Los Angeles Dismantlers = LA Porsche

[jostein aleksandersen]

In early August of 2007 I searched Ebay for “Porsche 993 Turbo Engine” and found an engine at a company located in Los Angeles called Los Angeles Dismantlers (LAD), also called LA Porsche. Following an e-mail to the company I was requested to contact them directly by telephone and bypass Ebay. They told me that it was better to avoid using Ebay, and instead deal directly with LAD. We agreed that they would provide all required parts for a 993 C2 conversion to a 993 Turbo. LAD claimed that their quality was excellent and that they had verified and tested the engine and all parts. Basically I trusted the company to deliver what they said and went ahead and wire transferred a total of US$23 600 to LAD. They said they would ship the engine during the following days, but it was not until 2 weeks later and numerous calls from me that they actually shipped the engine. On the 8 of October the engine was delivered in Norway to Autotuning, a reputable RUF workshop not far from Oslo. Following the inspection of the engine it became clear that the engine was in a poor condition and not correctly assembled. It seemed as if the former owner had problems getting the engine to run and tried everything himself before he gave up. Following further investigations it turned out that both turbos were damaged to a condition where both had to have major rebuild. The extra cost in order to get the engine up to a reasonable condition cost me an additional 7000 Euro, or US$17000.

I called and wrote emails to LAD and informed about the situation, but they refused to take responsibility. :angry:

Edited February 4, 2008 by Loren
Removed ALL CAPS

[wvicary]

So you joined Renntech just to slag them? What reason did they give to refuse taking care of the problem?

[laporsche]

So you joined Renntech just to slag them? What reason did they give to refuse taking care of the problem?

Wow! Thanks for that response. I have been posting on rennlist in response to this customer. Please read (my anger was brewing on some of my posts sorry).

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/show...eferrerid=16432

[phillipj]

So you joined Renntech just to slag them? What reason did they give to refuse taking care of the problem?

Wow! Thanks for that response. I have been posting on rennlist in response to this customer. Please read (my anger was brewing on some of my posts sorry).

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/show...eferrerid=16432

Wow, sounds like you have pissed off a lot of people. Hmmmmmm........ Not a good forum to have a bad rap. We tend to listen to our brothers and sisters here.

[laporsche]

We have sold millions of parts over the years. I don't think any business can say they have 100% satisifaction. As our loyal followers have told me (since I am not a blogger) this is what the boards are for dog piling and making someone the bad guy. Who wants to read sappy glorifying text, it's not as much fun. We have grown tremendously over the years but have not defended our position on the boards. If you search, you'll find a lot of recomendations as well as rants. If you have made up your mind that is fine, can't please everyone all of the time or dye trying. We run an honest business and have kept a lot of Porsche on the road. That is what it is all about right? Again, if someone has a problem with us, contact me directly. Lets get it resolved. Funny not a single person has been willing to do that yet, all I have gotten are part requests.

[White987S]

Jostein , sorry about your situation, but why anyone would wire $24K dollars half-way around the world for a purchase of an engine, without any type of pre-purchase inspection, is beyond me.

You should have joined this board sooner, asked a west coast member to inspect the engine on your behalf (I am sure someone would have offered assistance! It is a great community here.) or at least asked for advice about your proposed course of action.

I hope you get the resolved.

[laporsche]

Funny thing, Jostein has never responded to myself or any other posts on any board. He did it as a one timer to threaten us to send him more free parts and said he would continue. You can read our last email on the other board, we even offered full refund upon return if he wants to stop the project. The RUF overhaul was his intention all along I just think he didn't do his homework with the costs from their end. The engine was running and pulled out of a drivable car (I know since I drove it) Todd has the tendency to do that, get a car, tease me for a while and then cut the clip or pull the eng/tranny :( We have a small airport Whiteman & bigger Burbank nearby and we offer a pick up service. Many have flown in their PJ's and we load their plane.

I see this as a blessing in disguise, I need to pay more attention to the boards and will try to offer help if I know the answer. All are welcome to PM me, my husband has been taking Porsches apart since he was 16.

[nic996]

"We're not perfect and we admit it. Are all of you and the companies you work for so perfect? "

This is a quote taken from one of the "rants" in the link posted by LA Porshe.

I speak only from personal experience. If our company doesn't supply the parts (in our case component designs) correctly, then we are expected to supply the corrected parts or drawings without extra cost as we have made a contract-binding promise to the customer. We rarely make mistakes because we are proffessionals supplying proffessional parts and designs. If you are offering components that you describe in an advert, be it on Ebay or wherever then surely it's not beyond reasonable expectation to receive the parts as described. I was sent a part from you guys to Germany and asked specifically if the part you offered would fit my car and it didn't. Eventually the part was exchanged but only after numerous emails, telephone calls and almost 4 months(!!!!) of waiting by myself. Your telephone and customer interface in my experience was nothing short of appalling. Probably made worse by the reputation that American customer service is supposedly second to none. Now I realise that you are serving customers in the retail sector and in second hand parts. Of course these parts won't be perfect, however, it seems that sometimes you are selling parts that do not meet the description that you describe. You must realise that you are supplying to people who own Porsches. Even worse, enthusiastic Porsche owners!! These are people that have and expect high standards. If you want to sell parts in that sector of your general business then you have to up your game. Perhaps you should look at the critisisms in a positive way and look at how you can improve your business and gain repeat custom (and respect!!) rather than getting angry on a publicly accessed internet forum!! It is very unproffesional and additionaly to my personal experience, your replies would certainly make me think twice before ordering parts from you again.

Good luck with improving your reputation and good luck to Jostein with the conversion.

[AutoAgent]

Though not nearly as costly as your transaction, I also had a bad experience with these people. I ordered a cup wheel from them that they stated was "Original, Mint, Flawless." I paid top dollar to them. The wheel came and the poorly prepared repaint was flaking off before I could get it out of the box. I called them, emailed them pictures of the damage, and asked for a complete refund. They wouldn't do it. They wouldn't do anything until I filed a dispute with my credit card company. They then refunded half of my money. Not what I wanted, but better than a protracted fight. Now I have a wheel refinishing project to execute. I will never do business with these people again. :(

[phillipj]

Wow...The points just keep piling up. Has anyone had a good experience with these people?

[White987S]

Wow...The points just keep piling up. Has anyone had a good experience with these people?

If you read through the entire thread that is linked above in Laporsche's post, you will get some good along with some more bad.

[Biggdawg]

Wow...The points just keep piling up. Has anyone had a good experience with these people?

If you read through the entire thread that is linked above in Laporsche's post, you will get some good along with some more bad.

Reputation within the Porsche Community takes years to establish. Every business's reputation is a product of the after sale support and perception by its customer base. Good Luck.

[GTrex911]

I gotta be honest with you... you're dealing with a salvage yard. There is an inherent risk in buying a used anything from there. I have purchased many parts from LA Porsche and have had a great experience. Sure they have messed up the order multiple times, but have always stood there to correct them. They even paid the shipping for their mistakes or refunded the full amount.

Don't know if I would spend over a grand at any salvage yard without personally seeing the part first...

Just thought I had to give them a good review since everyone else seemed to be slamming them. If you don't like LA Porsche - Try DCAUTO down in Virginia, they are similiar in size.

[porha]

Hi,we bought a lot of cars in US,which was repaired in US,guys who repaired the cars bought a lot of parts there,mostly control arms,cross members,struts,steeringparts,wheels.I have seen a lot of these parts myself,acctualy have to repair repaired cars if it was possible -when cars was fixed with bad cross members.

and parts was not damadged with transportation. :)

sorry for my english