Jay Gratton

While I think it is great what ATL986 said, I agree with Matt.

AutoAtlanta

To Peter, and all others who see this thread, I thought it would be appropriate to become a "member vendor" of Rennlist to attempt to curtail these issues, and handle them appropriately before they blow up and become problems.

If anyone has anything they would like to say to Auto Atlanta as a company, or me personally, bring it on! I am willing to give you the hard truths. Whether it is what you want to hear or not, I am going to tell you exactly how it is.

Thanks,

Brad (formerly ATL986)

skl

Matt Romanowski

I'll tell my burnt by AA story. When I was looking for a car, there was one in FL that was "restored" by AA. I called and talked to the George and he told me how nice the car was. Even told me if I didn't buy it, he would! Well, I drove all the way there to find a car with a rod knock from their rebuild (and the rod let go 2 seeks later), drywall screws holding the AC lines and condensor in, bad bodywork, and a host of other problems. Needless to say, I was pissed and had to buy a plane ticket to fly home instead of buying a car and driving home. All of that becuase AA's work is subpar and they lied to me about it.

Jay Gratton

Brad,
I thought your first paragraph was well written, but your second paragraph confirmed my feelings. "Bring it on!" Really? Great business practice and customer relations there. I am sure a person such as yourself has a great deal of insight to help us on this forum, but when you say things like that you support our claims. Welcome to Rennlist and thanks for supporting it though.
So Peter, back to your part...........

Peter Zimmermann

I must admit, even after reading in Excellence recently that Porsche is involved with their 914 parts program, I found that many items that I needed for my project had become NLA. It struck me as funny that a couple parts that I ordered from AA, after striking out with my P-car dealer contact, had also become NLA. Almost as though AA really doesn't have much of an inventory, but when they get a sale they buy the part outside, mark it up, and ship it to their customer.

If a company goes to the effort to print a catalog, a tool of value that can be used by customers, then extreme care must be taken to assure the accuracy of the catalog. My experience regarding the shift rod should never have happened, and the salesman had ample opportunity during our conversation to fix that issue. He did not, and I do not know if it was because of orders from management, or if he was on commission, or...?

Two other problems I can note regarding dealing with AA. I ordered a rebuilt injector, was quoted a price of about $87, then I pointed out that the injector was listed for $47 on page xx of their catalog. They sold the injector to me for the lower price, but when I rec'd it the injector was incorrect. After more calls I was finally shipped the correct injector, and was told to ship back the wrong one and the core. My credit card was billed for injector #2, and 6-weeks passed and I had not rec'd a credit for the other parts. I called to ask why, and after being shuttled to someone, I was told that it was good that I had called, because the paperwork had not even been processed yet. I finally did get my credit, more than two months later.

The other problem is that AA doesn't seem to know what they have in stock, and unacceptable delays occur between an order date and shipment date. This seems to support my comment in paragraph one, this post. Communication, something very important to me, does not seem to be AA's strong suit.

AutoAtlanta

Jay,

I am sorry if the way I put that made you standoffish. I am completely realistic about our reputation online. The people with bad experiences speak the loudest, and I am trying to stop that from happening in the future.

I am the liaison between the Porsche community and George. I will do my best to make sure that your orders are handled with care, and when mistakes do happen that they are dealt with expediently and properly. I don't like unhappy customers, so please, voice your opinions so I can do what I can to fix the perceived problems.

-Brad

AutoAtlanta

I am going to answer this paragraph by paragraph to touch on all of your points.

1. There is a HUGE inventory here of 914 parts, I would love to show it to you sometime if you are ever in the area. We have a TON of stuff that nobody else can ever have. Unfortunately, overhead is killer when you cater to a niche market, and we cannot keep everything in stock. For the most part, all of our suppliers can get us parts within a day. We have been working with those suppliers on getting more accurate listings of their stock, unfortunately poor supplier relations has hurt us in the past. Thanks to the work of myself, and others here, we now have improved relationships with the three main Porsche part suppliers in the US, and several smaller companies that supply us with aftermarket and replacement parts. We recognized our downfalls and improvements have been made.

2. Fortunately, we have not printed a 914 catalog since 2007. We will gladly provide reprints of that catalog, and you can download it from the website, but it is not up to date, and we will not be making new ones any time soon.

3. You are %100 correct. It should not have happened, and I will try to avoid this happening in the future. I can tell you that this was an order directly from the top, and it is bizarre, ridiculous, and unacceptable. If it had been me, I would have either ordered the part from dC auto and delivered it to you at the agreed upon price, or I would have simply told you to go directly to them (likely the latter).

4. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to do with accounting, so I cannot comment on this. We have implemented a new return system however, so hopefully these mistakes will not happen in the future.

5. You are completely correct, our inventory system leaves something to be desired. Again, come visit us some time, I would be glad to show you exactly what we have.


On those notes, I hope to continue addressing issues fairly, honestly, and accurately. Keep those teeners rockin'!

Jay Gratton

Thanks Brad! Look forward to talking 914's with you in the future.

AutoAtlanta

No problem Jay. I also look forward to speaking with you. I just want you to know that I am here, and I am trying to help the Porsche community. If you ever have a problem, contact me directly! PM here, E-mail, find me on facebook, see me at an event, or by telephone at my extension.

4re308

I need to chime in and let you guys know that I've had great luck with AA and George is a hell of a good guy and really knows his cars. I'm bringing one of my cars to them for work. And yes they do have a LOT of 914 parts, tons and tons of parts.

Peter Zimmermann

Bradley; thank you for reaching out to the community, especially the one that has "914" in its name! I wrote earlier that you're not the only game in town, but you are definitely a spoke in the wheel. There are times when 914 owners are up against a wall, and, like me, must decide if they bit off more than they could, or wanted to, chew. In my case, I'm completely versed in 914 maintenance and repair (admittedly it's been 25+ years since I touched one), and have the tools to do the necessary work. That said, my pig in a poke needs parts (see my thread about the story of a '74 1.8), and I know that the days of being able to call my dealer contact and have a part delivered the next day are long gone.

Case in point. A few months ago I requested inventory/price info for a back pad from your parts dept. I was told that you (AA) thought that you had one, and you would call me (2-3 days) when you (AA) had the part in hand. AA never called, and when I called back two weeks later there seemed to be confusion regarding what I was talking about. Then I was told that AA didn't have one. All those 914 parts, and no black backpad?

OK, now I will make a request. Do you have a backpad, in good condition (no cracks/breaks in the belt inertia reel areas, and no punctures in the vinyl), that includes the four lower screws, that you can sell to me?

Best regards...

AutoAtlanta

The only backpad that I have access to that would be of any interest to you would be a recovered unit. What I always recommend is the Fiberglass backpad core with a vinyl recovering kit. They are very nice when they are done, but our seamstress takes a few days to get a recovering kit done (She is a bit of a perfectionist).

I can get you a used backpad that is recoverable for 450.

This link is for the backpad itself - http://www.autoatlanta.com/detail.ph...7629&user=Brad

This is the link for the back pad recovering kit - http://www.autoatlanta.com/detail.ph...2317&user=Brad

Peter Zimmermann

Thanks, but no thanks.

Another question while we have you here. AA has a big inventory of 914 parts and derelict cars, correct? Do you have one lonely 1975 1.8 liter USA car that has a rear-mounted charcoal cannister. It would be a model that has a 5mm OD hard plastic line that parallels the supply and return fuel lines in the tunnel. The CC would be mounted somewhere in the rear of the car, and the 5mm line would be its only connection to the expansion tank. If you find one, please tell me where/how it's mounted.

AutoAtlanta

I don't have a picture of one off hand, but this is the answer provided by George.