European Delivery Tomorrow
05-17-2013, 09:18 PM
#19
Enjoy ED on your 991! If you can make the time, try to eat here while in France!
http://www.auberge-de-l-ill.com/V2/index.html
Saludos,
Eduardo
CO
05-17-2013, 10:08 PM
#20
Instructor
Thread Starter
Hi all. Amazing day. Here are a few pictures and thoughts.
I was VERY excited on the way to the factory. Pictures 1, 2 and 3.
Upon arrival I checked in and walked around the Porsche Exclusive showroom (pictures to be uploaded separately tomorrow or soon thereafter). The delivery program began promptly on schedule and a factory rep reviewed my European driving insurance and we did some paper work. Pictures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Then we went upstairs to see the car. I got chills seeing my car in person for the first time! I received a detailed one-on-one walk through. My rep spent over an hour with me going through every function of every button and menu. I even had a couple of pages of questions written in advance -- mostly about PCM, logbook, juke box and some obscure technical things. The rep hit 2/3 of my questions without prompting and was happy to walk through all of my other questions. Very patient and very thorough.
Some pictures of the car: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
SUGGESTION: CHECK-IN EARLY TO MAXIMIZE ONE ON ONE TIME
My suggested arrival time was 815. There was less traffic than I anticipated so I arrived 20 minutes early. I was first person to check in and my name was called first to begin paper work and go to my car. This was helpful because everyone goes on the factory tour together after the personal walk throughs. Another couple checked in after me and started their walk through after me, but we ended our walk throughs at the same time. So their walk through was significantly shorter than mine. At lunch they said they wished they had more time for their walk through. So if you want to ensure maximum time for your walk through and you have a morning pickup time, get there a little early.
(If you have an afternoon pickup time I don't know if getting there early helps or not).
After the walk through I drove the car about 200 feet, parked the car and went on the factory tour. Unfortunately phones and cameras are held in a locker during the tour. That means NO PICTURES ARE ALLOWED IN THE FACTORY.
Toured the engine area, assembly area and upholstery area. They will take you to other areas upon request. The operation is sophisticated. Just-in-time production of engines, bodies, etc. Automation is used to move assemblies around the shop floor, but nearly all work in these areas is done by hand!
Lunch was provided after tour. Well prepared and served. There were about 10 people on our tour. I had lunch with a few other people and enjoyed talking to everyone. How could you not be happy?! Some were picking up their first Porsche. Someone else was on number 16! The rest were somewhere in between. Countries represented in the English-speaking group today = USA, England and Sweden.
I appreciated some of the small details. For example, there were gummy bears in the shape of 911 in the waiting room! Picture 15.
A few other thoughts:
ISSUE: I mentioned an issue earlier with one feature in my car. This lead to a constructive discussion on site at factory and immediate review with my dealer back in the States. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ON DISPLAY. An email was waiting for me at the hotel tonight with a potential solution. I have to ask a few clarifying questions so I don't want to say anything further about this other than I am impressed with the attentiveness and care I am receiving so far.
MUSEUM: Personally, I really liked the Porsche museum. I enjoyed the story and the cars. Across town the Mercedes Museum talks about the development of the automobile and uses world history to provide context for cars in general. The Porsche museum is all about P-cars. As I said, I enjoyed both museums, but THE PORSCHE MUSEUM IS BEST SUITED FOR GEAR HEADS OR THOSE WITH FOND THOUGHTS OF THE MARQUE. THE MERCEDES MUSEUM MAY BE MORE ENJOYABLE FOR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS THAT ARE NOT AS INTO CARS OR PORSCHES
REGARDLESS OF WHICH CAMP YOU FALL INTO, IF YOU HAVE TIME ALSO CHECK OUT THE MERCEDES MUSEUM.
SCHEDULING YOUR TRIP: I was over ambitious. I drove around town for a couple hours after pick up. Then I drove to another town and got caught in rush hour traffic. Then I went onto some random roads and got lost in a residential neighborhood with VERY NARROW streets. Yikes! When I finally succumbed to listening to the GPS I got to my destination late in the evening. Tomorrow morning I am off to another city. Oof! My mistake: I got over excited and over planned. I'm adjusting the rest of my itinerary as a result Learn from my mistake and GIVE YOURSELF A DAY OR TWO TO RECOVER FROM THE EXCITEMENT OF THE PICKUP. In hindsight I should have either stayed in Stuttgart the night after getting the car or driven somewhere close by (and listened to the GPS!) AND planned to stay at that location for at least a day or two (and take short day drips from that location).
More to follow early early next week!
All best,
Alan
I was VERY excited on the way to the factory. Pictures 1, 2 and 3.
Upon arrival I checked in and walked around the Porsche Exclusive showroom (pictures to be uploaded separately tomorrow or soon thereafter). The delivery program began promptly on schedule and a factory rep reviewed my European driving insurance and we did some paper work. Pictures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Then we went upstairs to see the car. I got chills seeing my car in person for the first time! I received a detailed one-on-one walk through. My rep spent over an hour with me going through every function of every button and menu. I even had a couple of pages of questions written in advance -- mostly about PCM, logbook, juke box and some obscure technical things. The rep hit 2/3 of my questions without prompting and was happy to walk through all of my other questions. Very patient and very thorough.
Some pictures of the car: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
SUGGESTION: CHECK-IN EARLY TO MAXIMIZE ONE ON ONE TIME
My suggested arrival time was 815. There was less traffic than I anticipated so I arrived 20 minutes early. I was first person to check in and my name was called first to begin paper work and go to my car. This was helpful because everyone goes on the factory tour together after the personal walk throughs. Another couple checked in after me and started their walk through after me, but we ended our walk throughs at the same time. So their walk through was significantly shorter than mine. At lunch they said they wished they had more time for their walk through. So if you want to ensure maximum time for your walk through and you have a morning pickup time, get there a little early.
(If you have an afternoon pickup time I don't know if getting there early helps or not).
After the walk through I drove the car about 200 feet, parked the car and went on the factory tour. Unfortunately phones and cameras are held in a locker during the tour. That means NO PICTURES ARE ALLOWED IN THE FACTORY.
Toured the engine area, assembly area and upholstery area. They will take you to other areas upon request. The operation is sophisticated. Just-in-time production of engines, bodies, etc. Automation is used to move assemblies around the shop floor, but nearly all work in these areas is done by hand!
Lunch was provided after tour. Well prepared and served. There were about 10 people on our tour. I had lunch with a few other people and enjoyed talking to everyone. How could you not be happy?! Some were picking up their first Porsche. Someone else was on number 16! The rest were somewhere in between. Countries represented in the English-speaking group today = USA, England and Sweden.
I appreciated some of the small details. For example, there were gummy bears in the shape of 911 in the waiting room! Picture 15.
A few other thoughts:
ISSUE: I mentioned an issue earlier with one feature in my car. This lead to a constructive discussion on site at factory and immediate review with my dealer back in the States. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ON DISPLAY. An email was waiting for me at the hotel tonight with a potential solution. I have to ask a few clarifying questions so I don't want to say anything further about this other than I am impressed with the attentiveness and care I am receiving so far.
MUSEUM: Personally, I really liked the Porsche museum. I enjoyed the story and the cars. Across town the Mercedes Museum talks about the development of the automobile and uses world history to provide context for cars in general. The Porsche museum is all about P-cars. As I said, I enjoyed both museums, but THE PORSCHE MUSEUM IS BEST SUITED FOR GEAR HEADS OR THOSE WITH FOND THOUGHTS OF THE MARQUE. THE MERCEDES MUSEUM MAY BE MORE ENJOYABLE FOR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS THAT ARE NOT AS INTO CARS OR PORSCHES
REGARDLESS OF WHICH CAMP YOU FALL INTO, IF YOU HAVE TIME ALSO CHECK OUT THE MERCEDES MUSEUM. SCHEDULING YOUR TRIP: I was over ambitious. I drove around town for a couple hours after pick up. Then I drove to another town and got caught in rush hour traffic. Then I went onto some random roads and got lost in a residential neighborhood with VERY NARROW streets. Yikes! When I finally succumbed to listening to the GPS I got to my destination late in the evening. Tomorrow morning I am off to another city. Oof! My mistake: I got over excited and over planned. I'm adjusting the rest of my itinerary as a result
Learn from my mistake and GIVE YOURSELF A DAY OR TWO TO RECOVER FROM THE EXCITEMENT OF THE PICKUP. In hindsight I should have either stayed in Stuttgart the night after getting the car or driven somewhere close by (and listened to the GPS!) AND planned to stay at that location for at least a day or two (and take short day drips from that location).More to follow early early next week!
All best,
Alan
05-18-2013, 08:00 AM
#23
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FYI- Do not go to L'auberge d'lille in Illhausen (near Strasbourg). Since old man Haebelin died and son took over, the food went downhill. Check the Michelin guide for other three star restaurants. Autobahn to Austria is one of the few stretches of road that is still speed limit free. Also, break in regimen for US cars is a joke to the rest of the Porsche world. Just warm her up first, vary the revs and go like hell as traffic dictates. Have a blast. Best...
05-18-2013, 01:12 PM
#24
Burning Brakes
This is great stuff - Thanks for sharing the details! I'm just a few days away from my own Euro delivery and your details are answering a lot of the questions I had about logistics. Thanks so much and enjoy the car!!! I wasn't sure about that Brown, but that is one beautiful car!
05-18-2013, 01:13 PM
#25
Drifting
Congrats on the car.
I have black/ luxor for my anthracite brown. Never thought your color combo will work out so nice.
Porsche gummies!?! Does it give you special power if you eat one while driving?
I like the 9:11 on the SC.
I have black/ luxor for my anthracite brown. Never thought your color combo will work out so nice.
Porsche gummies!?! Does it give you special power if you eat one while driving?
I like the 9:11 on the SC.
05-19-2013, 11:23 PM
#26
Instructor
Thread Starter
The MT is great. Yet today I was very thankful for Sport Plus and auto-blipping on downshifts (and upshifts if you hesitate too long). Driving mountain passes can be scary at times! Was nice to have one less thing to do to get used to the terrain. Was also nice to turn off Sport Chrono once I was more settled
Great hybrid between fully manual and fully auto.
I posted several more pictures on my blog at alanjcook.wordpress.com. I took some videos and will post them in next message.
05-19-2013, 11:33 PM
#27
Instructor
Thread Starter
Hi All,
Here are three videos from the last few days.
1) Drove car off the factory lot. Stopped at hotel. Accidentally left camera running and picked up part of a phone call with my mother at 3:00 -- capturing her excitement was an instant lifetime memory. Then first drive on Autobahn.
2) Started in Baden Baden and drove south on the Romantic Road through the Black Forest. Really opened car up for first time. Great scenery. Then met officer friendly at 2:55. Did not get ticket or fine but was scared out of my mind. But his friendliness was awesome. No ticket or fine. Then he gave me driving suggestions! Priceless.
3) Drove along Lake Zurich into countryside. Had lunch along Urner Sea. Continued to Klausen Pass. Awesome. Best drive yet. Videos of ascent and decent on mountain will be posted later, but here is some nice footage on the way there.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Sorry for the grainy footage. I recorded Super HD files which are gorgeous, but the large native files are choking my laptop. So these videos are compiled from lower resolution proof videos.
Hope they are enjoyable!
Alan
Here are three videos from the last few days.
1) Drove car off the factory lot. Stopped at hotel. Accidentally left camera running and picked up part of a phone call with my mother at 3:00 -- capturing her excitement was an instant lifetime memory. Then first drive on Autobahn.
2) Started in Baden Baden and drove south on the Romantic Road through the Black Forest. Really opened car up for first time. Great scenery. Then met officer friendly at 2:55. Did not get ticket or fine but was scared out of my mind. But his friendliness was awesome. No ticket or fine. Then he gave me driving suggestions! Priceless.
3) Drove along Lake Zurich into countryside. Had lunch along Urner Sea. Continued to Klausen Pass. Awesome. Best drive yet. Videos of ascent and decent on mountain will be posted later, but here is some nice footage on the way there.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Sorry for the grainy footage. I recorded Super HD files which are gorgeous, but the large native files are choking my laptop. So these videos are compiled from lower resolution proof videos.
Hope they are enjoyable!
Alan
05-20-2013, 03:20 AM
#30
Rennlist Member
Alan: Sorry to hear about this small glitch in your order. We have discussed this problem in my 'Custom Ordering' thread since early on. My friend 'Oldman 40', who just posted here in your thread, might be able to tell us if that was possible on his recent '13 C4S Cab order! He ordered the leather steering column (attached photo) and might know if deviating stitching was available on that option a few months ago! Normally yes, but as you know deviating stitching has been anything but normal on the 991 or 981! I love that option - regardless if you eventually get deviating stitching on it or not!