Anyone done P-car euro delivery?

I'm going to Europe this spring to visit relatives and I'm considering a European delivery. I've been debating between a Boxster S (it would be my first Porsche) or a M3 Convertible and am leaning towards the S (newer engineering, lighter-weight, etc.) but it breaks my heart to pay such a premium for Porsche's euro delivery program in addition to so much extra for the car. Anyone here done a P-car euro delivery before, and if so, was it worth it? Rennlist is surprisingly light on info for this topic....

 

Well, I did it, but it was in 1982 when I was 27. Back then, Porsche US actually discounted the cars for Euro delivery, so it actually paid for all of our (admittedly low-budget) trip.

It was kind of neat having new new car (1982 911SC) over there, but also a worry. Instead of having a rental car that you don't have to think about, I was constantly worried about my new car.

It was the first (and only time) I've been to Europe, so driving was not at all natural (no foreign language fluency here). Yes, I did take it on the Autobahn and hit 130+ for a moment (remember, 911's only had 176 horsepower then!), but came over a rise and traffic was totally stopped. Yikes!

I think if I was doing it again, without any experience living or driving in Europe, I'd just get a rental.

 

Is porsche part of that "buy from a dealer here, and pick up your car in it's country" deal? A lot of European carmaker dealers in the U.S. will allow you to purchase a car from a U.S. dealer at the dollar equivalent of the price of the car in Europe, hence cheaper. Then they will package in a deal with you that sends you to Europe to drive around in your new car and vacation, then when you are ready to come back, they will ship the car over to the U.S. I read about it the WSJ a few months ago, I know BMW is in the game.

 

Correct, but the M3 still comes from dealer allocation, hence no mega-deals. Porsche actually charges a markup over US sale-price for the privelege, MB AMG models are also really not a great deal, etc., etc...

I'd be doing it more for the experience than for the deal, I just hate the thought of being raped by the manufacturer on it....

 

as far as euro-delivery is concerned, you can find a chock full of info on BMW's eurodelivery program at the bimmerfest forums