My Experience at GI Motorsports in LA
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Joined: Feb 2008
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From: Los Angeles, California
2006 E55 BEAST
My Experience at GI Motorsports in LA
This entire situation happened about 2-3 months ago. I wrote it the day it happened, as soon as I got home from GI Motorsports. I decided not to post it here though. I figured I'd wait a couple of months to cool off, and then decide again if I wanted to post it or not. A few months have passed, and while reading it my heart started to pound again, remembering everything that happened. I should have read the Yelp reviews before I went there (they can't always be trusted, but most of the reviews for this place are pretty bad) but I didn't. My mistake.
I would love to take this as an opportunity to talk about how fantastic my normal mechanic is, and how he's the only person that I want to take my cars too, but I think that would take away from how horrible GI Motorsports is. I don't want it to seem like a cheap plug.
Without further ado...
---------------------------------------------------
I am by no means a medical expert in any way, but in my personal opinion, the owner of GI Motorsports (previously German Independent) is a complete lunatic. This is a long read, but it has as many details as I can remember, and it's worth the read.
I have a 1986 Porsche Carrera that isn't in the best shape. It's a fun car that gets driven once or twice a month. My goal is to get it to be safe to drive. I have no intention of turning it into a show car, or anything close to that. I just want it to be a safe car that I can take out once in a while. I knew it needed some brakes, and I knew that it wasn't safe to drive on the freeway. If it was I would have taken it to my normal mechanic who works on my daily driver, but unfortunately he's an hour away. My brother and I figured we'd drop it off with GI Motorsports as they're a "Porsche specialist" (Rene's words).
The owner, Rene, didn't exactly seem like a ray of sunshine, but whatever. I need a good mechanic, not a friend. I dropped the car off with him before I went out of town for a week or so. He was going to check everything out and let me know what the car needed. Again, I told him all I needed was for the car to be safe to drive. We communicated by email. He told me that I needed new brakes and rotors, brake sensors, tires, and some other stuff that didn't seem important (mostly cosmetic things). Many of the emails were basically about how this car needs so much more work than we're putting into it and I just dealt with it.
I understand that he thinks these cars should be perfect, but I'm just not willing to put that much money into a car that I drive once or twice a month. I told him to do the brakes, and that I would find some tires. The rear wheels are a weird size, so I couldn't find tires in the price range that I wanted to pay. I figured I would just leave the tires for another day.
I dropped the car off a month ago, and I went to pick it up this morning. Everything was already paid for. He had my credit card information and he charged everything as he did it. I walked up to him, and he gave me a look that said "what do you want?". I told him I was here to pick up my car and he said "Ok, go get it, it's over there", pointing to the other side of the shop. He ended up following me over, reluctantly.
When we got over to my car, he got a phone call. I wasn't snooping, so I didn't hear all of it, but I heard a good amount since he didn't bother to walk away. He had the whole talk in front of me. The memorable quotes are: "He doesn't give a **** about you" and "Get sober and then call me. I can't deal with this ****". Mostly just cussing at whoever he was talking to. He hung up, and didn't even bother to apologize for the phone call, forget the nature of it. Since I dropped the car off a month ago, I forgot exactly what was done to it. So I asked, and with frustration in his voice he replied "Brakes all around". "Is that all?" I asked. "Brakes all around", he replied again, more frustrated than the last time. "There wasn't a service or anything done to it?". He yelled this time, "BRAKES ALL AROUND!". At this point I was already caught off guard. Who acts like this? It only got better.
I noticed that the passenger side sun visor was missing, so I asked him where it was. He replied that the car didn't have a passenger side visor when I dropped it off. I said that it did when I dropped the car off. He then looked at me and said "are we really going to do this?". As if my goal was to cheat him into paying for a new visor. He was really aggravated at this point. I pointed out that there's no reason for the car to leave the shop in worse shape than it arrived in. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and I found the visor on the floor in the backseat. I let it go. He didn't. We spent about 5 minutes with him saying that I accused him of stealing it. I was with a female friend who was getting frustrated with Rene. She was pointing out that we didn't accuse him of anything. He again said that we did. I regret it, but I lost my patience for a second and I said "Are you ****ing kidding me?". He pulled me down to his level.
He changed subject again, talking about how this car needs a lot to be safe and it's not getting the love it deserves. My friend mentions again that this is just a weekend car, and that I don't want to put too much money into it. This is when things took another turn for the worse. He tried to get personal. Not that it would be an insult if she did drive a Honda, but he said "And that's why you drive a Honda". We weren't offended by it, but it's the fact that he meant it as a personal insult. I told my friend to just go wait outside. There was no reason that she's have to deal with this.
It was impossible to get a word in with him. He just kept talking, and everything he said was basically being yelled. I tried to remain calm through the whole thing. I didn't want to make the situation worse. He kept changing subjects, and then talking about how Ferdinand Porsche said that if you can't afford the maintenance on a Porsche you shouldn't have a Porsche. I kept trying to calm him down. He kept talking about how the tires aren't safe, and that they could pop. And again he tried to get personal by saying that I live in the valley and that I'd end up crashing on the 405. Not that living in the valley would be bad if I did live there, but again, he was trying to insult me.
I understood that the tires weren't safe to drive on. He had his mechanic come over and show me. So I thanked him, and I told him that I appreciate him looking out for my safety. He kept yelling. "Rene, all I said was thank you, and that I appreciate it, just take the win" he sarcastically said "Oh great, ****ing awesome" and I said "There we go. Even the sarcasm is better than what you were like before". This guy would not crack a smile. You'd think I kicked his puppy. I kept thanking him for being so thoughtful, trying to get him to calm down, and he'd just keep screaming about different things. I said "Look, I know you just had a weird phone call, but that has nothing to do with this situation. I didn't do anything to you. I'm being calm, be calm with me". I had to have said that at least 10 times.
He ordered the tires that I needed, and I thanked him for ordering them for me, saving me the hassle of having to do it myself. Nothing. Just more about how I don't understand that the tires are unsafe. Then 2 cops came in. My friend called the LAPD. From outside all she could hear was this guy yelling. I told the cops that everything was ok, and that I calmed the guy down. Then Rene starts going off on tangents with the cop. The cop finally had to go "Can I speak for a minute?". The cops left and we were left alone again. I think he was trying to justify his behavior by saying "I'm a German *******, and I say what I think". No. That doesn't justify anything. There's a way to speak to people. Before I left he kept trying to get me to call him an *******, and I told him I wouldn't do it. Not because I didn't think that he was an *******, because he was. But because I wouldn't go down to his level again.
This has nothing to do with me having some overinflated sense of worth because I'm a customer. This has nothing to do with customer service. This has to do with treating other people with respect. I should have had this car towed to my normal mechanic, and next time I will. The other mechanic I use is amazing. Incredibly knowledgeable and a very nice guy. I would write the name of his shop, but I don't want it to seem like an advertisement for him. That would devalue the rest of this, about how horrible a person Rene is.
I would love to take this as an opportunity to talk about how fantastic my normal mechanic is, and how he's the only person that I want to take my cars too, but I think that would take away from how horrible GI Motorsports is. I don't want it to seem like a cheap plug.
Without further ado...
---------------------------------------------------
I am by no means a medical expert in any way, but in my personal opinion, the owner of GI Motorsports (previously German Independent) is a complete lunatic. This is a long read, but it has as many details as I can remember, and it's worth the read.
I have a 1986 Porsche Carrera that isn't in the best shape. It's a fun car that gets driven once or twice a month. My goal is to get it to be safe to drive. I have no intention of turning it into a show car, or anything close to that. I just want it to be a safe car that I can take out once in a while. I knew it needed some brakes, and I knew that it wasn't safe to drive on the freeway. If it was I would have taken it to my normal mechanic who works on my daily driver, but unfortunately he's an hour away. My brother and I figured we'd drop it off with GI Motorsports as they're a "Porsche specialist" (Rene's words).
The owner, Rene, didn't exactly seem like a ray of sunshine, but whatever. I need a good mechanic, not a friend. I dropped the car off with him before I went out of town for a week or so. He was going to check everything out and let me know what the car needed. Again, I told him all I needed was for the car to be safe to drive. We communicated by email. He told me that I needed new brakes and rotors, brake sensors, tires, and some other stuff that didn't seem important (mostly cosmetic things). Many of the emails were basically about how this car needs so much more work than we're putting into it and I just dealt with it.
I understand that he thinks these cars should be perfect, but I'm just not willing to put that much money into a car that I drive once or twice a month. I told him to do the brakes, and that I would find some tires. The rear wheels are a weird size, so I couldn't find tires in the price range that I wanted to pay. I figured I would just leave the tires for another day.
I dropped the car off a month ago, and I went to pick it up this morning. Everything was already paid for. He had my credit card information and he charged everything as he did it. I walked up to him, and he gave me a look that said "what do you want?". I told him I was here to pick up my car and he said "Ok, go get it, it's over there", pointing to the other side of the shop. He ended up following me over, reluctantly.
When we got over to my car, he got a phone call. I wasn't snooping, so I didn't hear all of it, but I heard a good amount since he didn't bother to walk away. He had the whole talk in front of me. The memorable quotes are: "He doesn't give a **** about you" and "Get sober and then call me. I can't deal with this ****". Mostly just cussing at whoever he was talking to. He hung up, and didn't even bother to apologize for the phone call, forget the nature of it. Since I dropped the car off a month ago, I forgot exactly what was done to it. So I asked, and with frustration in his voice he replied "Brakes all around". "Is that all?" I asked. "Brakes all around", he replied again, more frustrated than the last time. "There wasn't a service or anything done to it?". He yelled this time, "BRAKES ALL AROUND!". At this point I was already caught off guard. Who acts like this? It only got better.
I noticed that the passenger side sun visor was missing, so I asked him where it was. He replied that the car didn't have a passenger side visor when I dropped it off. I said that it did when I dropped the car off. He then looked at me and said "are we really going to do this?". As if my goal was to cheat him into paying for a new visor. He was really aggravated at this point. I pointed out that there's no reason for the car to leave the shop in worse shape than it arrived in. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and I found the visor on the floor in the backseat. I let it go. He didn't. We spent about 5 minutes with him saying that I accused him of stealing it. I was with a female friend who was getting frustrated with Rene. She was pointing out that we didn't accuse him of anything. He again said that we did. I regret it, but I lost my patience for a second and I said "Are you ****ing kidding me?". He pulled me down to his level.
He changed subject again, talking about how this car needs a lot to be safe and it's not getting the love it deserves. My friend mentions again that this is just a weekend car, and that I don't want to put too much money into it. This is when things took another turn for the worse. He tried to get personal. Not that it would be an insult if she did drive a Honda, but he said "And that's why you drive a Honda". We weren't offended by it, but it's the fact that he meant it as a personal insult. I told my friend to just go wait outside. There was no reason that she's have to deal with this.
It was impossible to get a word in with him. He just kept talking, and everything he said was basically being yelled. I tried to remain calm through the whole thing. I didn't want to make the situation worse. He kept changing subjects, and then talking about how Ferdinand Porsche said that if you can't afford the maintenance on a Porsche you shouldn't have a Porsche. I kept trying to calm him down. He kept talking about how the tires aren't safe, and that they could pop. And again he tried to get personal by saying that I live in the valley and that I'd end up crashing on the 405. Not that living in the valley would be bad if I did live there, but again, he was trying to insult me.
I understood that the tires weren't safe to drive on. He had his mechanic come over and show me. So I thanked him, and I told him that I appreciate him looking out for my safety. He kept yelling. "Rene, all I said was thank you, and that I appreciate it, just take the win" he sarcastically said "Oh great, ****ing awesome" and I said "There we go. Even the sarcasm is better than what you were like before". This guy would not crack a smile. You'd think I kicked his puppy. I kept thanking him for being so thoughtful, trying to get him to calm down, and he'd just keep screaming about different things. I said "Look, I know you just had a weird phone call, but that has nothing to do with this situation. I didn't do anything to you. I'm being calm, be calm with me". I had to have said that at least 10 times.
He ordered the tires that I needed, and I thanked him for ordering them for me, saving me the hassle of having to do it myself. Nothing. Just more about how I don't understand that the tires are unsafe. Then 2 cops came in. My friend called the LAPD. From outside all she could hear was this guy yelling. I told the cops that everything was ok, and that I calmed the guy down. Then Rene starts going off on tangents with the cop. The cop finally had to go "Can I speak for a minute?". The cops left and we were left alone again. I think he was trying to justify his behavior by saying "I'm a German *******, and I say what I think". No. That doesn't justify anything. There's a way to speak to people. Before I left he kept trying to get me to call him an *******, and I told him I wouldn't do it. Not because I didn't think that he was an *******, because he was. But because I wouldn't go down to his level again.
This has nothing to do with me having some overinflated sense of worth because I'm a customer. This has nothing to do with customer service. This has to do with treating other people with respect. I should have had this car towed to my normal mechanic, and next time I will. The other mechanic I use is amazing. Incredibly knowledgeable and a very nice guy. I would write the name of his shop, but I don't want it to seem like an advertisement for him. That would devalue the rest of this, about how horrible a person Rene is.
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 196
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles/Honolulu
Audi S4 (sold), E46 M3 (sold) 05 E55 silver/black(sold)
Based on your story it wouldn't be surprised if there were substance abuse problems lurking or mental illness issues. I saw something similar happen with a favored German car shop in Santa Monica. Expecting customer service or to be treated with respect when one of those two issues are dragging the person down is a tall, tall order.
Super Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 887
Likes: 2
From: Northern California
2004 E55 AMG; 1991 Previa
This is one of the many reasons I purchased my own MBZ scan tools, and also a craftsman tool box. I really can't deal with incompetent mechanics that want to nickle and dime your *** for everything and then say 'you can't afford this car'. YES I know I can't drop 10k everytime its in the shop but just do what the **** I ask. I know a lot of mechanic buddies that do CRAZY stuff to cars (modding) and if I ever need help I'd ask them before I get my *** raped by another.
Freaking SoCal
Freaking SoCal
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From: Southern, CA.
V12-Biturbo
Hey Danny? Right? Sean, here long time brutha thnx for heads up on this basket case.. You are a kool kat for sure, if this happened to me the cops would've been called BUT by the other party lol.. Nice write up, I enjoyed this line among others.. "I am by no means a medical expert in any way, but in my personal opinion, the owner of GI Motorsports (previously German Independent) is a complete lunatic." lol
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,230
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles, California
2006 E55 BEAST
Hey Danny? Right? Sean, here long time brutha thnx for heads up on this basket case.. You are a kool kat for sure, if this happened to me the cops would've been called BUT by the other party lol.. Nice write up, I enjoyed this line among others.. "I am by no means a medical expert in any way, but in my personal opinion, the owner of GI Motorsports (previously German Independent) is a complete lunatic." lol
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Central WI (BFE)
SL55, ML500 & Acura TL
Porsche brake job:
Step one - remove passenger side visor and throw in back seat.
All joking aside, too bad you had to deal with such BS. It seems there are tons of butthead indys' out there. I have run into a number of them myself, unfortunately at great cost to me and my mistreated AMG. I applaud you for taking the time to cool off before posting and then being as objective and fair as possible. Hopefully your post will help out another member in the LA area looking for a good Indy to work with.
Step one - remove passenger side visor and throw in back seat.
All joking aside, too bad you had to deal with such BS. It seems there are tons of butthead indys' out there. I have run into a number of them myself, unfortunately at great cost to me and my mistreated AMG. I applaud you for taking the time to cool off before posting and then being as objective and fair as possible. Hopefully your post will help out another member in the LA area looking for a good Indy to work with.
