Advice/Tips on ordering - Getting close to placing an order

[Kev946]

OK so I'm getting close to placing an order. I have 3 Porsche Centres near me. The nearest is 1 hour drive so nothing in the town or nearby by but the other 2 are only 1.5 hours drive. I live in rural South West France in the Charente.

So i've asked for quotations and not getting much discount offered. Best is 3.6% so far and worse zero.

How does the allocation system work. Is it a case of place your order and wait for an allocation? So in which case any dealer in France is going to come up with the same delivery date. Or do some dealers have allocations ready?

Also how do I push for discount?

I'm thinking of giving them a config with everything I might have, get the discount then decide when I'm asked to finalise the config if I need absolutely and perhaps drop off some options. Is this a good strategy?

BTW the dealers are saying they can get me one by June/July 2023. One dealer is claiming he can get one by March. I don't want to place a deposit only to find they were just saying this to get the order of course.

Thanks

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[W1NGE]

OK so I'm getting close to placing an order. I have 3 Porsche Centres near me. The nearest is 1 hour drive so nothing in the town or nearby by but the other 2 are only 1.5 hours drive. I live in rural South West France in the Charente.

So i've asked for quotations and not getting much discount offered. Best is 3.6% so far and worse zero.

How does the allocation system work. Is it a case of place your order and wait for an allocation? So in which case any dealer in France is going to come up with the same delivery date. Or do some dealers have allocations ready?

Also how do I push for discount?

I'm thinking of giving them a config with everything I might have, get the discount then decide when I'm asked to finalise the config if I need absolutely and perhaps drop off some options. Is this a good strategy?

BTW the dealers are saying they can get me one by June/July 2023. One dealer is claiming he can get one by March. I don't want to place a deposit only to find they were just saying this to get the order of course.

Thanks

1. Placing an order does not automatically mean you have an allocation unless the dealer has an available one for the variant of Taycan you wish to purchase.
2. Allocations are generally biased towards larger dealerships (those who sell more metal).
3. Once you've placed your order and paid your deposit you are then in a 'queue' waiting for an allocation to be provided by Porsche Germany. This can be a matter of weeks but in my current case over a year now and still no allocation - so be aware that you could get lucky or be in for a very long wait.
4. At the point of placing an order you will submit your Porsche Code for your current build. This is a placeholder and can be changed multiple times right up to the point when your dealer advises that your build slot is about to lock. After lock you can't make any changes and your car should appear within 2 - 3 months after that.
5. Once you have an allocation you have a period of time to modify your build (as per 4 above) but when you've finalised it make sure you use this code when completing the lock down. This code will be different to the one you started with as it changes each time you save a configuration change.
6. Taycan discounts on factory orders are rarer than hen's teeth - don't expect anything (car does not need to be discounted nor do you want this to be the norm as it impacts residuals for all).
7. No dealer can guarantee anything on the basis that until you have an active allocation and lock date no crystal ball will provide any further insight. A dealer offering May'23 (for example) will either have or anticipate an allocation for say a 4S. If they physically have the allocation then they can be more assured of their predicted delivery times. Each variant of the Taycan (and any Porsche model) has differing allocations just to complicate matters further.
8. Note that various options selected on your build may well be in short supply or withdrawn so be wary of that which obviously alters build dates and delivery. 12v batteries (for example) have been a major issue delaying deliveries to many customers, Bose sound has been dropped in some markets due to supply constraints.

Which variant are you looking to purchase?

 

[Kev946]

Thanks. I want a GTS so suspect that will elongate the queue.

What't the normal deposit to place an order? Can you cancel and get this back. And is it worth placing more than one deposit order or would this just be spotted by Porche themselves.

The 3.6% offered is a big city Limoges. But the other 2 dealers are La Rochelle and Poitiers. Poitiers is a big city also but La Rochelle smaller. However La Rochelle is a wealthy city so no real idea who sells the most cars.

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks. I want a GTS so suspect that will elongate the queue.

What't the normal deposit to place an order? Can you cancel and get this back. And is it worth placing more than one deposit order or would this just be spotted by Porche themselves.

The 3.6% offered is a big city Limoges. But the other 2 dealers are La Rochelle and Poitiers. Poitiers is a big city also but La Rochelle smaller. However La Rochelle is a wealthy city so no real idea who sells the most cars.

GTS is a whole new world of pain (I've been waiting on a GTS ST allocation since Sep'21).

In UK it is highly unlikely anyone (now) will get a GTS (saloon or ST) in 2023 - early 2024 is being quoted - and could be similar in France.

GTS saloons may be slightly easier but I'm guessing.

From my experience and the latest updates I have from my dealership I would be very sceptical of anyone getting a GTS in Q1 / Q2 2023 if no order has yet been placed. Allocations may be released in Nov'22 but remember there is a queue of people for each and every model variant to be satisfied first.

The only potential prospect would be a cancelled order with an allocation which hasn't quite locked or is about to. The dealer may also be donating their own demonstrator allocation.

Deposit in UK is £5K which I think is pretty standard. The deposit should be refundable but check with your dealership. The only complication might be to cancel after your build slot has been locked but such is demand your dealer may not try to get too smart.

 

[Kev946]

Don't forget I'm in France. 2 dealers have quoted June 2023 and 1 March 2023.

The LHD spec is the same across 27 coutries in europe whereas the UK RHD is for the UK only. Plus Brexit may be a factor. But I'm sceptical. I'm in the UK till Sunday so the following weekend I intend on visiting at least one of the dealers to listen to their story about availability. I was told the same 2024 for the UK by 2 dealers here. I had a test drive of a GTS. So I went back to one of the french dealers and told him the availability in the UK and he said this is not the case in France. As I say I'm sceptical.

 

[W1NGE]

Don't forget I'm in France. 2 dealers have quoted June 2023 and 1 March 2023.

The LHD spec is the same across 27 coutries in europe whereas the UK RHD is for the UK only. Plus Brexit may be a factor. But I'm sceptical. I'm in the UK till Sunday so the following weekend I intend on visiting at least one of the dealers to listen to their story about availability. I was told the same 2024 for the UK by 2 dealers here. I had a test drive of a GTS. So I went back to one of the french dealers and told him the availability in the UK and he said this is not the case in France. As I say I'm sceptical.

Ask for evidence of the allocation - this will make it more transparent (I don't trust dealers in general).

Nothing to do with Brexit either - delays are due to global semi-conductor shortages for Porsche and for suppliers they are dependent on, factory fires (12v battery), sinking of Felicity Ace (1100 VW Group cars lost), war in Ukraine, energy shortages and so on.

Scan the forum too and it is littered with disappointed folk who have excruciatingly long wait times.

UK allocations for 2023 are being released in November as I understand it - Taycans, Macans, Cayennes, 911s and I think 718s are being pushed out due to the lower volume - which sounds great but when a single dealer has a backlog of 20+ cars of the same type extending back for months then allocations are going to be consumed before you can blink.

RHD also finds itself in other markets - Australia, Japan, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, etc - Napoleon didn't get to influence the world when he enforced it on mainland Europe all those years ago! Britain being Britain we naturally said 'Non!' It is true though that this will limit UK availability in general.

Take care on the LHD spec as it won't be the same everywhere in Europe - check the standard EVSE provided (PMCC 22kW in France but not elsewhere), heat pump (HV 800v) not standard in many and so on.

When all said and done you may get lucky and perhaps the Taycan isn't such a hot cake in France.

 

[Kev946]

France doesn't buy many high end cars. We see peugeot 405s and 406s everywhere around us. So i'm thinking the Porsche dealers are not selling anywhere near the volume of cars as the UK and therefore less in the queue. It light e different in Paris. The sales guy at Bordeaux said no discount and being such a big wealthy city I suspect he is a wait list. Whereas my closest dealer is Poitiers and they can't sell many cars. Also La Rochelle is probably the same.

I've actually never even seen a Taycan on the road around me.

So I will put it to them of evidence of allocations; how many others they have in the queue for Taycans and more specifically the GTS. That may make it easier to choose the dealer to place my depositi.

 

[W1NGE]

France doesn't buy many high end cars. We see peugeot 405s and 406s everywhere around us. So i'm thinking the Porsche dealers are not selling anywhere near the volume of cars as the UK and therefore less in the queue. It light e different in Paris. The sales guy at Bordeaux said no discount and being such a big wealthy city I suspect he is a wait list. Whereas my closest dealer is Poitiers and they can't sell many cars. Also La Rochelle is probably the same.

I've actually never even seen a Taycan on the road around me.

So I will put it to them of evidence of allocations; how many others they have in the queue for Taycans and more specifically the GTS. That may make it easier to choose the dealer to place my depositi.

Not sure of the provenance here but clearly low volumes in 2021 and probably less in 2022 due to the various supply issues.

 

[Kev946]

Not sure of the provenance here but clearly low volumes in 2021 and probably less in 2022 due to the various supply issues.

Wow yes much lower. July 2022 UK = 267, France July 2022 53.

I checked and there are 45 Porsche Centres in the UK and 35 in France. So for October the sales are an average of 3 per dealer. But then consider the geography and spread of wealth being in the big cities. Around me I would suspect they dealer have not sold one Taycan in October

 

[W1NGE]

Wow yes much lower. July 2022 UK = 267, France July 2022 53.

I checked and there are 45 Porsche Centres in the UK and 35 in France. So for October the sales are an average of 3 per dealer. But then consider the geography and spread of wealth being in the big cities. Around me I would suspect they dealer have not sold one Taycan in October

Porsche UK get 25% of the total UK allocation and then the remaining 75% shared pro rata with the franchised dealers based on size, sales, order book etc.

 

[Kev946]

Porsche UK get 25% of the total UK allocation and then the remaining 75% shared pro rata with the franchised dealers based on size, sales, order book etc.

So do you think the bigger dealers get more allocations. I guess if that is the case they could also have more people in the queue ahead of me.

 

[W1NGE]

So do you think the bigger dealers get more allocations. I guess if that is the case they could also have more people in the queue ahead of me.

I don't think - this is the case for UK.

Porsche UK owned and managed dealerships (around 3 or so) get the 25%.

Smaller dealerships may get a small allocation - hard to determine overall being an outside observer looking in.

 

[Scandinavian]

France doesn't buy many high end cars. We see peugeot 405s and 406s everywhere around us. So i'm thinking the Porsche dealers are not selling anywhere near the volume of cars as the UK and therefore less in the queue. It light e different in Paris. The sales guy at Bordeaux said no discount and being such a big wealthy city I suspect he is a wait list. Whereas my closest dealer is Poitiers and they can't sell many cars. Also La Rochelle is probably the same.

I've actually never even seen a Taycan on the road around me.

So I will put it to them of evidence of allocations; how many others they have in the queue for Taycans and more specifically the GTS. That may make it easier to choose the dealer to place my depositi.

I am amazed that you had an offer of some discount. I tried several dealers but the sales guys just lifted their eyebrows when I asked.

Funny that you have not seen any Taycan on the road as you are correct it is quite a wealthy area around you.

Remember as well the reason you see very high end cars on the road (apart from around Monco of course). The french have a very high CO2 tax called Malus. For a Porsche 911 Turbo or V8 Panamera Turbo, you have the CO2 tax of 40 000 Euro plus another 5 to 10 000 Euro in registration fees. Electric cars and Hybrids with a certain minimum electrical range will not have the Malus charge! It really is punitive to try to buy a high end sports car or saloon here now.

 

[Kev946]

I am amazed that you had an offer of some discount. I tried several dealers but the sales guys just lifted their eyebrows when I asked.

Funny that you have not seen any Taycan on the road as you are correct it is quite a wealthy area around you.

Remember as well the reason you see very high end cars on the road (apart from around Monco of course). The french have a very high CO2 tax called Malus. For a Porsche 911 Turbo or V8 Panamera Turbo, you have the CO2 tax of 40 000 Euro plus another 5 to 10 000 Euro in registration fees. Electric cars and Hybrids with a certain minimum electrical range will not have the Malus charge! It really is punitive to try to buy a high end sports car or saloon here now.

Yes I know all about malus. There is also the weight tax for cars over 1800 kg. This applies to Hybrids than cannot do 60 kms I think it is. I had a quoted for a eHybrid Cayennne and it had 5k euros weight tax but no malus tax.

So I assume like an X5 hybrid no malus or weight tax.

 

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