I have just been offered a GT3 RS slot - EU car, would you?

[CarNutJob]

Hi Chaps
After contacting almost every Porsche dealer in the EU, including Greece, Ukraine (No, they have not been destroyed)etc. I have been offered a build slot, config sent and priced up, delivery date for Oct 2015. Deposit required 50,000 Euro's. Deal done.
I plan to fly out to the dealer, sign the docs and pay the full deposit at the same time. I have paid £10k holding for the moment.

Questions;
1. Main use for me is 5 to 6 track days a year, not for fannying around UK roads posing, would you?
2. Warranty, will Porsche GB have any problems with me buying in the EU and honouring warranty work?
3. Insurance, will i get stung compared to a UK car?
4. Re-sale, will i get stung? Total UK price is £146k specced as per my choices.
5. What do i need to do to make it UK legal?
6. Is this a silly thing to do?

Thanks

Edited by CarNutJob on Monday 9th March 18:04

[Technomad]

CarNutJob said:

Hi Chaps
After contacting almost every Porsche dealer in the EU, including Greece, Ukraine (No, they have not been destroyed)etc. I have been offered a build slot, config sent and priced up, delivery date for Oct 2015. Deposit required 50,000 Euro's. Deal done.
I plan to fly out to the dealer, sign the docs and pay the full deposit at the same time. I have paid £10k holding for the moment.

Questions;
1. Main use for me is 5 to 6 track days a year, not for fannying around UK roads posing, would you?
2. Warranty, will Porsche GB have any problems with me buying in the EU and honering warranty work?
3. Insurance, will i get stung compared to a UK car?
4. Re-sale, will i get stung? Total UK price is £146k specced as per my choices.
5. What do i need to do to make it UK legal?
6. Is this a silly thing to do?

Thanks

Congratulations on your sheer bloody-minded determination! I'd do it. In fact, I thought of it with the GT3.
- Having driven multiple left-hookers in the UK, I personally wouldn't have a problem with road use here (my passengers' opinions may vary) and I wouldn't have thought that being LHD would have much impact on the resale of a specialist car like the RS. How does the price you're paying compare with UK list?
- You are remembering that, unless you keep it on the mainland for 6 months and 6k km, you'll be liable for UK VAT on cost and on delivery costs (if any)? Of course you can reclaim the VAT paid in another EU country.
- I *think* that factory warranties have to be honoured across the EU. Where you may have difficulty is with any third year warranty being offered - in the UK, that is - i believe - a Porsche GB thing, so you probably need to look for the common denominator of EU Porsche warranty.
- As it's an EU-conformant vehicle but LHD (I'm assuming), you'll need a European Certificate of Conformity and a certificate of Mutual Recognition. You probably won't need to go through IVA.

HTH…

[guards red]

If it's not a C16 you may struggle to sell it.

The car is the same but most OPCs will treat you like you pooped on their new brown shoes if you try to move it on with them.

Food for thought though things may have moved on.

[m33ufo]

You have the whole of Europe to sell it to.

[isaldiri]

5) Certificate of conformity and the rear foglight.

[Carl_Docklands]

CarNutJob said:

6. Is this a silly thing to do?

[Mermaid]

m33ufo said:

You have the whole of Europe to sell it to.

Mobile asset, and even if prices are lower eventually in EZ - the buying cost will be lower than paying a RHD premium. If The Euro drops to 50p to the £, that would dent residuals for the OP, but then every other 991RS in the UK would probably be a LHD one.

[DT398]

Tracker? Not sure VTS is standard outside the UK but you may not need it? I looked at this option and its a gamble. Looks good now with the euro at 1.39 to the pound but what if you have to pay the balance at 1.20 or even 1.10? You could buy all the Euros now I suppose and lock the rate in but might not be an option...... It's early days also and there might be more allocations, we just don't know. It's tempting though.....

[AdamV12V]

DT398 said:

Tracker? Not sure VTS is standard outside the UK but you may not need it? I looked at this option and its a gamble. Looks good now with the euro at 1.39 to the pound but what if you have to pay the balance at 1.20 or even 1.10? You could buy all the Euros now I suppose and lock the rate in but might not be an option...... It's early days also and there might be more allocations, we just don't know. It's tempting though.....

VTS can be added to euro spec cars for a cost, its no big deal. Personally I don't think the C16 spec is the issue here as its easy to make them the same just by adding the missing items - its LHD/RHD that may affect the value if anything. But as long as you either bought it cheaper, or just don't care because you are buying is because its the only way to get the car you want then its not a problem.

Yes buying in Euros is a gamble as it can fluctuate either way - that said if you have a look at the trend over the last few years it looks a reasonable bet at the moment.

Google - GBP: EURO



Warranty is just 2yrs in Europe as you are aware, but you can always add a 3rd+ years UK warranty later. Cant imagine the cost would be a deal breaker in the grand scheme of things.

Why don't you opt for a factory delivery, drive it back to the UK immediately and register it as new as soon as you arrive here. DVLA no longer shows them as imports, but that said LHD does make it obvious regardless.

[thegoose]

I thought it was possible to order RHD through any EU OPC? I realise it's frowned upon but I thought under EU law the same product had to be available across the common market. Ordinarily the UK OPCs and/or Porsche GB would be really against it, but if they can't supply it their argument is pointless. Obviously if PorscheAG state that they're only making X RHD cars worldwide and they're all taken then you may have no option.

Besides the tracker/3rd year warranty issues you also won't get the 1/2 day at the PEC at Silverstone included. See what the dealer/market in question offer though. I'd do factory collection too, partly because I'd love to do it but also because when selling the car if there's any resistance about it being a <insert name of country of supplying dealer here> car, you can point out that in actual fact it's never even been to <country name> :-)


Oh, and on rare cars like these quite a few UK OPC's will happily sell non-C16 used examples.

[mischaRS]

Buy it without a second thought.. you will be able to resell it within minutes !!

LHD will always have a far bigger market and its basically a RHD close knit Dealers Cartel-not just in Porkers-that drives prices upwards in the UK !!!!

As I am sure you already know.

[Wilmslowboy]

Make sure you are fully aware who is holding your deposit - Porsche Germany, importer in the designated country or the dealer/franchise owner. It's not unknown for businesses especially car dealers to go bust.

Other than that enjoy .......

[CarNutJob]

AdamV12V said:

DT398 said:

Tracker? Not sure VTS is standard outside the UK but you may not need it? I looked at this option and its a gamble. Looks good now with the euro at 1.39 to the pound but what if you have to pay the balance at 1.20 or even 1.10? You could buy all the Euros now I suppose and lock the rate in but might not be an option...... It's early days also and there might be more allocations, we just don't know. It's tempting though.....

VTS can be added to euro spec cars for a cost, its no big deal. Personally I don't think the C16 spec is the issue here as its easy to make them the same just by adding the missing items - its LHD/RHD that may affect the value if anything. But as long as you either bought it cheaper, or just don't care because you are buying is because its the only way to get the car you want then its not a problem.

Yes buying in Euros is a gamble as it can fluctuate either way - that said if you have a look at the trend over the last few years it looks a reasonable bet at the moment.

Google - GBP: EURO



Warranty is just 2yrs in Europe as you are aware, but you can always add a 3rd+ years UK warranty later. Cant imagine the cost would be a deal breaker in the grand scheme of things.

Why don't you opt for a factory delivery, drive it back to the UK immediately and register it as new as soon as you arrive here. DVLA no longer shows them as imports, but that said LHD does make it obvious regardless.

Thanks for the tips. I had planned to do factory collection and drive it straight back home. I am buying LHD as its the only way I can get a car, and I want one to drive on track and play. I have asked if I can pay the full amount now, to cover any changes in the exchange rate, but not heard back yet.

[CarNutJob]

thegoose said:

I thought it was possible to order RHD through any EU OPC? I realise it's frowned upon but I thought under EU law the same product had to be available across the common market. Ordinarily the UK OPCs and/or Porsche GB would be really against it, but if they can't supply it their argument is pointless. Obviously if PorscheAG state that they're only making X RHD cars worldwide and they're all taken then you may have no option.

Besides the tracker/3rd year warranty issues you also won't get the 1/2 day at the PEC at Silverstone included. See what the dealer/market in question offer though. I'd do factory collection too, partly because I'd love to do it but also because when selling the car if there's any resistance about it being a <insert name of country of supplying dealer here> car, you can point out that in actual fact it's never even been to <country name> :-)


Oh, and on rare cars like these quite a few UK OPC's will happily sell non-C16 used examples.

I asked literally every EU dealer if they would supply RHD on the GT4, although they still have build slots none could provide RHD after contacting Porsche to check. Same story for GT3 RS, I need one dealer replied saying Porsche would drop them as a franchise if they supplied cars to UK. Good call on factory collection, cheers.

[CarNutJob]

Wilmslowboy said:

Make sure you are fully aware who is holding your deposit - Porsche Germany, importer in the designated country or the dealer/franchise owner. It's not unknown for businesses especially car dealers to go bust.

Other than that enjoy .......

Thanks for that, I will check.

[SFO]

CarNutJob said:

Thanks for the tips. I had planned to do factory collection and drive it straight back home. I am buying LHD as its the only way I can get a car, and I want one to drive on track and play. I have asked if I can pay the full amount now, to cover any changes in the exchange rate, but not heard back yet.

just open a Euro account and put the Euros in

or buy some FX options

[CarNutJob]

A

SFO said:

CarNutJob said:

Thanks for the tips. I had planned to do factory collection and drive it straight back home. I am buying LHD as its the only way I can get a car, and I want one to drive on track and play. I have asked if I can pay the full amount now, to cover any changes in the exchange rate, but not heard back yet.

just open a Euro account and put the Euros in

or buy some FX options

Thanks, sounds like a good option to take. Cheers

[AdamV12V]

Getting cheaper by the day...

BBC: Pound hits seven-year high against euro

"The pound has reached a more-than seven year high against the euro, a day after the European Central Bank (ECB) began its government bond buying programme. Sterling rose 1% to hit €1.40 for the first time since December 2007."

CarNutJob said:

Wilmslowboy said:

Make sure you are fully aware who is holding your deposit - Porsche Germany, importer in the designated country or the dealer/franchise owner. It's not unknown for businesses especially car dealers to go bust.

Other than that enjoy .......

Thanks for that, I will check.

Pay the deposit on a credit card - might cost a little more but it will cover you against loosing it due to this. Not possible on the final balance, but the chance of them going bust at that late stage are much less.

Edited by AdamV12V on Tuesday 10th March 16:30

[LeftHooker]

AdamV12V said:

Getting cheaper by the day...

BBC: Pound hits seven-year high against euro

"The pound has reached a more-than seven year high against the euro, a day after the European Central Bank (ECB) began its government bond buying programme. Sterling rose 1% to hit €1.40 for the first time since December 2007."

CarNutJob said:

Wilmslowboy said:

Make sure you are fully aware who is holding your deposit - Porsche Germany, importer in the designated country or the dealer/franchise owner. It's not unknown for businesses especially car dealers to go bust.

Other than that enjoy .......

Thanks for that, I will check.

Pay the deposit on a credit card - might cost a little more but it will cover you against loosing it due to this. Not possible on the final balance, but the chance of them going bust at that late stage are much less.

Edited by AdamV12V on Tuesday 10th March 16:30

Thanks. I have been keeping any eye on the rates, perfect timing.

[LeftHooker]

I have been told today that my car will be built in October and I will have the delivery date confirmed with spec final lock down in May. I have paid the deposit in full, so now we wait!