BEFORE YOU READ ANY OTHER REVIEWS, READ THIS ONE... I just bought a 2014 Porsche Boxster from Newport Auto Center. I want to preface this review by saying that my standards for a car purchase are IMPOSSIBLY high. I have criteria more detailed than 99.999% of customers, even Porsche buyers. And I don't say that lightly. I'm OCD and terrifically anal-retentive and a germaphobe when it comes to my cars. I don't let anyone drive my cars, don't want anyone in them, touching them, I don't even want anyone to breathe on them. So I always buy my cars new. But taking delivery without a dealership's staff rolling around inside it is almost impossible. But Newport Auto Center MET my expectations! That's an Earth shifting on its axis type of event. It's like finding a pot of 10,000 ounces of gold in your driveway when you get home from dinner. It's like President Obama showing up at your house unexpected just because he wants to shoot hoops with you. It just doesn't happen. I always have to lower my standards just to feel passingly happy about something like a car purchase. So the fact that Newport Auto Center met my expectations and standards without having to lower them... I'm just not sure any other dealership in California could of done that. I'm a rare bird, for sure, but the fact that they were able to accommodate even me is proof that they can successfully accommodate anyone. When I went looking for a dealer to place my order for a new Porsche with, my two main criteria was price and that they let me unwrap the car myself and not even touch the car until I get there. A tall order, considering most dealers won't even let you in the shop and are set in their ways and don't want to bother going out of their way to accommodate demands easily seen as illogical. The General Sales Manager, Dan C., accepted my offer and told me that my expectations would be met. I was hoping he would be right, but I wasn't holding my breathe. But the way it worked out, things could not of possibly gone any smoother. After an excruciating 6 month wait, the boat my car was on arrived at the Port of San Diego and delivery day was fast approaching. It all came down to delivery. Ordering the car and agreeing on the price was easy (I didn't go in to negotiate and just sent my no-haggle offer via email). How the delivery goes is what it all comes down to. My ideal was to savior ever moment of the delivery process, this being my first Porsche and something that I worked very hard to be able to afford. I wanted it to go perfectly. But, of course, as we know things we want to go perfectly rarely go perfectly. But THIS WENT PERFECTLY! Dan (the General Sales Manager) and I exchanged emailed as the boat docked. He emailed me to let me know he was going to try and get my car on the first available truck to the dealership. And he didn't disappoint! I was expecting to wait 6 or 7 days before I got "The Call." I'm a member of one of the Porsche message boards and some other folks had their car arrive at the Port of San Diego on a different ship just 6 days ahead of the ship my car was on and it took 6-7 days for their car to get to the dealership in southern California. But 24 hours after the ship my car came on had docked, I got an email from Dan telling me that my car was going onto a truck tomorrow morning and should land at the dealership tomorrow afternoon! Through his sheer will and after constant pestering of the people at the port, he got my car on a truck lightning quick! My car was at the dealership 48 hours after the ship docked! I live in northern California and drove down to Newport Beach the same day that I got the email from Dan. I stayed the night in a hotel and was at the dealership by 12:30pm the next morning. I met Dan and my salesman, Robert F., for the first time in person and then gave Robert my cell phone number to text me if the truck shows up as I went across the street to grab a bite to eat at a great place called 3-Thirty-3. Just to explain the level of service they provided, Robert told me that if the truck shows up and the driver starts to unload the truck before I'm able to pay my bill at the restaurant and run back across the street that he'll tell the driver to stop unloading and wait for me! I finished lunch around 1:30pm and walked back over to the dealership and right around 30 minutes later a Wagoneers 18-wheeler rounded the corner. THAT'S IT! I KNOW THAT'S THE TRUCK THAT MY CAR IS IN! I literally sprinted over to it and waited as the driver opened up the back. AND THERE IT WAS! My brand new Porsche on the top row. After 6 months of waiting and constantly tracking the ship on a daily basis (sometimes hourly basis) like some kind of cocaine addict as it made its way across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and then up the Mexican coast to San Diego and then finally seeing it THERE right in front of me, it was a feeling of absolute joy. I told the truck driver "That one is mine!" And he goes "No way! Come on! Are you serious!?" He thought it was so cool that I waited 6 months for it and then I got to see it being delivered -- so did I! A few minutes later, he drove it off the truck and parked it 50 feet away on the dealer lot. A few minutes after that, Robert came out and directed me into the shop where my car would get PDI'd (Pre-Delivery Inspection). There I met Rich, a senior technician who has been working in the service department there at Newport Porsche for over 30 years (who also drives a really cool classic Porsche himself!). The general sales manager knew how anal I am so he arranged for their senior tech to handle my PDI and he was absolutely superb! He was the most accommodating service tech I've ever met. He let me perform almost the entire PDI myself as he gave me step-by-step instructions and oversaw the entire process. I sat in the car and he told me to press each of the buttons at different times in order to test all of the different systems. He was incredibly understanding about how I am about anyone going in the interior of the car and let me handle everything to do with PDI for the inside of the car. He even let me plug the computer into the OBD port. It was AMAZING! I literally felt like I was bringing my car to life! And for the road test, I drove and my salesman road shotgun. Afterwards, they gave me a huge covered spot to park the car and unwrap it at my leisure. I took my time!...... [non-permissible content removed] HUGE thanks to Dan C. (general sales manager), Robert Fischer (my salesman), Rich (my service technician), and Sergio (parts department) at Newport Auto Center. Seriously, they're awesome! I never could of expected it to go so well. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A DEALER WHO GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND TO SATISFY THEIR CUSTOMERS AND EARN YOUR BUSINESS, NEWPORT PORSCHE IS THE ONLY DEALER YOU NEED TO CALL. Call and talk to Dan Comouche or Robert Fischer and they will take care of you. And if you're very OCD and anal-retentive about your cars and the delivery process like I am, you'd be crazy to go anywhere else but Newport Porsche. Just call Dan and tell him you're like Logan and need the same treatment and he'll take care of you! I'm in LOVE with this car! Simply in love!
LoganPOwner
Sep 1, 2013