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Lamborghini Lemon: Ralph Gertz's $250,000 Car Ruled Defective

by Jordan Yerman | August 21, 2009 at 10:02 am

907 views | 3 Recommendations | 1 comment

Ralph Gertz had constant problems with the brakes on his brand-new orange Lamborghini, and finally got it declared a lemon. Wow. When you buy a $250,000 Lamborghini Gallardo, you expect the brakes to work. In this case, the brakes were a constant issue (which you don't want with a high-end sports car, or any car for that matter), and Lambo specialists from out of state were brought in to try to fix the problem. Gertz had the car looked at in both Arizona and Washington, where he also lives.

However, the brakes continued to suck, and eventually the Lamborghini dealership stopped talking to him.

Considering that Ralph Gertz is a repeat customer, you'd think they'd handle this a bit more delicately, especially since Italian sports cars have a well-established reputation for... character, but I guess not.

Gertz says bought the 2008 model from a Washington state Lamborghini dealership with less than 50 miles on the car.

"And from the moment I left essentially, the brakes started squeaking and screeching," said Gertz as he turned off the engine.

Ralph Gertz brought the issue to the Washington State Attorney General's office, which invoked the Washington State lemon law. The Lamborghini was indeed labeled a lemon, so the dealer must take it back and refund Gertz's $250,000.

On the other hand, a used orange Lamborghini is about to hit the market...

I wonder if he'll buy another orange Lamborghini, or if he'll go for a Bugatti or Ferrari or Maserati.

(When I test-rode my bike--which I bought used-- the very, very first thing I attempted was emergency braking in a nearby parking lot: that's not the sort of thing you want to come as a surprise)