Roy and Cat's Exotics

For those of you who just want the condensed version, I want to say that I experienced excellent service from Roy, and that he was as disappointed as I was that this deal did not go through the way we wanted, but that I would definitely do business with him again, and would recommend him to anyone looking for an exotic car.
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Now the details.

The car was a Rosso Andromeda Gallardo Spyder that caught my eye. It was priced remarkably well, and I had always wanted to upgrade to a Spyder so it seemed to fit the bill very nicely.

Roy was pleasant and communicative throughout the buying process. He joked about his own Lamborghini collection, and it was clear to me throughout the deal making that Roy was not just another salesman pushing a product. Here was someone who knew Lamborghinis and loved the car as much as I do (maybe more).

This was a first time experience for me in a few ways. First time dealing with Roy, but also first time buying a car sight unseen over the Internet. On reflection, in my future dealings, I would probably decide to spend the time and effort to actually go see the car in person. I have always claimed that I do due diligence throughout the buying process but in this case, I concede that I had failed in this duty.

I want to emphasize right here and now, that the car that Roy sold to me was a great car, just not the right one for me. Having failed to do my due diligence before purchase, I was determined to do it after. I took the car to two people whom I know have better eyes than I do. The first was the general manager at a local body shop who has worked on my old Ferrari and my current Lamborghini. He has a lot of experience in dealing with cars not just from his body shop experience. He is a complete gear head - just the sort of person you want looking a car you might end up owning. He builds choppers from the ground up and restores antique cars in his spare time. He also knows me very well so he understands exactly what I look for in a car. He took his best painter and the two of them walked around the car and did a very detailed examination. I spent almost 2 hrs with him, and to cut a long story short, he said the car was beautiful but he knew it would not be the car for me. I won't go into details here, but in this case it is like a hand not fitting a glove. Doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the glove, but that it needed to go on another hand.

I then brought the car to a local appraiser. My town is sufficiently small that unfortunately I could not obtain a Lamborghini specialist, however, this guy has great experience in appraising other highline vehicles. We did all the relevant checks and told me, "I can tell you this - you are definitely getting a good deal on this buy, if you decide to keep it. The car needs a good detail, otherwise I'd give it a 8-9 out of 10. And even a new car is not a 10. For the price I don't think you could do any better."

With this information, I decided to spend some time thinking about my purchase. In the end, I had to agree with what Roy told me from the beginning. "You got to love the car." I realized I liked many things about it but it was not the car for me, and that if I wasn't happy with it now, I wasn't ever going to be.

I do not know a dealer in the world who is not happy when he makes a sale to a satisfied customer. The true test of a dealer is when things do not go as planned. How that person treats his customers when he no longer stands to gain is far more telling than how he treats someone when he is obviously coming out ahead. Roy was friendly and professional throughout the 2 weeks that I had dealt with him right up to the very end. And he stood by his word. The only time I detected disappointment in his attitude was when he realized that I was not in love with the car. I felt that he really wanted me to love the car. When I told him that this deal was not to be, he kept his word and took the car back, and promised that he would find the right car for me someday. I certainly hope so.

Roy, thank you for making this experience a pleasant one despite not everything working out as planned. You have my gratitude and I will be more than happy to provide recommendations in the future. Also, thank Kevin for the smooth handling of all the paperwork and transactions for me, please.

One thing that I got out of this experience though - I had my first chance to drive a stick-shift Lamborghini, and I have to say I loved it. I finally understand why some people sing such high praises of the gated shifter!

Now the only thing left for me to ponder is how I am going to explain what happened to the guys I promised at Cars and Coffee with the red convertible I was bragging about all last two weeks!

 

You are suggesting something nefarious going on here when in fact this was a transaction that was all above the board, taken care of in a professional manner by who I consider now to be a reputable dealer.

Here are some facts, not based of speculation or opinion.

I do not think that Roy is stupid or naive, he wouldn't have lasted this long in the business if he was.

However what he understands is good customer service and honoring his word about his cars.

So on to the facts:

a) Torching the clutch, etc. Please. Do you think Roy possibly extended me credit on this car? The car was already paid for in full when I received it. Roy had the title of my trade in his possession as well as the full balance of the money owed. The red Spyder was for all intents and purposes, at the time, my car. If I had torched the clutch and Roy had refused to take it back, I would have owned the wrecked car. Please give people some credit. As for damage to the car etc. Well the transport company signs off on the condition of the car when it is delivered and picked up. I have both copies (when I picked up the car, and when I returned it), and the mileage was recorded. The mileage put on the car by me was 10 miles. 5 miles to the body shop, 5 miles back home. Yes had Roy decided to go back on his word at this time I would have been SOL. It was his reputation that made me deal with him in the first place, and now I understand how he earned it.

b) Why Roy would deal with me again is because Roy is a businessman and understands that loyal customers bring business. Through our lengthy discussion on the phone, Roy assured me that if I did not absolutely love the car, that he would take it back. I did nothing more than to hold him to this agreement. Did he have to offer this agreement? Of course not, but it was a risk that he took, knowing that it could secure a loyal customer in the end, and I think it is probably a good practice for him. Consider what I might have done instead had Roy been like oh say any random Lambo authorized dealer and said "Well I realize you are buying this $125,000 car on the Internet but hey the minute I receive your wire transfer, its yours, so caveat emptor." What are the chances I would have continued that conversation?

c) Aspersions to Buyers Remorse. Well if I had driven the car around for a week I can understand why some of you might say that. I called Roy as the car was being unloaded off the truck, explaining to him what I saw, and this was requested by him. Before the car ever got off the loading ramp, I had already told Roy I had doubts about the car. I told Roy at that time I wasn't sure that I wanted to take possession of it. He encouraged me to take possession of the car and see if I liked it and assured me that if I did not, he would take it back. When I confirmed my initial feelings upon my FIRST TIME SEEING THE CAR, I returned it to Roy, the same day. The car left the first truck at 10am, and was loaded on the return truck at 3pm. Being not in love with a car seeing it for the first time is not the same as buyers remorse.

The fact is I admitted in my post that I could have done further due diligence. In the future I will fly out to see the car in person. That would have saved me $1600 in transport from Chicago to AZ. Because of the distances involved, unless I did that, there would be no test drive of the car, no chance to do a PPI. $1600 is a bit steep of a price to pay for a test drive and now I have learnt my lesson.

I do not know why there is this atmosphere of hostility here. It is ironic that the person whom I am actually dealing with - Roy - acted nobly and went above and beyond, but everyone else here seems to want that he should be like every other Lambo dealer out there. Why do you think I bothered to come back to this board and post a glowing review of how I was treated by Roy and his crew? I could as easily have just remained silent and moved on. Did Roy go above and beyond? Yes. Should Roy have done so? That is up to Roy to decide. I feel that I have conducted a transaction in good faith, and if Roy is unhappy about this, he can speak to me, and I would take it up with him.

 

There was nothing major wrong with the car. The reason I do not go into greater depth on a public forum is because, like Roy, I am a man of my word. If you are truly interested in the red Spyder I would be more than happy to fill you in on the exact details of the car. Depending on what you are looking for you might indeed be very happy with it. I want to emphasize that if you PM me, do so in good faith. If you are looking to find out "what's really wrong with the car" you will be disappointed, as there will be nothing for you to find out from me in that sense that I haven't already posted here.

 

Because Roy put his personal word on it that if I did not love it he would take it back?