Article That I Wrote And Will Enjoy Sharring

Shining New Star in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall

Rusnak Westlake Porsche Celebrates Its New Location



By Ronnie Cohen


With a great deal of anticipation, Rusnak Westlake Porsche recently moved one-half block down the street into its new location in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. And what a difference one-half block makes!

The old location on South Cord Avenue consisted of a new car showroom that barely held four desks and two vehicles, and a service department shared with their sister Audi dealership. In contrast, the new location at 3839 Auto Mall Drive is 21st century on a grand scale. Sitting on nearly six acres, Rusnak Westlake Porsche occupies the most land of any Porsche dealership in the country. This makes it all-the-better to display their vast selection of both new and pre-owned vehicles, since Rusnak Westlake Porsche, along with their sister dealership in Pasadena, is the number one retailer of Porsche products in the United States!

Being both a Porsche owner and a Westlake Village resident, I paid the new dealership a visit shortly after they opened their doors. Pulling onto their lot, the first thing that was apparent was the abundance of customer parking. Upon entering the showroom, I was greeted at the reception desk by a pleasant lady who immediately paged a salesperson with whom I was familiar to assist me. I was then offered a beverage and given a tour of the facility.

The showroom is quite large, light and airy, with a nice variety of models. Fortunately, there are not any desks which can be the number one item to create showroom clutter. A center hallway from the showroom led us back to the service department area, complete with a comfortable customer lounge equipped with a big screen television, couches, and all of the desired accoutrements. Once again, there are not any desks cluttering the open areas, for all of the service writers have their separate office area.

Exiting the service department took us outside to the wide covered service drive. Across the drive is a small building which houses the new Porsche boutique. I enjoyed the time I spent looking at all of the clothing and various Porsche Design items that would satisfy the desires of any Porsche fanatic.

Behind the boutique is the cavernous service area where a plethora of service bays and Porsche qualified technicians await all of the service needs of the many models that Porsche is proud to offer. What struck me while wandering through the service area was how clean and neat everything seemed to be.

My tour ended outside in front of the showroom on the new and pre-owned car lot. This is where the small or maybe not-so-small influences of a family that has owned a business for over fifty years comes into play. All of the dozens and dozens of cars were placed in such a way that the customer can walk around each vehicle with plenty of room to spare. Some vehicles were in a semicircle. The impression of “rows and rows of cars” just did not exist. The layout of vehicles created a feeling of comfort.

I drove away from the new Rusnak Westlake Porsche feeling proud that the Conejo Valley, my home, has a Porsche dealership that can rival not only any automobile dealership in the area, but in the country. The general manager, Keith Goldberg, has done an outstanding job of making everyone who walks through the door feel welcome. Furthermore, those of us who are Porschephiles feel like we have come home.

My second visit to the dealership, as a member of the Porsche Club of America, took place early one evening when the Santa Barbara chapter of the club was invited by Rusnak to attend a seminar given by their director of service, Sam Abergel. The seminar was a technical introduction to the latest Porsche model, the 981 Boxster. Rusnak provided a light dinner, and the very informative seminar, attended by many of the dealer technicians, lasted for about two hours. We all left feeling that we had been treated to something special.

Rusnak Westlake Porsche has been part of the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall for many years. With the opening of their spectacular new location, they are now, more than ever, an integral part of our community