Anyone have information on Collectible Classics in Bryn Mawr, PA?

Was wondering the same thing.
They came seemingly out of no where and have had a couple dozen cars on BaT the past month or so.

 

Sounds like title jumping to me. Totally illegal.

 

Hey Dave
Hope you are well!
Trust your gut. Call me for more info.

 

Hello.

This is Joey Benjamini. Hope this finds you well.

You have got a few pieces of information correct but also a bit incorrect. Im here to set the record straight.



I graduated the University of Pennsylvania with the highest honest in three years with a degree in economics. Generally consider a positive thing when you car dealer graduated an ivy league university at the top of his class.

I personally rented the entire garage at the Radnor condo house from the management as storage for excel cars that do not fit in my own warehouse and buildings. It is not open to the public and is just a place for me to keep all my cars indoors. It is hope you don't take offense to where i choose to store some of my cars. In fact the management is delighted as previously dozens of individual collectors used to rent the space to store their cars but now its just one person.

If you have a concern with my dealers license please know that Bringatrailer has done their work vetting me as they are the highest quality location for cars to be sold I hope this should be transparent enough for you. We list each of our cars with 300 photos and several videos as well as a carfax and title documents.

Hope we can work together in the near future and would appreciate in the future we have positive interactions.

THANK YOU

Sincerely,

Joey Benjamini

 

Dave,

I would strongly prefer our relationship to be a positive one. I appreciate your inquiry. The answer is yes everything is above board. At this point I am going to end this conversation.

It seems you have a personal axe to grind and I have no interest in fighting with you. When you are interested in purchasing a vehicle you can come into our location and we can do paperwork with you there.

Until then I ask kindly and professionally for you to find a more useful purpose.

Again, Thank you Dave and have a lovely wednesday night.

 

Went to UofP, can't spell or correctly use punctuation and capitalization.
My Dad and Grandfather, both Wharton grads, are rolling in their graves.

 

BTW, dealers licenses are very difficult to get in PA and must also be approved by the Township in which they are located.
I'd be shocked if the township would permit a dealer to operate out of The Radnor House.
I don't think Dave has a personal axe to grind. I believe he, like myself, is friends with several dealers locally and know the hoops they had to jump through. I think he just wants to be sure you aren't skirting the system and undercutting their legitimate dealer businesses.

 

I don’t think where one went to college (or not even) has any bearing on integrity or suitability to do business with.

Anyhow I smell BS about this whole UPenn thing too. You can graduate with honors in your major, never heard of “highest honors.” And honors is a pretty low bar to pass, definitely not the same as “top of class”. If that was the case, you would just say you graduated summa.

obviously this is not of any importance but I am bored, so giving my 2 cents

 

With all due respect to those involved in the conversation. There is zero chance that the township would allow The Radnor House to be used as a commercial place of business, in particular a car dealership. As has been mentioned, it is difficult to acquire a dealers license in PA these days.

Do you want to know what's easy? Checking to see if someone has one. The young "recent graduate" does not have a deaelrs license. If he is "sharing" one, I would suggest he not post that in a public forum such as this one. Its strictly forbidden by the PA DMV, the result would be forfeiture of the license by the true holder. Additionally, I personally find it rather funny that he claims to be an Ivy League graduate while he demonstrates a severe lack of even a rudimentary command of the English language or basic grammar.

The problem with buying a car from a curb stoner such as this fella is you (as the buyer) have zero recourse. its only a matter of time until all of this blows up in his face. Including the U Penn story.

 

I've had some dealings with Joey. I have a used car license with a repair shop that has a used car license in Wayne, PA. In Pennsylvania, you must be affiliated with a licensed dealer to get a sales license. I've had one for over ten years, have Manheim Auction Access, etc., all which I pay fees to have. In PA, if you sell more than six cars a year, you're supposed to have a license, otherwise yes, you would be considered a curbstoner. And yes, the current wait time, just a few years ago, to get a dealer's license was probably a year. I always thought you had to have an outdoor lot that could display at least five cars, which Joey does not have at the Radnor lot. I have two spots in the upper lot at Radnor house for my own cars. Perhaps there is a license for warehouse operators, not sure. Many people know me in my area and from time to time ask me to help them sell their car, find a car, we get cars from customers, consignments, etc. Joey has contacted me on several occasions, basically low balling each time, not being very friendly either. The other day, I saw one of his workers with a few cars, nice guy. They looked very clean and I found out about Collectible Classics. Not sure if his prices are competitive, but the two cars I saw outside his garage were impressive. I don't really care if he can't spell or where he went to college or not. My take on the hobby is make friends, network, get to know people, develop a reputation of fairness, share your enthusiasm, that we all have for great cars! Sure, some of us are in the business to make a living, some retail, some wholesale. I understand that, but also be considerate of the fact that people are trusting you and do your best to represent what you have with honesty and transparency, not to mention being willing to pay a fair price for inventory. Like every other business, you tend to want to do repeat business with people who are real, punctual, trustworthy, fair, etc. I don't know about everyone else, but to me, it's a real turnoff when I list a car for sale and someone offers way below even the wholesale value, hoping to perhaps take advantage of a distress sale. Perhaps some people believe you have to be a cut throat, hard nosed businessman to exceed. Not me, I sleep great at night!

 

D: Yes, Lament's Auto, Jim has been in business close to 50 years. Joey has called me a few times and like I said, all mysterious, not giving me a lot of info about his business and making very low offers. Perhaps that's his strategy to make good profits, fine. But introduce yourself, be friendly, let's network, etc. That's the way I am. Some guys are all business, I can appreciate that, just not the way I am. I didn't even know he had a warehouse or a website until recently, but yeah, some of the people I deal with on the wholesale level won't even do business with you if you don't have a dealer's license, not to mention you can't have legitimate dealer tags or have a sales tax exemption, access to Manheim, etc, all which require time and money

 

dm n stuff well said on all accounts!


BAT and the other sites are only as good as the information they are provided by the seller. Joey may have submitted someone else's dealers license. The Radnor House is NOT zoned for a car dealership, there is zero chance he would get a variance for one either. As far as the cats being cut out or the street legal status of the cars. When you submit a car to BaT they absolutely ask whether or not the car can be registered for street use. Its a gray area since what may pass in one state certainly will not pass in other states. By the letter of the law he is a curbstoner. Doesn't mean you can't buy a car from him, what it means is you have risk in doing so. You are not afforded the consumer protections by the state relating to the purchase of a used car from a dealer.

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments regarding those who go through the time and expense of being actual licensed dealers. Lets face it, the used car business gets enough of a bad rap, when you add in the curbstoner crew its not a pretty picture.

I agree with you on the education comment. You phrased it perfectly. It doesn't matter to me whether you graduated last in your high school class or first in your class at Wharton. Pretending to be something you're not, (and in this case that applies to being a car dealer and a Penn grad) becomes painfully obvious in short order. If you're willing to lie about things so freely, what's that say about the cars you represent?

 

Can only imagine the number of curbstoners who are "salesman" at that fine establishment.

 

Point well taken. In many states you can get by with aftermarket cats. However, as you correctly point out, that doesn't technically make it legal, it just gets you past the inspection. Probably something that needs to be announced on BaT

 

Totally agree.