-so-subtle lack of interest, and the classic "I have another customer look at this car right now" - car is still on the lot, BTW - which is fine, as it's not exactly the one I want.
• Second dealer: walk in and ask if they have 05 or 06 Coupes. Sales guy 1: "Oh no, nothing, sorry." - Sales guy 2 busts in: "Yeah, cabs in the winter, coupes in the summer, haha". So the guy shakes my hand and says "Thanks for coming in, though". I ask, "Don't you want to take my info, so you can call me when you get one in?" - " Oh, yeah," he goes, "that was gonna be my next question" and hands me one of those lead forms to fill in my info. I'm thinking I should have left him with the number of the local unemployment office, since he may need that soon.
• Third dealer... holiday weekend, 4 sales guys in the show room, I'm the single customer. I ask my question for a 05/06 coupe, he shows me one he later finds out is an 08, and tells me it's $59k. I'm like "really?", later he says, sorry mistake, it's $69. Then he goes, "but I have an 06 trade come in, leave your info and I'll send you the specs on Monday. Just heard back from him after *I* followed up. Tells me now he can get me the specs by next week. The car has been originally sold and serviced there - can't he just pull up the record?
• Fourth dealer has an '05 S with warranty just expired, low miles. I call and ask if the car is CPO'ed, and if extended warranty is available. Sales guy goes, "inspected but not CPO'ed, but you can buy warranty (I wonder why they would they not CPO this car). I ask "factory warranty?". "Yes, of course - let me put you through to our warranty guy". Turns out they only offer a "really great aftermarket warranty, even better than the factory warranty". I ask if they can CPO the car? He calls me back and says Porsche doesn't let them CPO it. He also says, even if the car still had warranty, they couldn't extend it, according to Porsche (I told him I don't think that's the case, dealer one above told they they can CPO anything back to 05 and you can buy extended Porsche warranty as long as the car still has original warranty left). He admits he was confused himself by what Porsche told him. Guys, this is an authorized Porsche dealer, and the sales guy is more confused by the warranty options and rules than me, the first-time potential Porsche buyer??

Seems like a lot of work on my part for trying to drop 50k+ on a 4-year old car (I know, it's not *any* old car we're talking about ;-). Reminds me of buying a Harley, similar treatment (back in 07, put a deposit on a brand new bike, wait time 2 mos, just to be told later that they sold my bike to some other guy - BTW, that same dealership just had to close one of their locations ... wondering how long until that will happen to the first Porsche dealer here).

What's going on in the Porsche CPO market - do these guys live in their own economy bubble, is it arrogance, or are they just plain spoiled but unaware?

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing some work to get into the right car, and I understand the supply-and-demand dynamic. Still, not exactly what I expected.

I've always preferred buying cars from dealers (mainly due to CPO and factory warranty options), but I'm starting to look at late 06's and '07s from private sellers now.

Hope I don't sound bitter, still super excited about getting into a 911 - and thanks for letting me cry on your guys' shoulders... ;-)

 

Porsche sales people have that reputation, and unfortunately it seems well-earned.

I've had similar experiences on "pre-owned" Porsche's at Porsche dealerships. Consequently, neither of the 2 pre-owned Porsches I've bought have been from a Porsche dealer. Turned off by their sales team, I bought each from a luxury/ hi-end dealership I trust, and have been thrilled.
CATTMAN

 

Have to agree with you on most of your points - I've had a similar experience with many Bay Area dealers. And as for finding a car at a realistic price, most of them don't seem to know what that means. At all. Part of it may have to do with them getting less out of a used sale vs. a new sale?

I've seen many of the same cars sitting on their lots for months and if you go in and talk to the sales guys, they'll tell you they can't bend on the price, that there's tons of interest, and that the car will be gone in a day or two. Check back a few days / weeks / months later and the car is still there.

It's almost like they don't want to do business. Hard to explain but there it is. That's why I've generally switched to looking at private cars vs. dealer cars.

 

That's interesting you say that. Traditionally, most dealers make more on used cars than on new ones (due to low trade-in values and price war on new cars). But that may be completely different for Porsche and in the luxury segment in general.

 

You should be able to find a nice 2006 S for less than $50K. I'd look for an 07 or 08.

Oh, and I agree with the attitude of the Bay area dealers. That's why I bought my car from 3000 miles away ;-)

 

Kais

Check out Hoehn in Carlsbad......work with Sean, he will hook you up. Tell him I sent you. I live in NY and had a fantastic experience with them

 

I was actually quite surprised by this post, until I went back over the course of months before I bought my car. The dealer closest to me in Boston was beyond uninterested in talking with me about what I was looking for, and even though I was very specific on which features I absolutely wanted, ones that I couldn't live without, and ones that I didn't need but weren't gonna be deal breakers. The particular salesman (will remain nameless, though I remember it clear as day) kept suggesting that I do my research on what I was looking for and maybe I'd be more interested in a cayman (a wonderful car to drive, but when you want a 911, you want a 911). I kind of wrote it off toward me being 25 years old, and heavily tattooed, but hell...it could've been dad's money. I also check out a dealership in New Hampshire about 35 minutes from Boston and experience the same treatmeant....despite trying to manipulate the experience by dressing like a stock broker. No dice. It wasn't till I returned home to visit my parents for mom's birthday and went to Paul Miller Porsche (the dealer i'd always stare out the window at as a 10 year old kid going to visit the grandparent) that I received really excellent service. We had a great discussion about cars in general, what I was driving now, what I wanted out of my driving experience, what other things I was considering (in a non-pushy way) and positives and negatives of all the cars. What really won me over was before we got deep into the talk, he said "Lemme get the keys...you're either going to love it, or you won't" Stupid using the car as the main selling point...20 seconds into it, hooked forever, can't go back, grumble grumble grumble. I received follow up phone calls, and going above what I would ever expect from a car dealership despite me going through a major issue with BMW. I believe ultimately that the people make the place. The one downside, is that the cars really do sell themselves, and alot of people that aren't as passionate use that as a reason to slack off at their job. The real treat comes when you can hook up with a person at a dealership that has as much passion for the cars as you do, then it's smooth as silk. Hat's off to Matt and the rest of the Paul Miller team...they came through big time. Don't be discouraged, when it's right...it'll all fall into place.

-Alex

 

I'm from the SF Bay Area as well and went to a few dealerships while looking for my car. OK, I don't look like I should be shopping for a Porsche, I wear pretty schlubby clothes most of the time. I work in advertising and wearing sneakers and a hoodie is acceptable. I went to one dealership in the east bay where I had to flag down one of the three salesman at his desk to have a discussion. Once he found out how much cash I was prepared to drop he changed his tune.... my wife and I left. I went to Carleson Porsche in Redwood City and had an exchange going with a guy named Gary Quibelan. He was actually nice and let me drive a car and took all my info and emailed me anytime he got a beed on anything. I talked to a few others around the area, we're blessed with about 6 dealerships around here, but none of them seemed to care or they would email me cars nothing like what I was looking for.

I ended up buying private party but Livermore Porsche helped facilitate the transaction because that's where the previous owner purchased it from.
Sam Balanon was fantastic about making me feel confident in the purchase. He didn't really gain anything from the deal since it was private party but I know I'll maintain the service history with them and I just dropped his name here. Hopefully that helps.

 

Great Post -

1) There's no excuse for unprofessional customer service and the "why" does not even matter . The end result is that three dealerships did not sell you a car and they could have . Don't take it personally that they failed -- use it as a stepping stone to be better prepared for the next one.

2) Understand that the 50K Porsche usually means no profit and tons of buyers --many of whom are not serious buyers . Walk into the next dealership with your checkbook in you pocket and tell them that if you find the car of your dreams you are ready to but it TODAY. Of course you don't have to buy anything --but it lets them know you are assertive .

3) Don't buy any extended warranty . Spend taht money and buy a newer or better car. If they can't or won't CPO it --don't debate it --just walk and say "NEXT" . They will get the point.

BTW -- they may not like you on that particular day but with time they will respect you and most importantly you will feel good about yourself. In fact you can gain respect with a dealership staff if you buy a car from another dealership and show them that they missed the opportunity . They will remember it on the next sale and try even harder to satisfy you .

Usually the car sells itself . That's why they may not call you . Most people who fall in love with the Porsche 911 will pay anything just to have it . Many go in over their heads . That's the idea you must keep in mind on the day you finally say yes and buy the car .

Lastly -- If jjC4Scab gave you a referral -that's a good avenue to pick when you sincerely are ready to buy the car .

Good luck.

 

I PMed you re a contact at Porsche of Fremont.

 

Actually the profit margin on a used car is much better than on a new one. If what you said is true why would any dealership have a used car department and why would there be so many used car lots around?

They generally take a car in trade for less than wholesale and try to sell at retail while negotiating somewhere between wholesale price and retail. Still they can make several K on a used sale. Most trades are made with uninformed buyers who don't know the value of their trade because they haven't shopped the car to Car Max or other used car operations to get the value of their trade before they talk to a dealer.

 

Thanks for all the encouraging responses, and especially for those who PM'ed me with referrals - thanks a bunch! (Unfortunately I cannot reply via PM until I have 15 posts).

Interestingly, some of you referred the exact same sales people I actually dealt with. I guess every situation is different, and we all have different standards and expectations.

What disappoints me most with these sales "professionals" is the lack of competence and preparedness that you have to navigate. If any sales people are reading this thread, here's my advice:

- do what you say you will do
- know your inventory
- don't say what you don't know
- ask, don't tell

Pretty basic stuff, I think - but like with every discipline, the basics are the hardest to learn and maintain.

 

Not to sound paternalistic, you also need to watch your approach with the salesman... it's a 2-way street. If some of us developed successful relationships and deals, something was different.

 

I got the same treatment at Rusnak Pasadena a few months back. I guess $50k is not a lot to them and I don't have a relationship with anyone there.

 

your experience is typical, in MA area I know only one dealership so far that has good folks working there, 2 others I visited were pretty much same...

One word of advice - search heavily all private parties cars prior to committing to a '05/'06 car from a dealer. I got mine '06 C2 CPO from private party for KBB price and could not be happier since. You can save a ton of money this way.