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2018 GTS Greetings from the PNW

3K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  Meg 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, just introducing myself and my new (to me) 2018 Jet Black Metallic Macan GTS. I’m also new to the P-world and can’t think of a better way to step into the brand after having dreamed of owning a Porsche since I was a teenager.
239038


The Purchase:
Wife and I bought this as a CPO during the holiday break from our local dealership, Porsche Beaverton. I had been saving for a couple of years while obsessively researching and lurking in these forums. We originally wanted a Macan S but PASM, SC, and PTV+ were high up on my list, and I quickly realized that I was more likely to find those performance options on a GTS build. After a frustrating experience trying to buy an out-of-state Rhodium Silver GTS (favorite color) from a dealership that turned out to be shady, we honed in on a local GTS with low mileage in JBM with nearly every option I wanted. Had a hard time compromising on Rhodium, but black was my 2nd favorite color and months of monitoring the used market taught me that if I kept waiting for the absolute perfect build in the perfect color (not to mention on CPO, with low mileage, from a good dealership, and fairly priced, etc), I’d have better luck winning the lottery. Given the local availability and the options spec’d on this build, plus the beauty of the car when seen in person (black cars really don’t photograph well IMO), we pulled the trigger. Kudos to our local dealership which allowed me to take the car for a half-day test drive. That really cemented the deal.

Driving it:
Ownership experience has been great thus far as driving the car brings me a ton of joy. Obviously the build quality and luxury aspects are top notch but I just love the way it produces power and sounds through moderate to high speeds. Merging onto highways and accelerating to pass (or accelerating from that rev-sweet-spot while pretending to pass even if there’s nobody there) are good examples. “Gorgeous” is the word that consistently comes to mind whenever I experience this sensation, which is even more thrilling on the twists and turns. PSE sounds incredible, especially the rev matching on Sport and Sport Plus downshifts — ugh, so great. The unique combination of performance and comfort (and alternating anywhere between those extremes by pressing a few buttons) is still mind-blowing to me — surely nothing I’ve ever experienced in any other car. I still wish it rolled less going into high speed turns, but that’s physics for ya. Despite a few minor issues I’m working to address, I am extremely happy with our decision to buy this car each and every day I cold-start this thing.

With that bit of background out of the way, here’s my build:
  • Sport Chrono
  • PTV+
  • GTS Interior Package (leather + alcantara w/Carmine stitching, belts, and tach)
  • Brushed black aluminum trim
  • 18-way seats
  • SD Mirrors
  • Premium Plus, Nav, LCA, Steering Wheel Heating, Smoking Package
  • Trailer hitch & roof rails (ehh, would rather not have them but they make more sense for our family)

On the immediate to-do list:
  • Air Suspension already threw up a fault code accompanied by that loud & scary grinding/creaking noise but the dealership wasn’t able to replicate the issue and the error hasn’t re-surfaced since they cleared codes, so I am told to monitor this and report back if it happens again. Been 2 weeks and no further problems yet. Weird.
  • Retrofit Apple CarPlay w/o the VC stalk. Still working with the dealership on this as they are inclined to think that VC is required despite other MF members having had the work done at the same dealership without VC.
  • Carpet is being replaced under warranty next week due to some weird premature wear/flaking-off of the carpet fibers in the rear. Very happy with the dealership for coming through on this one.
  • Check with dealership to see if they can enable High Beam Assist, per a recent post on the forums showing how easy it’s done via PIWIS.

Other fun stuff to tackle:
  • Paint correct and ceramic coat
  • Pick up a pressure washer and foam cannon, and beef up my car cleaning supplies
  • Tinker w/my phone mounting setup (for now I’m using a Rennline Mount + a $12 black silicone MagSafe holder affixed to the Rennline ball + Aukey 21W compact 12V charger for an all-in-one wireless charging and mounting solution). Once CarPlay is installed, I’ll need to re-assess as I’m not sure how MagSafe behaves when physically plugged in for CarPlay. I’ll probably switch back to the Rennline magnet, but the whole magnetic plate in case thing interferes with standard MagSafe wireless charging.
  • Install license plate frame from Future Classic
  • Install fob onto an OrbitKey key organizer and pick up a set of painted red key sides
  • Get a radar detector asap
  • Possibly add the convenience module
  • Possibly do a cargo management retrofit
  • Possibly do an ECU tune and slight lowering (after the CPO warranty expires)
 
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#7 ·
Thanks so much! And good point on spelling organiser with an “s” given the Aussie origin :)

Yeah, I’d say my local dealership has created a customer for life. Making the deal wasn’t exactly easy, but the effort was worth it for sure. I feel like this was a good step in building a relationship with them. Once I’m ready for that 911, I’m reasonably sure I’ll be in good hands.
 
#10 ·
Awesome! Any recommendations for good weekend drives? The car really sings when getting out on some country roads. When the weather gets better, I plan to head up 26 over Mt Hood and circle around on 35/84 back towards Portland. Driving it around the city & suburbs doesn’t do it justice.
 
#6 ·
...and months of monitoring the used market taught me that if I kept waiting for the absolute perfect build in the perfect color (not to mention on CPO, with low mileage, from a good dealership, and fairly priced, etc), I’d have better luck winning the lottery.
Too right! Our search took almost half a year, but the car was more of a want than a need, luckily. Congrats on finding the one that is right for you!

Other fun stuff to tackle:
  • Paint correct and ceramic coat
  • Pick up a pressure washer and foam cannon, and beef up my car cleaning supplies
I did my previous Q5 ceramic in two sessions because it had more surface area than our small to midsize cars... polish/coat the hood/fr bumper/roof in one session and everything else in the next. Just upgraded to a Griots G9 buffer, hopefully it makes the Macan a lot easier than my 20(!) year old Porter Cable.

We've got another car with a glass roof and applied Gtechniq G1 to the glass with really good results - I bought an extra bottle for the Macan, there's a LOT of glass to coat. I'd highly recommend it if you're in the PNW, the coating is still really effective after almost a year. If you've already got the goods for paint correction you've got most of what you need to polish the glass before applying the G1. Have fun!
 
#11 ·
Too right! Our search took almost half a year, but the car was more of a want than a need, luckily. Congrats on finding the one that is right for you!


I did my previous Q5 ceramic in two sessions because it had more surface area than our small to midsize cars... polish/coat the hood/fr bumper/roof in one session and everything else in the next. Just upgraded to a Griots G9 buffer, hopefully it makes the Macan a lot easier than my 20(!) year old Porter Cable.

We've got another car with a glass roof and applied Gtechniq G1 to the glass with really good results - I bought an extra bottle for the Macan, there's a LOT of glass to coat. I'd highly recommend it if you're in the PNW, the coating is still really effective after almost a year. If you've already got the goods for paint correction you've got most of what you need to polish the glass before applying the G1. Have fun!
Thank you so much for the recommendations! I’m still torn between DIY and paying to have it professionally done. I’m all about DIY in general (e.g., house projects) and the satisfaction that comes along with saving tons of cash and learning new skills but as I’ve never polished a car, I don’t have any polishing tools and neither do I have access to good indoor space (garage currently too full due to above-mentioned DIY adventures).

If you were in my shoes, would you still go the DIY route?
 
#20 ·
Oof! Curb rash on satin black?

I tried once on an older BMW’s wheels - I was able to get the actual scrapes themselves to look pretty decent, but struggled with the paint match (the store said it’d be exact... it wasn’t). Given that my local body shop does $150 per wheel I figure that one is best left to them.

Don’t forget to take lots of before and after pics of your old car’s paint to show off to your spouse! Heh.
 
#23 ·
Hi everyone, just introducing myself and my new (to me) 2018 Jet Black Metallic Macan GTS. I’m also new to the P-world and can’t think of a better way to step into the brand after having dreamed of owning a Porsche since I was a teenager.
View attachment 239038

The Purchase:
Wife and I bought this as a CPO during the holiday break from our local dealership, Porsche Beaverton. I had been saving for a couple of years while obsessively researching and lurking in these forums. We originally wanted a Macan S but PASM, SC, and PTV+ were high up on my list, and I quickly realized that I was more likely to find those performance options on a GTS build. After a frustrating experience trying to buy an out-of-state Rhodium Silver GTS (favorite color) from a dealership that turned out to be shady, we honed in on a local GTS with low mileage in JBM with nearly every option I wanted. Had a hard time compromising on Rhodium, but black was my 2nd favorite color and months of monitoring the used market taught me that if I kept waiting for the absolute perfect build in the perfect color (not to mention on CPO, with low mileage, from a good dealership, and fairly priced, etc), I’d have better luck winning the lottery. Given the local availability and the options spec’d on this build, plus the beauty of the car when seen in person (black cars really don’t photograph well IMO), we pulled the trigger. Kudos to our local dealership which allowed me to take the car for a half-day test drive. That really cemented the deal.

Driving it:
Ownership experience has been great thus far as driving the car brings me a ton of joy. Obviously the build quality and luxury aspects are top notch but I just love the way it produces power and sounds through moderate to high speeds. Merging onto highways and accelerating to pass (or accelerating from that rev-sweet-spot while pretending to pass even if there’s nobody there) are good examples. “Gorgeous” is the word that consistently comes to mind whenever I experience this sensation, which is even more thrilling on the twists and turns. PSE sounds incredible, especially the rev matching on Sport and Sport Plus downshifts — ugh, so great. The unique combination of performance and comfort (and alternating anywhere between those extremes by pressing a few buttons) is still mind-blowing to me — surely nothing I’ve ever experienced in any other car. I still wish it rolled less going into high speed turns, but that’s physics for ya. Despite a few minor issues I’m working to address, I am extremely happy with our decision to buy this car each and every day I cold-start this thing.

With that bit of background out of the way, here’s my build:
  • Sport Chrono
  • PTV+
  • GTS Interior Package (leather + alcantara w/Carmine stitching, belts, and tach)
  • Brushed black aluminum trim
  • 18-way seats
  • SD Mirrors
  • Premium Plus, Nav, LCA, Steering Wheel Heating, Smoking Package
  • Trailer hitch & roof rails (ehh, would rather not have them but they make more sense for our family)

On the immediate to-do list:
  • Air Suspension already threw up a fault code accompanied by that loud & scary grinding/creaking noise but the dealership wasn’t able to replicate the issue and the error hasn’t re-surfaced since they cleared codes, so I am told to monitor this and report back if it happens again. Been 2 weeks and no further problems yet. Weird.
  • Retrofit Apple CarPlay w/o the VC stalk. Still working with the dealership on this as they are inclined to think that VC is required despite other MF members having had the work done at the same dealership without VC.
  • Carpet is being replaced under warranty next week due to some weird premature wear/flaking-off of the carpet fibers in the rear. Very happy with the dealership for coming through on this one.
  • Check with dealership to see if they can enable High Beam Assist, per a recent post on the forums showing how easy it’s done via PIWIS.

Other fun stuff to tackle:
  • Paint correct and ceramic coat
  • Pick up a pressure washer and foam cannon, and beef up my car cleaning supplies
  • Tinker w/my phone mounting setup (for now I’m using a Rennline Mount + a $12 black silicone MagSafe holder affixed to the Rennline ball + Aukey 21W compact 12V charger for an all-in-one wireless charging and mounting solution). Once CarPlay is installed, I’ll need to re-assess as I’m not sure how MagSafe behaves when physically plugged in for CarPlay. I’ll probably switch back to the Rennline magnet, but the whole magnetic plate in case thing interferes with standard MagSafe wireless charging.
  • Install license plate frame from Future Classic
  • Install fob onto an OrbitKey key organizer and pick up a set of painted red key sides
  • Get a radar detector asap
  • Possibly add the convenience module
  • Possibly do a cargo management retrofit
  • Possibly do an ECU tune and slight lowering (after the CPO warranty expires)
Belated Congrats, how’s ownership a year.5 later? I just picked up a 2019 base car with only 23k and thrilled with it!
 
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