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January 2021 - And a Very 718 New Years to us!

The holidays had provided a bit of welcome distraction for us excited soon-to-be-Porsche owners. On the very first day of the new year - a year where great things would be happening for Luke and I on the sportscar front - I dropped some Porsche-themed cupcakes off at Luke's place to commemorate.
New Years Porsche Cupcakes
The next step in the process to receive custom-ordered cars from Porsche is called "the allocation". In this step, Porsche converts the order that one has made into a definite slot in their build process. When you get an allocation, you know - with a high degree of certainty - that you are in fact going to have your car built for and sold to you.

January 2021 - Perusing and Planning

We had heard nothing from Porsche Pfaff in Toronto in the six weeks since we had placed our orders back in mid-November. No sign at all of our coveted allocations. We were not at all surprised by this silence. We had been monitoring the online forums, getting a sense of how long other buyers were waiting for their allocations, and also, from my own experience from back in 2018 with my BMW M2. Back then, that interval had measured roughly three or four months.

So it was back to the forums, the online reviews, the sending back and forth of whatever tantalizing pictures we could find of cars that looked like our builds (most importantly, we looked for photos of Caymans and Boxsters that did not have black wheels. Luke and I have a strong un-affinity for black wheels, and since black wheels were currently kind of the rage, it wasn't as easy to find photos with beautiful, clean, uplifting, wheel-well-filling silver wheels). We also became experts at spotting and trashing shoddy car journalism (of which there is a fair amount, unfortunately).

We also passed the time by building a set of spreadsheets and lists that would help us prepare for the smoothest possible European Delivery trip. What items to bring, where to get them, how much would they cost, instructions for usage and installation. Links to car video reviews that were nearly all effusive (or that contained the type of photography and footage that we ourselves hoped to capture). We started calling each new video review a "drip". We also thought about all of the little details needed to ensure we had the smoothest and most efficient trip while in Europe: Where were the charging ports on the 718? How much current would they allow us to draw? How would we route wires and cables so that we could maintain a clean, uncluttered interior during our trip? No planning stone was left unturned.
Image Sharing Frenzy
Gear, gear, gear
Lists upon lists
Gear labelling
To give you a sense of how much we obsessed, allow me to quote a few statistics (of the media and texts and activities we shared back and forth) for the one month period between December 15, 2020 and January 15, 2020:
  • 37 images of Caymans and Boxsters (primarily for viewing our desired wheels on as many cars and colors as possible, but also just to admire and drool)
  • 22 YouTube video reviews of 718 Caymans and Boxsters (which were nearly unanimous in unabashed praise)
  • 20+ discussions of gear needed for the Euro Delivery trip (and several purchases towards said items)
  • at least 40 visits to the Porsche Configurator (and frankly, probably more)
  • a nearly endless discussion about options and models (Porsche's schemes were clearly working on us!)
All in just one month! I mean, planning is one thing, but this? I suppose we were simply ... a little nuts.
January 2021 - Radio Proficiency

Speaking of planning, there was one thing in particular that we felt we needed to get right: communications. As in, car-to-car communications while we were driving together on our delivery trip. In the past, Luke and I had grabbed and used whatever low-cost comms we could find - generally some dollar-store, possibly mismatched set of plasticky FRS radios. Make no mistake - they work, but we wanted something that had longer range, and which - crucially - allowed us hands-free operation. Having to take one's hand off the wheel to transmit is awkward and frankly, not something you want to do while navigating intricate twisties at speed.

So, I researched. And what I discovered is that there are indeed radios out there that had the extra capabilities and the accessories that we wanted. Most importantly, a wireless Bluetooth-based push-to-talk button that we could velcro around the steering wheel and that would allow us, while keeping our hands on the wheel, to maintain voice communication with each other. The only problem? I could only find this sort of solution for amateur HAM radio sets. And HAM radio operation (aka Amateur Radio) is a licensed activity. To legally transmit using such a radio, you must be in possession of an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate. Something that would require ..... some training.

So, in January of 2021, with Luke's agreement, we enrolled into and started a four-month (once-a-week) online course to obtain our licenses. The little things we do to ensure perfection, right?
Am. Radio and Coursebook
Re-visiting electrical theory
Homemade Testing
January 2021 - The Creeping Continues

The model backchatter that had taken root soon after our orders started to ramp up a bit. Luke was talking a bit more seriously about the new "T" variant for his Boxster. It was one of the few models that came with a special kind of grippy fabric seat material called "Sport-tex" (along with a package of desirable features and options) that both Luke and I thought was very, very nice.
Sport-tex Seats
T = Black Wheels = NO
Unfortunately, time on the configurator revealed that it was not possible to configure a T model without having to get black or nearly black wheels. And as you now know, black wheels were a double-hard-no-no with us! Luke inquired as to substitutions, spending some time back-and-forthing with our salesman Rick, but the final answer was no: out-of-bound wheel substitutions would not be possible. This was another thing we were learning - if you couldn't configure it in the online configurator, you couldn't get it in real life. Period (actually, this is technically not entirely true, if you really want to spend big bucks, but for now let's just say ... can't do it in configurator ... equals .... not happening).

A Boxster T, therefore, was officially nixed. Of course, that didn't stop the model upgrade chatter ...

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:29 PM
Musing....how much do you like the Boxster S wheels? More than the Cayman S wheels?

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:29 PM
these days I'm preferring the Cayman S wheels

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:30 PM
is this musing.... have anything to do with you upgrading to a Boxster S, perchance?

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:30 PM
since I feel that is why you might ask such a question.... to save $600

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:31 PM
I too prefer the 5 spokers...just wondering if I would love the Boxster S ones too....need to see them in the flesh again. You know, if I decided to get an S.....

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:31 PM
I'll take that as a yes, then

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:31 PM
the Boxster S standard wheels are nice. I like them

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:32 PM
and I liked them when I saw them in the flesh (e.g. at Marks Motors)

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:32 PM
but... I like the 5-spokers better. I think I would spring for the 5 spokers

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:33 PM
seems very unfair that you would have to pay extra on top of getting the S to get what are zero dollars extra on the Cayman

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:33 PM
Morph from Cayman S logo to Boxster S logo would be cool.

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:34 PM
It would. Maybe I could split the difference of the cost of the wheels with you if you go with the S.

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:34 PM
As an incentive for you to get the S. $300 / each

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:35 PM
That's very nice of you! But at that point, I'd just suck it up wouldn't I? It's VERY tempting to just spend the extra $$ and get the S. Working out the dollar delta now.

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:36 PM
no no no. I will only give my blessing to get the S if you split the 5-spoke wheel surcharge. There. I have spoken.

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
Wouldn't it be cool to have almost the same specced hard and soft tops?

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
it would

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
also if you do this it's like you getting the T, but... well, but better

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
And since it makes no sense for you to spec a base...

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
it's everything the T is plus extra power and better brakes

From: Luke Ward - Jan 10, 2021, 7:37 PM
Yes. But, would I be encroaching on your territory...hmmm......

From: Andrew Lavigne - Jan 10, 2021, 7:38 PM
encroach away!

You'll note a couple of things in the above exchange: one is that I'm being slightly selfish ... goading and coaxing Luke into upgrading; but also, there are new glimmerings of the idea of matching up our builds so that our cars form up as a twinship - like similar-but-different siblings. That idea will recur again in the future ....
February 2021 - Winter pastimes
Starting to practice
February: the deep of winter here in the Great White North. Winter hiking, cross-country skiing, and the studying of much electrical theory on our Amateur radio certificate course. We also spent a lot of time using our car racing simulators practicing / learning the Nordschleife with the simulator Assetto Corsa (which usefully has the 718 Cayman S and 718 Boxster S as cars you can drive). Although we were already somewhat familiar with the Nordschleife from our 2018 visit, we aimed to understand every curve, slope, and curb - by heart. Any Euro Delivery trip we planned to do would most definitely involve a visit to - and laps around - the Nordschleife.

As the middle of February approached, we started to muse about when allocations might come - would we be able to do our European Delivery in the late spring? We really wanted to avoid the busy, clogged roads of high summer.

Although this is long-forgotten now, the winter of 2020-2021 was a period of time still within the crisis period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Vaccines were not widely available yet, and restrictive lockdown measures were still in effect. We started hearing news that businesses would soon be allowed to relax their visitation rules. This was good, because we were starting to feel an itch to see and feel some actual Porsche hardware - in the flesh. Under the guise of fitment planning (running wires, checking voltage and current for charging, measuring luggage space, etc.), we started to plan a visit to Toronto to visit Pfaff Porsche to check things out.

On February 8, the respected enthusiast website Savage Geese did a review of the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0. They titled the episode "Medicine for the Soul". They were blown away. Our hearts skipped a beat watching it.

Luke's Thoughts
[Luke's own winter thoughts...]
I'm thinking long and hard now about switching to a Boxster S. It's very good to discuss this with Andrew as it's helpful to hear his perspective.

And then of course there's the discussions about GTSs as the true dream car, which is pretty intoxicating, but we are talking quite a bit more money.

(to read more of Luke's thoughts from this moment, check out his blog post)


Background chatter continued between Luke and I with respect to possible model upgrades. For the moment, Luke's comments are "The 4.0 is just a bit too pricey", "But might be a nice upgrade", and "Down the road". But still, the GTS chatter continues for several days. One thing is becoming clear, though - Luke seems to have mentally moved on from a base Boxster build, and wants to up his order to an S model, if he can.

February 24 and 25, 2023 - Midwinter Movement

While we continued to mentally edge closer to the idea of buying GTS 4.0 models, we learned (on February 24th) that our salesperson at Pfaff Porsche - Rick, had left, and that we now had someone new to manage our orders - a fellow named Richard.

And then, out of the blue, on the following day, we got this email:

Hey guys,

I actually just received good news from European Delivery saying they filled your allocation spots for a June delivery!! This is confirmation that we can to the June time slot for both the Boxster an Cayman S. All options/specs must be finalized and ordered. Perhaps we can move our Zoom call up to 4:00pm so we can have a longer discussion. Thoughts?

Thank you,

Richard Butler
Sales Executive
rbutler@pfaffporsche.com

Well, well, well .... well, well, well, well! Allocations! That threw an interesting twist into the mix. An amazing twist. And for the time we wanted - June!

We needed to scramble, then, as we had many questions. We looked forward to the Zoom meeting we were about to have with him. Much to discuss. In preparation, we drafted up a set of notes:

Notes for PFAFF new guy (Richard)

Points to discuss/make:
  • ED is a must
  • Joint deliveries are a must
  • Need flexibility regarding delivery based on travel restrictions
  • Can we change car models - impacts on timeline
  • We are OK with later timeline (Aug/Sept) if it means we can change models - might also help with the COVID situation
  • What's the process from here? Do we nail down models, builds?
  • Do we get assigned a person from ED to work with? When?
  • Luke definitely wants to change from Boxster to at least Boxster S - how does this affect timeline? Given that we want to deliver together, if Luke's change means a delay, then Andrew's build needs to be delayed ...in which case maybe we both will change models?
  • Does changing from a Boxster to Boxster S result in a different delay than changing from a Boxster to a GTS? Correspondingly, what's the delay in changing from a Cayman S to a Cayman GTS? Essentially, we want both builds to line up.
  • discuss possible visit on March 13

With some anxiousness, we held our Zoom meeting with Richard from Pfaff. We were excited about our allocations; we loved the proposed Euro Delivery date, but there was a big problem: currently, travel from Canada to the European Union countries -- including Germany -- was severely restricted. Now, things *seemed* to be slowly opening up, but there was no guarantee. On top of that, the first wave of Covid vaccines had not yet rolled out widely in Canada, and Luke and I had not yet been able to get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated was a likely requirement, even if borders got opened. So we had two unknowns: would travel to Germany be allowed at all, and if so, would we be able to both get vaccinated in time for the trip?
Travel to Europe Restricted!
We discussed all of this with Richard, and he completely understood our concerns. He would forward them on to Porsche and Porsche ED and get some clarification.

At this meeting Luke also stated that he wanted to "upgrade" his order to a Boxster S. We weren't sure what that meant in terms of the allocation (could allocations even be "upgraded" in that way?). Additional uncertainty added to the mix.

Richard got back to us. There wasn't much Porsche could offer as a guarantee. We asked if Porsche could hold our cars in Germany for a period of time if we couldn't travel in June. The answer was "maybe but probably not". No guarantee, and if enough time passed, likely what would happen is that they would just cancel the Euro Delivery and ship our cars directly to us here in Canada.
Luke's Thoughts
[on the subject of Delivery and COVID...]
I'm a bit miffed that our new salesperson isn't really being very helpful in terms of seeing what other options are available for us. The Salesperson is pretty stonewall-ish. We've got to push back, as there's no way we want to take the risk of NOT getting the cars in Europe.

(to read more of Luke's thoughts from this moment, check out his blog post)


European Delivery with both of our cars, driving wonderful high mountain roads, driving through the Swiss, Italian, German, and French countrysides, visiting the Nürburgring. It was all too important to us, and we didn't want to risk it. We talked about giving up our allocations and to be put back "onto the list" - a list, we assumed, we'd now be at the top of - so that when new allocations came by, we'd be placed to do European Delivery perhaps in the early fall (or even later in the fall would be fine). We didn't really have a strong sense of the exact mechanisms of orders and allocations and the interaction with Euro Delivery and all of that. We just kind of assumed that we'd have a few months delay and that by then, travel would open up and vaccines would be given and surely by then a couple more 718 allocations would float by, and things would just generally be better.

So we told Richard: give up our allocations, please.

That was, as you'll see in the full story of all of this, a very very consequential decision. And not necessarily one we would repeat if we had to do it all over again.

As part of the giving up and re-ordering process, Luke upgraded his order to a Boxster S. This was another example of the ongoing model-and-feature creep that we were experiencing; a mental conveyor belt that continually brought new options, new ideas and new hope to our long wait. We re-visited the idea of getting GTS models (yet another increment upwards), and even proposed that idea a few days later (to Richard at Pfaff). He promptly shut us down: "GTS models are a different line of allocations. If you switch to those, you'll go right to the back of the line for allocations for those models". Wait, what? Different models have different waiting lines? Whoa. We didn't realize that. After a quick think, we chose to stay with our "S" model orders.
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