Take a look on the Porsche North America website and you’ll read that you can get your hands on a new 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S for $207,000. So how come a dealer in Illinois thinks he can get $464,000 for what is basically the same car?
First up, we know that the low supply and high demand for new cars means almost no one is managing to pay MSRP these days. Plus, the price quoted on Porsche’s retail website is just the jumping off point for a new 718, 911, Macan, Cayenne, Panamera or Taycan. A Porsche that makes it out of the factory with no options whatsoever is probably almost as rare as one that has, well, $160k of gadgets and personalisation upgrades applied.
This specific 911 Turbo S has nearly $160,000 worth of options
Like the car we have here. Stickered at $364,995 by the Porsche dealership, but actually being offered at $464,000 “due to the nature of rarity of this vehicle” according to the dealer, it’s the perfect storm of too many crazy options and an OPC looking to milk every last drop from his customers.
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The dealer mark-up is straightforward (straightforward greed), but you’re probably wondering about those options. How is it even possible to spend $160k, the kind of money that would buy a brand new 992 GT3, personalising a 911? The answer is staring you in the face. This Turbo features a near-$100k paint job executed by Porsche’s Exclusive Manufaktur personalisation arm. Called Urban Bamboo, this particular hue is one of a handful of special Chromaflair paint options whose color changes depending on the light and your viewing angle.
There’s no fixed price for Chromaflair
We reached out to Porsche to ask how much they charge for the special Chromaflair paint job, and they told us that, “There is no fixed price for Chromaflair. Each request of this nature is seen as an individual project and investigated as such.” For what it’s worth, a selection of Porsches ordered with the Chromaflair paint that we’ve seen in recent years had the option listed from around €80,000 to €90,000 in Europe, and $90,000 to $100,000 in the USA.
It’s the kind of treatment more usually seen in the modified world (or on late 1990s Nissan Micras), and probably doesn’t really look its best in photographs. At least we hope that’s the case, because while this green Turbo S does look pretty handsome, it’s also kind of restrained. We can’t help wondering if it’s a little low-key for the kind of person who’s willing to drop almost $500k on a 911. Porsche buyers wanting their $100k Chromaflair paint jobs to really pop would be better off choosing one of the other available colours, like Python Green or Explosive Gold.
The remaining $60k of options spend on this car is accounted for by an Exclusive Manufaktur leather interior “930 Leather Package” inspired by the interior of the original 1975 911 Turbo, plus goodies like a carbon roof, sports exhaust and Burmester hifi. Under that special skin, though, it’s a regular 911 Turbo S, though with 640 hp (650 PS) under the tail and driving all four wheels, it’s unlikely the new buyer is going to feel shortchanged in the performance department.
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But maybe the buyer Porsche Exchange had lined up for this car last year was short of change. We first heard about this 911 in February 2021 at which point the dealer said it was sold, but we now understand that sale was cancelled and the car is still available. It’s still a special thing, but it’s also a year old and, with the arrival of the new 911 Turbo S Lightweight, it’s no longer the big news it once was, leading us to imagine the dealer will struggle to realise its $464,000 goal.
How much over the $207,000 MSRP of a stock Turbo S would you pay for this special 911? Leave a comment and let us know.