stedge

First, thanks to all for guidance/help thus far.

Let em tell you a story:

Saw the bl/bl 97 C4s on EBAY, called and put a refundable deposit on it (2k). Originally had PPI set up with nearest dealer, but after rec's from all of you, went with Jon at Reid Vann. Had it set up for 12:30 today. Also was lining up body check at Autohaus, as recommended.

Dealer (guy I was working with was named Kevin) started balking about the PPI and body check, moving the car around, saying lots of other folks wanted it (including a dealer) without a PPI, etc, etc. They also wanted to make part of the deposit nonrefundable, in contrast to our earlier, written agreement.

I kept to the original plan re: teh deposit, and awaited the results of the PPI.

Just got a call from Kevin. Says his boss is not going to sell the car (to me, he didn't say), because he priced it incorrectly. Apparently Mr. Schmitt was just looking in Hemmings and noticed asking prices there were a little higher....

So Kevin says he's in the process of refunding my deposit, and the car is off the market.


Bunch of scheisters. Too bad it didn't work out, if it was a nice car, but too many questions, and not enough answers.

I woudl strongly urge all of you to avoid this dealer.

Finally, I'm still in the market. If you have a nice C4 or C4s, please let me know. I do want under 30k miles, blue, silver, or black. Prefer sport seats, but that is not a deal-breaker. Don't care about the stereo. Looking for a stock car, not tracked, well-maintained. Aren't we all?

Thanks, again.

Eric

Bill Gregory

Eric,

If you won the Ebay auction, you may want to leave negative feedback on the seller, to alert others.

stedge

The auction was never completed, I called as soon as I saw the listing and worked directly with them - perhaps my mistake, because I was just trying to find how to leave a bad review, and it appears I cannot.

They slimed out of it!!

Life is grand if this is all we have to worry about.

Eric

Burnham

Yep, be thankfull Eric - its certainly sounds like that car was not for you!

laurence '97 C4S

Seems to demonstrate once again the old adage, if the price is to good to be true, there is a reason. Clearly they knew the car would not pass a PPI/body inspection. Good for you not letting your "wants" overcome your brain. Unfortunately, they will find some sucker.

993chaz

Same thing happened to me, only on a Rangerover. I won the auction, sent in the deposit FedEx priority overnight. They called me that day and said they had sold it last night to a walk in. However, I spoke to a sales guy that evening and he had told me he was putting a sold sign on it. There excuse was that the vehicle had been listed incorrectly. They refunded my deposit, but not the FedEx charge.
"BUYERS BEWARE" <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />

SteveL1

Against my better judgement, I dropped by Schmitt and drove the car in question this morning after seeing the e-bay ad yesterday. For only showing 16k miles, it had lots of wear inside on the seats and carpet. There was even a spot in the floor mat completly worn through to the backing! Normal rock chips and such outside, but I would have beleived 30k miles if they had said that. The sales guy I talked to, Jay something, was a real sleeze. Kept talking about how many cars a month he sold, bla, bla, bla.

I took it for a "spirited" test drive with him on board and found that the car pulled hard to the left and had a really annoying vibration from the drive train in third and fourth gear. When I said that I would like to have Reid Vann look at the car, he said that they would have to charge me to flat bed it to them and would require a deposit and agreed upon sale price.

By the time we got back to the show room to check the car fax, he said that they had 2 deals pending on the car. One form NY w/ $4k deposit and a friend of Schmitt's with a $2500 deposit, so IF I were interested I better put something down quick in case the other deals fell through.

No service records AT ALL! Only dealer stamp was the original selling dealer in '96, and the radio code did not work. He swore that it was a 1 owner car, but the car fax clearly shows 3 titles being issued. The original in CT, the 2nd at 7k miles in NY and the 3rd in June of '02 in NY. He said that they picked it up at auction so he could not check the history.

The really disturbing part was that they had not detailed the car and I was told "why should we waiste the money to detail it for the 3-4 days that it will sit here. Someone from out of town's going to buy it anyway."

I'm sure that you can get a nice car from them, but I just can't trust them as far as I could throw them! <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> I will keep searching for the right car, just not there!

reltub

Sorry that it didn't work out with this car due to Schmitt's business ethics- your experience seeems vey similar to mine - and it still pisses me off 6 months later

Has Rennlist considered keeping a list of " questionable " dealers ( with good and bad comments in the interest of fairness ! )
as guidance to other potential buyes as I know of the frustration, cost and time involved in dealing with less than honorable parties.

Givin prospective buyers the chance to know who to be careful with would be a great idea.

I guess Reid Vann is also getting pissed at having multiple PPI's cancelled on him.

Any willingeness to start such a list to help other Rennlisters ?

SteveL1

reltub... As a prospective new 993 owner looking for that perfect car, I think it's a great idea! Schmitt should go to the top of the list! <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

Bill Gregory

[quote]<strong>Any willingeness to start such a list to help other Rennlisters ?</strong><hr></blockquote>
While we'd like to have a scum list, there's a thought that, like a divorce, there are three sides to every story (his, hers, the truth). It would be tough to keep a possibly perceived one-sided list, particularly if maintained on Rennlist, which is a collection of unmoderated lists. My two cents would be to continue to post user experiences that others can review and make their own determinations from.

Speedraser

The floor mat is worn through to the backing at 16K miles??? My 993 has 50K and the mats look nearly new!

BTW, what was the dealer's asking price?

Don't worry -- the right car is out there.

GTR 993

I have been to Schmitt and they do have some reasonably nice cars. I did however put a deposit down on a 91 about a 3 years ago and they told me another buyer's loan was approved before I put down a deposit. <img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" /> I asked for my money back and it took about 4 months to get it. They buy alot of cars at auctions that are less than perfect and do minor work to them and advertise them as 100% perfect. <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

I would suggest they be honest and let the buyer know exactly what the deal is with the car and they would have a better reputation.

Kevin Reilly

[quote]Originally posted by Bill Gregory:
<strong>My two cents would be to continue to post user experiences that others can review and make their own determinations from.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I agree, this is one of the areas where the archives are particularly valuable. Anyone who has questions about a dealer, mechanic, transport service or vendor can get some good intel by doing (dare I say it) an archive search. Note that the search should include a variety of forums here, since a 964 search might prove more useful than a 993 search for a particular item.

Note that Dan found some dirt on the Schmitt in the archives that proved to be useful.

Craig W.

Hah! I told you guys the seats had too many lines on them for a car with ~15k, LOL!

GTR 993

Where is Autohaus located? I want to do add a spoiler that I recently purchased and I am looking for a good porsche body shop. <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />