Sure, Porsche dealers may be charging over the recommended retail selling price for a GT3 (or some other highly desirable model in short supply), but at least you don't have to buy a car you don't even want just to get into the 'good books' of the dealer so that you can later on buy the GT2 or GT3 that you do really want to get...

The problem in my eyes, Nick, is that the 'justification' for the Ferrari selling practices in the USA helps dealers make a tidy profit but it happens, unfortunately, at the expense of customers who go through the hoops of buying cars they don't actually want just to qualify for cars that they do actually want.

I know you might think that this system (of turning over used cars multiple times) helps Ferrari dealers survive when they sell cars in such small numbers. But AFAIK this system doesn't happen in Europe and yet Ferrari dealers in Europe seem to survive just fine. So that argument IMHO doesn't have the weight that you might think it does.

It's okay for you Nick. You are already cherished and valued by your dealer. You're no doubt one of the first people he calls when he gets an allocation for a new model. So it doesn't surprise me that you would defend this status quo. But, I'm neutral here. I am not a Ferrari customer nor am I planning to be one so I'm offering a bystander's opinion here.

One other disadvantage for you. Your dealer also depends on you turning your relatively new car back into him so he can flip it over a few more times. What if you really fall in love with a particular car and want to keep it as part of your collection? He will like you a little less, surely, because by keeping the car, you are depriving him of potential future commission on subsequent sales. All you would give him is the commission he will make on another new car you might buy from him. Another customer would give him that anyway PLUS the commission from flipping over a car that that other customer doesn't want to keep (whereas you do).

I definitely agree totally with SoCal Alan's depiction of the kind of consequences this system can lead to: the games, rudeness, arrogance, unresponsiveness, elitism etc etc. I get that sometimes when I walk into a designer shop to buy something. Salesmen that can't personally afford what they are selling but who think they can look down on you. I hate that and I never let a salesman ever forget that I am their customer and that they should value my business.