The Collection Coral Gables Wrecked my Porsche...

I just wanted everyone to know that it was The Collection in Coral Gables, Fl. that wrecked my 996 and has not met my expectations as a reputable dealer.

Holy crap that sucks. What happened, and what are they going to do about it?

Full details on this incident on earlier posts. Look for Dealer Wrecked my 996.....Thanks

Looks like the gloves are off! Maybe you should see if Gant is available as a tag-team partner for a no-holds-barred cage match against the dealer. I'm not trying to make light of your troubles, but it will be entertaining to watch a disreputable dealer be on the receiving end of some pain for once.

They sound like a worse dealership than AutoHaus West in Irvine CA. That's pretty bad.

I live in South Florida. This year alone in addition to normal maintenance I had to do a facelift ($8k or so in parts, bi-xenons, all brand new parts), MAF ($400 or so) and various little items that add up (extra console pocket, fasteners, extra key, etc). And some I would buy there if it was close, but I will no longer do business with someone who has screwed someone so royaly. I don't like Braman either. So Champion Porsche gets my business. If they made your situation "right" that says alot, accidents DO happen, its how you fix them that matters. Let us know so we can consider it. Each Porsche owner is worth at least several thousand dollars in goodwill, Collection can count themselves -1 Brian

Yep, I'd tell them about the 225,000 people a day that will see this By John D. Tell him he's going to wish his 15 year old was the one complaining now By John D.

I seem to recall that it took this gang no more than a few hours to get a Rennlist thread on the front page of a Google search for a certain other ripoff artist...

I like the 'accidents do happen' comment that I have read on this and the other thread. It reminds me of something that I was told as a kid. "Mistakes happen and I don't care about that. What I do care about and all anyone cares about is how you go about correcting it. Your actions after the fact live in peoples eyes longer than what you did." Funny how I don't remember much about growing up but some things stick like glue. My dad was all about the family name and risk of soiling it. Same thing should apply to business and customer service.

Ken Gorin and The Collection you can count me out too.

I'm glad you took off the gloves. Dealerships with owners like that should be blackballed by enthusiasts. I'd say you can add threads to Pelican, 6Speed...

Someone f'd up, this will be too funny in about 3 days. Index go! BTW. they screwed me too, I want my TT motor delivered now, I'm tired of their attitude of acting like they don't know. I send them mind messages daily. Get me my motor, you deadbeats.

bump.

Gittle- If Rennlist comes through for you, you gonna cough up the membership fee -td <-- another one of "those" guys

Who's gonna cover the Rennlist's legal fees when the dealer sues?

why would the dealer sue for freedom of speech that was in no way malicious or flase in an open forum?

Same reason as always "lawyers".

Speaking of lawyers, I hope you've hired a pitbull lawyer. It's time to really go after this problem and stop farting around with internet pranks. Nothing causes dealer scrotal tightening like a friendly phone call from Bitem, Chewem, & Spitemout llc.

that's right. I forgot we lived in the good 'ole U. S. of litigous A.

The story already made it to here! http://carpundit.typepad.com/carpund...a_porsche.html

Oh that is great! These people just don't get it do they? Stick to your guys everybody

Ok, just for fun, I went to The Collection's website and sent them the following correspondence via their contact page: "How much do you guys want for that black Porsche your tech wrecked? I figure with the diminished value of a wrecked and repaired luxury car,it's gotta be a great deal...oh...wait a minute...I just found out from your boss that there's no such thing as diminished value...nevermind...sorry to bother you."

That is f'in hilarious

actually, I would be down for a "drive-in" protest if it comes to it. Imagine, 50+ porsches from south florida all driving to the collection to "represent". We could all have window signs made, one for each side of the car, and basically we drive to the collection, merrick park next door, or across the street and just have an assembly for like 5 hours on a saturday. Meanwhile we all talk, shoot the ****, and inform curious people that its not a car show, but why we are gathering. At the center of the event could be a flat bed with the wrecked porsche on it and a banner below it.......man this would rock.

While I'm in San Diego can cannot participate, I'm TOTALLY for this idea! If the local PCA chapter is active, make it an official event, with hot dogs, beer and a car/parts swap meet ... maybe right in front of the dealership. And yeah, call the local news since it'll be an interesting sight.

Huh?

Did you read the link?

I think he meant "... stick to your guns ....."

I wrote the link, which is why I'm confused. Did I get something wrong? Update: Wait. I get it. You were being completely literal. Dell, have you seen this thread ?

Yup, literal. I was talking about the Collection doesn't get it and YOUR write-up was GREAT. And yes I read the other link. I have been watching both threads very closely. It infurriates me that dealers pull this crap on customers like they mean nothing to them. I like the show of solidarity that is being exhibited here and can't wait to hear the outcome

This is a great idea and someone should present this to the owner and give him a timeframe to buy the car at KBB value. Since in his view there is no diminishing value he can fix it for $6000 (coming from his Insurance co) and resell the car at close to what he paid for it.

We have a very extensive network of lawyers at Rennlist. The same lawyers that are currently working all the copyright cases from photos posted at the "I'd Hit It" thread, the same ones defending us against the illegal immigrants who don't like what we are saying about them in Off Topic, and of course the same ones defending us against PCNA for saying anything negative about P-cars. This will just be one more case on the pile................

Sorry about this post being OT. Do we? Hmmm...somehow I need to parlay that into connections...going to Marshall-Wythe at William & Mary next year (they gave me a fellowship) Back to your regularly scheduled hating of a bad dealer.

Would you mind posting this on my non-profit site... Auto Dealer Complaints Im trying to start keeping a record if the less reputable dealers.

Dear Rennlist Forum Members, I am Ken Gorin, president of THE COLLECTION in Coral Gables, Florida. It has never been our practice to discuss our customers publicly. However, since Mr. Gittlemen has opened these discussions, I felt it best to respond. THE COLLECTION prides itself in providing its customers with the highest level of customer service. Client care is, and always will be, our number one priority. We recognize that the situation with Mr. Gittleman was unfortunate and have swiftly taken the necessary steps to ensure his satisfaction in the resolution of this matter. The same day of the accident, the claim was reported to our insurance company. The car was promptly and professionally appraised by the insurance company�s adjustor and our insurance company has agreed to pay for both the needed repairs and diminished value in this regrettable accident. In addition, we wholeheartedly encourage Mr. Gittleman take his vehicle to the body shop of his choice. Most importantly, we are thankful that there were no personal injuries as a result of this accident. It is unfortunate that certain members of this forum have seen fit to make personal attacks against myself and my daughter. These comments are outrageous, hurtful, unwarranted and defamatory. We will not publicly respond further to these attacks. Instead, we will stand behind our outstanding reputation as one of this country�s preeminent luxury automotive dealerships. Ken Gorin, President THE COLLECTION

Mr. Gorin, I think it's great that you took the time to respond. Why don't you purchase his car for the value prior to the accident, fix it and resell it yourself? Seems only fair.

so who can do a trace on the IP that this was posted from to see if this stacks up? Who has admin access on the board?

Mr. Gorin, If your above statement is true, and you are who you say you are, then you certainly would not mind putting that same statement on company letterhead and signing it.

Guys, I buy all my cars from the Collection. The reason, their GREAT service. Although the situation is unfortunate, it does sound like they are making it right. The Collection's reputation is superb as is Ken's. Before continuing to degrade an otherwise superb dealer and it's officer, I suggest that we wait until the final outcome before making a decision. Just my $.02 Marcelo

Who made attacks against your daughter? If they did, and she had nothing to do with this, then you deserve an apology. As for your feelings of hurt regarding the attacks, now you know the power of the internet. One of our friends had his car destroyed by one of your employees and you had NOT done anything to address this with your customer to his satisfaction until you were directed to this thread. Now, seeing the bad press you have received, you decide to "claim" he is being taken care of. Further, what do you mean, MOST IMPORTANTLY, nobody was hurt. What the hell happened to cause such an accident? You don't think that the way you have handled the situation and the way his car is NOW, didn't cause a "pain and suffering" injury, not to mention diminished value that will NEVER bring back the car to the way it was a priori? Remember, that the ONLY way to get your reputation back is to fully take care of your customer. I have no doubt at that point he will post back your resolution to this horrible situation. We are very forgiving when someobdy stands up like a man a corrects a wrong. Do the right thing. Take care of your customer PROPERLY. Listen to his requests and come to a solution satsifactory to BOTH parties. Standing by..............

So what's the truth here? Mr Gorin says the day of the accident, his insurance company appraised the car and agreed to pay for the damages and diminished value. However, Mr Gittlemen says all he wanted was for the damage covered and dimished value, but instead was told he was acting like a 15yo for asking for dimished value.

He posted on my board also - I can confirm the IP is the The Collection - but I can not confirm "who" posted it.

If you are Ken Gorin, then thanks for addressing the issue. You should know more than any insurance company what "whole" means in the case of a wrecked Porsche. The dim value definitely is a real thing that needs to be addressed, and the rental as well. I think the fairest way and most honest way to address dim value ,is to buy his car for fair value pre-accident, and then you fix it, cpo it or whatever, and sell it, and let him "start over" fresh and whole, therebuy transfering the dim value to yourself. This is also the best way to salvage goodwill, I think most here would agree. Rennlist has a huge South Florida following.

Thanks, we cannot get any more conclusive than that, so I would assume that he is who he says he is......

+1 +1 again. What Dell said. -td

just think about the $$ this guy paid to write this message...... more power to rennlist!

its true, when this is resolved, the resolution will be posted, and in the end, thats what matters.

Looks a lot like a typical smoke and mirrors play They say XYZ happened, and it's all taken car of.... victim says otherwise... leaves enough FUD that people start to doubt the victim's story and give credibility to the stealership. Only time will tell if Mr Gorin stands up and pi$$e$ like a horse, given the opportunity. Love the fact that he felt compelled to turn up here to post - gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about Rennlist

Mr Gorin, What steps were taken to ENSURE Mr. Gittlemans satisfaction? All I can see is steps that the dealer took to cover their butt. The question should be, is the customer satisfied? I am sure that compairing him to your 15 year old daughter doesnt give the customer the sensation of satisfaction. From Mr. Gittlemans post I get the impression that it was you that decided to bring the subject of your daughter into the argument. Any mean or hurtful things said about her are directly related to you bringing her up in your conversation with Mr. Gittleman. The right thing to do would be to buy the car for the amount it was worth the day Mr. Gittleman drove onto your lot. Back in the day The Collection was known for being run by thugs and drug dealers are you trying to regain that "thugish" reputation?

Talk is cheap. But I am encouraged. It shows you what a tight knit community Porsche owners and sellers are. I check last thread on this one regularily, waiting to hear the final outcome. Thank you Mr. Gorin for you answer, but (as you would expect form Porsche owners) we will await results before drawing final conclusions.

So gittledog, what's the latest update!???? Did they do what they claimed to have done or what?

This whole sorry episode has "sleazy dealer" written all over it. Mr. Gorin, I suspect that you lost little sleep about losing one little customer with the poor service your dealership provided during this sad episode. However, put a spotlight on this issue, and show it to thousands of people on the internet and it's truly amazing how quickly you are acting all nice and reasonable. Perhaps you have heard the little saying that true character is shown by a persons actions when no one is watching. I think your actions during this episode (as described in multiple postings on this and other forums) speak volumes. Doing a search on google under "The Collection Coral Gables" and seeing this incident show up on the first page (after you invested a reported 30 million dollars in your dealership) must be painful. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...es&btnG=Search Almost as painful as having your car wrecked and not being properly compensated for a loss.

Amen to that. I'm also trying to get this furthur up on the google search results. Any suggestions? Also, Mr. Gorin, We're glad noone is injured in the accident. Everyone here is. But moving beyond that, there are financial damages that need to be addressed. In doing "what is right", the options are 1) buy back the vehicle at the price before the accident, throw an offer to him to buy another vehicle you have at a decent price OR 2) get the car repaired at the body shop of the customers choice, pay up diminished value. 2) is the bare minimum expected of any business, 1) is what someone who takes pride in their business would do. Trust me, you will be losing a lot of customers in the long run, so damage control is "worth it". cheers Sid

The forum rules will not allow new members to post photos or links. The letter on company letterhead is hosted on photobucket. Search for "thecollectionlotus" then click on view album. The letter is the first image in the album.

Guys......everybody take a deep breath and let this thing run it's course. While I have no doubt this will be resolved, it will take some time. As for those of y'all that think you are speaking directly with Ken, ask yourself if the President of The Collection is going to take the time to spend on a chat board when he is well aware of the situation at hand? I don't think so. Regardless, let him offer his resolution to our Rennlist colleauge and then we can go from there.

Fellas......I just heard from Ken at the Collection and here is the letter. I can't tell you how I came into contact with him (to protect those that have shared the dialogue) but I can say that I have every bit of faith now that this will be resolved. Time to give both sides a chance. Let's wait for resolution. ps. I'd hope that my time on this board and the respect y'all have in me that I would not post this had I not spoken to parties in and connected to the Collection. I would like to see this work for BOTH sides.

Mr. Gorin: I have purchased three porches from you in the last four years. I have always complemented the high level of service your staff offers. Your sales people, service advisors and parts department are the best people that I have ever dealt with and I commend them. However, as a customer, I want to have piece of mind that if someting so unfortunate would ever happen to me that your dealership would stand-up and do the right thing. I believe that a great dealership would not only want to meet a customers expectation, but would want to EXCEED those expectations. If you do this I can guarantee you that you would have customers for life, at least you will have one in me.

Hi guys, After reading both this thread - and Ken's note - I'm guessing there is not much more to be said. If Ken would like to contact me in person, he can do so by emailing my admin account at [email removed] with his contact information. This thread is closed. John D.