When Production Is Confirmed

A few months after placing an order, the production schedule is confirmed and delivery finally starts to feel real. Our sales representative, H, always gets in touch as soon as the production timing is confirmed. I’ve heard that some salespeople at other dealerships don’t reach out, so in that case, it’s probably best to follow up yourself.

Timing matters here, too. With Porsche, the model year usually changes around summer (July or August). This model year is different from the registration year shown on a Japanese vehicle inspection certificate. For example, cars built from summer 2019 onward are 2020 models.

Cars like Porsches receive small improvements every year, so specifications can vary slightly even within the same model, depending on the production year (model year). You could call it a minor update to the minor changes.

As a result, the model year shown on the registration documents at delivery may differ from the model year in which the car was built. Our Panamera Turbo, for example, was registered as a 2017 model, but its production timing made it a 2018 model (MY2018). (I’ve also heard that Porsche’s factories close for a while in the summer, halting production during that period.)

For this reason, the price you’re quoted when you order may differ from the final price. When our Boxster GTS and Panamera Turbo arrived, their prices were about ¥200,000 to ¥300,000 higher than when we placed the orders.

At the time, I said, “Wait, why? I thought we’d pay the price we agreed on when we ordered! How can it be right for the price to go up because of something on their end?” My husband explained:

That’s true, but that’s how it works with Porsche. They explained it when we ordered. The amount due at delivery is the final price. Prices can go up along the way, or the specifications can change, so it’s not unusual for the price to be different by the time the car arrives.

Once the production schedule is confirmed and the car enters the production line, it seems to take about a month to complete (though I imagine it varies somewhat by model).

Finalizing Your Order at the Dealership

As production nears completion, you’ll visit the dealership to finalize your order. You’ll bring the necessary documents, such as proof of parking, confirm the final price, and fill out and sign the dealership’s paperwork. Even at this point, my husband always says, “It still doesn’t feel like it’s really coming.”

I guess it doesn’t feel real until you actually see the car. In the case of the GT3, he even said:

“Even after seeing it in person, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like someone else’s car.”

Shipping the Car to the Dealership

Once your car is built and rolls off the production line, it’s shipped from Germany to Toyohashi Port in Japan (I was told that all Porsches enter Japan through this port).

Shipping by sea takes around a month and a half to reach Toyohashi Port. If you can’t wait that long, you may be able to use Porsche’s express air-freight option, the Air Delivery Service. With this service, delivery can take as little as one week after the car rolls off the production line. The price at the time this article was written was an additional ¥600,000. (*Source: Response, “As You’d Expect from Porsche, the World’s Fastest Delivery!”)

After arriving at Toyohashi Port, each Porsche is checked again, then transported to its dealership for inspection and other preparation. Once our car arrives at the dealership, H often takes a photo and sends it to us with a message along the lines of, “It’s arrived! Next, we’ll send it for paint protection and inspection.” (We really appreciate that.)

It probably takes about a week for the car to go through preparation work, such as servicing and paint protection, and return to the dealership. In the GT3’s case, it was just before Golden Week—a cluster of Japanese national holidays—so the workshop closed and it took a little longer for the car to be ready.

Taking Delivery of Your Porsche

After that, you’ll arrange a delivery date with the dealership. For us, H picked us up at home on the day, and we took delivery at the dealership, though I imagine there are other ways to have your car delivered.

I wrote about our GT3 delivery day in this article, so please take a look if you’re interested.

ポルシェ 911 GT3がついに納車！ – 納車日ドキュメンタリー

To wrap up, here’s a timeline of the order-to-delivery process for our 971 Panamera Turbo:

■Early March 2017: Order placed
(At the time, we were told delivery would be no earlier than October, and probably around November.)
■August 2017: Production begins
(The model year was 2018, not 2017, the year we placed the order.)
■Late September 2017: Estimated arrival at the dealership
■Mid-October 2017: Delivery

That was our experience.

Finally, when I asked my husband about ordering and taking delivery of a Porsche, he said:

If you’re placing a custom order, it’s best to expect that both the price and delivery date may change. People in Japan tend to be very particular about delivery schedules, so if they expect the process to work just like ordering a regular Japanese car, they might get upset and say, “That’s unbelievable!”