Porsche North Houston Raising the Bar For Service
09-28-2017, 12:06 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Porsche North Houston Raising the Bar For Service
I also posted in 991 forum, but meant to post here because I think it's very relevant to allocation threads and dealer comments in this forum. Wanted to share my story with you all (and sideways photos).
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We spend alot of time on this Board discussing negative experiences with vendors and dealers, I thought I'd share something positive.
I bought a '71 911T from Porsche North Houston. The car had been restored and was at their California dealership. A few months after owning the car, I noticed that it was leaking oil pretty heavily from the side of the engine. I called my salesman, Gerald Tito, who immediately sent someone to pick up the car. A few days later, Billy Bennett (one of the top guys there) calls me and says that they pulled the engine and took it apart and discovered that the engine had damage to a couple of the cylinders and it looked like had been badly damaged before and repaired improperly. He said the block was not fixable. Before I could speak, Billy said, don't worry, we're handling this. He said, the only issue is he wanted to get me an engine block in the same sequence as the original. They'd located a '72 engine but he told me if I gave him time, he could get one that was original to the car. And he found one a couple of weeks later. There is zero way, PNH could have known about the damage to the engine unless taken apart. And it would have been pretty easy for PNH to say, hey, you bought the car several months ago, it's an old car, it's your problem. They didn't. Never even occurred to them. $25k in repairs later (all paid for by PNH), my car is back good as new. Came back on a truck, delivered to my driveway. I was speechless. I didn't pay a dime. Needless to say, I'm a customer for life.
We all know they get some of the best GT cars and have an amazing new space (their service area and second floor lounge is second to none). I've also found them to be fair on allocations. You buy cars from them, they try to get you an allocation. I think that if you want a GT3, start buying cars from them and they'll get you one.
But I think for them the allocation is the first step in a what they hope will be a lasting relationship. And it's what happens after you drive off the lot or you buy your dream 993 that matters. I've called Billy and Gerald before on a 993 turbo (still on my bucket list) and they've been honest about the market and candid about what cars they'd be interested in buying back later when I moved on to something else.
They even helped me purchase a GT4 from a RL'r - negotiated for me, got the car to the dealer, inspected it, and made the entire transaction seamless. And when I was on the hunt, steered me away from a couple of cars they thought were abused.
I became sort of a frequent visitor to the dealer when I was checking on the progress of my 911T. Mike, the shop foreman, would explain what they were doing to the car, how it worked, and why they were doing it. I got to look behind the curtain when they bought GT3s, 964s, 993s, and other desirable cars. One thing that amazed me how Mike and Billy would work together to try address ANY issue with a car before it hit the showroom - often spending 10k or more fixing a car so it would be right for their customer. I even saw them send a silver 993 tt that I was considering back to the seller because they took the bottom pans of the car off and it had salt damage. The car looked awesome, but didn't meet the standards there.
Billy and Gerald even called me after the recent flooding to make sure I was okay.
Photos of 911T attached and rebuilt engine. And that's one of my kids hanging from lift! Imagine he and his brother running around the showroom a couple of times a month!
--
We spend alot of time on this Board discussing negative experiences with vendors and dealers, I thought I'd share something positive.
I bought a '71 911T from Porsche North Houston. The car had been restored and was at their California dealership. A few months after owning the car, I noticed that it was leaking oil pretty heavily from the side of the engine. I called my salesman, Gerald Tito, who immediately sent someone to pick up the car. A few days later, Billy Bennett (one of the top guys there) calls me and says that they pulled the engine and took it apart and discovered that the engine had damage to a couple of the cylinders and it looked like had been badly damaged before and repaired improperly. He said the block was not fixable. Before I could speak, Billy said, don't worry, we're handling this. He said, the only issue is he wanted to get me an engine block in the same sequence as the original. They'd located a '72 engine but he told me if I gave him time, he could get one that was original to the car. And he found one a couple of weeks later. There is zero way, PNH could have known about the damage to the engine unless taken apart. And it would have been pretty easy for PNH to say, hey, you bought the car several months ago, it's an old car, it's your problem. They didn't. Never even occurred to them. $25k in repairs later (all paid for by PNH), my car is back good as new. Came back on a truck, delivered to my driveway. I was speechless. I didn't pay a dime. Needless to say, I'm a customer for life.
We all know they get some of the best GT cars and have an amazing new space (their service area and second floor lounge is second to none). I've also found them to be fair on allocations. You buy cars from them, they try to get you an allocation. I think that if you want a GT3, start buying cars from them and they'll get you one.
But I think for them the allocation is the first step in a what they hope will be a lasting relationship. And it's what happens after you drive off the lot or you buy your dream 993 that matters. I've called Billy and Gerald before on a 993 turbo (still on my bucket list) and they've been honest about the market and candid about what cars they'd be interested in buying back later when I moved on to something else.
They even helped me purchase a GT4 from a RL'r - negotiated for me, got the car to the dealer, inspected it, and made the entire transaction seamless. And when I was on the hunt, steered me away from a couple of cars they thought were abused.
I became sort of a frequent visitor to the dealer when I was checking on the progress of my 911T. Mike, the shop foreman, would explain what they were doing to the car, how it worked, and why they were doing it. I got to look behind the curtain when they bought GT3s, 964s, 993s, and other desirable cars. One thing that amazed me how Mike and Billy would work together to try address ANY issue with a car before it hit the showroom - often spending 10k or more fixing a car so it would be right for their customer. I even saw them send a silver 993 tt that I was considering back to the seller because they took the bottom pans of the car off and it had salt damage. The car looked awesome, but didn't meet the standards there.
Billy and Gerald even called me after the recent flooding to make sure I was okay.
Photos of 911T attached and rebuilt engine. And that's one of my kids hanging from lift! Imagine he and his brother running around the showroom a couple of times a month!
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09-28-2017, 01:47 PM
#10
Nice to hear more confirmation about them. I stopped by and talked to Gerald last weekend as I'm considering switching from BMW to Porsche with my next car. Like the new showroom, and had a great talk with Gerald.
09-28-2017, 02:25 PM
#12
Porsche North Houston indeed is a class act. I had the pleasure of doing a 2 for 1 transaction with John and Billy. The process was very painless and we were able to come to terms very quickly. Not only did they ship items that were taken off the car during the CPO process of the 997 4.0 that I bought but they also purchased the all the manuals and sent them over to me as they promised since they couldn't be located. I flew out to Houston for a day to complete the transaction and meet John, Billy, and all of the great folks over there. They even brought in BBQ for me which was a very nice touch for this low carb eater and made me feel like a VIP. As we know, they sell a lot of very special cars all the time so I know that my baby (PTS 997RS) was going to be in good hands. It's very refreshing to know that there are Porsche dealers out there that do things the right way and put relationships ahead of short term gains (i.e. selling all their new GT cars at MSRP). Right along with CJ, Porsche North Houston is one of the best good guy Porsche dealers in the US and I look forward doing business with them in the future.
Last edited by usctrojanGT3; 09-28-2017 at 05:26 PM.
09-28-2017, 04:09 PM
#13
I trust the experience of the OP and Trojan man w/Porsche of North Houston.
What really slays me is the dealer has only 23(!) reviews (4 star) on Yelp. DealerRater gives them 4.9 starts on the basis of 136 reviews.
Not picking on North Houston at all, as it's all too common that dealers elicit a paucity of reviews from customers.
But think about, a dealer has been in business for as long as they have and fewer than 150 customers willing to vouch for them. The dealership probably sees more than 1,500 customers in a single month (all departments).
On the other hand, there are other dealers who have thousands of positive reviews. Choosing between one dealer with 150 positive reviews and another in the 1,000s, which one would you be inclined to patronize?
I pulled up North Houston's website -- beautiful flagship facility. I'm sure they're as good as advertised; they just need more votes!
What really slays me is the dealer has only 23(!) reviews (4 star) on Yelp. DealerRater gives them 4.9 starts on the basis of 136 reviews.
Not picking on North Houston at all, as it's all too common that dealers elicit a paucity of reviews from customers.
But think about, a dealer has been in business for as long as they have and fewer than 150 customers willing to vouch for them. The dealership probably sees more than 1,500 customers in a single month (all departments).
On the other hand, there are other dealers who have thousands of positive reviews. Choosing between one dealer with 150 positive reviews and another in the 1,000s, which one would you be inclined to patronize?
I pulled up North Houston's website -- beautiful flagship facility. I'm sure they're as good as advertised; they just need more votes!
09-28-2017, 04:29 PM
#14
GT3 player par excellence
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
i have also have several encounter with PNH. and i am pretty jaded and not much impress me now days. PNH is one of those few that impressed me. when they cannot allocate me a car, they tell me up front. they dont bait you along.
look like i have to send my 72/86/92 to them for service hahaha...
good work guys
look like i have to send my 72/86/92 to them for service hahaha...
good work guys
09-28-2017, 04:33 PM
#15
Racer
Thread Starter
Thank you! We'll have to start a get out the vote effort! PNH has never asked me to fill out a review online on Yelp or do anything like that. I've gotten the surveys from Porsche, but I don't know where that data goes. I've never filled out a yelp review or other online review. Do you have to be a yelp member?
I wonder what data points Porsche buyers look at when purchasing a car. I found out about Rennlist from a friend. The search tool, the data on prior posts, etc., provide good background for some of the comments. I put up my story mainly because I was impressed how the dealer handled the whole situation - just gave me confidence that it would end up the right way. And it did.
As Martin points out, there are a lot of dealers there who wouldn't have done the same.
I wonder what data points Porsche buyers look at when purchasing a car. I found out about Rennlist from a friend. The search tool, the data on prior posts, etc., provide good background for some of the comments. I put up my story mainly because I was impressed how the dealer handled the whole situation - just gave me confidence that it would end up the right way. And it did.
As Martin points out, there are a lot of dealers there who wouldn't have done the same.