Buying a 996...

I' m just about to fulfil a fantasy and take the plunge into Porsche(996) ownership.[ ] Can anyone out there tell me the benefits/drawbacks of buying a grey-import 996 (whether it carries a C16 ticket or not)? Have you had any hassles at OPCs when it comes to servicing or selling the car on? Does anyone on the forum recommend any dealer over another? Preferably in the South East, and PM me if you have to?[8|] Thanks, Bruce

I got my 996 from Europe saving 10K - it has C16 plate - AFN service and provide warranty cover (with no hassles) although they told me they would not take it in part ex.

I wondered whether to get mine grey. I was told (also by AFN) that they would happily service it and honour the warranty. AFN also told me that Porsche have harmonised their pricing across borders. I checked on the Porsche website and at the home page selected different home countries (I can' t remember if it changes the language). From this you can see the list price in the various countries plus the options prices. I looked at Germany, Holland and New Zealand (for curiosity since it is also RHD) and I didn' t notice too much difference. The pound and Euro are moving all the time though, plus standard equipment levels aren' t all identical (although this is minor details). I bought from AFN since it was easier. Rgds, Stuart.

Quite a few of my friends have imported 911' s from Holland / Belgium / Spain / Portugal. I looked into this some time ago and I did find a big difference in pricing (as usual) between OPC' s and Euro dealers but I' m not sure that there is any significant difference now. Sure, the spec on the UK cars is different but many dealers know the UK spec and they will quote you for that - just make sure that you have a C16. As for reactions from OPC' s, as far as I know, recent EU legislation states that they MUST offer the same level of courtesy for imports as non-grey cars - if they offer ' normal' customers a courtesy car and a friendly smile, that' s exactly what you' re entitled to ! Most OPC' s though, say that they won' t touch an imported car. Don' t take this too seriously though - when you want to sell it, you' ll simply get less money for it, but because you paid less for it anyway, who cares ! They will buy the car because they know that they can sell it cheaper than a UK one and therefore more quickly. A quick buck is a quick buck. Check out http://www.carreramotors.be/RHD.htm My friends found them really good to deal with. As for me, every time I want to buy a new car, I seem to have a p/ex on my hands !

I bought my 2002 996 C2 from Rivervale last September, it was imported from Cyprus, which is apparently the only other country that Porsche GB will officially recognise. It has a full Porsche GB 3 yr warranty

Bruce, A friend of mine purchased a full spec Jaguar XKR a couple of months ago from an importer. I must admit that I was very sceptical when she paid her two grand deposit up front. But as she pointed out, she had paid it on Credit Card so the money was reasonably safe. The car came through without any hitches and I took her to the show room to collect it. I was indeed very impressed with the very professional service that she received, The car was 100% as ordered, including her personal number plates already fitted. The car came from De Stefano ltd 1051 - 1055 high road, Chadwell Heath Tel: 0208 597 0061 website www.destefano.co.uk Look at the website. click on to New 4.2 XKR Cabiolet 2003 Model. You will see the saving she made was £12,605.00p. Our Local Dealership has no problem with any servicing or warrantee. Now the bad news, I spoke to them about supplying Porsche. They can and do, but the saving is not so great. Good luck Ken