RedS2

Recently, I sold a car to a fine gentlemen in Washington. My 944S had the best paint, interior, and sunroof of any car that I have. A-1 Auto Transport, based in Nevada, was contracted by the buyer to pick up and deliver the car. It left my driveway with sunroof intact and the total paint was really much better than any of my other fleet of 944's.

A-1 depot'd the car in Oakland Ca and delivered the car sans sunroof. I am really god damn mad some hophead **** with the keys ripped off the sunroof at the depot or during the trip. Now, we have to go through the hassle of reporting a substantial loss to the shipper.

I want the FBI to rip this shipper a new one and get that sunroof back. It was gorgeous inside and out. If any of you have a red/black sunroof, please contact me.

I need to help my buyer and I am so mad I can only think of extreme measures against these scum bags. Never do business with this car transporter company. One of their employees stole a sunroof from a locked car and that takes the keys. God knows what else they did to the car and now I and the buyer face a long legal hassle as to the car's condition.

If any of you have police contacts that can help us, please e mail me off line.

CarreraFour

That's a crying shame... well, first that they ripped you off but, second because you have not been around long enough to know that my 85 928S was delivered DESTROYED by A1 Auto Transport and I posted info about my ordeal on rennlist about two years ago and cautioned folks about A1 Auto Transport. First they delivered my car two weeks late with plenty of additional mileage then when the car arrived the guy collected the balance I owed him and had me sign off the safe and undamaged delivery before off loading the vehicle. After I paid him he said it would be a while before he could move all the cars off the truck and he would call me out from my office when he was done unloading it. Well, the witnesses on the street told the story next-

"He off loaded your vehicle dude ... and laid some serious rubber down the street ,,, see the tracks???!!!"

"Then it got bad dude... he lost control of it and bounced it into the drive way down there (this is where the front bumper and spoiler got torn off the car) then he slammed it into that parking spot jumped out and ran to his truck and took off!"

The damage he did to my car that day was incredible- body, clutch, torque tube, among other things.

But my car was not the only car that day he trashed. The same trucker was delivering a 930 to another part of Portland. Coincidently it was taken to the same shop for repairs that mine was on the same day. It was delivered by the trucker with "girlfriend in tow" in the passenger seat 4 hours late with second gear ripped out of the car completely!

To get to the end of this story my insurance paid off most of the damage on a claim. Unfortunately they did not want to go after A1 Auto Transport because they are insured by Lloyds of London (my insurance agent said there is a good reason for that and it simply was not worth Farmers Ins. time and money to go after them. To add insult to injury A1 Auto Transport does not carry Loading and Unloading insurance, which means that while they are either loading or unloading a car and they hit another car (or worse- somebody) then you, the owner, and the insurer of your car are liable for any damage or injury.

Jerry 87 928S4

Carr, if you have the 350Z, any pictures and comments. This is one I am going to have to test drive!

CarreraFour

Funny that you ask that, becuase I pick the car up this afternoon at 1:00 from Gresham Nissan. A fully loaded track car but in black, not red. I got tired of waiting for my preordered red one. I will let you know how it drives today. One small hitch...I won't be the owner of it very long as it has been already purchased from me be the local Ferrari dealer here.

Big Dave

RedS2:

Did you have a written contract with A1? If so, take a look at the limitation of liability section (it's certainly there) and tell us what it says.

Gretch

I used a transport company the dealer who sold me the car recommended. I think that is prolly a good approach.

SteveG

Wasn't John Dunkle going to open an admin thread for this topic, ie, bad shops, ebay sellers, transporters?? We need a way to post that stays at top of list.

chris928

thanks for the warning, sorry about your ordeal!!!

tdelarm

I think it's safe to say based on this information that A-1 transport is not the way to go. I'm sorry to hear stories like this.

Tim

Drewster67

It's a crying shame that this company has no respect for private property, especially something as beautiful as a Porsche. I think a call to the Attorney General is in order or better yet, Dateline. I can see it now .....hidden camera, voice audio recording ...etc. Can you see where I'm going with this. Exploit them for the crooks they are and reep the rewards the law will offer.

RedS2

My buyer selected this vendor and in small print, they claim they are not responsible for damage less than $500. On the other hand, what idiot did they hand the keys to? So, IMO, this was clear negligence if an employee steals with car keys in his possession.

I have shipped 6 cars, sight unseen, and I have not had a problem because (1) I spoke with the transporter rather than the main office and (2) I read all the fine print.

I have found another sunroof but the paint will not match as perfectly.

Send a copy of the meat of this post to any other mailing lists to which you belong. All we have is the long arm of the internet.

Barry.B

This is REALLY a timely note, BTW.
I occaisionally sell cars on eBay, and I recently received a note from Paul Moseley of A1. He said A1 was now making a debut on eBay (whatever that means).
But they are offering kickbacks of $50-$75 if I (or any other seller) guides the buyer to ship through A1.
Needless to say, I would love to hear of any more "incidents" regarding this shipper.
I am sorry to hear of these experiences, but I certainly appreciate the "heads-up".
Barry

tdelarm

I know what I would do as I have in the past and thats get ahold of the BBB for where the company resides and local AG but thats just my opinion. But it's worked for me. Outfits like this need to be put out of business...period!

Tim Delarm <img src="graemlins/soapbox.gif" border="0" alt="[soapbox]" />