Stuttgart to Sydney...and beyond

[OzzieT]

Car is amazing but the infrastructure is brisbane with charge fox is so poor. I wish Porsche didn’t make us pay for 3 years of subscription. At least in that sense we would have freedom to pay and use non fox chargers.

I’ve not got that far yet! Looking forward to that challenge…

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[OzzieT]

CRASH. Hoegh Bangkok now delayed for 11 days at Port Kembla. Vessel is currently moored offshore due to the dreaded vehicle importation congestion challenge. Also now trying to sell my BMW and realizing the Taycan delays have really hurt my resale price without any compensating benefit from Porsche.

Feeling a bit over it. A bit ripped off. Buyers remorse like feelings.

 

[whitex]

CRASH. Hoegh Bangkok now delayed for 11 days at Port Kembla. Vessel is currently moored offshore due to the dreaded vehicle importation congestion challenge. Also now trying to sell my BMW and realizing the Taycan delays have really hurt my resale price without any compensating benefit from Porsche.

Feeling a bit over it. A bit ripped off. Buyers remorse like feelings.

From the time when I put down my first deposit in 2021 to the time I picked up my Taycan in 2023, my trade lost ~40% in value. The dealer offered to take it in early, but then I would have had to find an alternative car for 20 months (which was not known at the time). I also lost out on $7,500 US tax credit, and the price of Taycan went up because model years changed, and interest rates shot up. Porsche delays over the last couple of years have proven to be very expensive to customers.

HOWEVER, the trade-in depreciation is not as straightforward as it sounds - it was a little bit of a mirage. The trade-in values have been incredibly inflated BECAUSE manufacturers had huge delays. Low interest rates fueled this trend because with almost free money, a lot more people were wanting to buy cars. A perfect storm for used car bubble to form. Why else would dealers offer close to MSRP (or more) for 2 year old trade-ins, which was true for most brands at the peak of the market. IIRC, in the US, the used car market shot up 40%+ during 2021 as compared to 2019. If you think about it rationally, it made no sense that someone could buy a Taycan, drive it for 2 years, trade it in for a new one with the same spec, and still walk away with cash from the transaction. With the low interest rates back then, you could buy a new Taycan every 6-12 months and actually make more money than sticking it in a savings account! The catch of course is that you could not buy a new Taycan every 6 months. Unfortunately this situation did create expectations from customers who now are feeling ripped off, because their trade-ins are now much lower values as the market has been correcting back and their trade-in car is also a year or two older.

So don't fret, you were not ripped off, just had some unrealistic expectations due to unusual market conditions. If Porsche and others were able to get customers new cars quickly, your trade would have never been worth what it was. So re-assess your situation given current market conditions, see if it still makes sense for you to buy the Taycan (the joy of driving it vs. the net cost), and if the answer is yes, pick it up and enjoy it without regrets. That is what I did. Life's too short for regrets.

PS> Similar situation happened in other markets. A family member was offered a really good price for his gaming graphics card during the pandemic, which was more than MSRP of a top of a line card, so without thinking, he took the cash, only to regret it few days later when he realized there was no way to get a new graphics card at MSRP, they were going at 2-3x MSRP (fueled by both gaming and crypto demands at the time). Even a 1:1 replacement ended up costing him more than he got for his.

 

[OzzieT]

From the time when I put down my first deposit in 2021 to the time I picked up my Taycan in 2023, my trade lost ~40% in value. The dealer offered to take it in early, but then I would have had to find an alternative car for 20 months (which was not known at the time). I also lost out on $7,500 US tax credit, and the price of Taycan went up because model years changed, and interest rates shot up. Porsche delays over the last couple of years have proven to be very expensive to customers.

HOWEVER, the trade-in depreciation is not as straightforward as it sounds - it was a little bit of a mirage. The trade-in values have been incredibly inflated BECAUSE manufacturers had huge delays. Low interest rates fueled this trend because with almost free money, a lot more people were wanting to buy cars. A perfect storm for used car bubble to form. Why else would dealers offer close to MSRP (or more) for 2 year old trade-ins, which was true for most brands at the peak of the market. IIRC, in the US, the used car market shot up 40%+ during 2021 as compared to 2019. If you think about it rationally, it made no sense that someone could buy a Taycan, drive it for 2 years, trade it in for a new one with the same spec, and still walk away with cash from the transaction. With the low interest rates back then, you could buy a new Taycan every 6-12 months and actually make more money than sticking it in a savings account! The catch of course is that you could not buy a new Taycan every 6 months. Unfortunately this situation did create expectations from customers who now are feeling ripped off, because their trade-ins are now much lower values as the market has been correcting back and their trade-in car is also a year or two older.

So don't fret, you were not ripped off, just had some unrealistic expectations due to unusual market conditions. If Porsche and others were able to get customers new cars quickly, your trade would have never been worth what it was. So re-assess your situation given current market conditions, see if it still makes sense for you to buy the Taycan (the joy of driving it vs. the net cost), and if the answer is yes, pick it up and enjoy it without regrets. That is what I did. Life's too short for regrets.

PS> Similar situation happened in other markets. A family member was offered a really good price for his gaming graphics card during the pandemic, which was more than MSRP of a top of a line card, so without thinking, he took the cash, only to regret it few days later when he realized there was no way to get a new graphics card at MSRP, they were going at 2-3x MSRP (fueled by both gaming and crypto demands at the time). Even a 1:1 replacement ended up costing him more than he got for his.

@whitex thanks so much for your post and hanging in there with me. It’s a roller coaster ride and the other day I was a bit fed up. But you are right, the resale market was artificially inflated as was the demand for new vehicles and it is now all going through a major adjustment. I bought the Taycan because life is too short and I am sure like so many on this forum I won’t regret it.

 

[simcity]

@whitex thanks so much for your post and hanging in there with me. It’s a roller coaster ride and the other day I was a bit fed up. But you are right, the resale market was artificially inflated as was the demand for new vehicles and it is now all going through a major adjustment. I bought the Taycan because life is too short and I am sure like so many on this forum I won’t regret it.

Don’t worry the secondhand EV market here has been positively dead since the start of the year if not earlier. I had my old MX valued at £45k in November and less than 2 months later it was £30K.

As for the wait I feel for you. I waited 13.5 months. It’s worth it. Only a few more days. Chin up.

 

[tchavei]

@whitex thanks so much for your post and hanging in there with me. It’s a roller coaster ride and the other day I was a bit fed up. But you are right, the resale market was artificially inflated as was the demand for new vehicles and it is now all going through a major adjustment. I bought the Taycan because life is too short and I am sure like so many on this forum I won’t regret it.

The closer it gets, the higher the emotions. The moment I knew my car was on the back of a truck, I started to check possible road strikes in France and Germany. When two weeks passed by and my SA told me he had no idea where the car was, I started imagining the truck in a ditch with my taycan wrecked to pieces.

All of that transformed into relief when the SA sent me an unboxing video of the car at dealership. However, that relief was short as it was replaced by stress to get insurance, registration, trip to the dealership and anxiety on how to return home (440km trip. Around the corner in Australian terms).

All I can say is: hang in there. It's totally worth it. The car puts a smile on your face every single day and you will soon forget about all the drama you're going through.

 

[OzzieT]

Don’t worry the secondhand EV market here has been positively dead since the start of the year if not earlier. I had my old MX valued at £45k in November and less than 2 months later it was £30K.

As for the wait I feel for you. I waited 13.5 months. It’s worth it. Only a few more days. Chin up.

Thank you mate.

 

[OzzieT]

The closer it gets, the higher the emotions. The moment I knew my car was on the back of a truck, I started to check possible road strikes in France and Germany. When two weeks passed by and my SA told me he had no idea where the car was, I started imagining the truck in a ditch with my taycan wrecked to pieces.

All of that transformed into relief when the SA sent me an unboxing video of the car at dealership. However, that relief was short as it was replaced by stress to get insurance, registration, trip to the dealership and anxiety on how to return home (440km trip. Around the corner in Australian terms).

All I can say is: hang in there. It's totally worth it. The car puts a smile on your face every single day and you will soon forget about all the drama you're going through.

Thanks mate.

 

[whitex]

The closer it gets, the higher the emotions. The moment I knew my car was on the back of a truck, I started to check possible road strikes in France and Germany. When two weeks passed by and my SA told me he had no idea where the car was, I started imagining the truck in a ditch with my taycan wrecked to pieces.

All of that transformed into relief when the SA sent me an unboxing video of the car at dealership. However, that relief was short as it was replaced by stress to get insurance, registration, trip to the dealership and anxiety on how to return home (440km trip. Around the corner in Australian terms).

All I can say is: hang in there. It's totally worth it. The car puts a smile on your face every single day and you will soon forget about all the drama you're going through.

Funny, for me it was the opposite. Once the car landed at the port and I had no updates, I stopped checking obsessively - went from multiple times a day to every 2-3 days. Maybe it was because it was just stuck there, and I knew the next stop is the final one. My SA actually texted me the pictures of the car one morning when it arrived, at which time I checked again and the car still showed in port. After confirming with the SA the car has no stop-sales and will be ready, I booked a redeye flight for Friday night that week, got insurance, arranged things with the bank, flew overnight and picked it up Saturday morning, then drove it home 3,500 miles (~5,600km). Yes, I could have had it shipped, but where is the fun in that? I wanted to drive it, and what better excuse to drive your brand new Taycan home across continent? It was a fun trip!

 

[whitex]

@whitex I bought the Taycan because life is too short and I am sure like so many on this forum I won’t regret it.

THAT ^. You didn't buy the Taycan because you had an unbelievable trade-in opportunity (which is no longer there today). When I was ~15yo I met a guy who was a millionaire, after working his ass off with his wife their entire lives. He gave me a few pieces of advice, but one was "enjoy life while you can, don't postpone everything until you're retired like I did". I've been following his advice since, zero regrets. That is not to say you should buy cars beyond your means, as nothing spoils the car experience like a monthly payment you cannot afford, but if you can afford it enjoy it!

PS> Just over 3 months of Taycan ownership here, still puts a smile on my face to drive it, and I still have a bunch of things I want to do to learn about it and improve it (yes, I'm one of those crazy car people who love taking them apart and making them better - I am just very time constrained). Worth mentioning that this is not my first EV, so this is not just the EV honeymoon period where one falls in love with the EV butter-smooth powerful drivetrain or never going to a gas station - I've had that for a decade prior driving my Model S's.

 

[OzzieT]

Well the news does not get any better. I've managed to find the Port Kembla shipping schedule. There are 10 vehicle carriers moored off the Port in the queue ahead of the Hoegh Bangkok. The current scheduled arrival is now June 6th, which will be an 18 day delay. An indictment on the NSW Port Authority's abysmal record of shipping efficiency.

 

[OzzieT]

Well the 6th of June has passed us by, as did a revised berthing date of today, as the arrival of the Hoegh Bangkok to port has been pushed out by another week. It's unbelievably frustrating. You may well ask why is it so?

As you may have read from the earlier posts in this thread, Australia has massive issues with the importation of new vehicles. You see once upon a time Australia used to manufacture vehicles. In recent times we had Ford, Holden (GM), Mitsubishi and Toyota all manufacturing courtesy of substantial Government subsidies. Over time the Government decided to reduce or withdraw these subsidies and it became too expensive to manufacture cars here. While Australia still produces components for the car industry there are no new cars coming off production lines.

Therefore all new cars in Australia must be imported. This together with a surge in post-COVID spending on new cars has led to a surge in vehicle importation. However the major ports of Melbourne and Sydney have not invested in building additional capacity. Further quarantine inspections have become tougher as more vehicles are imported from Asia where there are range of nasties the country is trying to keep away from our flora and fauna.

Drilling down even further, the reason the Hoegh Bangkok has been delayed another week, is it is waiting on the Dong-A Glaucos to vacate its berth. It hasn't been able to do this as the vehicle and vessel cleaning required as been way more extensive than originally anticipated.

My hopes of June delivery are fading. I've also sold my BMW so I'm without any wheels. It's a long weekend here in Sydney with ideal driving weather and I had a secret plan to go for a nice scenic drive in my new Taycan. That dream is gone and my confidence levels even on a July delivery are low. Watcha gunna do? Shaddap-a your face!

 

[Taycan2023y]

Well the 6th of June has passed us by, as did a revised berthing date of today, as the arrival of the Hoegh Bangkok to port has been pushed out by another week. It's unbelievably frustrating. You may well ask why is it so?

As you may have read from the earlier posts in this thread, Australia has massive issues with the importation of new vehicles. You see once upon a time Australia used to manufacture vehicles. In recent times we had Ford, Holden (GM), Mitsubishi and Toyota all manufacturing courtesy of substantial Government subsidies. Over time the Government decided to reduce or withdraw these subsidies and it became too expensive to manufacture cars here. While Australia still produces components for the car industry there are no new cars coming off production lines.

Therefore all new cars in Australia must be imported. This together with a surge in post-COVID spending on new cars has led to a surge in vehicle importation. However the major ports of Melbourne and Sydney have not invested in building additional capacity. Further quarantine inspections have become tougher as more vehicles are imported from Asia where there are range of nasties the country is trying to keep away from our flora and fauna.

Drilling down even further, the reason the Hoegh Bangkok has been delayed another week, is it is waiting on the Dong-A Glaucos to vacate its berth. It hasn't been able to do this as the vehicle and vessel cleaning required as been way more extensive than originally anticipated.

My hopes of June delivery are fading. I've also sold my BMW so I'm without any wheels. It's a long weekend here in Sydney with ideal driving weather and I had a secret plan to go for a nice scenic drive in my new Taycan. That dream is gone and my confidence levels even on a July delivery are low. Watcha gunna do? Shaddap-a your face!

Feel your pain man. Brisbane was a disaster as well. Hopefully you receive it by the end of the month.
Once you do; the driving will put a smile on your face. All this waiting will be a distant memory.

Sidetracking - I don’t know what you got for your 8 series but bmw sa that I dealt with for the past 11 years called trying to sell me new cars. 3 series went up in prices by 33k in the last two years. The new 3 series is $117k. I remember when I was looking at the 840i last year it was around $200-220k. I bet it will be sitting at $260k. 7 series went up almost $100k yet their Designs get uglier.

 

[OzzieT]

My m850i sale was tough. There were quite a few for sale and while used prices held up well for a while they have come back quite a bit (excluding Toyota 4WD’s). Buyers are not looking to V8’s quite as much and are moving to EV’s, I’m a case in point. So in the end, despite condition/km being great, I did not get much more than dealer trade-in.

 

[OzzieT]

At long last, the Hoegh Bangkok has arrived a Port Kembla!

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