OK, I thought I should start a little thread to help document and save my Tourist Delivery experiences, just in case anyone else should be interested. So far, I have a deposit on a Cayman S which is scheduled for a May build to be ready for my July arrival in Stuttgart.

Well, today I bought the airline tickets. It's getting very real now and I am feeling this incredible anxiety. I guess you could call it 'butterflies in the stomach'.

I checked prices with Lufthansa, who is supposed to have a special negotiated rate for Porsche customers who are doing tourist delivery. As it turned out, those tickets cost more than twice as much ($2,100 per person) as the normal going rate ($1,000 per person) listed with all other major airlines. Maybe they have special seats with full leather, deviated stitching and guards red seat belts..... Actually, I asked the Lufthansa rep why it cost so much and he explained that the Porsche fares were fully refundable and completely unrestricted. A non refundable/restricted ticket with Lufthansa would cost $1,500, still $500 more than other airlines so I passed.

For anyone in CT, you might be interested to know that Northwest Airlines flies out of Bradley airport to Amsterdam, offering connecting flights to Stuttgart (which is a smaller airport and doesn't have many direct international flight options). Prices were reasonable ($980 pp), and essentially the same as flying out of NYC, but Bradley is a much easier airport to navigate and parking costs less than half as much as JFK long term parking.

Next step, booking the my hotel accommodations. I need to speak with my sales pro. I am pretty sure Porsche is going to put me up for a night or two. Then the rest of the trip is on me.

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Gator Bite
(View My Articles : Blogs : Car : Profile)

Thanks Gator. I'm actually looking forward to your postings on this process. One day I would like to do a European Delivery as well.

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2007 Cayman S My Gallery
Midnight Blue / Natural Brown Leather / Carrera Sport Wheels
Ordered 12/27/06 - Est. Build 02/28/07 - Completed 03/01/07 - VIN 03/07/07 - Loaded on "Eternal Ace" 03/13/07 - Arrived POB 03/26/07 - Home 03/31/07

gator bite:

are you going to take delivery of the car by yourself? have you been to europe before?

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life sucks and then you die

Gator, How are you coming back to the States? I take it swimming over is out of the question!? Good luck with your trip and wish everything works out as envisioned in the ongoing sleepless nights to come.

Brave soul...

I have to admit, with no financial incentive (unlike the BMW ED program), wait times for the vehicle to get back to the US, possible headaches and other issues... the Porsche program is quite unattractive to me. Not trying to rain on your parade... I think the only reason I would partake would be to take at least a couple of weeks, break it in and hit the 'Ring while I was there, just to say my car had been on it.

Other than that, I would simply take a trip to Europe at my leisure and rent a CS to beat on instead.

And as silly as it my sound.... I've always wanted to ED a car, and that fact alone would make the new M3 quite attractive to me, I admit. Unfortunately, I don't think the M models are eligible for the pricing discount, but I think you can still do the program. Hmph. Going through customs packing a Vishnu chip for a 335i doesn't seem as appealing, though. Heh.

I've been to Europe many times. My girlfriend is actually from Germany, born and raised. We kind of dated long distance for 2 years. During that time I was traveling to Germany about every 12 weeks. She lives here now, but we will be traveling together of course, so I will have a native tour guide. We are actually going to be spending some time visiting her family and attending the wedding of two of her close friends, so we won't be driving the car for two weeks straight (unfortunately ).

We started planning this trip back in August when we received the news of the wedding. That's when I thought, "Hmmmmmm...... Great opportunity to do a European Delivery......". A few months later I was thinking, "Let me do a little research on the Cayman, see if this is for me." I was reading on the PCA web site, found a link to this special interest group called www.CaymanClub.net, read all of these excited people talking about this amazing car and thought, "Hmmm..... Maybe I should go drive one." The comes 'love at first flight'.

Right now, we are planning to pick up the car and make a 3 day road trip around Europe back to her folks place in NW Germany. We'll chill there for a week (taking as many short rides as possible), go to the wedding, and then a 3 day road trip back to Stuttgart. So about 1 week visiting, 1 week driving. I am pretty sure Ina's Dad will organize a few day trips. He bought a Z4 last summer, which he loves driving. I anticipate that he'll plan a couple of rides, him and Ina's mom in the Z4, Ina and I in the Cayman. If we really want to drive, all we have to do is say "Hey girls, want to go to Holland to do some shopping......?" (Ina's folks live out in the sticks. Any good shopping is at least an hour away.)

I am toying with the idea of stopping by the Nuerburgring on the way back to Stuttgart and driving a lap or two. You can do this for something like 30 euros ($40). I am mixed on this idea. Part of me doesn't want to subject a new car to the track. Also, I have very little track experience under my belt (one 3 day PCA DE at Watkins Glenn back in 1995). So I am very aware of the fact that I could make a mistake and bend my car. But what a memory and story this would be. How could I pass this up, to drive the world famous Nuerburgring? How many opportunities will I have in my life to do this? Not many. Probably only one. So I may decide to take a nice leisurely lap, not pushing the limits, just to say I did.

I had considered stowing myself away in the car, but I don't know if I could survive the 3-4 week boat trip, or get that much vacation. So I guess I'll have to fly back. Sleepless nights, there will be many.....

That's not the first time I've heard this, the fact there are financial incentives from other companies to do euro delivery. I personally don't understand that. There is a cost to insuring, registering, and prepping the car.

Financial incentive obviously is not my motivation to do Tourist Delivery. In fact, I am paying $2,250 for the experience. I also have to post a $10,000 security deposit for the VAT, which will be returned to me after the car reaches the states. Doing Tourist Delivery also means that I can not lease a car (which I am not very interested in any way). I have to pay for the car in full 30 days prior to pick up. So I guess financial issues would deter many Tourist Deliver candidates. Then comes the other inconveniences.

Experiencing Tourist Delivery means I have to wait another 94 days to get my car. Then, I will be returning my car to the factory during their summer shut down, which means it will sit there for 3 weeks before it's sent to the port. As you've pointed out, we can add another 3-4 weeks of shipping before the car reaches me. So why the hell would I do all of this for tourist delivery? Because this is the experience that I've been dreaming about since I was a 15 years old. Because I will be able to legally plant my foot on the loud pedal and watch the speedo soar to 170 mph. Because I will be able to tell all my friends that I drove MY Porsche on the Autobahn and the Ring at near ballistic speeds. The memories and experiences that I will gain during these two weeks will last forever. Someday, if I'm lucky, I'll be telling my grandchildren how grandpa went to Germany and drove his Porsche on the Autobahn at 170 mph back in the day when there were no speed limits. How the hell do you put a price tag on that? I need no financial incentive to realize such a dream.

Its been 7 years since I sold my last Porsche. I think I can handle a few more months of waiting.

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Gator Bite
(View My Articles : Blogs : Car : Profile)

Stop it now, you're making me all misty eyed.

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Scott
2006 Cayman S
2008 MINI S

Well, for what it's worth, you have me convinced it's the right thing for you to do. Btw your wait isn't as long as mine -- I too sold my last Porsche seven years ago, but I won't even be ordering my CS until early '08. I will be doing a lot of personal character development in the meantime

Ah yes, I vote ja on the Nürburgring! It would be criminal not to. People run it in buses and RVs after all.

I can appreciate your anticipation of driving the Autobahn flat out - I quess they still do that. I faintly recall doing that in 1962 in new XKE or E-type if you prefer.

Because I will be able to tell all my friends that I drove MY Porsche on the Autobahn and the Ring at near ballistic speeds. The memories and experiences that I will gain during these two weeks will last forever. Someday, if I'm lucky, I'll be telling my grandchildren how grandpa went to Germany and drove his Porsche on the Autobahn at 170 mph back in the day when there were no speed limits. How the hell do you put a price tag on that? I need no financial incentive to realize such a dream.

Its been 7 years since I sold my last Porsche. I think I can handle a few more months of waiting.[/quote]

Gator,

Are you seriously taking your brand new CS and spanking it to its limit at the Autobahn and the Ring? You might have to tell your grandchildren how not to break in a new Porsche. I still wish you the best regardless.

I have also orde