986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Buying: P-dealer or no....

wetstuff · 12-08-2006, 06:27 AM

It took me a couple of months to find/buy our Boxster-S. I used all the resources: cars.com, autotrader.com, EbayMotors and the P-dealers natiional listing service. I tried to look at major newspapers but the listings are hard to find and must be so expensive that a listing had crap like: "2001 Porcha, ex cond, PS,Cnvt, Blk, 22k, $35,000 ph222.555.2222 aft.9pm"

I contacted a couple of P-dealers but the feeling I got was that I was looking for a table in a 3-star resturant at 9pm in Manhattan. I ended up at a Chevy dealer in CT. They bought cars from Manheim Auction released from Porsche Leasing. The reason I felt comfortable: 1) the car was still under factory warranty for another 8mos. ... 2) the mileage was low at 15k ... 3) they didn't have a clue about the options, so they didn't mark it up further. We looked at it: it was perfect: we drove it home. A week later I had my P-dealer do a Certified Inspection, of course, without the benefit of the actual extended warranty...but we both knew the condition of the car. And other than normal maint.; it's remained the same.

In buying a 997: I did all the above. When I called the P-dealer in Lauderdale I spoke to a Maitre de who only served Kobe beef, one in Naples FL (there are a lot of good Porsches in FL..) didn't bother to return my call. The most productive exotic dealer in S.FL seemed to be FormulaOneSportsCars in Miami. They must buy direct from leasing companies; everything priced very well, and low miles. They moved about five 997s in the month I was talking to them. ...they just never had the right color combo for me.

I (we..ahem) had our heart set on another Seal Gray but most of the interiors we found were Black and Gray ...or great cars: with a frickin' slush box!? After waiting what seemed like too long a time, I re-focused to finding an interior I wanted - then seeing if I could live with the exterior. Cars.com had a Cocoa interior/Silver exterior at a P-dealer in Cleveland. Oh god...not these people again!

What a surprise. It's actually, Porsche of North Olmstead; recently bought out by a crew of young guys from New England. Bernie Moreno is the owner...39...and you'd think he'd be comfortable running a hedge fund. In 90sec. we came to a price that would have me coming on a plane the next Sat. with a bag of $$. The ticket was R/T..just in case.

Chris Sanner, their primary P-salesman (they also have the MB franchise) picked me up and in little over an hour I was on I-80 headed back to Maryland. I can't stress enough how good these guys were to deal with. Not only was the car fully detailed as you'd expect, but they did an annual service and replace key batteries without prompting or extra charge. The Cert. Inspection was done ..and I got the bonus of the extra 2yrs of warranty. With other P-dealers, I would walk away from the extra warranty because it seemed like they tacked on another $5-10k over-market for being permitted to buy from them in the first place. So, as much fun as it seems to be, to 'generalize' in this country anymore, I've a new appreciation for at least one Porsche dealer.

J i m
Salisbury MD

12-08-2006, 06:27 AM	#1
wetstuff Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Salisbury Maryland Posts: 184	Buying: P-dealer or no.... It took me a couple of months to find/buy our Boxster-S. I used all the resources: cars.com, autotrader.com, EbayMotors and the P-dealers natiional listing service. I tried to look at major newspapers but the listings are hard to find and must be so expensive that a listing had crap like: "2001 Porcha, ex cond, PS,Cnvt, Blk, 22k, $35,000 ph222.555.2222 aft.9pm" I contacted a couple of P-dealers but the feeling I got was that I was looking for a table in a 3-star resturant at 9pm in Manhattan. I ended up at a Chevy dealer in CT. They bought cars from Manheim Auction released from Porsche Leasing. The reason I felt comfortable: 1) the car was still under factory warranty for another 8mos. ... 2) the mileage was low at 15k ... 3) they didn't have a clue about the options, so they didn't mark it up further. We looked at it: it was perfect: we drove it home. A week later I had my P-dealer do a Certified Inspection, of course, without the benefit of the actual extended warranty...but we both knew the condition of the car. And other than normal maint.; it's remained the same. In buying a 997: I did all the above. When I called the P-dealer in Lauderdale I spoke to a Maitre de who only served Kobe beef, one in Naples FL (there are a lot of good Porsches in FL..) didn't bother to return my call. The most productive exotic dealer in S.FL seemed to be FormulaOneSportsCars in Miami. They must buy direct from leasing companies; everything priced very well, and low miles. They moved about five 997s in the month I was talking to them. ...they just never had the right color combo for me. I (we..ahem) had our heart set on another Seal Gray but most of the interiors we found were Black and Gray ...or great cars: with a frickin' slush box!? After waiting what seemed like too long a time, I re-focused to finding an interior I wanted - then seeing if I could live with the exterior. Cars.com had a Cocoa interior/Silver exterior at a P-dealer in Cleveland. Oh god...not these people again! What a surprise. It's actually, Porsche of North Olmstead; recently bought out by a crew of young guys from New England. Bernie Moreno is the owner...39...and you'd think he'd be comfortable running a hedge fund. In 90sec. we came to a price that would have me coming on a plane the next Sat. with a bag of $$. The ticket was R/T..just in case. Chris Sanner, their primary P-salesman (they also have the MB franchise) picked me up and in little over an hour I was on I-80 headed back to Maryland. I can't stress enough how good these guys were to deal with. Not only was the car fully detailed as you'd expect, but they did an annual service and replace key batteries without prompting or extra charge. The Cert. Inspection was done ..and I got the bonus of the extra 2yrs of warranty. With other P-dealers, I would walk away from the extra warranty because it seemed like they tacked on another $5-10k over-market for being permitted to buy from them in the first place. So, as much fun as it seems to be, to 'generalize' in this country anymore, I've a new appreciation for at least one Porsche dealer. J i m Salisbury MD