PCA Members?

[Subanez]

So how many of you out there are actually Porsche Club of (America, UK, Zimbabwe, insert your country) out there?

What are the honest benefits, pros/cons of being a member? Is it worth it?

:chicken:

[Pilot2519j]

US - NY area . Advantages is meets and treks that we have gone to. There are lots of other benefits which we don't have any time to explore. Overall I think it is well worth it.

[jfmillr]

wash dc potomac region PCA member here.....
I like the parts discounts from dealer

[Perfectlap]

I don't think you have to own a Porsche to be a member. When I had my Miata I attended autocross events held by the Northern New Jersey Porsche Club of America. THey would ask me if I was a member and then charge me a higher entry fee since I wasn't.
I think as PCA member you can get cheaper car insurance through Leland West if youre Boxster is garage kept and you only drive it on weekends.

[RandallNeighbour]

Oh yeah you do have to own a Porsche, or at least be gutsy enough to put in a valid VIN number on the online application.

I tried to join PCA before ownership and got stalled. It apparently is not a fan club, but an owner's club.

I'll join in a few months when my bank account has recovered from the most expensive Christmas on record in my household.

[F1CAR4ME]

Niagara Region PCA member here. Benefits? Well, you get to hang out with other Porsche people, although there are few Boxster owners in my region. I was honestly expecting a snobby-rich-guy club but it wasn't like that at all. Most are owners of 70's and 80s 911s, a few 356 owners, and a bunch of front-engined guys too, and one or two die-hard 914 enthusiasts.

The events are really cool, and although you don't have to be a Porsche club member to attend most of them, you will know many more people if you are and you attend meetings. Our PCA chapter organizes cruises, car shows, road trips, driver's education (Watkins Glen 101 ) .

Another nice perk for me is that one of the techs from the local Porsche dealer sometimes shows up, and you can get some good information out of him.

[Perfectlap]

by the way, attending Porsche driving events like autocross is an excellent way to get very cheap driving instruction. for A new driver learning the basics at a Professional school like Bondurant and Skip Barber would be extremely expensive as opposed to learning those same skills at your local Porsche club Autocross.
Some days I would have an instructor all day all the while gettng maximum feedback on the driving mistakes I was making.
This summer I attended a two part driving school called Evolution driving and spent about $300 which is considered cheap, and basically learned all the same things I learned at the $30 autocross events that the Porsche club held. It was just more time to practice in a more focused amount of time. After about one season of events I'd probably say I'm an 800X better driver than before. You also find yourself seeing the traffic in front of you in a different light because you have actually completely locked the steering wheel or stomped on the brake hard and generally know what's required to avoid another car while travelling at 0-60 mph.

The skills learned at these $30 Porsche events could save your life someday. (how's that for an advantage?).

[Ronzi]

Just re-joined PCA after a number of yrs. out. As with any marque club, the primary benefit IMHO is associating with persons of similar interest, same as this forum.
I also like their monthly magazine, Panorama, although reading about tours through the local state park somewhere on the other side of the country month after month gets a little wearying. If you have never seen it, it is a very professionally produced piece and I know people that belong to PCA just to get the magazine.
PCA national and the local regions put on a wide variety of events, so you should be able to find something you enjoy from racing to concours through the club. Different regions will have emphasis on different types of events depending on what the local folks are most interested in, etc.

[Subanez]

Thanks for all of the information, I'm trying to figure out which region I'd be in, as I'm here in Mississippi right now. The only PCA regional website that seems to be down is the Mississippi one, haha.

So basically, once you join PCA, you just meet up with the people in your region, and that's that? Its definately something that I want to do, I just don't want to join and find out there like 2 of us down here in the Alabama/Mississippi region.

[Push]

Originally posted by Subanez
The only PCA regional website that seems to be down is the Mississippi one, haha.
I just don't want to join and find out there like 2 of us down here in the Alabama/Mississippi region.

It could be worse, you could be the only member. At least you would win all of the auto x meetings.

[QporscheQ]

PCA St. Louis Region.

We do similar car related stuff as the people mentioned above. But we also have a pretty decent amount of non car related stuff as well. There is a monthly happy hour, as well as a few dinners at both restaurants and the houses of members with understanding spouses. Unfortunately, last year I didn’t get to go to as many events as I would have liked due to travel for work. Hopefully, this year will be better.

[Ad Sach]

PCA Arizona region was active with well attended monthly meetings (free food), Arcade nights, monthly Sunday drives, annual Club race and charity drives.

PCA Hudson-Champlain is a pretty sleepy region. I'll probably join PCA Connecticut Valley Region this month because Lime Rock is my closest track and they seem to contro; the entry to 7-10 days a year.

I joined PCA for the monthly drives and fellowship - I stay in PCA for the track days (DE).

[Brucelee]

I am a brand new member and enjoy the magazine so far. Hope to hit some events soon!

[donv]

Activities and "feel" of the club definitely varies by chapter. There are two in my area, Northeast and North Country. One is more laid back and very welcoming, mostly about the social stuff. The other is more "all about my car". The good news is that they co-sponsor a lot of stuff together or otherwise welcome members to participate with either. Joined just after purchasing my Boxster, have attended several events including track ("Driver's Ed") days, tech sessions, DE ground school (science of driving, friction circle, turn-in, apex, track-out, etc.), autocross school (nice almost free day of skidpad, braking and slalom events), and "gimmick" rallys. Some amazing free stufff is handed out by the dealers at some of these events in raffles or as other prizes. It has been a good thing to join IMO. Oh, and BTW, both Excellence and the local chapter newsletter give you a chance to learn about products, services and stuff for sale that would take a lot of web time to locate otherwise - all packaged up for you each month.

[Cole]

Hi Donv...I am also in Mass and just purchased a 2001 Boxster S. I am signing up to be a PCA member, and was wondering what local chapter you belong to and where I can obtain more information on that chapter. Thanks.

[Ad Sach]

Plus there was the year when PCA sent a coupon for $100 off your next purchase of $200 or more in Genuine Porsche parts - I got myself Brake pads, snow scraper, Umbrella, etc for half price

[Subanez]

I wish that I still lived in the Boston area...the roads are much nicer up there (not in winter) and I think there would be more stuff to do....even though we have the Birmingham track here

PCA sounds good to me.

[donv]

The Massachusetts chapter is Northeast, you can get the club info at www.porschenet.com - "The first Porsche-only site on the Internet".

The other local chapter for those of us more towards NH is the North Country group, at http://www.ncr-pca.org/ . The NCR website is really well done despite it not being the first .

[IceBox]

My question is this: why do they need your vin # to join?

[donv]

Cole, you may want to also check out the GBBG informal group that is hosted through this board as well. Things are typically quiet through the winter and pick up again in the spring/summer. Look under the clubs section here.