Encore Exotics LLC. of Charleston South Carolina is owned and operated by Mario Gambacorta
I bought a car from Encore Exotics and week later had to have the engine removed:
After seeing this car and reading about the dealership, we agreed on a price. I knew the car had to be in good shape judging by this description of how they're maintained. Plus the car had a bumper to bumper warranty that was good for another 2 years (according to Encore Exotics)!
Here's the Ad Encore Exotics posted: (Here's the full ad)
The Problems
The problems started immediately. Driving it home, the car popped out of 2nd gear while decelerating a couple times getting on and off the highway. I didn't think much of it at the time, but my mechanic immediately diagnosed it as damaged synchros for 2nd gear. In total, I paid about $6500 to have this problem fixed. Why didn't I use the fantastic warranty that came with the car you ask? Because the warranty company, Ultimate Warranty Corporation was out of business! The warranty that "came" with the car was useless.And the reason I would never buy a car from Mario at Encore Exotics is this work order describing the problem that was in the car. So much for his "meticulous inspection". In the very car he claims had "no known defects", there was a work order from 6 weeks prior describing the transmission problem.
In my opinion, he knew or should have known that this car had major problems:
Here's the gear causing the problem:
Although you can't just replace the one. Here's all the parts that I had to replace:
Here's the final bill for most of the repairs:
Legal Options
Of course my first thought was to sue Encore Exotics for the cost of the repairs... but then I found out they didn't even own the car at the time he sold it to me - they were selling it on consignment for someone else. After paying with a cashier's check, I was told they would hold it for a few days to clear before overnighting me the title. It seemed reasonable since I had the car and I've heard about scams regarding phony cashier's checks. But it took Mario a month to get me the title because the car had a lien on it. So he had to pay the lien and get the title transfered to himself before he could sign it over to me. Of course while this is going on he claims that he has the title, it's been sent he doesn't have a tracking number, etc. I would have liked to post his emails here, but he never replied to my emails. He was very attentive before the sale, but after he had the money he was totally unreachable. I could only get him on the phone by calling him from various other numbers and area codes. He'd answer when I'd call on my office line or through a 3-way call from a friend, but stopped taking calls from my house.The entire transaction was a nightmare so I would warn anyone thinking about doing business with Encore Exotics to think twice about it.
If you want more details, feel free to email me at jody@powlette.com. I'm happy to authenticate my story about Encore Exotics and what happened to me because I don't want to see it happen to someone else.
So now I know, six months after the fact, that Mario and Encore Exotics were told the car wouldn't stay in gear, and yet he still advertised it as being "meticulously maintained" and "fully serviced". If you found one of their listings on eBay or cars.com or elsewhere, please consider what happened to me. If Encore Exotics had stood behind the sale or had done anything to help me through getting the car repaired or provided the warranty the car was supposed to have, I would be singing his praises, but instead he chose to dodge my calls.
8/1/2009
I bought a 2006 Lotus Elise that was represented as being in excellent condition. Here is the long list of lies that I was told:"No accidents, no bodywork": False. the car had been in a wreck in the front, which had been repaired by very shoddy fiberglass work. Whoever did the repair work had incorporated the clear protection film into the new fiberglass. This was not obvious to me (a novice sports car buyer) but would have been immediately apparent to any car dealer.
"No engine work": After taking it to a dealer sometime later I learned that the engine had blown a cylinder in the past that had to be replaced.
"Still under factory warranty": Due to the blown cylinder, caused by an extremely high over-rev, the factory warranty was shot.
"No stories": See above, enough said.
"One owner": Technically true, but the 'one owner' was a Budget rent-a-car that had no doubt leased it to dozens of people who ragged the $hit out of it.
"Non-smoker": I'm sure some of the people who leased the car smoked (although this one doesn't bother me that much).
"All new tires": Lie. Only the front tires were new.
I did not pursue anything against Encore Exotics and Mario at the time because a) I only learned many of these things slowly over time and b) I was stupid not to have checked the car out more before I bought it.
I applaud your initiative and the creation of your website. I wish I had the know-how to do the same. What is sad is that EE and Mario have continued to advertise Lotuses since I bought mine with the same sales pitch and false statements. I know the current advertisement statements are false because he gets virtually all of his Lotuses after rental companies have auctioned them off. I know this because he always makes a big point of saying that his Lotuses have 3 sets of keys and alarm fobs. These cars normally only come with 2 sets, but rental agencies get three. Advertising these cars as only having "one owner" is intentinally misleading, since most buyers would probably be turned off if they knew the car was "off-rental." He's obviously catching people in this trap because he seems to be moving inventory.
Sorry about the rant, but if you want to use my story on your website, feel free.
I live in Savannah, Georgia and bought my car in August 2007.
-Dorian B.