Fort Lauderdale Collection South - Reputable?

Florida dealers have the worst reputation in the country. Why take your chances.

 

That's not true bro , i have purchased a fair number of cars from Florida dealers without any problems. So I will ask you to cite your source and then you can tell me your personal experience with Florida dealers because I'm very interested since you are so quick to bash the Florida dealers.

 

There used to be a row of them all along Sunrise Blvd. in Ft Lauderdale, going all the way back to the early 80s. You're right about their rep.

Is Ft. Lauderdale Collection the one across from Holiday Park? I used to drive past there every day. A couple of years ago there was a big traffic jam in front of the showroom. As I got closer I could see a couple of car transporters parked in the right lane.....and a bunch of guys walking around wearing Federal Agent shirts. It may not have been a problem with the dealership at all. Maybe they were seizing cars belonging to a consignor, but the optics were not good.

Just be careful, always insist on a PPI done by your preferred facility, and always demand to see the title. Bad things sometimes happen when the car you're buying is actually on consignment and not in the dealer's inventory.

Motorcar Gallery has an excellent reputation , in business for many years, few people know Ferraris better than Ed Waterman and Steve Ahlgrim. (I have no affiliation.)

 

It's a known fact that Florida dealers have the worst reputation. I am not making this up.

 

Fine , known fact where ? Cite something , maybe your experience ? If you have none you might just not want to rain on someone else's parade. I've learned if I have no experience maybe I should keep my mouth shut. But hey man , that's just me. I'm not looking for hearsay I want experience so I can make an informed decision.

 

For once, I agree with proof69

 

Thank you 355 dreamer!

 

Motorcar Gallery has the best reputation of the south Florida exotic car shops. Been dealing with Ferraris for decades. Steve Ahlgrim's integrity and knowledge is on par with Tim Stanford's reputation, which is to say, among the best in the business.

 

Chalk 1 up for the Florida dealers. Lol

 

Are you implying that the dealership the OP is asking about is one of the worst dealers in the country?

 

And your first hand experience is..?

I bought mine in West Palm Beach. Still have it after 5.5 years.

Do your homework as in ANY place. You will be fine.

 

They have been around for quite a while.

Exotic car places here don't last if they have a poor reputation. I bought a 911 from them back in 1993.

 

Judge the car you are buying, not the dealer. If the car is great..then buy it. If it's a turd, flush it down the toilet. The car will speak for itself.

If you feel you are being hosed..move on. There are plenty of 360's to choose from

 

To get back to the original question....
I bought a Porsche 997 Cab from Steve Goldman several years ago. It didn't run right on the way home. It was something you couldn't tell test driving the car because in the city limits it's hard to get the car over 50mph and keep it there for any time. But Steve took care of the problem. He put the car in a local high-tune shop, got it running right and took care of the bill, which came to around $2,000. He stood behind what he sold.

 

I purchased a Lotus there 2years ago--very good experience. I agree with Kirk, it is completely wrong to discredit all Florida dealers, and to answer the question about this particular dealer by posting they are all bad. Dealers are easy to hate, so the good ones need to be treated fairly.

 

Just know that once you buy it, you'll be SOL if you need anything else.

Mine was originally sold by "The Collection". I tried to call back to them to see what records they had. Not exactly helpful or friendly... never called back.

I can't say I'd buy something from them.

 

Wayne, could you cite some specifics? Being a new Florida consumer I'm curious as to how things differ here by law.

 

It had about 8,500 miles as I recall. The previous owner had installed some after-market products to hype up the horsepower (headers, etc.). The result was the car was not calibrated correctly and when you got it on the highway at 70mph, the rpms floated up and down through a range of about 150 rpms. I called Steve when I got home and told him about the problem. We shipped the car back to Fort Lauderdale from N. Florida to an indy shop he knew that specialized in Porsche's and when it got home it ran perfectly.
I dealt with Steve on another car or two since then. Even though he didn't make the sale either time, he was always professional.

 

I didn't do a ppi. After Steve's indy man got the car running right, it gave perfect performance until I sold it 2 years later.

 

Let me add that even though I chose not to opt for a ppi on the 997, Porsche's and Ferrari's are different animals. I wouldn't recommend buying the 360 without a ppi unless you know the car's history pretty well.