viper501

I lost my engine (or at least a valve on number 2) back at the end of May. I trailered the car back to my local indie and started shopping around for a replacement engine. I'd read a discussion on 6speedonline.com about engine pricing and one of the participants works for Brandywine. He indicated that the price in reman'd engines was about 6800.00. I contacted him via P.M. and he informed me that the engine price was 7500.00 plus a core charge, plus shipping.

I was also informed that I would have to wire the total, including the refundable core charge, to Brandywine's bank. I was a bit taken aback by the concept of wiring that kind of money with no realistic recourse if there were a problem. I was also concerned about how the core charge would be refunded and the fact that they would have to cut me a check and there was no indication how long that would take them to do nor any gaurantee they would actually cut it. However, I made arrangements to have that done once I had the bank information and the total charge. I repeatedly emailed and called my contact at Brandywine. I made it very clear to him that my 911 was a daily driver and that I needed the engine as soon as possible. He kept reassuring me that the engine had been ordered and that it was going to come in very soon. In fact, each time I contacted him, he gave me a new arrival date.

As you can see from the email thread pasted in this post, he assured me that the engine had been ordered and that it would be in on a certain date. I called the dealership again on July 5 and reached a different parts guy and asked him if he could check on the order.

He couldn't find my name in the computer, much less an order for an engine. He connected me to the parts manager who identified himself as Rick. Rick initially put the blame on me for not having wired the money. I tried to explain that I could have understood that if the parts guy had told me that they were waiting on payment before ordering the motor *and* if he had not *repeatedly* assured me that the engine was on its way and would be in on this day and that day. Rick put me on the speakerphone with the parts guy that I'd been talking to for almost three weeks and asked me to repeat my assertion that I'd been repeatedly told the engine was on its way. I did and Rick very pointedly asked parts guy whether he had told me that the engine was enroute. After a very pregnant pause, parts guy manned up and admitted that he had been telling me that the engine had been ordered. Rick told me that he would call me back, which he did.

When Rick called back, he said that he would order the engine the next day but only after I wired over ten thousand dollars to them. He didn't offer to expedite the shipping at their expense or anything else. In fact, he didn't even offer an apology. He repeatedly demanded that I send them the money via wire before the engine would be ordered. Furthermore, he said that I could not use a credit card to pay the core charge in contradiction to parts guy's statements to me.

Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic about sending that much money with no recourse to a business that had demonstrated their lack of reliability and trustworthiness.

I decided to rethink things and ended up calling Sunset Porsche. They ordered the motor that day, without me providing a bank wire. In fact, the engine was ordered on Friday, July 6, arrived at Sunset and was shipped to me on July 12. The difference in price was so worth it to not have to deal with Brandywine.

I'm also concerned about the way in which Brandywine qouted me a flat freight rate of five hundred dollars to ship from PA to SC. Interestingly, Sunset's actual shipping charge was $460 to ship from Oregon to SC. Hmmmm. Sort of makes me suspect that Brandywine was bumping their shipping charges to compensate for the price reduction.

I have removed some of the identifying information out of respect for the parts guy manning up and admitting that he'd been blowing smoke and to ensure that no private financial information gets out on the internet. Its threaded backwards so you'll need to read from bottom to top.

************************************************************************ ****
-----Original Message-----
From: [them]
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 1:06 PM
To: [me]
Subject: RE: [POTENTIAL SPAM] RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.

[me],

the arrival date is for its arrival here at Brandywine Porsche, the VA
was a typo, sorry about that, yes that is correct you can use your cc to
pay for the core charge, thank you

[them]

-----Original Message-----
From: [me]
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:36 AM
To: [them]
Subject: RE: [POTENTIAL SPAM] RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.


[them],

Thanks for the update. Is the arrival date for delivery to me or to you
in PA? Also, the engine is being shipped to South Carolina, not
Virginia. Please double check that the engine is going to the right
location.

As I understand it, I can wire you the eight thousand dollars and give
you a credit card for the 2325.47 core charge, correct? If so, I'll
have the money wired today and call you after lunch with the credit card
for the core.

Please let me know.

[me]

-----Original Message-----
From: [them]
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 10:29 AM
To: [me]
Subject: RE: [POTENTIAL SPAM] RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.

[me],

the motor is on its way it will most likely will arrive on Monday of
next week Wednesday at the absolute latest, I understand your situation
and we are working to get this wrapped up as fast as possible, when
shipping engines the trucking companies take extra care because they are
shipping flammable liquids, I will keep you posted on the shipping, the
total cost will be $10325.47 this price includes the engine, core charge
and shipping, the brake down is as follows.
engine = $7500
Core charge = $2325.47
shipping one way to VA $500 w/shipping insurance

let me know if you have any questions, thanks again

[them]

-----Original Message-----
From: [me]
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 8:46 AM
To: [them]
Subject: [POTENTIAL SPAM] RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.
Importance: Low


[them],

Please verify for me that the engine is enroute. I need a projected
arrival date so I can get the car in the rotation at my shop. I also
still don't have a total price so I have not been able to wire the
money. I'm sorry if I seem like I am bugging you about this but the
downtime of my car, since it is my only car, is pretty critical. I want
to make sure that there are no avoidable delays.

Thanks.

[me]

*****
This message was sent wirelessly from my mobile handset.

----- Original Message -----
From: [them]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 11:37 am
To:[me]
Subject: RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.


[me],

sorry about the delay, she came in a little later then expected, the
info is as followed, let me know if you have anymore questions, thank
you




[bank info]




l Message-----
From: [me]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 11:10 AM
To: [them]
Subject: RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.



[them],



Any news?

[me]




_____


From: [them]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 8:28 AM
To: [me]
Subject: RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.



[me],



the dealerships accountant had left early on Friday and will be
returning today around 10am, she is the only one with the account info,
as soon as she gets in I will pass along the wire transfer info to you,
if you could provide me with the shipping address I will get the
shipping price for you, thank you [me]



[them]

-----Original Message-----
From: [me]
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 10:24 AM
To: [them]
Subject: RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.

[them],



Looks like this is the way I'm gonna go. Let me know what you need to
get it ordered. Also, give me a price on a clutch kit and a can of
coolant.



[me]




_____


From:[them]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 4:41 PM
To: [me]
Subject: RE: Porsche reman engine qoute.



[me],



I looked into the pricing on these engines about 2 months ago and I was
under the same impression, its seems that Porsche has increased the
price of there engines and dropped the price of the cores, but I have
confirmed that this pricing is correct, I would only extend this
discounted price to my fellow 6-speeders, and yes I an engine installed
by an independent shop can be warrantied but it only covers the engine
not labor or anything else just the engine, thanks again for the inquiry
let me know if I can help you out in any other way, thanks



[them]

-----Original Message-----
From: [me]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 3:06 PM
To: [them]
Subject: Porsche reman engine qoute.

[them],



Wanted to touch base with you again and make sure you'd seen the
response that I sent to you by p.m. on 6speedonline.com. Specifically,
you indicated the motor pricing was 7500 but I was under the impression
that the reman'd motors were 6800 and change. Can you confirm the
pricing. Also, can you verify that the two year warranty on the engine
applies regardless of who installs (i.e. an independent shop).



Thanks.



[me] (aka viper501)







[Me],

the reman engine lists for $9304.96 your price would be $7500, at this
price i will need the core back, at the time of the order i will have to
charge you for the core, the core charge will be $2325.47, i can
determen the shipping for you if you provide me with an address, thanks
again [me]

Cheers
[Them]

michael.s.under

Thats a very long post, can you summarize.......

gota911

WOW, that sucks! Brandywine is now off my list of dealers to do business with in the future. I considered buying one of their cars a little over 2 years ago. Glad I didn't. Whew! < wipes brow >

viper501

Michael. Short story is they blew a lot of sunshine up my posterior, got called on it, then gave me the f.o. They cost me a lot of time, money and aggravation.

Wellardmac

I've always had a bad feeling about them... won't touch them, even though they're local.

LiveFromNY

I've actually had good experiences with the guys at Brandywine. Sorry to see this happen to you.

Chuck Jones

I'm always cautious about commenting on these sorts of things because they invariably have one side of the story without access to....as Paul Harvey says...."the rest of the story".

But giving you the credit of acknowledging that what you've posted is true....this is a terrible way for a large company such as Brandywine to do business. I also find it curious that you would have been willing to wire transfer the money like that. Usually, on any order for a large ticket item costing thousands of dollars....a reputable company would simply ask you for a $1,000 or more deposit to ensure that you're not some flake, and have some sort of liquidated damages policy that gives them the right to keep a part or all of the up-front money you've posted. Sunset did it right...and that is the way it's supposed to be done....more credit to Sunset and more reason to do business with them. (They're my first choice anyhow)

I find it very disturbing that a company with Brandywine's history and reputation...would process an order like this. From my personal perspective...there were a number of flags that would have caused me to cancel the order long before you did..... and let them know my feelings about their business practices. Totally unacceptable business protocols under the scenario you have posted.

LVDell

I spent ALOT of money at B-wine that is until Justin left. After he left that craphole went straight into the toilet.

belcarrera

What a terrible story! Sorry to hear that but thanks for the heads up for anyone looking to do business with them. Don't recall if it was here or on a couple of other boards but Brandy has had several other issues as well and that is not the way a good business should be run. Hope everything works out for you and stay away from them from now on.

-Ernesto

JBRipps

scary story....fantastic paper trail. Good for you. Pan away. I am floored that they didn't offer to assist you further once they admitted they were in the wrong. I would imagine the 6'er got some heat....especially on the price situation. It does not seem as though you were going to get hit with the bigger bill down the road and that the discount was kind of "off the record". Oh well. Lesson learned. I think I bought a hat from them once......no issues....lol.

Best of luck with your "new" engine.....drive it well.

Best,
J

JasonAndreas

Reputation? Ask them why they were banned from Rennlist about a year or two ago. I seem to remember them having similar "problems" on a few other boards too.

mooty

if you want parts from dealers, buy from sunset and suncoast.
otherwise, you are taking a risk period.
i dont konw about engine, but i have NEVER found any dealer who can even come close to suncoast in part pricing, pads, rotors, misc.

spiderv6

there are always two sides to a story but it seems that you ended up with some kind of rogue employee - sucks.

However, I did buy my car from them last year and found them great to deal with. Maybe it's a difference betwen the parts guys and sales guys?

fast1

LVDell - That's a great point. It's not the company that performs well or disappoints its customers; it's the people who work for that company. It was Justin who provided the great customer service, and it just so happened that he worked for Brandywine. BTW over the years there have been many kudos given to Justin from members of this forum.

LVDell

100% of everything I buy comes now from either Sunset (OR) and Suncoast (FL). And should it be a "track related" item I use TRG (Austin is GREAT!!!), CDOC, and OG. That's the extent of my list.