Chaps,
Thanks. Lots of answers.
First off, as I said, I'm not out to antagonise, please don't take any of this post (or thread) as being such. It is a genuine question.
Magazine: OK, but if I wanted a magazine then I could subscribe to GT Porsche for less than £45 a year. I don't know what GT Porsche is, it's merely the first hit when "Porsche magazine subscription" is typed into Google. The fact that I don't know the name of a Porsche dedicated magazine probably tells you all you need to know about how much I care for magazines; I wouldn't join any owners club for the magazine (unless it came with a free 944 in every issue. Which I suspect Porsche Post doesn't!)
Events: Again, not really my thing although I will confess that the 944 owners events I have been to (non PCGB ones) have all been very enjoyable. I need to keep a more open mind on this, I am sure. Basically, walking around a field looking at shiny metal for a day isn't my cup of tea. Getting stuck into some hands-on maintenance, tinkering, or driving, is much more my thing. I am guessing that PCGB events are more of the former than the latter, but that is an assumption only, based on my distinctly negative experience of the Frontrunner event last year.
Secret areas of the forum? I expect I am being discussed on there right now ... please discuss away!
10% off OPC parts prices is great, but I have yet to spend a single penny in an OPC. Despite Exeter reputedly giving a huge discount to everyone (not just PCGB members) they were still nearly
three times as expensive as an independant supplier when I was looking at a clutch kit. Yes, three times. They would need to be offering a discount of over 60% to be in the running, not 10%. (I am told that they are competitive on other bits, but my experience is distinctly otherwise!)
ORIGINAL: Chris Charlton
Oli, you are the definition of a parasite!
Thanks. I've been called worse. I shall bear that in mind every time I ever make the most of a free service of any kind whatsoever.
John, thanks for writing what you did. What sort of discounts are available, and from what suppliers? Give me an idea of what can be saved. As I said, the cheapest prices I find for parts are from suppliers who don't give PCGB discounts anyway. Same question goes for the insurance providers - I seriously doubt whether the broker I currently use would knock any more off for being a club member as I haggle pretty hard as it is (and they are consistently a LOT cheaper than the rest - ongoing relationship counts for a lot there methinks.)
Porsche Post and technical articles - see my comments above. There is a wealth of technical articles on the web, and particularly on this forum.
Regional Meetings. That's a good one. In a sense, I would
love to be able to make it to a regional meeting. (Personal History - I was a very active member of Club GTi for a number of years, and ended up semi-running a region as well as writing for Rabbit - the CGTi magazine - several times a year.) Snag is that I don't think that time will permit it. Maybe that's a failing on my behalf rather than someone else's, but the challenge to that is that there is little point in paying for something that you are not going to use. I would also question why you need to be a club member to visit an informal meeting of enthusiasts, or does PCGB buy the drinks and food at such events? At CGTi regional meetings you bought your own, is the same not true of PCGB regional meetings?
Websites don't run themselves for free. But they don't cost nearly £70 per member per year to run either. I browse two web forums regularly - this one and Pistonheads. Both are free. OK, one supports itself by advertising and has a different business model. Fair enough - their choice. From a user perspective it's all much the same to me.
People are the strength of any club. But if I will struggle to find the time to attend anything other than a forum then this is, again, of no benefit to me. I will add that I throughly enjoy my time on this forum, and the people here really make it.
"Join because you
should" / "It's the
done thing" / "You
should support the club" - not buying that one. I am making a decision on whether to spend £70 or not. I need to know what I am getting for it. We're talking about a club membership, not a charitable donation.
"Clubs are what you make of them" - absolutely. And I am not sure how I could make more of PCGB by joining. What would be the difference in experience to that which I have at the moment? I notice that I have posted quite a number of times on here in the last 3 years, and think I am probably getting as much out as I am putting in. Would I get as much out again if I took the next step up to membership? That is what I am dubious about.
As I said, I am
not trolling for an argument here, and hope it isn't coming over as such. I am merely wondering, as I have done many times before, what extra there is to get if I was to be a member. £70 is a reasonable chunk of cash - the cost of a couple of 944 services, or a tank of high-octane juice - and I am not sure that I would get value for my money.
Oli.
P.S. Apologies - in my first post I said membership was nearly £80/yr. I read the website as being £69
plus joining fee, not including. My mistake.
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