Arbitrator: Lamborghini is an expensive 'lemon'

SEATTLE - His bright orange Lamborghini is a "lemon" - and a Seattle real estate investor can prove it.

Now the exotic automaker has to give Ralph Gertz a full refund - $240,000 - proving that price is no object when it comes to the state's lemon law.

Lemon or not, Gertz's 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spider convertible is the kind of car most of us can only dream about.

"It's a wonderful car," he admits. The design is exquisite. The craftsmanship, unmatched.

But for $240,000, Gertz doesn't want noisy brakes.

"The brakes started squealing and screeching," he says. So he took it back to the dealer.

"They told me it takes a while for the brakes to break in."

Gertz waited - got frustrated - and went back to the dealer again.

"It still screeched and squealed, whatever," he says. "So that was my third time."

Gertz drove his squeaky Lamborghini to his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz., and had it checked out there - five times.

Lamborghini flew in mechanics from Italy - and even they couldn't fix the problem. They told Gertz there was nothing else they could do.

"I'm just very, very disappointed that a manufacturer would take that stance with a customer," he says.

So Gertz filed a claim under Washington state's lemon law - and won. The arbitrator ruled Lamborghini had to refund the full purchase price - $240,000.

The Attorney General's Office runs the lemon law program. Attorney General Rob McKenna says this case proves "money can't buy you a lemon-proof life." But if you do get stuck with one, he says, "State law is there to protect you."

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