Factory collection

[Mario149]

I was chatting about FC with my girlfriend last night and we came to the conclusion after a few days of thinking about it, that notwithstanding what I said before about it being nice having someone sort it for you, provided you're not a complete lazy twunt, it's a tad unnecessary. I don't know what it was like before, but as I said above, you pay about £600 to Porsche for the actual factory collection bit (tour, meal, photo, gladhanding etc), and the rest goes to a boutique (at least that's what they're marketing implies) travel agent who do your flights/hotels/etc and is dependent on what options you choose (economy/biz class, 4* or 5* hotel etc) that they present to you - worked out at ~£800 for 2 of us. Frankly, if I'd been a bit more on the ball the other day, when the travel agent told me they hadn't yet organized anything and would I like them to do it now, what I should have said was: don't worry, I'll sort it myself. Then hit skyscanner for flights, hotels.com for our night's accomm and eurotunnel for a regular ticket. I probably could have sorted it all for 25% less in less than an hour.

Most obvious saving would have been the regular eurotunnel ticket - there's zero need for a £230 fully flexi job when a regular ~£80 ticket will do. I don't think I've ever taken the correct Eurotunnel train in my life, we're nearly always early and it's costs about £15 to change if that.

Edited by Mario149 on Thursday 9th July 10:34

[chasethesun]

Hi All,


Has anyone had an update on the last possible date to collect from Porsche in Zuffenhausen?

I realise there is an issue around winter tyre use, but I have contacted Porsche directly to see if it is possible to collect a Boxster in October/ November. My dealer thinks not.

Is there an official UK travel agent for Porsche?

There doesn't seem to be much information available, aside from the (generic) factory collection brochure.

Any updates would be great. Car is due to arrive soon.


Thanks!

[JLZ78]

I'm looking to reinvigorate this thread too for a June collection. Will be asking my OPC as I would rather organise my own travel etc.

Has anybody done a GT4 factory collection?

[majordad]

Don't think you can organise your own travel, it's a Porsche package and it costs !

[RiccardoG]

My understanding is that you pay ~£600 for the collection day and then organise your own travel. Alternatively you can get Porsche to organise the trip for you, obviously this will cost more. Having said that guy at OPC W London I talked to about factory delivery wasn't so clued up about it, so might be wrong.

If I were buying a new Porsche I'd love factory collection, but I struggle to see the value in spending £600 for a factory visit (isn't this generally free?) and a lunch.

[Mario149]

Yup, £600 for factory collection (which goes to the dealer) and the rest is whatever you pay the travel agent they put you in touch with. I don't see any reason why you'd have to go with the agent. It's not Porsche branded or anything, they just do some of the leg work for you. Fundamentally as long as you appear at the correct time at Zuffenhausen/wherever, it's all good, there's no magic involved.

FWIW, my gf who is not really into cars at all really enjoyed our factory collection and thought it was well worth the effort and cost. Something cool about seeing how your car was "born" before driving away in it Experience is especially good if you combine the collection with a euro road trip, nothing like getting to know your new steed by hooning it round the alps etc before coming back to the UK

[majordad]

It * also includes Comprehensive Insurance for 9 Days and temporary plates. Driving on the Ring is included, possibly the only time you will ever do so with fully comp.

• This is the full Porsche Package, includes 2 flights out, hotel with D,B&B, Taxi at Airport and Flexi Eurotunnel home. FOr me in 2007 it was the trip of a lifetime, and likewise my wife who has zero interest in Porsches or cars , she was impressed with the Factory Tour.

[cypriot]

interesting thread. I looked into this for a collection in April 2016, and OPC W London quoted me £1500 for the collection. I asked if I could sort out my own travel arrangements to and from Germany, to which they answered a resounding "No". Is this true? has anyone else been able to sort out their own travel arrangements?

[Mario149]

cypriot said:

interesting thread. I looked into this for a collection in April 2016, and OPC W London quoted me £1500 for the collection. I asked if I could sort out my own travel arrangements to and from Germany, to which they answered a resounding "No". Is this true? has anyone else been able to sort out their own travel arrangements?

Well, given that you have to pay the OPC £600 and the rest is separate and whatever the travel agent comes up with, I call bks on OPC West London Tell them you'll do collection, pay them the £600, and when the travel agent calls, politely tell them you're already going to be there on business (or similar) and don't need their help but thanks anyway.

[JLZ78]

Mario149 said:

Well, given that you have to pay the OPC £600 and the rest is separate and whatever the travel agent comes up with, I call bks on OPC West London Tell them you'll do collection, pay them the £600, and when the travel agent calls, politely tell them you're already going to be there on business (or similar) and don't need their help but thanks anyway.

This.

My quote has just come in for GT4 collection in July.

Factory Collection Stuttgart £632.00 (Customer pays for this when they pay for the car)
Travel (Prices vary) £750.00 (Customer pays this direct to Hunt and Palmer, our assigned travel provider)

The factory collection itself is made up of the following:

Factory Tour
Visit to the Porsche Museum
Three Course Lunch
Vehicle Hand-over
Full tank of fuel
Factory collection gift.

When the customer leaves the factory he will have nine days insurance and registration on temporary "Zol" plates. So if they want to make a holiday of it, they can. We can also extend this, at an additional cost and prior agreement. It is important to advise the customer that they cannot drive in the UK on these "Zol" plates. The first journey in the UK should be to the Porsche Centre where the car is registered.

Or, I'll pay the £632 and get myself there and back. No way I'm paying £750+ to get to Stuttgart and come back on Eurostar.

[JLZ78]

Le Meridien Stuttgart £140/night, Eurotunnel £72. Flights £60, transfers (airport, hotel, factory) a generous £50.

All in, £322 - bear in mind Porache's 'bespoke' travel to a German industrial city starts at £750, so if you start adding a night at the 'ring or some time in Bruge or Paris, it get even more pricey.

Stuttgart to Calais is around 6:30 at ~ 460 miles so plan on at least another night somewhere if you don't want a slog. I wonder how comprehensive the insurance is (Spa, Ring?)

[worldwidewebs]

It must be a UK thing. Bought my first Porsche (back in 2001) from one of the OPCs in Hamburg. Factory collection was cheaper than getting it delivered to the dealer. It was rude not to

[Ozzie Osmond]

RiccardoG said:

If I were buying a new Porsche I'd love factory collection, but I struggle to see the value in spending £600 for a factory visit (isn't this generally free?) and a lunch.

Have to agree - although it must be quite fun!

I think I looked at the cost and decided I'd rather have cruise control or Bose or something on my otherwise basic car.

[Mario149]

Ozzie Osmond said:

RiccardoG said:

If I were buying a new Porsche I'd love factory collection, but I struggle to see the value in spending £600 for a factory visit (isn't this generally free?) and a lunch.

Have to agree - although it must be quite fun!

I think I looked at the cost and decided I'd rather have cruise control or Bose or something on my otherwise basic car.

To clarify, it also includes 9 days insurance that is also valid for the 'ring, a full tank of fuel, posh 3 course lunch for two, a photo and commemorative plaque thingy and possibly best of all a handover from a very keen porsche chap speaking with a proper German accent Once you get there, you also kind of appreciate the extra logistics and work they put in to make the collection happen and be special. For instance you get chauffeured round between lunch, tour etc in shiny new Panameras/Cayennes. Now, I'm not saying that all of that logically adds up to £600, but when you're blowing £60K+ on a car, all of a sudden another 1% on top to make the handover and first few days driving it really special doesn't seem like bad value. Nothing quite like driving out of Zuffenhausen in your shiny new Porsche

[RDMcG]

From Canada there is no charge, but they do not pay transportation.

One night's hotel,tour, Museum,gift and they pay for a couple of weeks' insurance. Still a pretty good deal. Have to leave the car back to Stuttgart or alternatively at one of their drop points, but this is expensive and can significantly delay the car landing in North America.

[cypriot]

Mario149 said:

cypriot said:

interesting thread. I looked into this for a collection in April 2016, and OPC W London quoted me £1500 for the collection. I asked if I could sort out my own travel arrangements to and from Germany, to which they answered a resounding "No". Is this true? has anyone else been able to sort out their own travel arrangements?

Well, given that you have to pay the OPC £600 and the rest is separate and whatever the travel agent comes up with, I call bks on OPC West London Tell them you'll do collection, pay them the £600, and when the travel agent calls, politely tell them you're already going to be there on business (or similar) and don't need their help but thanks anyway.

ok, so after talking to them again, really pushing them to separating up the travelling expenses from the OPC fee, and I got the same big fat "No!". I spoke to numerous people at OPC West London, including the manager who explained to me that they cannot separate the costs as the package is dictated to them by Porsche in Germany. So, I politely declined the offer, and I am now going to collect normally here in Blighty... A real shame, but I wasn't willing to pay the £800+ on travel agencies fees. Oh well!

[Mario149]

cypriot said:

Mario149 said:

cypriot said:

interesting thread. I looked into this for a collection in April 2016, and OPC W London quoted me £1500 for the collection. I asked if I could sort out my own travel arrangements to and from Germany, to which they answered a resounding "No". Is this true? has anyone else been able to sort out their own travel arrangements?

Well, given that you have to pay the OPC £600 and the rest is separate and whatever the travel agent comes up with, I call bks on OPC West London Tell them you'll do collection, pay them the £600, and when the travel agent calls, politely tell them you're already going to be there on business (or similar) and don't need their help but thanks anyway.

ok, so after talking to them again, really pushing them to separating up the travelling expenses from the OPC fee, and I got the same big fat "No!". I spoke to numerous people at OPC West London, including the manager who explained to me that they cannot separate the costs as the package is dictated to them by Porsche in Germany. So, I politely declined the offer, and I am now going to collect normally here in Blighty... A real shame, but I wasn't willing to pay the £800+ on travel agencies fees. Oh well!

Utterly bizarre. Unless policy has changed which could explain it. When we did it, it was very specifically put to us as 2 separate items, £600 to Porsche Guildford and the rest (however much it cost) to the travel agent.

Can you not agree to pay it all in one but when organising travel details with the travel agent, get them to book you the cheapest of everything? It'll still cost you a bit more than doing it yourself but at least you won't have to fork out for fancy hotel and uber flexible chunnel train if you don't want to....

[majordad]

Not so utterly bizarre, that's the way it was when I collected mine in Nov 2007, I did not have an option to seperate things, either pay up in full or not able to go.

[Mario149]

But everyone's transport costs are different. To my knowledge it's not currently a same-cost-to-everyone package and it can be tailored to what you want. Can't see why it couldn't to be tailored at your request to be the cheapest possible.

[cypriot]

Mario149 said:

But everyone's transport costs are different. To my knowledge it's not currently a same-cost-to-everyone package and it can be tailored to what you want. Can't see why it couldn't to be tailored at your request to be the cheapest possible.

absolutely.... I was looking to separate it as I was going to tie in a work trip to Germany at the same time, so work would have covered the travel costs to get to Germany and the accommodation... but no luck!