Porsche Dealer Accuses Sales Manager Of Accepting Bribes For High Demand Cars.

[A930Rocket]

Porsche Dealer Accuses Sales Manager Of Accepting Bribes For High Demand Cars.

There’s no way I would pay a bribe like this. Both the buyers and the manager are immoral and unethical.

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/05/former-porsche-dealership-manager-accused-of-accepting-bribes-for-priority-cars/

A Porsche dealership in Charleston, South Carolina, alleges that they uncovered a scheme in which their former sales manager, James Marino, allegedly exploited his position to solicit under-the-counter payments for access to highly sought-after cars. The dealership is now suing Marino for various offenses and aims to recover not only the money it paid him but also the funds that customers paid directly to him.

[pwd72s]

I'm shocked, shocked mind you...

[Zeke]

Yeah, car dealers are the epitome of honesty and integrity. At the dealer I worked at in sales for a full 3 months knew all the tricks that were still legal. The mistake the Porsche manager did was not sharing with the sales crew and the finance office. Every one is a low life dirt bag.

I could care less about customers that paid. It's a free market to shop. Ferrari has its own scheme.

BTW, I quit for a number of reasons including being bullied by the sales manager, but the main reason was after an inside view of the sales and finance workings, I couldn't be part of the sleeze.

[Alan A]

I’m curious how they think they have a claim to the $ that was extorted from the customers. It’s a telling reveal into the minds of these franchise owners.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Alan A

I’m curious how they think they have a claim to the $ that was extorted from the customers. It’s a telling reveal into the minds of these franchise owners.

I agree with that. It should be up to the state auto authority. Many CA car crooks have been disenfranchised by our DMV in court. The judge would decide.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by Alan A

I’m curious how they think they have a claim to the $ that was extorted from the customers. It’s a telling reveal into the minds of these franchise owners.

Being offered to pay a bribe to purchase a desirable car isn't extortion. I'm sure everyone who paid Marino were happy to do it. I'm certain if they would have preferred to pay the money to the dealership instead of Marino and the overall price was still fair to them. So, logically, that money should have gone to the dealer in the first place.

I don't know about paying back his salary. He did actually work there. The dealer's attorneys must think there's a case for that. There's probably a case for lost income and damaged reputation from the dealer. I suspect Marino could be facing incarceration for soliciting and collecting bribes.

[Alan A]

“If you don’t pay me some $ you can’t have this car.”

How is that not a textbook definition of extortion?

There's an explicit threat to withhold goods without additional payment.

[Steve Carlton]

Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded threats in order to obtain an unfair business advantage is also a form of extortion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion


I tend to think these buyers willingly paid a bribe to get something sooner than normal, maybe even at a lower price. I would think this would be more likely to happen at a Ferrari dealership, where the new cars are sold at MSRP vs Porsches, which routinely sell for well over MSRP. Imagine the value in buying a car at half its market value, and you're talking hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

[Alan A]

I know what extortion is…

I tend to think they’d prefer to have paid MSRP and only paid said bribe because if they didn’t they wouldn’t have gotten the car.

Ergo - extorted.
Coerced to pay extra to receive something.
Pay to play.

[speeder]

Pretty sure that extortion involves being extorted. If I offer you a bribe to move to the head of some line, whether it’s to win a bidding war for a RE listing or get a GT3RS now instead of 2 years from now, that’s not extortion. It’s slimey but not extortion. A big element to extortion relates to the victim being in a position where they have little choice but to pay the extortion, (as opposed to a bribe).

Good luck getting a jury, or even a paid arbitration lawyer, to feel sympathy for rich scumbags offering $$ to jump some line. Claims of extortion are a joke and standard PPOT analysis of a story.

The dealership might have a case against the manager, though.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Alan A

I know what extortion is…

I tend to think they’d prefer to have paid MSRP and only paid said bribe because if they didn’t they wouldn’t have gotten the car.

Ergo - extorted.
Coerced to pay extra to receive something.
Pay to play.

Not coerced unless someone was forced to buy a new Porsche GT car, only from that dealership.

[Alan A]

It says the sales manager solicited payment. Not he was offered. Solicited.

Second bullet point…

‘The employee is accused of charging customers an under-the-counter fee to provide access to desirable cars.’

[Arizona_928]

Extortion... Isn't that what Ford dealers were doing with the thousands if not tens of thousands over over MSRP...?

Ford dealer that does this extortion scheme to everyday middle class customers, it's just capitalism. Individual who does it for a luxury sports cars = extortion?

Now the Ferrari allocation scams are extortion...

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Alan A

It says the sales manager solicited payment. Not he was offered. Solicited.

Second bullet point…

‘The employee is accused of charging customers an under-the-counter fee to provide access to desirable cars.’

Just how that works...

I don't think anyone is getting a limited edition vehicle for MSRP from any dealer without greasing the dealer's palms or the sales manager... E.g. Any R model from Honda/Volkswagen/ect

[Rick Lee]

If the sales man was able to secure the desirable models for the customers, why did the dealership let him have that kind of power? Sure, there was something in it for them, since those cars would have sold for plenty over MSRP, if they just let anyone buy them. Trying to buy certain Rolex references from an AD is next to impossible. If the AD wants to reserve the hottest references for their best customers, what's wrong with that? How is it illegal for someone to pay for a place on that waitlist? I'm sure the parent company bar its dealers from doing that, but that doesn't make it a crime.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by Alan A

It says the sales manager solicited payment. Not he was offered. Solicited.

Second bullet point…

‘The employee is accused of charging customers an under-the-counter fee to provide access to desirable cars.’

You’ve heard of soliciting a bribe, right? Have you heard of soliciting extortion?

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

Extortion... Isn't that what Ford dealers were doing with the thousands if not tens of thousands over over MSRP...?

Ford dealer that does this extortion scheme to everyday middle class customers, it's just capitalism. Individual who does it for a luxury sports cars = extortion?

Now the Ferrari allocation scams are extortion...

The difference? Dealerships can legally ask for additional markup...it's plainly stated as such.

Ford dealerships were getting a few thousand$ ADM on the '08 "limited addition" Bullitt models when they first came out. Many people who just had to be first on their block to have one willingly paid. Turns out '08 was a bad year for car sales. Ford never did sell the allocated 7,000 Bullitt models, so with some minor changes, about 800 were sold as '09's....but they still didn't reach the 7,000 sales they said they were limited to.
Near the end of April of '09, I bought my '09, licensed, out the door, for roughly $4,000 under sticker.

I'm no lawyer, but the sales manage asking for under the table money was akin to stealing from the dealer. Money the dealer could have received as a legal ADM. The owner of the dealership has every right to be pissed...

Those who willingly pay more? Well, I guess pumping up one's ego can get expensive.
I have zero sympathy for them.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

How is it illegal for someone to pay for a place on that waitlist? I'm sure the parent company bar its dealers from doing that, but that doesn't make it a crime.

Your comment made me wonder if the dealer had an 'official" and "authorized" bribe on the car that was in addition to the scuzzbag sales manager soliciting a private and personal beak-wetting?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Alan A

It says the sales manager solicited payment. Not he was offered. Solicited.

Second bullet point…

‘The employee is accused of charging customers an under-the-counter fee to provide access to desirable cars.’

Terminology. The customer was charged, as the saying goes, if the amount appeared on the sales contract. I found that South Carolina has the SCDMV. But it doesn't say how the system works WRT the "conditional sales contract" required in CA. The amount of the sale including ALL taxes, fees and add-ons must be on the bottom line. They can sell you a wax job but it has to be on the contract unless you bring the car in later and initiate a service contract for which you would pay then and outside of the sale.

The guy must have been pretty slick to get the customer to believe he was paying over sticker like Paul described above. I see criminal activity but I'm neither a DMV expert or an attorney working for the state of SC. Pretty damn sure his sales license has been suspended.

Actually, here if you don't have a job at a dealer, your sales license is in limbo.

[gwmac]

I’m sure the sales manager paid income tax on that money,