Porsche has its Paint to Sample program in high gear. It’s actually two separate programs to allow buyers a gang of pre-approved colors, and another, costly version called Paint to Sample Plus. It is just one more way that Porsche can create a truly one-of-a-kind vehicle for customers.

What is Paint to Sample Plus?

We’ll get to the pre-approved colors shortly, but let’s start with Paint to Sample Plus. If you can wait and have the extra money, you can special order a color you provide to the company. But it takes 11 months to have it “in some cases” and only if it passes “extensive feasibility testing.” 

Because of all of this extra time and money, that’s where the most recently added colors to the Paint to Sample program come in. Most models will cost an additional $22,860 for Plus. For 911 Turbo and GT models, as well as for 718 GT models, the price goes up to $25,660. The good news is that if the feasibility study shows the company cannot paint the color you want, it will absorb the cost. 

How does Paint to Sample work?

So maybe the standard PTS program better suits your budget. Besides the regular colors it offers, Porsche added over 100 colors for both the 911 and 718. For the Panamera, Macan, and Cayenne, more than 50 hues were added. That makes around 65 colors you can choose for your Porsche SUV. The Taycan has a similar 65 paint colors added. All of these colors are now on Porsche’s online configurator to get things going. 

Pricing for these colors covers a wide range. Additional-cost metallics range from $650 to $840. Its “Special” color choices go from $2,580 to $3,270. Paint to Sample colors cost $11,430 for most 911 and 718 cars. For the 718 GT, 911 Turbo, Turbo S, and GT3 models, you’ll pay almost $13,000. 

“Individualization is at the core of Porsche,” Kjell Gruner, president, and CEO of Porsche Cars North America told the Drive. “Customers have been making special requests to personalize their cars since our earliest model, the 356. Paint to Sample is integral in satisfying that demand.”

Why now?

Why are so many colors becoming available now? Porsche says it is because of its new color mixing bank at its Zuffenhausen plant. That’s where it builds the 911, 718, and Taycan. It can now incorporate 20 cars a day for PTS colors when it could previously only handle five a day. The time it takes for the paint system to mix and match added colors went down, so more cars can be done in the same amount of time. 

As more and more vehicles become standardized as we head into the electric future, things like color choices will become more important to personalize and separate vehicles. And car companies know that in some cases, the impulse to buy a vehicle could be solely due to what color it is painted. Expect to see more companies following Porsche’s lead.