Availing of the Porsche Approved

Availing of the Porsche Approved Pre-owned Car Program has never been more pleasant. Not that we know of it first-hand. Well, okay...not exactly. Okay, let me explain. Journalists ... specifically them of the motoring kind ... are privileged in certain ways. In order to be effective in delivering the message to our readers, we ought to indulge in that which we need to communicate. So, when the task of coming up with the story on how the Porsche Approved Pre-owned Car Program works in the Philippines, we need to drive a Porsche pre-owned car ... without necessarily making the purchase. Makes sense, right?

So that’s exactly what we did last January, when the Porsche Club of the Philippines went out on their regular fun drive one fine Sunday morning (this time up North to the Bulacan area and back), we drove with them. And like them, we took home our Porsche immediately after the invigorating run and brunch at Rockwell.

Now, since this was a pre-owned unit that I had, it naturally had to be less than brand new. I drove a 2000 model Boxter S. Nothing too fancy for the true Porsche enthusiast, to be sure, but more than adequate for a humble broadsheet writer. Needless to say, the seven-year-old Porsche proved more than up to the task of impressing the lights out of its star-stuck occupant. Despite its age, the Boxter showed tremendous balance and civility on the road. Power delivery, suspension performance and steering was almost as crisp as any brand new Porsche Boxter we’d test-driven before. As were most of the interior and exterior appointments. In fact, save for the rather negligible and only occasional rattle of the driver’s side window when it was stowed, you’d be hard pressed to even argue that this baby was a pre-owned unit.

PGA Cars’ Spencer Yu explains it quite well by the time I return the car to their premises. "We’ve replaced all necessary performance-related parts and given it our seal of approval. This pre-owned unit even comes with a two-year warranty. It’s really almost like getting a brand new Porsche for a bargain price," he stresses. Oh yeah, the price. The seven-year-old flaming red sex machine I used? It goes for a very reasonable P3.2 million.

What comes along with that "bargain price"? The assurance that the car is subjected to a rigorous inspection process based on the same standards of workmanship applied on every brand new Porsche. All Approved Pre-owned Porsches are subjected to more than 100 individual tests that assure the condition of everything from fluid levels to electrical and mechanical functions. This is done so that the warranty that is given along with the pre-owned car purchase can and will be honored.

Now, though the warranty covers an extensive list of parts and components, abusive and over-enthusiastic folk had better be prepared to listen to reason. Understandably, the warranty does not cover: maintenance work that is not part of an authorized warranty claim; wear and tear; damage caused by improper or excessive use; vehicles with modification not approved by Porsche; vehicles that have not been serviced in accordance with the Guarantee and Maintenance booklet and vehicles that have not been serviced in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Still, what the entire program brings to the table is a level of thoughtful service orientation that previously would not have been expected of a Filipino business entity. In fact, with our almost natural penchant for finding fault instead of solutions, this kind of program seems almost alien. Thank heavens we’re beginning to see the light. Regular readers of this section know that we’ve (this writer, specifically) been harking about some very positive developments that are set to come our way this year ... at least in the realm of motoring. The Porsche Approved Pre-owned Car Program certainly sits as among those positive developments.

To grasp its significance, we say go find out for yourself. Yeah, and tell them that the guy who doesn’t own a Porsche but is impressed with the entire program sent you.