My Experience with Park Place Motors LTD
On the front page of this website you will find an account of my experience with Park Place Motors LTD. Please feel free to let whoever may visit this site know how you feel about this matter, judging by what you read or perhaps based on your own experience with Park Place Motors LTD. Thank you for reading.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 am
This does not sound different from other experiances I have heard about Park Place. I wish I had known about them before they ripped me off, lied, and went back on their word costing me about 22,000.00 they also said they would consign the car for a fee. A former long time employee of Park Place told me they dont care about repeat customers, that there are enough people out there that they only need to sell you one car. I was in there some time ago when a lady left yelling that they were thieves and liars I wish I had listened. Richard Wade is the person who directly lied and broke his word to me.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:24 am
They are the worst bunch of scam artists out there. I was unhappy with my purchase and will never recommend them!
Jag Matto
Attorney At Law
July 24th, 2007 at 5:35 am
Hey Tim,
I’m sorry for you that your new car buying experience was not pleasant.
Here are some of my tips…..
Florida cars will have issues for sure, thats the reason that they are cheaper.
Never buy any car without a buyer’s inspection from a good mechanic of your choice (hard to find in FL). I can recommend a reliable/honest mechanic in Miami area for porsche993. Never ever trust any car dealer…..repeat…Never ever trust any car dealer….
Best wishes..
NN…(i had sent you a email for you porsche for sale)
August 16th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Tim, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I’ve to Park Place several times over the years to kick the tires on their cars, but luckily haven’t yet made a purchase there. Based on your experience, I don’t think I ever will.
I remember sitting in a Ferrari 328 at their dealership in 2000. The center console was literally falling off. I asked a salesman about it. Rather than respond to me, he looks over his shoulder at Butch and says “We need to fix that consignment car. I’m getting lots of questions about it.”
I haven’t seen a car nearly as obviously abused at their dealership since, and had assumed it was an anomaly, or that they had raised their standards. Judging from your experience, that’s not the case.
Rest assured that Park Place has lost at least one more customer. I wouldn’t touch them with a 60 foot pole at this point.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=4031641&date=20000714&query=%22park+place+motors%22
thought you’d be interested in this article…I’ve heard of issues with them going back several years.
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:12 am
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article My Experience with Park Place Motors LTD, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Wow, this is not a good story. I guess it may be too late, but I would sit down with David Bingham and get this worked out. He has given time and money to several local charities, in paticular Childrens Hospital, and I can’t imagine him not wanting to make this right.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:41 am
thanx for all your comments so far. things are building.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Hey NN, you really can trust dealers, it is all about who is running the show. The man at the top can loose focus on what is happening when a business grows and sometimes needs to return to the floor and listern to the grapevine. On the flip side of the coin just because a businessman has given time and money to several local charities, in paticular Childrens Hospital, does not mean that he won’t do this. It really is all about a person’s integrity. I am in the motor business and I am big enough to accept my mistake and get it fixed, one way or another. I would also want to get it fixed which I think makes the difference. Like any industry, if you want to be professional in your field and earn a good reputation, you have to live by your actions and never cut corners, which to me is where this has all gone wrong. Good luck
October 8th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Got your letter in the mail, and looked at your site. This is about what I would expect from Park Place and their related businesses, based on what I’ve heard from others in the past, which is why I’ve never wanted to do business with them. Free beer and food at the PNWR party, OK, I can handle that. But this type of “service” shouldn’t be acceptable at the dollar amounts that you’re talking about.
October 13th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Park Place Ltd of Bellevue, WA has done it again. I just purchased a 91 Diablo from them and they have completeley screwed me over. I am going to do my best to keep this story brief:
1. I called them to inquire about buying the 91 Diablo they had for sale, spoke to the salesperson Barry and was told that the car was perfect. I asked to get the car inspected. Barry faxed me several receipts showing work done to the car including a full engine out service and clutch inspection in January of this year. He then said, “with all of those receipts what would you possibly need inspected? The car is perfect.” This is where I was stupid, very stupid, I trusted him.
2. Arrainged to have my trades sent to them and finish the deal. (traded a Jalpa and a 911) At this time I asked Barry again, “Everything is perfect right? Nothing stupid like a dead battery or anything” He laughed and said “of course not, the car is perfect”.
3. Transport company comes to pick up the car - guess what - dead battery. No problem I say, stuff happens. In the process of putting in a new battery they break the latches that hold the hood closed. No problem I say, stuff happens.
4. They send me the car with the broken hood latch pieces in a plastic cup in the passenger seat. meanwhile they have my trades which are perfect.
5. 12 days later the transport truck delivers the Diablo to me. I let the car run for a while to properly warm up. I hop in the car and release the Emergency brake. It won’t release fully. Common problem with Diablo’s, no problem, stuff happens.
I slowly pull away and the check engine left light comes on. Now the steam is starting to come from my ears but hey you know what, stuff happens. I drive the car very carefully for about 8 miles when I decide I’ll give it a little gas. Sure enough I get to about 2800-3000 rpm’s and nothing. Total clutch slippage and the car won’t move. It will only move if I get on the gas very slowly and below 3000 rpm’s.
6. I dig through the receipts that Park Place gave me. They tried to white out the previous owners name and telephone number but I could still read it. I gave the previous owner a call and he said “yeah I knew the clutch was slipping” I call Park Place and tell them this and they are silent. I get a call today (two days later) and they are telling me that the car was perfect when it left their shop and there is nothing else they can do. They even tried to blame the shipping company. Now as I am talking to Chris Lowell at Park Place he then accuses me of sending him two cars that needed work and says “hey we’re just trading headaches for headaches!” I asked him if my cars had problems why didn’t they bring it up over a week ago when they got them. They even required me to have them inspected for them! Now suddenly they have problems! Why wasn’t his mentioned before? He had no explanation for me.
7. When I started this transaction with them I mentioned that I had read bad things about them online but I believe everybody deserves a second chance, maybe it was an isolated incident, etc. They assured me that is was and they have excellent customer service.
8. I just can’t believe that they are not even willing to make the slightest gesture to make me happy. Park Place doesn’t seem to care.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Tim - Sorry to hear about your car trouble - You must be really angry about this to go to such lengths of creating a website. I am curious-Why did you create this site, why not simply go to the Better Business Bureau?
I have to say, having been to Park Place, that every time I have been there I was treated very well, found them to professional and they certainly know cars - until I found this site I was thinking that was where I would by my next car and first exotic. When I told friends and associate that I wanted an exotic car, everyone told me to go to Park Place and speaks highly of them. The one car I was looking at but did not buy was the ‘88 Jalpa that Ray (above) stated was perfect!, I missed the car, but that Jalpa was far from perfect and needed many expensive repairs - I just happen to met the guy that got the car and he inspected it and knew he was going to spend $ to make it right. Rare car in numbers but not fast enough for my tastes.
May have to go with a Ferrari or a Gallardo - I went to the local Lambo dealer and I didn’t feel comfortable there, at least the guys Park Place treated me like family and were very up front about everything. - But for certain I will get anything I buy inspected rather than take it for granted.
Thanks for sharing your experience - I will call Park Place and see what they have to say about you, just to be fair. - * Must have had some glitch that cause my comments from yesterday to drop off - so I am reposting them today! 10/25/07 - BTW I called PP and talked to the guy that sold you your car, He said you were a very good customer and that he had sold you a few cars. What the deal?
October 28th, 2007 at 7:38 am
All,
My experience with “Dark Place” involved buying my Porsche 928. I was very interetsed in the car and bought it under the condition the timing belt be replaced before I took delivery as there was no evidnce this was done and it was over the service point slightly. The work was performed at Vics AutoHaus close by and I took the work order and filed it along with my purchase paperwork for the car.
About two weeks later, I was attempting to break for a stop sign at the bottom of my hill and had a master cylinder failure (close call as I ended up in the middle of the road before I could stop the car with the parking brake). I spent $2400 getting that resolved and was in the process of filing that service receipt when I decided maybe I should check out the timing belt paperwork. At the bottom was a comment that the brake system had “problems”.
I presented this to Park Place and wanted to be reimbursed as they clearly had knowledge of a safety defect and still delivered the car. The very smooth sales manager at the time showed vsible concern for my sorrows but professed no reimbursement was possible BUT, how about we give you this bumper to bumper warranty. I quote:” If the engine falls out in the street, you pay $50 deductible and we fix it. This covers everything from wiper motors to all major components. You pay only the $50. deductible, all else is covered”. The warranty purchase price was $2000 so I thought it was equitable and accepted it as compensation.
later that year, I had my car in for service at my mechanic who I trust and highly recommend. He mentions my car has a slight bearing noise in the transmission but it is internal by the torque converter. Not a big deal but something to keep track of. I mention this warranty I have and he takes a look at it and feels it is covered. To make a long story short, the work totalled over $7000. The warranty was capped at $2000 coverage but Park Place elected to NOT INCLUDE that particular portion of my information package. Six months (fighting with the insurance adjuster)and $5000 out of pocket later, I had my car repaired.
I did go back and have a sit down with Mr. Bingham, he looked at me and said “I guess we owe you on this one” with a smile on his face. I havent seen any action and my lawyer has since discouraged me from persuing this as will cost more than the repairs to fight. I would speculate this is what Park Place banks on in general.
I wouldnt send anyone to ths dealership as I have heard a number of stories along this line. It is this kind of behavior that gives all dealerships a bad name. I cant begin tell you how shady this place is, I guess I was raisedalot differently.
Thanks for the space to post. I would be happy to particpate in any group action should it ever solidify. Rod Taylor
January 10th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Jon,
You say you met the guy who bought my Jalpa yet Park place claims the car was sent to Japan to a collector. I doubt it sold to someone here in the states as I still have the title for it. I’m sure a new owner in the US would need the title. Also my Jalpa was inspected by an authorized lamborghini dealer and everything was perfect. On another note my Diablo that I bought from Park Place is still being serviced with the repair bill now approaching $30,000.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I can understand why you would want others to know what your experience with a business was like, especially when big ticket items such as exotic automobiles are involved, given the general reputation auto dealers have historically had.
After reading all of the replies here, I’m finding a few things that are raising flags for me and just want to see if my suspicions are confirmed. First, I find it a little odd that the majority of the posts on here occur during the middle of the night, ie between 12:00am and 5:00am. Your original post even has a submission time of about 4:00am. Secondly, there are several posts on here where, when reading them, it seems like the content has been edited so as not to include some information or to give the post an overall feeling of neutrality or to be in support of the original blogger. Lastly, there is one thing that is, in my mind, an absolute certainty: most of the replies come from people who went to school in the Washington public school system. This is obviated by the consistency in the types of grammatical errors that occur in the posts.
For the poster by the name of Rob:
loose: free from anything that binds or restrains; unfettered
lose: to fail to keep, preserve, or maintain
This post was submitted 2/3/08 at 11:02am.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
1) I have heard from several sources that the money raised for Team Seattle and Children’s hospital was fleeced from Microsoft. A donation check is written, Microsoft matches, a check is cut back to the original donor. Check into it. Microsoft should write future checks directly to Children’s. They are a worthy cause.
2) I have been wasted by Park Place on two separate occasions. I know for a fact that they knowingly sell wrecked cars. Spend your money somewhere else. I would recommend buying a high end used car from a dealer and getting it evaluated by a unbiased 3rd party. I have bought several $100K+ used cars and learned my lesson the hard way.
Stuey, it must be nice to be educated somewhere more sophisticated than Washington. However, think about this. You are upset about getting completely worked over by Park Place, Ltd and cannot sleep. You get up and google it (not Yahoo/MSN) and find the best site ever and think, “I wish I started this 5 years ago.” However, you didn’t because you have a job or own a company or are already retired and too busy doing fun stuff. The next best thing you can do is add to the blog. That’s what I’m doing and It’s almost 11PM. You are probably in bed watching reruns of ‘30 Something’ and checking your stock portfolio that you built with your superior knowledge or trust fund. I’m guessing the latter.
BTW, I had several misspellings, but I’m smart enough to use Spellcheck.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Years ago we traded our 911 for a really nice Dinan supercharged M3 sedan… It was a family growing kind of thing. I really expected PP to be the dealership they were [sleazy], and was only mildly suprised to find some BS business tax from Bellevue tacked onto the total bill. The 911 was actually an ebay purchase so nothing was lost on it… All in all, I have two things to say here: one, if you want a Lambo and don’t want to buy new, go to Roy Cat, ask anyone in the Italian car club, and two, please remove all the BS entries from your site, it would seem the lowlife set of the internet has found you and it only takes away the integrity of this needed site.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:50 am
While I have been aware of this website for some months, I have avoided commentary but at this point I feel the need to offer some insight.
Regarding the comments from Anon addressing Team Seattle and his words, “The fleecing of Microsoft” I think a better understanding the Microsoft gift matching program would help here. Clearly checks issued can only be made payable to the listed charity of choice. In this case Children’s Hospital. Never can a gift matching check be issued to a private individual.
As president of the Team Seattle guild I am on record as saying Microsoft divisions and employees have played a major role in the successes our team has had in representing Seattle and fundraising for our Children’s Hospital. Of the 3.2 million dollars we have raised, I estimate Microsoft’s involvement has generated well over half that figure. This has been the result of support in the form of sponsorship from various divisions and the contributions of employees utilizing the gift matching program in the true spirit of which it was created. Possibly Anon would enjoy a tour of the Team Seattle Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and see the large plaque outside the unit identifying Microsoft as one of our major contributors. This unit is cutting edge and the only one of its design on the West coast.
Regarding ParkPlace, I have known David Bingham, ParkPlace owner for nearly 25 years. In that time we have built a friendship, and a professional working relationship. Our professional involvement centers around our mutual participation in the driving industry. This relationship has afforded me the opportunity to work very closely with David and his staff at ParkPlace. Annually ProFormance Racing School hosts driving events for ParkPlace new car buyers. Typically hosting 25 to 30 participants per event with many continuing on in the ProFormance driving program. Never in the 12 years existence of ProFormance have I heard a negative comment regarding Parkplace and its business ethics. This I find a rare quality within the industry. I believe this is a company that looks for a relationship that starts with the sale of the vehicle by providing a quality product and service.
I am pleased to see some responders to this site realize there are always two sides to every story and that no business is perfect, however I believe ParkPlace is one business that works very hard at keeping the bar high.
David Bingham personally, I have found to be a good and honest business man. David and the Bingham family have been very involved with Children’s Hospital long before the creation of Team Seattle. Children’s Hospital is only one of many charitable focuses the Bingham Foundation shares their successes with. I respect and applaud them for their community contributions that we all benefit from.
I would hope that Tim, David, and the management team at ParkPlace can resolve their differences eliminating the need for this kind of forum.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:33 am
A few years back PP was in the middle of doing financing for me on a Porsche. It took 4 days (and I had good credit. it was approved by a major bank at a great rate). It seems (to me and after calling the banks dealer lender agent personally) that they sat on it for a few (business) days and wouldn’t you know it, the car sold. hmmm. Anyway, to add insult to injury the finance guy told me that I owed him $2000 for B/O (business and occupation) taxes, fee’s, and early termination of the loan. As we know this is BS and he threatened to sue. So I called the banker again to get his information for the pending lawsuit (and he was stunned that PP would do this) and then I called state government agencies until I got a hold of the department that oversees dealership licenses. I called back and asked for David Bingham twice since the finance guy had told me Mr. Bingham told me we could settle for $2k even though their expenses were higher. On the second call, I eventually was transferred to (I believe) the GM. I told him the story and he seemed to agree with the finance guy until I told him I called the banker and the dealer agency and then he got mad, then I told him that my family’s lawyer asked me to call this one last time to verify that PP was going to sue me and if so he would gladly take this on for 40% of the proceeds. He quickly said they were not going to sue and that was the last time I heard from them.
A while later they had an awesome BMW on their lot and I fell in love but it was not worth the hassle and they were asking 25% more than the car was worth. So I waited until the car came off consignment and offered the real owner a number we were both happy with and drove it home. Although I probably would not have paid a 25% premium, PP did lose out on thousands of dollars in commission.
It is unfortunate that Griots and other reputable companies do business with the Binghams because I just cannot bring myself to do business with PP or any of their cohorts.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Yes, we appreciate your comments, Don. You, of course, would NEVER bad mouth a competing program or play any of those kind of games. You and I both know an attorney who knows better.
What I know about Park Place is that a number of people I’ve known for years have had way less than stellar results dealing with what seems to be really unfair situations. Weighing the thing from the “I’m only hearing one side” situation, I’m going to have to lean toward Tim and the others. I have dealt with a number of these people and have found them to be honest and fair in my own dealings with them. They too have supported Children’s in a lot of ways, many thru Team Seattle.
Your post reminds me of an old saying. Return my calls someday and I’ll fill you in.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
My husband and I purchased a car a few weeks ago from Park Place and I am trying to find out if we were charged taxes that we shouldnt have paid. From what I can tell we paid around $400 in B&O taxes on our purchase. From reading these posts it appears others have been hit with the same charge. Based on what i can see on the web Washington State dealer law seems to suggest that dealers can pass this on to consumers as long as its included in the price of the car, ie they have built it into their overheads. What they can not do is agree to sell a car for one price and then ask you to pay their b&O above and beyond that. Can anyone confirm this or has anyone challenged Park Place because we would love to get that money back. I know we agreed on a price to buy the car but then when we sat down with the finance guy it was that number plus sales tax and plus b&o tax. If Park Place is not doing the right thing can we collectively as consumers file to get this money back or perhaps just warn future customers to refuse to pay it? We didnt have the same problems as other have had with the dealer but its stuff like this that makes you wonder what other stuff they try and pull to save a buck.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Have you called and asked for a refund of your B&O. They are allowed to pass it on but you do not have to pay it. I asked them this question when i bought my last car from them and they eliminated it without even a second thought. Call Ryan Vanderwel the GM there, and I am sure he will take care of you.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:16 am
that B&O business pure scam. don’t pay it never pay it. tell them to shove it where the sun don’t shine.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I was about to buy a 2002 Porsche Carrera 4 Cabriolet at Park Place. They told me about their inspections and what-not. When I test drove the car, the engine felt a bit rough. We discussed a price that was $2.5K below what they listed. The following day, I had a buyer’s inspection done by Squire Autowerkes - they found a cracked cam casing with serious oil leak - will cost $3.5K to fix. Park Place came back with $3K under listing. Which means that I’ll be paying $500 more than their listing after repair if the car was as they described it. Now I’m out $350 for the inspection and second thoughts about any used car I see at Park Place.
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
From what I have heard from friends in the Porsche club and read on this site I would not buy a car without an inspection - better yet buy a car from a place with a better reputation. Park Place has always come across as a bit of spit and shine - palm trees, shiny lights, flash and show but under the microscope it is just a used dealer pushing average cars. I even heard that Park Place sells fake watches at local car shows in their booths…..enough said. If you do your research you would also find that a number of cars they sell at Barrett Jackson had to be bought back from buyers, after the auction due to dubious or incorrect history and facts. I dont know if it is all true but as I am looking for a new 997 and came across this site, thought I would pass on my thoughts. Cars are cars and Park Place has some nice ones but no matter what the car is I would get a pre inspection done, check the paper work and history and hold them to it. Most used car dealers like Park Place will wait till YOU find the problem and then they might reduce the price to fix it rather than spend the money up front. Make them pay for necessary repairs and only then do you start your negotiations…..
October 5th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Where can I begin to discuss the shady stuff that happens behind closed doors at PP. First off, I am a previous employee of PP and was employed by them for nearly 3 years. I am not a disgruntled employee nor do i have any grudges with the people who work there, a lot of them I consider friends some are.. well lets just say i wouldn’t trust them to babysit my puppy.
1st thing. As i have heard recently from a friend of mine who is still employed with PP that there has been a management mix up and it is now being run my Ryan Vanderwall. Ryan is actually a very good guy, good heart great personality and very hard working. If you ever met him you would right away trust him as he has very charming appeal. Before Ryan things were run by Butch Brockmeir and David Bingham.
Now the thing that you need to understand is All of the daily things were overseen by either Butch, Ryan, Shannon Low, or David duncan. Butch did all of the buying ( mostly cars from out of state auctions or lease buy backs.If you ever looked at the lot you would always see about 20 996’s with around 30-55k on them(lease returns from cali texas, ny ). Shannon took care of the Lot. David Duncan took care of sales along with Ryan and David Bingham was not very involved with the establishment(He provided the money)
Second. Park Place Does not make money! it never has and it will never will. It is just a big write off for Mr. Bingham. They have millions of inventory but they are unable to unload it. When they first became the lotus dealer they were promised exclusive rights to specific models. they were supposed to have a limited supply. Well Lotus flooded the market and PP was stuck with millions in overstock inventory, same thing
October 5th, 2008 at 6:55 am
has recently happened with the aston martin department.
Working there is like being involved in very life like days of our lives. It is very dramatic,political and scummy. This is mostly due to the fact that Butch is a true conman. He will sell a car as long as it looks shiney and does not care how it runs, or even if it is safe. He loves to buy cars for barett jackson, Borderline piece of shit cars that have a decent coat of paint. He then hthe car and “restore it” typically this involves massive amounts spray paint. It is truly disheartening as well as embarrassing to see some of the cars they sent to the auctions.
The Binghams. What can i say, what a truly lucky family.To be blessed with hundreds of millions of dollars. But too coked out of their minds to realize what they have.
Car Nutz which is run by David Bingham’s Son Scott AKA Scooter. They set up car nutz for him so he wouldnt get bored with all of his inheritance. It has also never made any money but they have built some very nice cars, They have also screwed over a few very well known customers as well. Car Nutz has gotten better as far as quality of work that comes out of the shop but they are known to cut corners. for instance they built a car for Jamal Crawford of the New york Knicks a Seattle local. It was a 442 and was sent to Nutz to be fully built, Custom paint rims etc a full overhaul. Except carnutz spent all the budget and did not even preform routine maintence on the car… long story short they delivered a shiny red 442 to Jamal that broke blew the motor 25 min after delivery.
Also i remember reading in another post above mine about the waranty that Richard Wade most likely sold you. Richard is nice guy very quiet and keeps to him self. But its not the first time that someone has gotten the short end of the stick from those types of warantys which esentially provide little to no coverage. I remember when PP sold a black z06 with a lingzenfelter Sp? supercharger kit. The customer opted for the optional insurance and shortley after taking delivery maybe a few days. The cars motor was toast. Apparently the motor was runing lean and threw a rod. well the customer opted for the optional insurance however PP found a way to get out of it and left the customer( a repeat customer mind you, bought a car every 6 months) hanging with his member in his hand and a broken car. Not ideal for an issue that should have been addressed before it left.
Parplaces Service department. JOKE. Not much to say here. if you are thinking about taking your car there forget about it. your better off taking it to somewhere else cause thats where the car will end up. 9 times out of 10 the work you want done on your car is outsourced to anothershop affiliated with PP and then you are charged a mark up on the work performed. This department has also never made any money.
The only thing PP has going for it is the detail department.
There is pleanty of other stuff to talk about. but i am getting tired of typing.
Tips for buying from PP.
If the car’s inventory number is a 4 digit number it is a consigned car. your better off finding that car on autotrader and dealing with the seller directly. Tim and Chris and the sales team is going to try and get every last cent out of you.
Have the car Inspected.
Deal with David khazi or Tim Mills if you must buy a car from them they are good sales men. Tim mills is a bit of douche but a little better than most of the others. David Khazi is trustworthy and hard working.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
I wouldn’t rely on any of these con men that all auto dealarships are. Especially PP. Being car lovers, It’s funny how they get auctioned pieces of sh*t that they purchase for half the price. If you want a piece of sh*t, go to the “Barrett-Jackson” auction yourself and get the same piecer for half the price. And, as far as the detail shop concerns; That’s a joke too. I got my ‘08 M5 “detailed” there and the only detail i recall that it was over $250 bucks for something i could have done at brown bear. Mr. Bingham needs to run this company. Not Mr. Ralph Bockmier P.H.D. Which he’s so full of sh*t he would make you believe he is a doctor…and sell you a junker. I was and am still completely unsatisfied with this business. There was no professionalism what so ever with this company. Maybe I’ll try their carwash…But, probably not.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
being a Microsoft employee, I know the Park Place involvement with charity is fake. I also know that venture shield on a white car looks like a dog pissed on it. If you have a white car, tell Ben williams to F-off. If you have any other color, make sure it’s on straight after he applies it
October 25th, 2008 at 2:04 am
My name is Ryan Vanderwel, and I am the current General Manager at Park Place.
This is a very interesting site that I’ve obviously been aware of, but frankly thought was so baseless I really hadn’t given it regular thought until someone mentioned it to me recently. So, I thought I would check it out again.
One phenomenon that I notice here (and on internet forums in general) is that a large number of people feel the need to chime in about what they’ve heard, what a friend told them, what they read on the Vintage Model Airplane Builders’ web ring, what the Psychic Friends Hotline said, etc. But do they actually have first-hand experience? No. Have they even ever been here in person (other than to eat and drink for free at the Porsche Club Party even though they think we are slime bags)? Apparently not.
If you live here, come in and visit us. I truly think you will see that we genuinely strive to offer an excellent selection of enthusiast vehicles in top condition. Obviously, we deal in mostly pre-owned vehicles, so there is simply no way to have “perfect” cars. We do, however, spend significant time, effort, and money ensuring that all of our cars are meticulously reconditioned and stand among the best in the marketplace.
We do a safety inspection on every car and have it on file for you to view at any time. Want a 3rd party inspection or something more in-depth (e.g. compression test, leak down)? No problem. We’ll even help you arrange it and make sure the car gets where it needs to go.
What you don’t see on this site are the thousands, yes thousands, of happy customers from over 21 years in business. You don’t see the masses with whom we have formed genuine friendships through doing business fairly and ethically. You don’t see the letters we get from customers telling us how much fun it was buying a car here and how much they enjoyed having a sales associate that actually knew something about cars or who took the time to treat them like a VIP no matter how much they were spending. You also don’t see the wives, husbands, and kids of our 60+ employees who benefit from our being a local, family owned company that cares about them and not some giant corporation in the sky…
October 30th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Ok, Park Place isn’t the best dealership on the face of this God-given earth; but, i’ts by far the worse that I’ve dealt with. I know some of these guys personally. Most are exceptional people and strive to meet customer satisfaction. One thing strikes me though. Why employees there would care that some boneheads are complaining about everyday problems. This site has 30 some comments. That’s it. So, why stoop to their level and try to defend againsts peoples opinions? Is it insecurity? Over or under-compensation? You don’t have to try to swoon the masses/brainwash people into believing you’re the best dealership. Noobs need not apply… Let alone speak. And for “Arbey”, we get the point. Isn’t it mere childish to repost and repost? On another thought, if you can’t tell I may have took offense to some things that were said (about the Porsche party attenders). You seemed to make everyone in the Porsche party seem like common hobo’s. So, you should choose your words (Mr. V) more wisely when stooping so low as bickering with people.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Ok. After reading all the comments. To the general manager, especially, if there aren’t any true to the matter, no one in their right frame of mind would waste their time writing this big complaint, even go so far as to set up a website complaint for your company. Something is terribly wrong, and unethical business is conducted at PP, it so seems. I have been to your dealership and the salesman frankly is a salesman; he knew nothing about the history or the car itself but tries to paint a rosy picture for the car, how good it is. I drove others and I know what is good and drives right. I dont see any reply to Mr. Tim from PP.
January 6th, 2009 at 8:47 am
The Bingham boys are all frauds. It doesn’t suprise me that they’re in the middle of another business-gone-bad scheme. Tim, I feel bad for you. You should really press the issue and take these guys down.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
TIm, thank you for sharing your story about Park Place, and thanks to everyone who has shared theirs. Recently I was interested in a car they were selling but after dealing with the salesperson and being repeatedly lied to, I decided to pass on the car even though it was very close to what I was looking for.
I had someone inspect the car and he confirmed my suspicion that the salesman was lying to me about a number of issues. I then informed the salesman I was not going to be making an offer on the car, and he taunted me in an email that because I had asked so many questions and taken “so long” (less than 2 weeks) that someone else had bought the car and I had “lost my chance”. Except that ever since then (as of this writing) the car has still been listed on their site as being for sale. I had someone else look at it for me, they were told it had been “sold” that day. But it’s still listed for sale.
I have no confidence in Park Place or their salesmen. It is a mystery to me why anyone would consign their car there to be sold. In this particular case it’s really unfortunate, as the car I was looking at appeared to basically be a decent car but it had some issues that were obviously not being represented accurately. The salesman denied that there were any problems and was certainly unwilling to discuss how they could be resolved before a sale.
Caveat emptor!
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
In the early days Butch was pretty muched kicked out of California because of his shady dealings with supposedly stolen vehicles, mostly Porsche.. but other cars too probably had shady histories. All the cars wer lagit, but only because of kick backs and such. It was a racquet. I know David is lagit so Im sure he made adjustments to dealings Im sure he did not know about.
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Actually Mr. V I used to work their to, and I have seen the porsche’ s that had come in, and they all had new paint or different color paint inside the engine wells, I knew what was going on their and was forced out by Butch. You should ask him about his resturaunt business in Spokane, and why he fled to Mexico for awhile.
February 28th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
For perspective, I have purchased three vehicles from Park Place, LTD. A 1971 Mercedes, 1995 BMW and a 2000 BMW with all being excellent purchases. I am a Certified Master Mechanic and have found that the examples at Park Place are consistently on the high end of the spectrum in terms of condition. Understand that vehicles on consignment are as much represented by the actual seller than by Park Place. While visual inspection should be represented at a high level of integrity by any party, the underlying integrity can only be assessed by a trained mechanic who knows the “genetics” of the make and year in question. Mechanics do not have “x-ray eyes” so cannot reasonably provide absolute assurance on things that are not known as a historical problem or failure point. That is where a complete maintenance history is critical. The buyer should also do internet research given much of this information is readily available so the right questions are asked, or verified by an independent mechanic.
On the negative side, my brother-in-law bought a Certified 2001 BMW (a major selling point). He later found out that these extended warranties by BMW are not transferable. While he did have some resistance with Park Place in addressing at first, they did purchase insurance as consolation for this misrepresentation.
March 1st, 2009 at 6:23 am
Gotta keep it light … High-end italian car from Florida with super dark tinted glass that was molested. Did you weigh the spare tire to see if it was real heavy? Who knows, you might have hit a jackpot if that spare is loaded with a bunch of kilos … or even better, bundles of $1,000 bills
March 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Yup, what’s new. My wife and I bought a Lotus 340R from David Bruski 3 yrs ago. The 340R was street legal brought in by a Dutch Msft guy. It was a nice car until everything started falling apart and I tried to sell it. Our dear service manager over at Park place refused to fix any of the items under warranty and wanted us to pay for it. I told him “bullocks” and he even tried to spoil the sale. What goes around comes around. Our business focuses on customer retention, no matter how particular they can be. We don’t try to alientate the client. Park place still owes us a free car detail which they kept promising us and never delivering. I still speak with Shannon but that is the only person whom we deal with. We don’t really care who the owner is, because whether you are BOA’s CEO or any big shot, in the end, we can always see right though the person. We can see and hear things others don’t. It is a gift but also one we use for good. As per the economy now, even the great will fall but the honest and hardworking businesses will always survive irregardless of economy. Many have it the other way around. Sad indeed. My wife never wants to buy another car from them. Keep this up and if they don’t fold soon, the economy and their karma will finish them off.
March 21st, 2009 at 2:19 am
Hey all, Park Place has some fancy cars, but are rather snotty. A few years ago, Tim M at PP sort of implied that I did not have enough dough to buy a 2000 model Porsche. He said he had no time to let me test drive it, so I told him fine, I would write him a presonal check on the spot. HE balked, and I said fine, here is the check. Wait for it to clear, and then I will come grab the car. He then offfered to let me drive the car. I told him no thanks. Anyway I came back, got he car, drove it for a month, and hated it. Just goes to show you, never let a snotty delership pride you into buying an expensive car. Further more, I got rid of that piece of engineering, got t a nice 1967 Camaro Ragtop that drives like a cadillac, people enjoy it way more than a Porsche, always a thumbs up on the highway or a “pretty car” at the gasoline pump.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I didn’t have the most desirable experience at Park Place myself. I thought that since I worked across the street for over a year, and knowing a few of the employees might make a difference. I thought wrong. I really wanted this M-Benz that they had on their lot so I went it to take it for a spin…they didn’t like the idea of letting me drive it - even with them in the WITH me. I’m guessing it had to do with my age, but come on…I was across the street driving Jags, Rovers, pre-owned Astons and a lot more expensive cars on a daily basis than this MB I was trying to buy.
Well, I took their word for the car driving excellent and everything seemed to check out. We sat down to work numbers - and granted, at the time, my credit wasn’t the greatest, but I had about $10k to put down. They wouldn’t even work with me at all. I was so flustered at this point because I had taken my only day off work to just get turned down for nothing! So, I went to another dealership that had a similar car for just about the same price and signed papers on it that night! And also, I got my loan through BECU so I guess my credit wasn’t THAT bad…I feel they could have worked with me but I’m sure they didn’t think I was a serious buyer…too bad for them, they lost my business for good.
After reading Tim’s post as well as knowing people who have had similar experiences, Park Place has lost my business…unless I start hearing some magnificant stories about how they have turned business around and actually taken care of Mr. Firnstahl.
And as “Jack” noted on Nov. 5th…I don’t see any efforts coming from PP to try to rectify this matter with Tim - all they can do is banter the upset customers for having a voice. To Park Place - it’s a shame you don’t value customer service and satisfaction…you should try it sometime, it feels great, I promise
August 9th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I just bought a 1997 Land Rover Defender from Park Place. I live in New York and purchased it sight unseen. My salesperson David could not have been any nicer and the whole process was smooth and without any problems. I love the truck and it is exactly as described. I would highly recommend the dealer and particularly David Khazai my salesperson. All in all a great and fair experience.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:49 am
In the market for a used lotus Exige. With all of PP’s inventory, I was thinking to go check out the cars they currently have available. I figured, based on the segment of business they’re in (selling high end autos to enthusiasts), they must really be on their game in terms of knowledge, service, and satisfaction. But it sounds like they’re even scummier than most car lots I’ve dealt with in the past. I’ll look for my new car somewhere else.
Thanks everyone for your comments, and Tim for making this site. Mostly, though, I need to thank the PP employees who have tried and failed to defend themselves here by directing personal attacks at other posters and LYING right here in this forum about Tim’s trade ins: Come on, it doesn’t take a genius to read the real story in the posts.. just someone smarter than your average car lot employee, “managers” in particular.
September 8th, 2009 at 1:36 am
I have bought three car’s from dark place and am surprised they are still in business….The place smells of bad energy. They really take car of the customer….they will even give you a big bonus. Buy a car and bend over and they bone us…
I have had two cars serviced in there service dept…and one modified over at car nutz. The car nutz guys are decent as long as nothing goes wrong with the car they work on then the tell you caveat emptour….they f-d up a car I brought over for some fog lights and sent over to service for general maintenence. The car ran on three of six pistons. When I brought it back it turned out they broke one of the ignition leads and it was arcing the motor! They fixed the problem but a peice of the engine bay was left off the car.
I do not recomend buying a car here as the whole sales experience is a nightmare…I should know I bought three car’s from them. One sales man in particular is a total scum bag and con man. Rene the Mr. Canuck Bucks from canada. I bought one car from him then I tried to come in and buy another and he kept steering me to a car I did not even want to buy (which was on the lot for at the time 4 months and is still on the lot) I eventually bought the car I wanted came back and traded it in on another and his smart ass comment was that he told me that was not the car for me…or something to that effect.
In summary steer clear of this dealer or any of there affliated business’s with the reputation they have developed customer’s are starting to become aware of the inevetable truth.
Remember it is not depravation of character if it is proven to be true!
January 25th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
While I won’t go into specifics on MY situation with Park Place, I can tell you that I am in the exact same boat as everyone else here.
If you’re a company selling high-end items (and extremely high-priced), it should be in your best interest to foster the best possible relationships and rapport. Park Place is very lucky to be located in an area with a great percentage of high-income professionals, but a community that’s still small enough for word to get around.
And a quick reference to Stuey: It’s quite possible that many of the people who’ve posted here have Washington educations, but let me remind you of a few things …
1) Bill Gates does not have a college degree. Does that change the way you think about Microsoft? It doesn’t mean a thing to me. Microsoft has not suffered from this.
2) Your post is an ad hominem argument. If you have to argue here, make sure that your points are limited to the topic and NOT against people themselves. That’s an invalid argument and I’m actually quite surprised you didn’t know that or would choose to ignore that considering your clearly superior educational background.
3) Who cares where we all went to school. Let’s get back on point … when someone is spending a LOT of money on something and putting trust in someone’s word, it’s critical that the company be ethical and provide full disclosure.
Coming back around to my opinion on Park Place, I think what is clearly needed here is a company that’s willing to fully disclose things even if that means losing a sale. If someone would’ve told me the truth, I would’ve RESPECTED them and I probably would’ve come back for another sale.
Keeping critical information from someone will NEVER foster long-term relationships. I don’t care how nice they are in the beginning. You can smile and offer all of the free junk you want, if we find you were lying or withholding information, no one will come back. People won’t REFER your business to others. People won’t respect you. And I do believe referrals are a big part of your business.
If you want to argue that - so be it. I would relish the opportunity to hear opinions that support that kind of business.
When I read over all of these posts, it overwhelmingly sounds like Park Place is a black hole for business ethics. I’m not happy to say that. I think they carry some amazing products that, obviously, we all want. I’m speaking strictly of their consignment autos and abilities to broker a deal. Rather than sending their employees here for a rebuttal, they should simply decide to be honest and ethical and fully disclose important details.
April 12th, 2010 at 6:36 am
WOW. I thought that I was one of a few people that has had a bad fiancial experience with this business. In March 2007 my brother passed away. I worked graveyard shifts so I would take time to get my mother out of her home and our minds off his death. We started looking at classical musclecars since I was always looking for my dream car a 68, 69 or 70 GTO. One night while searching the internet I came across a 1969 GTO at Park Place LTD. There were quite a few pictures of the car. Their advertiment said it was a numbers matching 1969 GTO. Triple black, 400 CI, 4 speed with $40.000.00 in receipts for off frame restoration. The asking price was $80,000.00. I took a couple of days to think about the car and if I wanted to spend that much for the car. Being a retired career soldier with 30 years of service the car would be my retirement present to myself. After a couple of days I went to Park Place LTD with my mother to look at the car. My first reaction was I want this car. It was that nice. I spoke with one of the floor sales person who took me that the previous owner had died of cancer. That his wife was selling his stable of collector cars. I made an offer on the car of $35K based on my years of being in the hobby of being a car buff. My gut told me to stand my ground on the price. Something was not ringing true with the sales person. He kept running to his bosses office to discuss “things”. The sales person kept telling me that the widow wouldn’t lower the asking price of the car. I left my contact number and asked them to contact me if she changed her mind. I followed the GTO on the internet as the price started falling very quickly. At one point it dropped to $50K and I discussed purchasing the GTO with my wife. We agreed on the price that we would give for the car. Being retired military we are not rich. Once again I took my mother with me to Park Place LTD. Once again a sales person intercepted us at the door. I gave him my offer of $30K for the GTO. He spent three and half hours running between me and his boss trying to bring my price up. We finally agreed on $30K plus sells tax. I asked for the car to be put in a maintenance bay witha hoist so I could inspect it. I was impressed by what I saw when I inspected the GTO. I purchased the GTO and took her home. As the weeks and months went by I found lots of stuff that had been hidden with paint and polish. My numbers matching GTO started out as an espresso brown exterior car with tan interior with an automatic transmission. Now it was painted black, with black interior with a four speed. Okay quite a upgrade but not the numbers matching car they advertised about the car. The engine and transmission both had to be rebuilt within months of me purchasing the GTO. I have had to completely rewire the entire car. Still have to reseal the front and back windshields. Wish I had taken more time that afternoon inspecting the GTO. Bottom line….I was sold a car that was nothing I was told and it will take several years to get it in shape. Money I didn’t plan on putting in a car. These guys are crooks…..
May 21st, 2010 at 1:54 am
wow, awesome blog. Awesome.
May 28th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
There are posts above that seem to imply all the Bingham’s businesses operate at a loss in order to generate “write offs” and that they inherited their money. Is that true? They seem to have generational style money well beyond what that dealership would ever generate.
Anyone know what happened to Scooter? They told me he was “travelling in Europe”, but he’s been incognito for a while now.
PS: To Stuey who was ranting about WA schools and the grammar of posters here, your own post “obviated” the need to come up with a rebuttal. If you don’t know what a big word means, using it worse than sticking with the small ones!
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Hi,
I thought I would post my experience with Park Place. I have been search for my dream car for a while now and Park Place had the exact car/options I was looking for and my search was finally over. I started to do my research about both the car and business as I am importing the car to Canada and wanted as much history as possible.
I goggled Park Place and found this website which set of red flashing lights in my brain to avoid giving these guys any of my money after reading some of the post. But they had the car I had been looking for…..
I had my convinced myself I was not going to buy this car and started to search again. But something in the back of my mind kept me going back looking at Park Place’s website and this website with most of the post being negative towards Park Place. My wife wanted to take a trip down to Seattle, so I thought maybe should go and have a look at the car at least and speak to sales guy there. I made contact with Bryan and had the initial Carfax sent to me and information about Park Place. He seemed very pleasant and friendly. He didn’t harass me about getting the car and responded to question quickly and honestly.
The weekend finally came and I called Park Place to make sure car was there and inform them I was coming down to look at. When I got there was met by Bryan who showed me around the car and took me for a test drive. The car drove and looked brand new, I was sold. But the images of this website kept coming up. So I arranged a PPI to be carried out on the car.
When the PPI report came back everything was good except 1 issue that was stored 36 times in the DMU. I spoke with Park Place and told them that I was no longer interested as the car could possibly have a major fault; the PPI was not able to determine the full extent of the issue and it would have to be taken to the manufacture that could carry out the full tests. Park Place accepted this and did not give me any hassle.
I got a phone call a few weeks later from Park Place, thanking me for showing interest in the car and were letting me know that they were going to get the manufacture to inspect the issue and would I like to be informed of the results. A few days later I get a call and was informed that although the car was no longer covered by warrantee, Park Place had persuaded the manufacture to repair the issue as none of warning lights showed there was an issue and also that it may have started whilst the car was still under warrantee, which the manufacture agreed and were going to repair the issue at no cost.
I respected the fact that not once after I turned the car down did Park Place try any sale tricks for me to buy the car even tho it was being fixed by the manufacturer. They came across very professional and contradict some of the posts above. Some other commitments have come up and the car search on hold for a short while. I believe if they did manage to find another car I would buy from them or If the car is still available who knows.
I hope this helps anyone reading this post.
August 6th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Obviously the people defending Park Place on here are employees. Like “Adam Brodsky”. I know who you are and you don’t drive a Land Rover OR live in New York. You work at PP. And as far as most of the people that work there…they’re complete a**holes. And the GM Mr. “V” walks around like his shit doesn’t stink. Well, Mr. Canadian. If you didn’t know but, a college degree in Canadia is equal to graduating middle school in America. Eh? Don’t look the other way or these people will run off with your money. Just remember that these guys are USED car salesmen. And, to Glenn Hull. I can tell you that the back story behind that GTO is 100% crap. But, I’m sure you figured that by now.
August 13th, 2010 at 5:26 am
my dream car is the Ford GT. that car is truly a muscle car with lots of horsepower:,.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:26 am
Uh… not defending Mr V, whomever that is, but you’re clueless about the US educational system. First off, Canadians go to school about six weeks more per year than the US. Some provinces even have Grade 13. Japan, Germany, and others put even more time in. By the time you’re done high school, you’ve had about half as much school as most other developed nations.
Do you know how they adjust your college marks when they transfer from a Canadian university to a US school? They add 1.0. Sadly, my 3.9 went only to a 4.0 when I transferred down here (that’s as high as they’ll adjust).
I love America, but the school system here blows. That’s why all my kids are in private school (and why they can read).
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