Very disappointed with my first PCA encounter

[rrental]

I have picked up my new to me 1986 930 last Wednesday from a Porsche dealer in Boise, Idaho. When we where there the sales person informed me about an upcoming Porsche event. Since I am fairly new with the PCA, (I am a member for a very short time, I did not receive the membership card yet) I was not aware of this tradition.

Apparently there is the Porsche Parade to be held in Salt Lake City. A reasonable distance (1800 km) from our place. During our way back we decided it would be very cool to drive the 930 there. Great road trip!

We got home from our road trip later that week to find out the registration was closed on the Friday we returned from the trip. I e-mailed the PCA office Monday early AM to check if we could register over the phone. I did not get any direct response and called the number displayed on the site.

The (very friendly) lady told me registration is closed, and no late entries where allowed. I explained her we did not hear about this event until late last week, and did not procrastinate. We just didn't know. She replied saying she understands and would try to get us in.

I have tried to get a hold of the PCA office for the last few days and left messages. Today I called again and have been told we are not allowed late entry.

I understand taking on this mayor event is a challenge, and late entries are hard to deal with. But is it really to much to be asked if it is less than one working day? I would expect a little flexibility is in place. The friendly PCA lady told me there where a few more requests, and all where turned down.

If we where let's say a week late, I totally understand, but one day...?

If there are any PCA board members on the forum that could explain to me why this is so hard, please do so. Than I know what to tell my son.

Thanks for reading this "rant", and now I have to tell my 12 year old Porsche nut son we can't go. This Sucks!

[Joe Bob]

Lucky you didn't try to show up in a 914....

[stomachmonkey]

Can't offer any other advice other than dump the Porsche, buy a Mustang.

As far as late i understand your position but as my mother used to say "the plane has left".

Basically how late you are is irrelevant, a day, an hour, 10 seconds, the plane is wheels up and ain't coming back.

Still, would have been nice of them to make a consideration for you.

[Racerbvd]

A HUGE amount of work goes into each Parade, and it is opened to members WORLD WIDE, so the number of people who sign up for it is huge, there are dinners, lunches, events, everyone has name tags & badges, and they aren't paper either. I won't be going this year (but came close to registering just in case) but with my Mothers 75 Birthday July 8th, there is no way I can give her a party and get to Parade with my Turbo to show, so I'll miss out. Sorry that you will miss the events, but that doesn't mean that you can't be in town to meet fellow Porsche fans.

[Zeke]

You can always go, look at the cars and have some fun beyond all things Porsche. So what if you can't play in their games?

They will have some track events and some show events. Some will be closed to outside access. They can't hide all the cars and keep everything a secret.

[scottmandue]

+1 on just go and enjoy the event... scope it out and see if you want to go to the next one.

I would think a 930 would draw a lot of friendly attention, I bet you will have a good time.

[rrental]

I guess I could...don't know if I would drive 3600 km to sit on the side line. There where a few events Sam wanted to go for, and are excluded if not registred. As I told PCA, I don't care about the diners. Just the rally, coral and some other small events was where the interest was.

Just hate to disappoint my boy.

Anybody knows a cool Mustang for sale?.....

[fastfredracing]

Anybody knows a cool Mustang for sale?.....[/QUOTE]

No such thing exists

[gtc]

Hook up with the Canada West PCA folks. I understand their tours are a bit lame since they appointed a mountie tour leader (no joke), but they do some fun unofficial tours.

[goat]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Lucky you didn't try to show up in a 914....

LOL! been there done that. Yep.

[URY914]

If you do go you will not be allowed in all the events.

[icemann427]

No such thing exists

I beg to differ, Fastfred. LOL. This 65' sits next to my 930 in the garage.

[Halm]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

A HUGE amount of work goes into each Parade, and it is opened to members WORLD WIDE, so the number of people who sign up for it is huge, there are dinners, lunches, events, everyone has name tags & badges, and they aren't paper either. I won't be going this year (but came close to registering just in case) but with my Mothers 75 Birthday July 8th, there is no way I can give her a party and get to Parade with my Turbo to show, so I'll miss out. Sorry that you will miss the events, but that doesn't mean that you can't be in town to meet fellow Porsche fans.

+1 There are a lot of valid reasons to get pissed at PCA but this isn't one of them.

[9dreizig]

Hey good news, we're thinking of putting together a west coast turbopalooza later this year, and when you get 20-40 930's together it's way more fun than a bunch of wine and cheese types can have anyway!! .
Welcome to the dark side my friend!! (see you in the turbo section)

[ronster]

A long time PCA member once told me it's actually more fun to show up at these events as a spectator because you have more flexibility in what and where you can be. You'll still meet a lot of Porsche owners, make friends and have fun. Rent a room somewhere close and spend some time with your son checking things out. Can't get much better than that.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by ronster

A long time PCA member once told me it's actually more fun to show up at these events as a spectator because you have more flexibility in what and where you can be. You'll still meet a lot of Porsche owners, make friends and have fun. Rent a room somewhere close and spend some time with your son checking things out. Can't get much better than that.

+1
The way I see it if you want to get together with some friends who own P cars, it is more preferable than a structured group such as PCA. With a group of like minded friends, there is no politics and there is no membership fee.However for your son with u both going as guests would still be fun for u both.

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by ronster

A long time PCA member once told me it's actually more fun to show up at these events as a spectator because you have more flexibility in what and where you can be. You'll still meet a lot of Porsche owners, make friends and have fun. Rent a room somewhere close and spend some time with your son checking things out. Can't get much better than that.

This^^^^^^^^

[Jagshund]

I'll send you my PCA nametag so you can try to bully, bribe or bum rush your way into events without getting a bad rap.

PCA's not bad, in my experience, just a bit stale and kinda like high school in regards to cliques.

[billh1963]

I'm going to sound like an ass....but, tough sh#@!. Have you never been late to something before?

The registration opened in March and has to close at some time. It sucks that you didn't find out about until it was too late; however, how is that PCA's fault?

You own a nice car...enjoy it and learn to drive the car at it's potential. You can go to a Parade next year and show off your new found skills.

[URY914]

This website has replaced PCA. They just don't know it.