herb chambers

has anyone brought from herb chambers in boston ma, if so how was your experience and did anyone get a discount off the sticker. thanks

I remember Herb Chambers being "pasted" on these boards a while ago, if you search I'm sure you'll find some info. Not a pleasant situation! IRA Porsche, a sponsor is in your neck of the woods and Alfie is very helpful. That doesn't mean you shouln't beat him up on price. FWIW there is no requirement, or downside, to the selling dealer being different than the servicing dealer, each is it's own profit center, and they all want your business. Some people perceive that you get better service at the selling dealer, however while comforting, it is often illogical, because Porsche has its standards. Also, you rarely see or hear from the sales guy unless you seek him out. They are trained to never go looking for "trouble".

I bought my 3 series from them when I went to BU at the time they where building the Porsche dealership. I have no complaints from them but they seem to stick to their prices.

Colm although all service departments look for extra business, you do often get preferential treatment if you bought the car from them. You might get a loaner or get it more often. Also many manufacturers give dealers "discretionary" monies to spend on a customer's repair when a car is out of warranty. If you didn't buy your car from them (unless you relocated) they probably won't spend the money on you. They would be allowed to, but would probably reserve it for one of their original customers or possibly in a case where you get all you service done there. I.E. oil change, tire rotation, etc.

I think many of us remember the thread with the mis-ordered turbo. Chambers really got bashed on that deal. It's a shame they didn't resolve that problem more professionally. FWIW, Herb Chambers has received a few industry excellence awards and recognition for good service and good internet practices. I don't think, especially in this mass communication world, that a service business can be as successful as Chambers and not do a lot of things right. But, as we have all seen, one customer thinks they're great; another one hates them. I would make preliminary contact, evaluate the initial quality of the experience and make your own decision. As we say, YMMV.

i have some experience with both Herb Chambers and Ira Porsche, both in the boston area, i looked at a yellow GT3 at chambers and was quite impressed with the way that they treated me, i walked in on a saturday afternoon and i was able to deal directly with George Chambers (Herb's son) i believe he runs the porsche store, he was extremely knowledgeable and he went over the car in great detail, he must have spent an hour with me going over the pros and cons, as i was comparing it to a turbo, in the end though i purchased my car from Ira Porsche, only based on the fact that they had a silver 2003 leftover turbo coupe, which is what decided was the best model for me, Ira was courteous as well and were great through the whole process, as for the pricing, Chambers was firm with the price of the GT3, but at the time everyone was firm with GT3 pricing, Ira gave me what i thought was a great deal on the turbo, with a huge discount, i have yet to be back for service, but i have heard good things about both service departments.

They are a good dealership, but aroogant about being so, and are also WAY overpriced on service.

If you think Chambers is overpriced on service, try Reitzl in Norwell MA. $75 a wheel to balance your tires. I kid you not. Vic 99 C2 cab

I have never heard anything bad about Herb Chambers (other then they are good and they know it). I am big fan of Ira Porsche. They have always treated PCA members that I have talked with very well. They are very involved with our region as far as hosting events and have a very friendly staff as well. Also, we at Rennlist like to give back to our sponsors! Good luck - Jay Gratton

Wow! That's insane. I was referring specifically to the 15K service. I paid around $400 at Clair, and Chambers I believe said $895 or something.

I just bought my 2004 C4S Cabriolet from Alfie at Ira Porsche and I would recommend them to anyone interested. It was an interesting sale considering I live in the NYC area and was unable to physically see the car. Through the process Alfie, and the Ira group, were very helpful, professional and worked within my budget. Some pics of the deal this weekend... http://www.pbase.com/riadanza/c4s Cheers, Robert

I would go with IRA Porsche anyday. I have had some complaints as a customer and besides IRA Porsche is a board sponsor

herb chambers has tried to screw me on 2 separate 911s. i have several friends with mercedes and they had bad experiences at chambers too. george chambers, the owner's son, is the general manager of the porsche dealership and he was no help on my problems, he basically called me a liar and told me to go to hell. instead, i went to danbury porsche and bought my car, then i went to pcna and they got my money back from george. there's plenty of other reputable dealers out there. danbury porsche was awesome. they drove my car up on a flatbed 150 miles and dropped it at my front door free of charge. and pass & weisz porsche in burlington is good, though their service dept is very arrogant!!!

Been to IRA and found their service excellent. Alfie is also a very fast responder to emails and the like. I would rate them 9 out of 10, and I have used many dealers over the years: (I'm really old) Holbert's was the best (in the 70s), and the most fascinating at that time, so they get a 10, with a close 2nd going to Ira. Blue Grass in Louisville was pretty good. Got my 02 Cab there. (sorry for the reminiscing) PS: a guy named Wolfgang Rietzl owns Rietzl (duh), and he raced and was a hell of a mechanic in the 50s. He worked with Lake Underwood, another old time Porsche racer. Lake was featured in Excellence a couple issues ago and is a neighbor on Cape Cod. If you've never listened to an old time racer tell stories about the 356s, 550s and 718s you're missing something. Apologies again for the reminiscing. Hoffman in Hartford, CT Fathers & Sons in Spfld, MA Don Rosen just outside of Philadelphia Holbert's in Warrington Barrier in Bellevue WA Rietzl Ira Lauzon in Montreal Blue Grass in Louisville

I have had 3 cars serviced at Ira and been happy with the attention to details and care. Re buying a car, I suspect that the quality of the experience has a lot to do with the specific salesman. I ordered my C4 from Ira, but the sales guy was not very good at following up and keeping me warm and fuzzy. (btw, this was a $100k car) The delivery date kept slipping. One day I went to the Philly Auto show and there was a dealer there from Cherry Hill Porsche. He was telling someone he could get him a car in 90 days. I piped up that I had already waited 6 months for my car and it looked like it was going to be another 6 months before I got it. He asked me what it was and I told him. He flips through some computer reports and says to me "I have that car". A short ride to the dealership, and he did have the car, with a few extras I had not ordered. I bought the car on the spot. They trucked it to my front door on Tuesday and I cancelled my order with Ira that afternoon. I like Ira, but they could have had the sale, if they had made even half an effort and called around to some other dealers.......Sales guy does not work there any more. I did buy an A6 Quattro Biturbo from them though and they have taken very good care of both of these cars (the C4 ad the Quattro Biturbo) as well as the quattro we traded in for the new one. Hell, for the most part they are even polite to the wife......and there are few dealerships that treat women like important customers. (Both quattros were/are hers).

As a daily visitor to the Rennlist (and occasional poster), owner of several 911's and other high end cars (M3, M5 etc), purchased in the Boston area over the last decade, I think I can add some valuable information to the tread. Because of unfounded prejudice and at times pricing, I stayed away from Herb Chambers and purchased my cars elsewhere (including RI and many other NE dealerships) until my last 911 purchase at Herb Chambers one year ago. In its true meaning, words are not enough to explain how happy I am with this decision. While there are many other good dealerships, Herb Chambers Porsche was so far the best experience I had. The decision making and ordering process (model, options, etc.) as well as the negotiating part were purely professional, devoid off usual psychological "games" that I found at many other dealerships. Since Herb Chambers Porsche has much better resources than its competition, it can afford to have state of the art service, master technicians, staff, tools, parts, and car availability and flexibility whenever it is necessary and reasonable (repairs, negotiating, etc.). I think that the recent change in management (since the relocation to Commonwealth Ave.) made all the difference. My impression is that this dealership is in the business to keep its customers for the long run. I am 100% satisfied with the service over the last year. As a bonus, they provide a free short notice hand car wash (no swirl marks) at any time (very valuable this winter). In comparison to my previous experiences, Herb Chambers� excellent support and service provides me with a full peace of mind while enjoying my 911 on a daily basis. It is very hard to put a price tag on this. As a disclaimer, I have no interest or links to HC Company. This is written from a pure customer perspective. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. MPS, M.D. 2003 996TT

I bought mine at Ira and the sales guys were good. Service was a different story. Anyways, have you NH guys tried the new dealer in Nashua? How's their service. It would save a trip down into MA.