wrecked 996
 

First of all, My best friend is an attorney who is very knowledgeable on this issue. His advice to me was to allow the dealer to get an estimate from their body shop. Then I would take the car to my body shop, (25+years using body shop) for another estimate. Once I have the dealer's final proposal, if I am not satisfied, that is when we go ball's to the wall after the dealership. By the way, this dealership happens to be one of the largest luxury car dealerships in Miami.

How did the meeting with the GM go today?

meeting w/ 3 managers...
 

After today's meeting with 3 of the dealerships manager's, I don't feel any better about the situation. I told them what I wanted and they told me what they want to do for me. Basically, repair the car and give it back to me. I absolutely refused that suggestion and demanded to be made "whole". Apparently, no one in the meeting had any authority to deal with me. I allowed them to get an estimate from their body shop. And am awaiting a phone call back from the "real" GM. I will keep you informed....

Hmm. That does not sound promising. Well, as others have said, these guys do have a vested interest in keeping you happy. Escalate it up the chain and don't let underlings waste your time.

You have now twice misconstrued what I have said. At no point did I imply that he should "trust the car dealer." What I said (see if you can understand it this time), was that it was premature to go to an attorney and make this an adversarial discussion, especially given he did not have any information as to how the dealer wanted to deal with this.

Quit looking at this thing as a litigation. Litigating a case like this will cost at least $20,000 per side, a cost neither side wants to bear. Dealers like to avoid litigation if at all possible because they tend to lose, even if right. Often they will, before even handing the case over to counsel, pay more than they legally owe to avoid getting involved in a litigation.

To give you an idea, the last case I defended for a dealer (and they are actually pretty rare they get to this level), the dealer forgot to disclose previous damage to demo vehicle. The guy had the vehicle for 18 months and had put 40,000 miles on it when he discovered the pre-existing damage. The dealer had offered to purchase the vehicle back from him for the purchase price + tax he had paid for it. He refused and filed a lawsuit instead.

So what am I saying. Dealers for the most part try to resolve things because it is in their best financial interest.

I don't know if it is a large dealer chain, but tell them that you would like to speak with the Owner since the Managers they have are apparently unable to reach a resolution. If they won't let you speak to the owner, tell them you are only going to deal with whoever has the authority to fully resolve this matter, you are not going to waste time going through three layers of managers who can't decide. If necessary, this is the time to pull out the card that if they cannot accommodate this request you will have to go consult with counsel, something you would prefer not to do if it isn't necessary and something they don't want.

Just to add one more point here. This is not a great case to take to trial. Regardless of whether it would be a jury or bench trial, it will be seen as some rich guy with a Porsche is whining because the dealer wouldn't do more than fix his car. This will do a lot to, if not fully, shift the tactical advantage most consumers have against dealers away.

go right up the chain.... the REAL GM and or the OWNER . Hell... Id call "Action News"... If the real GM doesnt come through.

Tire shop in Cleveland had a guys P car....trashed it.
Case went to court.....the shop had to buy the guy a new car. Period. This is a tire shop that had an employee joy ride the car......


So, go for it. They need to get you a new car.....


Try to get a good lawyer. Go for a judge, not a jury...

JB

Gittledog -

Sorry for your pains. That's a huge bummer. I would be pissed and sad at the same time.

In Portland, I found that Sunset Porsche's body shop is the same one I use, and was the highest recommended one I could find. So, their shop may not be so bad afterall. Check around on it. The body shop should guarantee their work for life, so they'll be on the hook if they do a shoddy job, and if their highly recommended I would be surprised if their work isn't exceptional.

As far as diminished value, I'm going through this right now. So far I haven't brought it up to the insurance company as I'm being Mr. Nice Guy through the whole repair process. Once the car is done I've got two independent appraisals lined up for the loss in value and I'm going to submit it to the insurance company for payment. I won't sign off on the closing of the claim until they pay. In fact, they issued me the check for the repairs almost a month ago and I haven't even cashed it - not going to until the car is complete and I'm happy. I know it's hard, but think of it as business. That's what they are doing on their end, and you've got to be that way on your end. Good luck. Keep us updated...

It sounds like they're giving you the standard car dealer bull**** - "I want accept your offer, but I have to check with my manager."

That's why I think you should consult with counsel. I don't want to get in the middle of the hot air war about lawyers, but a local attorney will know the landscape - the particulars of the state consumer laws and the nuances of Florida motor vehicle and tort law.

It is to everyone's advantage to work this out without litigation (which is really expensive) but only to the dealer's advantage to work this out without lawyers at all. They will lie to you and overbear your will. That's how car dealers make their money.

CP

wrecked 996
 

Spoke to Dealership today. Here is their proposal. Fix the car. Repair estimate was for about 6k. (I suspect much more damage than they are telling me, at least 10k) "Once the car is fixed, we can talk about a possible trade-in." I said absolutely not. I mentioned the diminished value of the car to which they said it's going to be very hard to determine diminished value, if any.
I am supposed to meet with the owner of the dealership tomorrow. If I am not satisfied with his final word, I am going to have to get legal help. Not to mention the local media, BBB, etc.....

Sorry to hear about your woes with the dealer. Just by looking at the pics, I'd say there was more than $10k worth of damage. The fender was mashed and the door got tweaked. I would suspect frame/unibody damage as well.

As for dealing with the dealer, I took the gloves off when they were screwing around with me and one of my friends. They got slammed by bad PR and from my attorneys. I had the dealership manager quivering whenever he saw me. He called me later and said, "Let's talk." Btw, it was not a Porsche dealership.

The dealer more than anyone understands what diminished value is, and that there will be plenty of diminished value if/when they just repair your car. Try trading the car in to ANY dealer - paint is fresh, car was in a crash, no thanks. Porsche will never certify a crashed car, so the dealer would have to wholesale the car out. The difference between wholesale and retail is your diminished value, I bet!?

Don't settle for a $6k bandaid. They F-d up your car, they need to give you a car that isn't F-d up. Period!

I feel for you. It sure sucks. I hate to admit it but I have wrecked many cars over the years. Yours looks worse than it is. It is completely repairable and if it is done correctly you will never know. They are going to bolt on a new fender, and any damaged supports, bumper skin, door skin, and likely a new hood. Insist that all damaged panels be replace and do not allow them to use body filler. Inspect the work as it is being done. keep in mind that the car was bolted and welded together in the first place and it can be stripped back to the unaffected panels and rebuilt again. Race cars get bumped all the time and are rebuilt back to spec.

I would settle for a repair done to my standards and a CPO warranty just because you can get that without to much hassle.

If it makes you feel better my good friend's 01 Cab was moved by the film crew that rented his house for a commercial last month. The underling who moved it didn't know how to drive a manual and parked it in the living room. $30,000 damage to the car and they are still fighting about the house. BTW, he is an attorney and just expects everything to be fixed because in life **** sometimes happens.