Anyone out there work for Porsche? What's up with them?
It used to be that seeing those cars on the road, even the low end (944s) models were very rare. Now I see almost as many Porsches as I do Toyotas and Chevys! Ok... not THAT many. but I do see almost as many Porsches as I do Beemers, Mercedes and the other German car makers. It went from seeing maybe one or two Porsches a month to seeing two or three a day in 15-20 years.

Most of the models I see are the Cayman and the lower grade 911. There's also a lot of the SUV models and that four-door car and the Boxter model.
The mega-buck turbo is still a rarity, but not as much as you'd think.

What did Porsche do? Get out of the exotic car market and started getting into mass production cars? I know a bunch of Americans didn't just wake up millionaires and ran out to the nearest Dealership for a status symbol. Is this the result of Porsche's more aggressive advertising campaign?
Or is this a world wide thing?

Also, with this obvious mass production, how has the overall quality of teh brand been affected?

Well, like you already alluded to, I think it's a matter of bang for the buck.

Probably the same reason I see a lot more Corvette's around too.

They have a lot more brand diversity now - back in the day it was only the 911's that the average Joe really thought of when "Porsche" was mentioned. MAYBE a 928, which I used to see a reasonable amount of.

Now, like you said, there's the SUV, that disgusting 4 door thing, and the Boxter is a decent roadster for not a ton of cash compared to their higher tier of offerings - 3 market segments right there that didn't they didn't used to participate in.

I mean hell, when I see people driving around in ridiculous 80K trucks, it's no surprise to see lots of Cayenne's around too.

From what I've read over the years, I don't believe quality has suffered, but I'm no expert nor do I work for Porsche.

that article rates cars based on the defects that were found during the TÜV inspections, so it should be relatively unbiased (even if you let your authorized garage do the inspection, its an independent TÜV guy doing the tests in it).

Porsches do lead in the ranking of cars older than 8 years, which might be the main reason you see more and more: They just last, and can go through many hands in their long life.

Quote from ACCAkut :

that article rates cars based on the defects that were found during the TÜV inspections, so it should be relatively unbiased (even if you let your authorized garage do the inspection, its an independent TÜV guy doing the tests in it).

Porsches do lead in the ranking of cars older than 8 years, which might be the main reason you see more and more: They just last, and can go through many hands in their long life.

No. these are NEW cars. Like maybe three - four years old at most. But seeing them with temporary dealer tags instead of actual license plates on most of them I see, they're pretty new. I dunno... maybe auto dealers here in the states offer a decent financing plan that appeals to consumers and can compete with the programs offered by competitors?

or everyone just had a mid life crisis

That's not very true in ny area. I am a VAG person so I know where all the toys are tucked in my area, but the number is still very low. We only have one maybe two dealers in 150-200 miles. (2 of them lost their licenses selling cars overseas)

Having said that I see about 3 porsches a day not counting my neighbor. This number has been constant since I moved here 5 years ago. Over summer maybe a Ferrari a day.

The car companies really taking off are Volkswagen and Audi. They almost account for the number of Fords I see. But notice to make cars cheaper VW went back to drum rears on base model cars and are building the cheapest and crappiest Passat ever. It's like getting in a Honda.

Subaru is another big seller now. Did their pricing drop or something?

I cannot comment on Corvettes. I used to live in Bowling Green, Kentucky where they are assembled so everyone and his brother's brother had one lol.

We used to have a Chrysler stamping plant in our neighboring town. Ever since it closed Chrysler sales are really down.

The number of Porsches in my home town probably increased 10 fold when the Cayenne came out, the wealthy soccer moms went nuts for them. They loved the idea of a 'sporty' Porsche that had 4WD and enough weight to make sure that they could always barge their way into your lane.

Simply, Porsche has finally expanded beyond the sports car market.

Quote from Racer Y :

No. these are NEW cars. Like maybe three - four years old at most. But seeing them with temporary dealer tags instead of actual license plates on most of them I see, they're pretty new. I dunno... maybe auto dealers here in the states offer a decent financing plan that appeals to consumers and can compete with the programs offered by competitors?

cars are so much cheaper in the US than here, even german brands. If we didn't need to update brakes and lights to german spec re-import would be a bigger deal around here Not to mention you got some nice options we don't get (the 2.5 Golf).

Porsches still outnumber any other comparable sportscar like 10 to 1 here, people won't turn their heads for a 911. Especially not here where I live, but thats cause they ship from here. Transporters full of GT3s are no rarity

Quote from ACCAkut :

cars are so much cheaper in the US than here, even german brands. If we didn't need to update brakes and lights to german spec re-import would be a bigger deal around here Not to mention you got some nice options we don't get (the 2.5 Golf).

Porsches still outnumber any other comparable sportscar like 10 to 1 here, people won't turn their heads for a 911. Especially not here where I live, but thats cause they ship from here. Transporters full of GT3s are no rarity

...everytime I try to respond, I get pulled away...

LOL if y'all didn't drive so fast on that Autobahn, y'all wouldn't have to update the brakes...

I had a 95 BMW 318i - well my wife did. I remember asking somebody... I think Shotglass?, If I needed to get car parts could I order them through him to save some money by getting the parts from Germany.
He gave me a link to the website of the cheapest BMW parts house he knew. It's in Texas! in Dallas! 300 miles north of me!
A friend of mine stationed in Germany when he was in the Army dated a local girl. He told me her father was oh so proud of the car he had to jump through hoops to get...
LOL It was a Cadillac Coupe de Ville!

Anyways....
I'm still stuck wondering why I see all these Porsches lately. Maybe they are doing more aggressive marketing and making reasonable finance deals?
What if someone was looking to buy a new car and had a choice of a $500 a month car note for a Nissan vs a $500 a month for a Porsche? Even though the Porsche would have a whole lot more monthly payments to it, it would still make it more comparable and affordable to buy than what it was in the past.
Maybe that's what's happening?

Quote from Blade3562 :

That's not very true in ny area. I am a VAG person so I know where all the toys are tucked in my area, but the number is still very low. We only have one maybe two dealers in 150-200 miles. (2 of them lost their licenses selling cars overseas)

Having said that I see about 3 porsches a day not counting my neighbor. This number has been constant since I moved here 5 years ago. Over summer maybe a Ferrari a day.

The car companies really taking off are Volkswagen and Audi. They almost account for the number of Fords I see. But notice to make cars cheaper VW went back to drum rears on base model cars and are building the cheapest and crappiest Passat ever. It's like getting in a Honda.

Subaru is another big seller now. Did their pricing drop or something?

I cannot comment on Corvettes. I used to live in Bowling Green, Kentucky where they are assembled so everyone and his brother's brother had one lol.

We used to have a Chrysler stamping plant in our neighboring town. Ever since it closed Chrysler sales are really down.

I think we now have 6 dealerships in the Houston area that sell Porsches.
Which is weird thinking about the auto bailout, the housing bubble and the really slow recovery.
Now that you mention Audis and VWs, I've seen a whole lot of them as well.
I don't know much about VW and quality drops. I don't really like them to begin with. We had a VW Fox when we were first married. Unlike the other German cars I had the pleasure to work on, this one was easy - but it had drums in the back.
Seeing a lot of vettes too now that you mentioned it.
I dunno. Maybe mustangman's right. There are still quite a few Baby boomers and now Generation Xers hitting that age. Maybe enough people realized their 401k was a crock, took the penalty and yanked out their "retirement" and jumped into the driver's seat of their dream car.

Quote from Racer Y :

I don't know much about VW and quality drops. I don't really like them to begin with. We had a VW Fox when we were first married. Unlike the other German cars I had the pleasure to work on, this one was easy - but it had drums in the back.

Quality of the main brand went down a bit (or a bit more, depending on who you ask) since ~2005. For example my little city car got a nice heated rear screen, a hydraulic bonnet strut and a range of rather evolutionary engines, while the direct successor got none of these. Same with the suspension i think on the Golf Mk.4 to Mk.5 and so on.
At the same time VAG tries to push the VW brand up a little in terms of prestige, while Skoda and Seat fill in under it.

Its the damn porsche suv. I see atleast 3 a day

They are spread in Middle-Finland as well, or I just get unlucky ( Porsche SUV's). Sometimes a wild 944 in middle of winter is shown, snow tyres and some minor winter equipment, no idea though who owns it, but definetily it goes a good sliding


No idea though do they drive these cars in winter alot, but at least I have seen about 1-5 Porsches and this one with winter equipment

...oh how I would love some proper winter rallye mudflaps and supernarrow tyres on my car! The problem is salt. I can't drill fastening holes through the metal without destroying the zinc and being unable to drive in the winter!

Well well, one day I will actually buy a lottery ticket, and after I've won I get myself a proper, winter-equipped Porsche! And straight cut gears. And a 3litre. and..........

greetz

der ssssssssssssst butz

I drive my 944 all year. The paint isn't any good so I don't even bother washing it anymore. 309,000 MILES, everything original except new valves and guides due to the previous owner letting the timing belt break.

Great to drive in the snow as long as the tires are not worn to the steel belts . Limited slip diff would be nice to have though. Open differential in the snow SUCKS.

almost the same story here...

bad paint, 380k kms (or 236k miles or roughly just on the moon), I even used it to carry old junk around! Timing belt is too much to do it on my own, so I had it done last summer. Cost around 600€ including belt and rolls and a new front crankshaft seal, just while the guys were at it. Next will be new injector valve seals (or gaskets or... rubber rings ;-)) and new brake fluid. It's so astonishing how cheap the car is to run, and how much fun you can have, even with a boring diff! By the way skstibi, do you also have the 2.5litre engine?

greetz

der butz

Nothing expensive ever breaks on mine. The most expensive thing I go through is tires. I have the 2.7 in mine (1989 only). Completely stock, just a tune. I would love to put a 3 litre engine in it with a turbo.

I use mine for everything. I still have a set of control arms for my truck and some motorcycle parts in the back of mine right now. It's amazing how much stuff you can fit into the car.