no vegas track experiences and scenic rush is closed

i can't fault people for stepping out of the house to try new things especially these days

So I did this yesterday as it happened to be my wedding anniversary and it made for a great excuse to take my wife up to Whistler for lunch.

It was a 911S with a MANUAL with 4300km on it. It's the only manual in their fleet and just happened to get freed up in time for me. As you'd expect it made the experience even better. It was pretty much spec'd exactly how I would have except for the black wheels (I prefer silver or gold).

Dealer experience (Porsche Vancouver) was great - Adam, Henry and team do a great job in getting the car ready and walk you through everything you need to know. It's like a tidier, very professional rental experience just as you'd expect. Even the front desk knew I was coming.

The booking experience is mobile only and this is where it needs some work - the language in the app is still tailored to Ontario (or some other place than BC) as it refers to things like "insurance card" and doesn't use ICBC's terminology for the driver's abstract. It took multiple days for my profile to get approved I sent in the as wrong doc initially and had to email twice and call once with zero responses before Henry/Adam stepped in and sorted things out on their end. The app now only shows me the option to rent and not subscribe (it showed both when I first signed up) so it's pretty buggy. I figure it'll get worked out in the coming months.

Cost came out to $680 plus $75 of gas (300km). As I'm going to be in the market for a Porsche in the next couple years this is a great way for me to experience their cars and get a fix while I'm without one. (I lucked out that my wife came along as she liked the 911 a lot too so that roadblock is out of the way).

From what I've seen (Turo, other rental shops) the pricing is super fair for this type of car - it's basically the cheapest way to rent a Porsche once you add in everything. The subscription service, even for a month, is really good too especially as you can split it with a friend. In comparison you can rent a 5 year old F-Type on Turo for $260 plus fees/taxes and it only comes with 200km for a day. A 2 year old Corvette is going for $500 plus fees/taxes on Turo.

Edit: Overall, I really like it and plan to use it at least a few more times.

The car:
https://i.imgur.com/QydGgIt.jpg

My kid showing me the proper driving position:
https://i.imgur.com/a9QeEZT.jpg

great to hear a first hand experience.

Personally, this isn't my type of thing but I can totally see the appeal, and the market for this service.

Love it. I’ll definitely try it at some point.

Thanks for the review. That price seems quite reasonable for what you're getting. It's definitely on the to do list for next year if I don't get around to it this year.

Wow awesome to see a Manual on rental!

Yeah, pretty awesome. It was unexpected - I asked for a cabriolet since the wife was coming along but secretly wanted a manual that I just couldn't imagine they'd carry but VOILA! I hadn't driven stick in a couple years but brushed up on a friend's car (like riding a bicycle) but the 911's clutch is such a peach that I didn't need to worry - easiest manual I've ever driven (especially considering the nuclear reactor attached to it) - I would teach someone how to drive stick on it.

Adam at Porsche Vancouver said he'd send feedback to the Drive team to consider offering a few more manuals in the fleet.

Hey thank you for the review! Very happy you were able to experience what our team is able to offer and see first hand what our cars can do.

Rentals are definitely still work in progress as we literally just started the beginning of this month to offer them with the insurance. Expect some fine tuning in the app and processes to make it all work better.

As mentioned before if two people are willing to split a monthly subscription it is the best value you can get for this program (maybe even two people from rs? POGGERS) You can do single vehicle and share the month and mileage (2 weeks each/1250km each) for not much more money than a 3 day or weekend rental would be. Or do multi vehicle and swap halfway through the month getting to experience 2 models for 1 week each.

Always happy to help RS members with getting up to date availability or questions etc. Just send a PM!

Thanks for the review, supafamous! One thing I don’t understand is how you can request a specific vehicle in advance. Let’s say I would like the manual 911S on August 15. How would that work? What if somebody goes to reserve it Aug 10-16? How far in advance did you request this car?

You can make a request but there's no promises - it's just like any other rental company in that your request is subject to what the fleet has in stock. I suspect the rentals are lower priority than the subscribers who can flip cars so you'll be subject to whatever is being flipped - mine was actually the case, the manual was a subscription car that was returned early thus it ended up with me for a day. Maybe as the fleet grows they'll end up being able to make some promises for which car (I'm SUPER keen on a 718 GTS 4.0 - I think that's going to be my sweet spot)

My bet is that now's the time to get that car b/c it won't get "subscribed" super quickly since not everyone wants a manual so jump in now.

Once they work some of the bugs out on the mobile app this is going to be an A+ program - priced great, 5 star service, and some of the best cars on the planet. It'll sell itself.

Kinda been falling in love with the white 911’s lately

Knowing that there are manual 911s in the fleet...I would totally consider a subscription program. Especially if I lived in a city where parking spots are a premium.

can you leave your vehicle at the Porsche dealership overnight while you're renting?

If they don't I bet that their next door neighbour, Burrard Acura (same owners), wouldn't even notice that you parked in their lot. They have lots of space in the back. :)

Do they delivery the rental car to your house or work place?

The app is very finicky, multiple time trying to take pics of my DL.

Anyways, booked the 911 for next week, see if I can get the manual!

BTW Porsche manual is the best manual on the market!

nice! good luck

I haven't driven the GT3 6speed manual, which I heard is amazing...but I would say if you were comparing the 7speed manual...at least on my 991.2...I would say its not as good as a honda manual...like a S2K or CTR.....feels a little rubbery compared to the hondas.

I drove my friends 982 spyder with the 6speed and it was heaven compared to my BMW. The shifts were crisp and the magical click when it goes into the gates, I loved it.
My bimmer feels like rubber and just no mechanical feel to the throws.

So......let's rent all the 911s and Taycans on the same day and go for a cruise? Meet you at the White Spot?

I can't think of where I will drive to in a day to justify $800, sit in traffic all day in Van, Richmond? Rev up and down Robson in sport mode?:troll:

... I'll rent out my 911 for $600 a day :joy:

Trade you the e30 for a day.

DT loser loop, up/down Robson and around Yaletown. Repeat. Ensure to do unnecessary revving at the lights and near restaurants patios to get attention. :troll:

700 for one day. Wtf.

Crystal Mall parkade, get some food court goodies then off to Aberdeen Mall parkade for more food court goodies. Rinse and repeat but use different bridges each time.