OMG - Gemballa Nightmare
#5
11-11-2004, 04:38 AM
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New York, NY
Age: 50
Posts: 10,836
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His story :
The reason for taking me more than 2 1/2 years to bring this post to light was due to insurance/legal issues.
All I can say is beware when ordering a car from Gemballa. Specially if he talks you into extracting 650, 750, 800+ hp from your engines.
In 2001 I ordered a completely modified 996 turbo from Gemballa (GTR650) for $300k. The car was 7 months late and when I received it it was not performing well at all.
When talking to Gemballa he promised to send me a mechanic which he dispatched to Riyadh after 3 months. The guy was out sourced by Gemballa and he basically told me how crooked Gemballa was with his customers and suppliers alike. It was too late for me then to go back on my deal.
The frustrating part was when I could not get a hold of Gemballa after the accident and I was forced to have my insurance company help me deal with him which cost me a lot in terms of money and time.
I thank god for not being hurt in that accident as I was driving the car on the highway. A faulty fuel line was suspected to be the cause of the accident (which Gemballa tampered with).
The mechanic told me that he worked all night on the car before it was shipped to me intially. He urged Gemballa not to send the car as it had a number of problems with the engine, turbos (garett), as well as the entire control unit. But Gemballa told him to finish up as he had already booked a place with the airline and had to deliver the car to them that same night!!! He also told him if the customer is not satisfied he could always send him a mechanic.
Btw, I still maintain an excellent relationship with the mechanic who has since been responsible for modifying more than 30 cars (in a sensible way) in the region with perfect results. Including my '02 GT2 which I sold after 2 years and 13,000kms.
Gemballa still has the nerves to feature my car on his web site!!!!!
The reason for taking me more than 2 1/2 years to bring this post to light was due to insurance/legal issues.
All I can say is beware when ordering a car from Gemballa. Specially if he talks you into extracting 650, 750, 800+ hp from your engines.
In 2001 I ordered a completely modified 996 turbo from Gemballa (GTR650) for $300k. The car was 7 months late and when I received it it was not performing well at all.
When talking to Gemballa he promised to send me a mechanic which he dispatched to Riyadh after 3 months. The guy was out sourced by Gemballa and he basically told me how crooked Gemballa was with his customers and suppliers alike. It was too late for me then to go back on my deal.
The frustrating part was when I could not get a hold of Gemballa after the accident and I was forced to have my insurance company help me deal with him which cost me a lot in terms of money and time.
I thank god for not being hurt in that accident as I was driving the car on the highway. A faulty fuel line was suspected to be the cause of the accident (which Gemballa tampered with).
The mechanic told me that he worked all night on the car before it was shipped to me intially. He urged Gemballa not to send the car as it had a number of problems with the engine, turbos (garett), as well as the entire control unit. But Gemballa told him to finish up as he had already booked a place with the airline and had to deliver the car to them that same night!!! He also told him if the customer is not satisfied he could always send him a mechanic.
Btw, I still maintain an excellent relationship with the mechanic who has since been responsible for modifying more than 30 cars (in a sensible way) in the region with perfect results. Including my '02 GT2 which I sold after 2 years and 13,000kms.
Gemballa still has the nerves to feature my car on his web site!!!!!
#6
11-11-2004, 04:56 AM
Damn!! Just Damn!!
I almost had Gemballa do my car. They seemed very hard to contact and I had no one to get a decent referral from. Their prices seemed really high as well ...
I feel for this guy. Hopefully it all worked out.
#7
11-11-2004, 04:59 AM
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Location: Dubai, UAE + London, UK
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#8
11-11-2004, 05:18 AM
msindi,
It is Hisham's car you are talking about, and I can guarantee (not that it means much to anyone with my zero posts
) that anything he is saying is 100% true. Anyone who knows Hisham knows he is a no BS man. He now has a Carrera GT on order, so he definitely did not need a lawsuit to make moneyu out of it. Uwe Gemballa is a ripoff, he made tons of money from people in this part of the world, who did not know what they were buying and sold to them at a huge premium. With the advent of the internet, it is much more difficult for them to continue doing it.
Jean
It is Hisham's car you are talking about, and I can guarantee (not that it means much to anyone with my zero posts
) that anything he is saying is 100% true. Anyone who knows Hisham knows he is a no BS man. He now has a Carrera GT on order, so he definitely did not need a lawsuit to make moneyu out of it. Uwe Gemballa is a ripoff, he made tons of money from people in this part of the world, who did not know what they were buying and sold to them at a huge premium. With the advent of the internet, it is much more difficult for them to continue doing it.Jean
#10
11-11-2004, 05:39 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Little Silver, NJ
Age: 48
Posts: 1,361
Rep Power: 75
Wow, this is very sad to learn. I assumed Gemballa was a big time tuner... as reputable as the likes of TechArt, Hamann, and even RUF. I'm shocked. Thank goodness no one was hurt.
At least now i know to only utilize Gemballa for aerodynamics
At least now i know to only utilize Gemballa for aerodynamics
#11
11-11-2004, 05:56 AM
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Location: Midwest, Southeast
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#12
11-11-2004, 06:18 AM
2 Questions.
First - Why 300K? Is there some HUGE car tax in that country or did Gemballa really get 300K. That's just insane. Why would anyone pay 300K for a Gemballa?
Second - Why the black bar over his eyes in the photos?
First - Why 300K? Is there some HUGE car tax in that country or did Gemballa really get 300K. That's just insane. Why would anyone pay 300K for a Gemballa?
Second - Why the black bar over his eyes in the photos?
#14
11-11-2004, 06:26 AM
$300k for a car and they send it out half assed saying they'll send out a mechanic later to fix it? That's just plain wrong and horrible service in my opinion. I hope he took them to the cleaners!
Kinda makes you look at Gemballa in a different light.
Kinda makes you look at Gemballa in a different light.
#15
11-11-2004, 07:18 AM
Well... I would like to post these pics on a German 911 board... But therefore I need to understand what happened in detail. Can you please tell me what caused the car to burn out completely? Is it legally sure that it was Gemballa's fault? Is there a link to the car being featured on their website?
I guess everybody here knows that Gemballa is a German tuner. And, let me add, one of the most expensive ones but with a little doubtful reputation due to their extreme aerodynamic parts and stuff.
However, posting this stuff on German boards might seriously damage their reputation in Germany. Therefore I need to know some more details about it. But since I personally dislike Gemballa, I would love to spread the word in Germany.
Is it this car:
http://www.gemballa.com/Umr/G96_TURB...GTR650_SY.html
I guess everybody here knows that Gemballa is a German tuner. And, let me add, one of the most expensive ones but with a little doubtful reputation due to their extreme aerodynamic parts and stuff.
However, posting this stuff on German boards might seriously damage their reputation in Germany. Therefore I need to know some more details about it. But since I personally dislike Gemballa, I would love to spread the word in Germany.
Is it this car:
http://www.gemballa.com/Umr/G96_TURB...GTR650_SY.html
Last edited by Marx; 11-11-2004 at 07:30 AM.