I know each of you guys have had your own experiences and it really depends on the salesperson you talk to and their mood for that day. Also, depends on the time of year, month and day you inquire. Here are my shortened opinions on dealers here in Southern California as I had dealt with each one of these in various degrees in my hunt for a CS:

Beverly Hills Porsche: Great guys, very direct and to the point business wise. Didn't play any games.

Circle Porsche: These guys play games. I asked the guy for a discount. They said no. One week later, they called back with 2k off. I said I'd need to think about it. I called them back a day later about it, they said the deal was not available.

Hoehn Motors: These guys are really really good with customer service. Not pushy at all. Great guys to work with. The only issue is they don't discount anything. For those of you who have coin in your pocket and don't care much about a few thousand dollars, go to these guys just on the service and "nice-ness" of the people who work there.

McKenna Porsche: The guy I spoke with was so "car-sales" man like. I inquired, then he must have emailed me 10 times about "making the deal now". And, that MSRP is a fantastic deal and you won't find anything lower.

Pacific Porsche: No big comment here. They seemed nice, but would only go down a thousand dollars or so. They didn't seem to have much inventory and I would have to wait for like 5 months for my delivery.

Power Porsche Newport Beach: What can I say, but these guys stink. First, they had only one Cayenne. Second, they didn't have anything to test drive. Third, they stink. Oh, did I say that again. I said I was very interested in a Cayenne and to call me when one arrived that I could test drive. I didn't get a call back for two weeks. I called the sales guys and he said, he would have one for me in the next few days. I called after that, left a message, he ignored me. I went over there to look around for a second time, they ignored me.

Rusnak Porsche: Called them about discounts. Spoke with the guy for a while.Told the Russian guy that I got two thousand dollars off from some other dealer and could you beat it and I was willing to make a deal now. He basically, told me "If you can get that, I would take it. Good luck" then hung up. Boy, customer service? These guys are a bunch of A-holes.

The Auto Gallery: Got a costco reference. Called the guy. Seemed pretty nice. Gave him what I wanted. He said he would call me back later today. Never called back. Left a message the following day. No call back. Finally, after 4 days, he called back. I didn't return a call cause I already made a deposit.

Walter's Porsche: Let me tell you something about these guys. Went in for a test drive. Guys were super nice and showed me everything. I called back later and asked for a discount. He got insulted for some reason. He told me they could only give me a slight discount. I noticed they had another vehicle I was interested in on their web-site. I called a left a message for the same salesguy at least 3 times. Then I left a message with his manager at least 3 times (messages) no one called me back. I said screw them.

 

I'm not in SOCAL but even in Atlanta where there are only 2 Dealers it is surprising how lax the salesmen are about follow up. They seem reasonably bright but not at all on top of their communication skills. Do you suppose they deal with mostly tire kickers and cannot tell a legitimate buyer when they see one? Or does Porsche build so few Cayennes that everything they get allocation for will sell even if they don't even try?

 

I find that a lot of the dealers don't really care about giving any discounts. Basically, they had the attitude, "You don't want it for MSRP. Fine, get the hell out of here. I can find someone that does".

 

I bought one car from Rusnak Westlake (not a good experience), another from Auto Gallery (ok experience) and my last 3 cars in the last year from BH Porsche...great experiences...and nice discounts. See Jeff Lamont there and he will take care of you. Great service as well...Erik Patino in service is first class. Good luck!

 

Frank,
If u are still looking to buy, I have someone you may want to contact. After reading your post I figure it wouldn't hurt but might help. I actually bought my 2011 C2 from Beverly Hills Porsche. The service was awesome. Had a huge discount too. Keep in mind I went in with blue jeans and an Old Navy shirt. The guy you want to talk to is Glen Fagin. He is the VIP Fleet and Internet Sales Manager.
Tell him Lee sent you. Wait, don't tell him Lee sent you or he will show you the door. Lol. Kidding aside. He is a really good guy. I can't promise anything especially If you are looking at buying the 991. You know how it goes for new models. PM me if you need his number.

 

It's funny how we can all have very different experiences with the same dealership and the same guy. Glen was ok but more than anything he was annoying. I told him I had a deal on the table but that if he could beat it he could have my business. He offered a whopping $2K off...I told him thanks but no thanks. Then over the next 2 months I consistently got emails from him saying how he had this cayenne or that cayenne in and that he could offer a deal. I told him I already ordered with another dealer (Circle - by the way they were awesome) and to not send me junk mail any more. I told him he had his opportunity but chose not to pursue the business. I got like 5 more emails from Glen then I emailed his manager asking for him to stop sending me junk mail. That solved my problem.

 

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You have had a much much better experience then I have with them. I actually have not bought another Porsche because of these guys are so bad.

 

Sorry to hear that. Maybe I caught him on a good mood. Maybe it's the shirt.
Maybe the cayenne is in higher demand than the 911. Who knows. Glad Circle taylored to your needs.

Frank. Don't forget the shirt!

 

To be fair, a salesman's biggest pet peeve is when customers call in a play 2 dealers for the lowest price. They are afraid that when you say so-and-so gave this much off and if you can beat it, you got a deal. Then take that new price and go back to the original dealer and ask him to be that. It goes back-and-fourth until you get the best deal and they make the least commission. Good news for buyers, bad news for sales people.

So they usually draw a line (especially for low inventory / high demand models) and tell you to just go buy somewhere else if so-and-so gave you that deal. B/C they don't want a price war. And with the influx of calls they get everyday asking them to price-match or beat with empty promises and no-shows after they beat it, they get fed up. It's human nature and I do understand where they are coming from as well.

I think if you have successfully dealt with a salesperson before, or have previously purchased a vehicle from that dealership, they can see that you may be serious when you say "if you beat that price, I'll go with you." But if it's just a random call, they feel there is no sincerity when we imply that we have chose them as our last and final bargaining attempt.

And I think if it really was your last bargaining attempt and you really do want to finalize it with a certain dealer, go there and tell them that in person with checkbook in hand. That shows more commitment from us that we'll cut a check right then and there if he / she can beat it. My .02

 

I agree with V10M. I had the benefit of having 3 Porsche dealers within 45 minutes of my house. I visited all three, 2 of them several times, and test drove the Cayenne at each location. I them performed my own research with regard to options and pricing; this site was a great resource (I also test drove offerings from BMW, Audi and MB). In the end, I asked each dealer to provide their lowest price and used the results to get them to negotiate against each other, but only for one round as opposed to endlessly going back and forth; I did my best not to waste their time. Ultimately, I chose the dealer with the best online reviews and the salesman who I liked the most. Ultimately, they are all in the business of making as much money as possibile; some just do it with more ethics and grace.

 

I have no problem with Dealerships and their sales people making money. We want them to thrive and stock a good inventory and hire good service people.
I visited 2 Dealers with a list of options and an expected discount. I did not mention to either that I was shopping around, although spending this amount of money I am sure it's expected. I did not use a lot of their time....maybe an hour each place. Both immediately gave me a small discount and raised it a week later when I repeated my initial request. The first one that met my discount got my business (did not hurt that his dealership got better reviews here). The other salesman was outraged that I had "shopped his deal". I just had to laugh. It was My deal in the first place and he could have met my request which was all of 1% more than he had offered. The venom that spewed out of this guy was incredible. To top it off he had the ***** to ask me to refer friends in the future. Maybe I'll send him some people I'm not crazy about....have to think about that.

 

@ vitaman. Unfortunately your experience is most likely the norm, not the exception. It seems like price of the goods being sold does not necessarily correlate to service and attitude.

 

I have had nothing but excellent experiences with Hoehn in Carlsbad and in fact, drive way out of my way to use them. I'm sorry your experience didn't match mine.

FWIW, I 100% agree with the original poster, you probably aren't going to get the "ultimate" deal at Hoehn if saving that incremental $500 is the most important thing to you. But if you want to have an enjoyable purchase, follow up and service experience and take some enjoyment out of being treated like a respected customer than Hoehn might be right for you.

BTW - I couldn't agree more about Newport Beach. They are absolutely terrible and I'm yet to figure out how they stay in business. Almost everyone I know who owns a Porsche, Audi or Bentley has had a bad experience at that dealership.

 

I bought my 997 at Auto Gallery and even though the deal was good, the drive was long and they managed to mess up some things. Plus the fleet manager wasn't very "enthusiastic" about selling us a car. I guess arrogant is a better term.

Walter was pretty hard to get any discount at all. They seem to think they already have the lowest prices being in Riverside. But MSRP isn't a discount.

I communicated with Glen at Beverly over phone and he promised some minimal discount, but didn't have the car and wanted me to order one for 4 months wait. So we didn't go further.

Circle also wasn't pushy as we communicated over email. Unfortunately they didn't have the car either.

I tried to stay away from Newport but have a friend who referred me to their general manager Steve. Called to arrange for a test drive and he said they have only one Cayenne and it won't be available for test drive until the following week. WTF? But I do intent to try their service dept as I read ~some~ positive feedbacks. Just haven't had the need yet.

I didn't even know Pacific Porsche existed until they popped up on my search for wife's Cayenne. They had THREE cars with the options we wanted, one with the exact color match! So I called them up and spoke to Mina, pleasant guy, didn't play games, and we end up making the deal with them. The dealer is small, with small inventory, but they just happen to have the right car at the right time. With the Cayenne in such high demand, we had to take what we get, since waiting 4 months is not going to work.

I really hate buying cars, or should I say, I really hate dealing with sales people.