PCA Membership - Worth it?

I love rennlist and renntech, and am more than happy to be a paying member as the information on the site is extremely helpful and I enjoy the the "community". That said, I was looking at the PCA website and they seem to have some documentation and a forum, but it doesn't really seem that active. I just wanted to ask if others found value in a PCA membership, and how you use it.

I joined last year, it's a nice magazine, but not a $70/year magazine. Plus you get emails to local events....but don't do it for the forums. Try it for a year.

+1 on what Waterloo said. Panaroma is always a good read even if all of the ads are exactly the same every stinkin' month. Plus, the connection to the local PCA group is nice. All in all, not a bad way to spend the equivalent of an inexpensive dinner out with the wife.

It is a great value. My first membership was in 1970 - 1976 and I did take a break when I was not a Porsche owner but joined immediately when I finally was able to get back in the seat in 2007! Only $46 per year and that includes membership in the local regional club. The Rocky Mountain region has a membership meeting every month and many times that includes a free meal and always a free beverage! You will get the national magazine and the regional newsletter and be privy to all the activities. What better way to enjoy your and all the other Porsche when you go to a meeting or event. Just did the 3rd autocross last weekend in Denver. John '03 Targa

If you do stuff with the club - autocrosses, DE, time trials, or anything like that, it's a good deal. If you do it for the social aspect (which, at the risk of pissing someone off, seems to be more attractive to the 50+ crowd), it's a good deal. If all you get out of it is the magazine and the ID card, probably not worth it.

I went to a local meeting in February....I was 48 at the time....and I felt like the youngest person there! I am young at heart! But I felt this was not my crowd. Have been to other local events....always great people...

I'm 44, and generally one of the youngest people at the social events (lots of the older folks have very official-looking nametags, too). The driving events have a much more diverse age range, but the average age is significantly lower. If you show up at a Corvette Club event, though, you get a massive dose of "old."

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That's how it was for the BMWCCA for me as well. The reason why I'm no longer actively involved in both. But it was worth it back when F1 was in Indy as the club had their own corral and parking/bbq. Now the best thing besides autobahn track days, is the media event entrance to the Chicago auto show. IMO, that's the only way to go to the auto show. Barely no one around, free food/drinks/etc.

Alpine003 What are you talking about with the Auto Show entrance comment?

Thanks for all the feedback... unfortunately it seems all group meeting/activities here in Oregon are either in Portland (2 hrs away) or Bend (almost 3 hrs away) so not sure it makes sense for me... bummer. Need to start a chapter here in Eugene!

While my local PCA club has oodles of events and many are attractive to me I just don't have the time. Thus I only have attended one PCA club activity and that was a get together at the Tesla showroom in Sunnyvale CA. Tesla test drives were available to those that wanted one. Seems there was a good mix of all ages of people there. Even though I do not attend the events I like the membership because I get a 15% discount off of parts at the local Porsche dealer's service/parts department. The yearly membership cost pays for itself several times over. Oh, and I like Panorama. It is a good read.

I have been to two morning coffee events and had fun... one road rally and had a blast... I have noticed that I am the youngest guy there and I'm 42... but I have always been welcomed and never got anything other than a big smile as a greeting when I show up!

If you love Porsches, you should be part of PCA. The Panorama is worth the cost alone, but (if you are into that stuff) there are all kinds of events and get together that they sponsored. The DE and Autocross classes and events are an excellent and cheap way to get a better understanding of your car. Some people still talk about the PCA discounts at dealers, but I find that better deals can be had if you can order parts online. I've maybe used the discount once, but that was more because the dealer pissed me off and I wanted to eliminate as much profit as possible for that visit.

Hahahaha you guys think you're young. I'm 23!!! I think it's a good time though, if you enjoy talking about your car, seeing other Porsche's and hearing, seeing, and discussing them, it's a great place. You learn a lot and you get a LOT of help (when/if you need it). Being young I don't have the wisdom you seasoned PCA members have Like others have said at the driving events you get a more diverse group (and in our case not just PCA members). Well worth it to make some good connections that can be helpful.

I don't do the track/DE events or the social ones that involve driving more than an hour away but there are plenty of close ones and they have all been nice. The ages seem to start in mid-30s, with numbers increasing with age (let's face it, that's the age-range of the largest block of people who can afford a Porsche and their upkeep in these times). Everyone has Porsches as a common interest, so it doesn't really matter to me what other age-related tastes people have. Plus I happen to enjoy being with people of all ages. The main thing is, I have found the members friendly and welcoming (I've only been a member for about a year or so), not cliquish as some groups can be.

I think it is worth it. I've done a few events, cars/coffee and tech sessions. You get a mix of ages, cars and knowledge. That being said, there are no shortages of Porsche fans. I've learned a lot from at and certainly gained a better appreciation of other models. I've also sold a few items via the classifieds and on two occasions was able to get parts locally (dealer) with a discount that matched the internet prices.

Panorama magazine is good, especially now that Pete Stout (formerly of Excellence magazine) has taken the reins. I enjoy the club driving events, and I manage to attend 3-4 per year. It's fun to head to some destination with 10 to 30 other Porsches and their drivers. Saturday is our local "Tech session" which is just as much of a social event as anything, but it's a free BBQ lunch and seeing fellow PCAers again. At 48 I am not the youngest, although I would say there are definitely more folks that are older than me than are younger in the crowd.

I just joined and went to my first coffee/breakfast/kick the tires and slam the doors and it reminded me of my Alfa Romeo days back in the 70s and 80s. The people were from all sorts of life experiences and several were new to Los Angeles. I'm sitting at the other end of the stick and at the age of 72, I think everyone was younger than me. But standing around and comparing our cars and talking about how we got into them, I didn't feel any sense of age. Or money. Some of the folks were obviously "rich" and others were still looking to buy a first home in LA. For the LA chapter of PCA I found it was the love of the car that dominated the meeting. And for $46 I think the range of events they will organize it will prove an excellent use of my money.

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Oh, I forgot about the tech sessions. I attended several of these. They were nice. In fact I was an informal photographer and passed on my photos to the lead tech to post on the dealer's web site. However, with family issues I've not had the time to attend and I've missed a few recent ones and forgot about the Macan intro, too, even though I was invited.

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I agree its nice to see fellow club members and the social aspect. The help that I have gotten there is well worth the annual fee. Spoayman, see you there, but I won't be there tomorrow.

The San Diego club is very active with multiple events every week. Some social and some driving and of course some both. In addition to Panorama, we have a local monthly magazine as well. I have done several back road tours, the PDS and this weekend we are doing a Mystery Weekend. 33 cars and we won't know where we are going until we get there Great people, great fun, and of course great cars

As we moved about over the years, I have been a member of three different local (called regions) PCA chapters. More importantly, my PCA club interests have changed over the years. In the early years, I was an active track time participant; i.e., called Driver's Education in PCA. But in recent years, I have focused on participating in road tours and tech sessions. In all years, I (actually "we") have attended several region social events. Now how many car-guy activities can you name that offer nearly life long opportunities? The list is short, IMHO. Finally, I'm not a club-type of person, but PCA membership is a good deal for most p-car owners. relinuca

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There's a bloke here from England,Hurdi on this forum around the same age. I hope to be driving sports cars at that age too.

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5SCHN3LL is right that it's not the place to pick up women......even though I am over 50 - smartass.

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Very, very rare to see a woman, unattached at these events.

Ive gotten excellent value from my intermittent membership, spanning 3 911s in 25 (ouch) years: I bought the first badly, and then joined the club: they helped me sort that rustbucket out, and incidentally introduced me to a superb metalworker who's a good friend to this day. So, I got an education and a friend for 125 bucks. They helped me find, inspect, and negotiate the second one (~2000-2005). I took it to a couple of inexpensive, well-run track ooops "drivers ed" events. Another cheap education, and my Watkins Glen grin required surgical removal. I was eyeing a 996 in Chicago and I live in Virginia. Cold-called an officer in PCA's Chicago 'region', who contributed his own time and an invaluable PPI referral that got me back in the saddle. I've wasted a lot of money on cars, but every nickel I've spent on PCA has come back to me as a dollar's worth of knowledge, community, and/or Fun.

I think PCA is certainly worth the annual dues. Great people and great Porsche's. In KC we have members from 17 on up who own and take great pride in their Porsche's. We meet every Saturday for breakfast and always have new members or potential members show up. The drive to breakfast and back home is a great way to start the weekend.

I joined this year and its paid for itself already with the discount we get on parts from the dealer. Then theres the group rides that are total fun. The last ride I attended was an all day tour through some awesome mountain twisties that had no traffic. We also get the inside scoop on car shows, had free parking right at the front door of the Vancouver Intl Auto Show and free admission tix which was awesome, and then tours of the new dealership. There are monthly tech nights too that I would like to eventually attend. Saturday morning rides that are far too early for me but would like to eventually get to. All in all Im pretty happy with mine. I dont DE or autoX or anything like that, its more social. Met some cool peeps on the rides and events ... and ya Im the youngest there (43). But we all love our cars and everyone else's cars in the ride. Very cool. Ill renew. And Im pretty sure my PCA-CWR rear lic plate frame has gotten me out of tickets.......

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I have to second what theporscheguy said about the KC region. As a fairly new member our club is made up of a great group of people willing to help each other out. I have picked up on some great ideas by being around the other members who are willing to share their many years of Porsche ownership. I think it starts with the president and the board who have set the tone for our club. I lucked out. Thought I was just going to get a subscription to Panorama and a PCA window sticker and I ended up enjoying the camaraderie of other Porsche enthusiasts.

With work and family, I don't get the opportunity to do PCA events. I have been a member for about a year now and I find it's worth it for the magazine alone. I enjoy the read especially when I am on work trips.

PCA is one of best things about Porsche ownership. I mean, I like my colleagues, but 50 hrs a week is enough & if you think PCA social crowd is old, you should see folks on our block! It's great chatting about Porsches, cars, etc. rather than work or people's latest doctor visit! Drives are a blast...T

Old schmold - who cares about age if it's all about driving? I'm 67. I've been fortunate to be able to drive a Porsche. We have a range of ages in the PNWR but admittedly on the more seasoned side of the age spectrum - yet from what I've seen since June we all generally think young, enjoy driving, and willingly share knowledge and experience. The national and regional publications are a nice side benefit. Enough with the pear-shaped, white-haired, old fart stereotypes (I fit the mold). If I wasn't a "Toys R Us Kid" then I wouldn't have a Porsche (or soon to be two) and I wouldn't enjoy hooning about in our Boxster or looking forward to surprising some rice rocket with our soon-to-be ours 996 turbo x50. It ain't the age, it's the attitude and from what I've seen many/most of the PCA members in our region haven't grown up yet. Join - what's to loose?

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"hooning" = you're trying to hard to fit in with the young ones "loose" = you're going senile J/k. . That's a great outlook and state of mind.

As membership chair for San Diego Region, 46 bucks a year is deal, in my opinion. Especially in a region like ours.

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+1, what he said

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Amen.

A former high level executive of Porsche asked me what the annual dues were for PCA. I told him $46/year and he almost fell out of his chair. He said "did you say $146 or $46?" When I said $46, he said "why isn't every Porsche owner in the club?"...I told him that's a question we are challenged with everyday. I thought my obsession with this little German company was unique, but when I joined PCA I found 100K other folks just as afflicted....it's pretty cool when you think about it.

I will add this about the PCA. A lot of the enjoyment of being a part of the PCA has to do with how active the regional chapter is. The more active the region, the more interest there is for every type of person. There are social gatherings, often associated with a drive, a new Porsche model intro at the dealership, etc. There are events that are mostly destination or round-trip drives (my favorite). There are club meetings for those who are involved in management or interested in influencing the activities of the club, etc. I belonged to the local chapter of the club briefly in the mid-nineties and did not find a lot there for me. That was probably mostly my fault for not participating much, but I believe there was also less activity that was "inclusive" at that time. I let my membership lapse back then and did not renew until about 5 years ago. Now, I consider my affiliation with the PCA to be a nice part of the Porsche ownership experience.

I recently joined and will be attending autox this weekend. Saved $20 for the autox event.

Being a PCA member is a great experience. For $46 per year, you get Panorama which has been greatly improved. $12 of those dues goes back to your region. Whether you get involved or just like to read the magazine, PCA is a great member focused club. I believe we have over 100,000 members in the US and Canada which comprises PCA.

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From the President of PCA!

Sorry to resurrect this thread but (new member) but there seem to be one or two folks that post and then nothing after that. Not doggin' on the site but it seems to be very "inactive" Thoughts???

It's called Facebook .

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I've been a member for 3 years (ever since I bought my 911) and this is the first I've even heard of PCA forums. There's no reason to have a forum other than Rennlist. The value of the PCA is in the social and track events. Check your chapter's website for a list of upcoming events and plan to attend a few. I try to make 2-3 per year if I can and they're always a good time.

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^^^ This... I joined PCA when I got my car. For $46/yr you get a great magazine and membership to your local chapter (autocross, trackdays/DE, rally's, concourse events, socials etc.) though I rarely get to participate, when I do, I usually enjoy it...All this and you get a 10% discount on parts at your local dealer

Cheaper than a tank of gas and the magazine is very nice, albeit, recently more of the articles read like a big love fest advert for new Porsches. Still a pretty good value: the clubs are an important part of our community, club racing, classifieds, single-source point of contact for many Porsche issues, etc.

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I agree to disagree.

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Of course you do... Now go back to your outpost!

Thanks for the responses. We signed up just the other day and our local chapter has already reached out to us! Sounds like some fun!