i'd like to have a porsche (911).

however you can bank on this. you will never get a new one at bargain basement prices.

another way of saying it, you get a good deal more for your money with a corvette than for a porsche... or you get a good deal less for your money with a porsche than a corvette.

also you cant go into a porsche dealership and buy a cruze (or its equivalent).

corvette is the best performance bang for buck out there. to really get significant performance out a porsche you need to go turbo and what is that, three times the cost of a vette?

 

I'm a little afraid to step into this thread because I own a Porsche, a new 2013 Boxster S.

I also owned a 2008 Z06, the FASTEST car I have ever owned, or ever will. I had to sell it for various reasons I'm not going into here. Hopefully that establishes a little bit of "street cred." (But I doubt it).
So, I found myself without a Corvette, what was available to me was not what I wanted, yet I "needed" a play car. I started looking at the Boxster after seeing one at a local car show and became intrigued. The more I researched, the more I liked what I read and I never did find a review that wasn't positive. Test drove one and fell in love. I actually took about a week to continue research and talk to the wife about my dilemma.
Bottom line was, I fell in love with the Boxster and now own it. It is the most balanced fun to drive sports car I have ever owned.
Yes, it has a lot less power than corvette, granted it's a lot more expensive for what you get, I freely give those points to folks here. But for pure joy, I don't think you can beat the Porsche. My Z was a blast to drive but on the street, I had to pretend there was a raw egg under my foot. Those with a Z, and probably will apply to the C7, know what I am talking about. WAY more power than you can reasonably use on the street.

Now, to answer the question of Why didn't I wait for the C7? First, I had a 2005 C6 and that first MY had a few teething problems. Second, the complexity of the new LT1 including AFM causes me to pause, partly because of the first year teething problems. Third, I haven't been able to see a C7 in person so I am withholding my thoughts on that until I can see it in the flesh. There are probably other things that cause me pause that I can't think of off the cuff. Lastly, the need for the play car became overwhelming, I had to have something, NOW!!

And if you don't think that Porsche's are competitors to Corvette, know that on Porsche websites one of the questions being widely discussed is, "Will Porsche owners cross shop the C7 when it comes out"???

In all honesty, if the C7 vert WAS available now, I suspect I would still go with the Boxster. It is a better car than the C6 Vert. was and the 911 in just about every aspect. The only reason it's slower than the 911 is because Porsche won't allow the Boxster to be faster. But road handling, manners, visual appeal, everything, is better than the 911 and trust me, from what I have read, the 911 folks don't like the new Boxster for those exact reasons.

So there you have one Corvette/Porsche lovers outlook on MY current state of affairs.

 

TMI. Thread is about the marketing of the two brands.

 

Porsche uses the recital engine...there is no place for two sets of golf clubs. End of story.

 

And if that is a critical criteria, then you make the right choice and Porsche's marketing worked against them.

 

I am a Corvette guy AND Porsche guy. I know many Porsche fanatics as well and I can tell you 99.9% of them believe Porsche pricing is getting out of hand. In fact, most are completely fed up. If you don't believe me, go to a Porsche dealership and look at the price of even the most base 911. I think the C7 is going to make a dent in 911 sales. If the interior and tech is truly improved in the C7, I am sure those folks at Porsche have taken notice.

Porsche has ZERO pricing advantage...never had a price advantage.

 

Hate to break it to you but the C6 Vert > the boxster!!

 

UMMM why do you think you can get such a great car for so little compared????????
The Vette is a standard production line vehicle made mosty the same as all GM production vehicles.( correction like all production line vehicles not just GM ) Kinda like Henry Fords Idea make a great product that the masses can afford.

 

I hope the new C7 does as well when tested by Consumer Report.
(borrowed from todays P9 Forum)
------------------------------------------

The June issue of Consumer Reports, just out today, confirms what we all know in a comparison of the Boxster to the SLK (81), TT (80) and Z4 (76). Here are some highlights:

•"Of the four, the redesigned Boxster easily comes out ahead, with a score of 89. It handles, accelerates, and brakes with the best; it is relatively practical; and its soft-top is relatively easy to operate."
•"Highs: Handling, braking, engine sound, relative practicality, easy top operation, fit and finish"
Other results: tied with Z4 for fastest 0-60, fastest quarter mile, best emergency handling, highest avoidance maneuver speed, quickest dry braking, lowest curb weight, most luggage capacity, least front shoulder room, tied with SLK for most leg room, least head room, and (a little sadly) worst mpg.

 

Some of you guys are missing the point. I think Chevrolet is simply MISMANAGING their production. They dont have to cut a lot, just be aware of how many they will sell and not have 100's literally sitting around across the country at the end of the model year.

If you bought a C6 in the last 2-3 years anywhere near MSRP or god forbid you paid sticker, and now GM is selling them for 12K off, that HURTS the consumer!!!!!!

I am not debating whether you ought to buy a 911 over a Vette or vice versa, I am just saying Porsche, by managing their production #'s and pricing, helps the consumers hold resale value which promotes new car purchasing confidence.

I would love to have a new C7 but not if they are going to discount them 5K/10% after a year or so. That directly impacts my resale.

 

I see nothing wrong with making the car more easily obtainable even if it "devalues" the car.

Lets face it; the Corvette is so awesome, you really want the world to know. I love to tell people how affordable it is and still kicks everyone's butt. Maybe I'm just really caring about the status part so much as loving the car itself.

 

SD...
How does paying $12K less hurt the consumer? It hurts the folks that already bought... but GM doesn't care about those guys... its the new customer that they want.

What hurts the consumer is making $28K PER CAR....

If GM cuts their production and adds $15K to the price... I can't see that being a win for anybody.

If you are a Porsche guy, like them, want the "status" of the import, or whatever... buy a PORSCHE...

Its like comparing European Chocolate to Hershey's... Yes, European chocolate is sooooo good... made with the best of the best... but it can be $4 for a tiny bar.

Hershey's though, makes chocolate that enables a bar to be in every kids lunchbox (and oddly, Pre 1950s, most European's probably couldn't afford to taste chocolate for themselves until the Yanks made an affordable bar...)

GM makes a world class sports car that a lot of folks can buy and enjoy... why mess with that?

*Interesting - Accounting for inflation a 1967 Base Corvette was $4300... or about 70% of the average family income that year ($6100).
In 2012.. the annual family income is right around $51,000 or roughly the cost of a Base 2014 Vette...
hmmmmmm......

 

Porsche sell their vehicles worldwide. The 911 almost always has to be backorder to get it! Corvette has tried and pretty much fail in selling the C6 in most parts of the world other then in North America. Hopefully, with the new C7; they can start over again.

 

GM could ship the corvette parts to Opel (GM euro brand) and take the excess production capacity into use in cars that sell better.

Yes there is in Boxster and cayman.(with 911 you have to use back seats)

 

This is a tough crowd for this type of honesty combined with the reality of driving a performance car on the street.

Enjoy the Boxster, great car.

 

I know but they need to hear it. Or at least somebody probably needed to hear it. And I am enjoying it, even more than I thought I would.

 

I get your point OP and have made the same point before. One side of the coin only reason my friend isn't already in a corvette is cause he thinks they are too old man or hill billy. We have talked about it in length, he knows for a fact he would rather have a cayman s and pay more for what he admits is less car purely for the fact that it is more exclusive. But at the same time it pains him to blow an extra 10-20k on a car that will cost more to maintain. There actually was a cayman at the track with us a week ago, my buddy and I were both faster than the guy in his 09 cayman with a new punched out 3.8l motor, cause the first one went dry on the track and blew up. I think between that, and the tech in the C7 might have convinced him to go corvette. My buddy drives a heavily modded 08 sti, and i have my 03 z06 that i have driven under 2000 miles.

We have discussed it in length, the only idea we could come to is that chevy knows profit by volume, porsche doesn't know about volume so their sales model is based on profit per sale. This lends itself to the fact that by the core company design, corvettes will never truely be exclusive and that will turn away some buyers and attract some buyers. Porsche's will always be somewhat exclusive which will turn away some buyers and attract some buyers.

I approach everything from the aspect of what am I getting per dollar. So I couldn't own a porsche, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a sports car, but they are over priced imo. Mind you if chevrolet didn't sell more c5's per year then porsche sold all models of cars in the USA, I probably couldn't afford either, and possibly i wouldn't consider porsche's over priced. So I am glad chevy over saturates supply. Mind you looking at porsche sales number, they are getting some large sales increases in the USA from some market since the boxter release, so they must be doing something right there.

I totally agree that even my c5z06 is WAY too much car for the street, but I bought it to some degree specifically for that challenge on the track.

 

Not sure how many know this. But Porsche was only able to stay afloat due to sales of the Cayenne & Panermera. Those are the two vehicles that kept the company afloat. The 911/Cayman/Boxster were losing money and were not enough to keep the company afloat. Because the 911 is a vehicle that Porsche either breaks even on or loses money producing & selling, dont ever expect them to oversell it.. and then need to discount it to move the remaining units.

It would be idiotic to need to discount these cars any further.. as they would then be taking an additional loss on on a vehicle that is already sold at a loss.

 

GM has a different philosophy than Porsche which is a good thing, the world needs both.

GM doesn't artificially limit the production of their car to make more profit per unit and instead makes profit on quantity.

GM will make as many vettes as dealers order.

If someone wants to pay $20K more for a slower car based on "exclusivity", then more power to them.

The Corvette is the working man's sports car, and GM wants as many people to enjoy their car as possible.

 

Good original post and completely understandable perspective. Porsche design is a bit soft for my taste, and the V8 power in a Corvette is intoxicating. If it wasn't for these factors, many people on this forum would probably be more attracted to the brand.