Do I have to order through a dealer??

[cyndiw]

I bought my Tesla M3 back in the 2021 directly online (tried my friends' M3 the day before)…

With my Porsche SA the first question I made was: "Are you my one and only contact person for everything from purchase to service?" the answer was "yes" and now I got the Macan

Glad your SA had the right answer for you! My current SA directs all of his communication to my husband, who is not the owner of my car or any Porsche at all, but may have dropped the car off for service as a favor to me once in 2019. And somehow the SA has been unable to update the dealer’s CRM system with accurate owner information all these years later after multiple requests. You can imagine my frustration.

Honestly wouldn’t touch a Tesla with a 10 foot pole — glad you got out of that mess!

 

[Diego]

Sorry to hear this @cyndiw, was he unable t modify or simply he didn’t want to stress the system a little more than usual? I’m an engineer and I love to talk technically before buying a car (an this is my car #27)and I have never found people more technically prepared that the ones at my Porsche store. Maybe I was lucky…

 

[cyndiw]

Sorry to hear this @cyndiw, was he unable t modify or simply he didn’t want to stress the system a little more than usual? I’m an engineer and I love to talk technically before buying a car (an this is my car #27)and I have never found people more technically prepared that the ones at my Porsche store. Maybe I was lucky…

I wish I knew what the problem was. My sad suspicion is gender bias or, being more generous, perhaps garden variety incompetence.

I am also an engineer by training and love to get into the tech details. When I asked a sales person at this same dealership about the batteries and range of the various Macan models (not even super technical!), he LITERALLY GOOGLED IT. Right in front of me.

 

[Diego]

Gender bias was my first suspect but I prefer to think he was only incompetet…
SAs have to be very careful today since they can found people who knows the subjects better than them

 

[MFitz]

Test drove a 4 yesterday and loved it! Seems like the perfect replacement for my nearly 10yo Macan Turbo. Spent last night building my new “Turbo” Electric, and getting ready to place an order.

My question: do I need to order from a dealership if I’m planning the LA delivery center experience?

Background/context: I hate car dealers. I am a technical woman in the tech industry and I am so over being talked down to every time I set foot in a Porsche dealership/service center. It took me three tries to find a car to test drive yesterday. Two dealerships didn’t respect my time enough to keep the appointments that I had made. The third honored my appointment, but sent me off with a whackadoodle sales rep who didn’t listen to me at all (had to tell him three times that i currently drive a Turbo and that performance is important to me, so no, I do not want to buy the 4 that I’m test driving), and who went off on a bizarre tangent about Beyoncé being part of the Illuminati and murdering someone (????) when one of her songs came on the radio. Needless to say, I’m not excited about buying a car from this schmuck.

If not possible to place an order directly with Porsche for LA delivery, is there some way to RFP dealers to find one who I can actually tolerate working with? The price is what it is, but it is important to me to buy from someone I respect if I have to go through a dealer at all. Also, timing is not critical here. I love my old Macan, but need to upgrade at some point. Recommendations appreciated!

I expect there are many dealers that have bad SA’s. I ran into the same exact problem with my local dealership. I called all dealers in my state until i found someone to talk to me like a normal human being. I found a great one across the state but i did not care. You can deal with any dealer and have it delivered to LA Experience. Once you find an SA that respects you then it is just a matter of getting an allocation. Since you are not in a rush that does not matter. I would start calling until you find someone that respects you and your time. Don’t give up, i almost did when i had the same experience.

 

[krissrock]

When I asked a sales person at this same dealership about the batteries and range of the various Macan models (not even super technical!), he LITERALLY GOOGLED IT. Right in front of me.

oooh yeah. i had this happen with the 2nd SA i went to talk to at a different dealership when i asking him about the sub/amp set up on the Bose and Burmsester.... I gave him a pass cuz i don't think the info is actually out there...but i would think he'd had some technical porsche document to search before GOOGLE.

 

[krissrock]

I wish I knew what the problem was. My sad suspicion is gender bias or, being more generous, perhaps garden variety incompetence.

I'm gonna place my bet on laziness... once the sale has been made, it doesn't really matter to them anymore. why bother updating anything

 

[cyndiw]

I'm gonna place my bet on laziness... once the sale has been made, it doesn't really matter to them anymore. why bother updating anything

I like Porsches. I can afford to buy them. I am the purchasing decision maker. They should want to keep me in their CRM forever. Seems like a no brainer from a business perspective. But what do I know, I’m just a silly girl.

 

[Throb]

As you currently drive a Macan Turbo, I presume you already know that you can only buy a Porsche from a dealer

That was 10 years ago. It's possible something changed over that time that the OP missed, hence the question on here...

My point was no legacy carmaker does that.

You're wrong. Mercedes have been selling direct for a while now, including the UK since 1st Jan 2023. Audi launched six months ago. It seems you're unaware of these facts, in which case I suggest maybe asking a question on a car forum. You might learn something.

https://electricdrives.tv/audi-uk-set-to-plug-into-direct-ev-sales/

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/...ncy-model-raises-mercedes’-average-sale-price

 

[tmrqs]

I'm gonna place my bet on laziness... once the sale has been made, it doesn't really matter to them anymore. why bother updating anything

That’s more stupidity than laziness - building loyalty and repeat sales are part of the JD of a good SA.

But not surprised, I’ve had terrible luck with SAs at Porsche in multiple dealerships, worse than at other brands actually. A lot just don’t seem to care, they’ll sell their cars regardless.

 

[krissrock]

A lot just don’t seem to care, they’ll sell their cars regardless.

exactly...

 

[Awaz]

@Throb
Okay, good to know this.
The main question was whether Porsche sell direct, and I answered that, as mine is on order as well.

 

[Diego]

That’s more stupidity than laziness - building loyalty and repeat sales are part of the JD of a good SA.

Exactly!!!

 

[byebye]

I like Porsches. I can afford to buy them. I am the purchasing decision maker. They should want to keep me in their CRM forever. Seems like a no brainer from a business perspective. But what do I know, I’m just a silly girl.

I'm sure you'll find a dealer who doesn't have a gender bias (which, by the way, is so stupid). Porsche has to do something if it wants to sell its Macans to women; besides, Porsche's main objective with this Macan EV is to sell to women. That's where tomorrow's market is (and young people too).
Here, in France, women are also “Porsche dealerships”.

Generally speaking, it's really stupid to see this kind of behavior in the business world.