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Our Legal Terms and Conditions

Clearly, what we all want is a happy outcome for all involved.

Here, find all the standard terms and conditions that apply to all transactions with us. These terms and conditions are the "ground rules"; unless stated in writing by us, all these terms and conditions apply to all transactions.

This page contains:

 

Background

Long years of hard-earned lessons has brought an understanding of how important it is to have written ground rules for everyone. This helps ensure a positive outcome. Among the hard-earned lessons, one lesson regards accommodating a customer who changes their mind midstream. Others have to do with payment schedule. Sometimes we're flexible, but sometimes we will not budge at all. Some "hard rules" are fixed because they were learned the hard way.

By all means, please do talk to us about what you would like our agreement(s) to look like from a legal point of view, but you must do so before we begin work or money changes hands!

Brokerage

The terms in this section are focused on when we come to agreement for the brokered sale of your automobile, engine, or other component.

We will come to a written agreement on the brokerage fee which applies to the percentage of the gross proceeds of the sale for which we shall receive our compensation. Generally, our fee is based on the expected sale price; the higher the expected sale price, the lower the fee. There are also additional marketing concerns, such as markets which require additional fees that we may wish to try, not necessarily all at once, and so on, and some of these may require substantial effort on our part, such as shipping your vehicle to an auction, and possibly back again; these issues we shall address in our primary written agreement, or may take up as time passes as our client wishes.

In addition to these concerns, additional fees may be due, depending on circumstances, which may reduce the net proceeds our client receives; our agreements on this topic are:

Outsourcing

It is not at all uncommon for us to outsource work and we reserve the right to outsource any aspect of any job at any time, without notice.

Service Work

Service work is also known as time billable as "Shop-Time," typically the highest labor rate in an automotive workshop. To help remove price-anxiety we offer standard service packages which generally provide customers with the confidence to have a very good idea of what their total bill will turn out to be. These have distinct terms related to them:

Miscellaneous Services

"Time and materials," paid upon pick up of service item or completion of job, and sometimes with an advance payment for parts, or other good cause. For example, if you give us an engine to test on our dynamometer and it has known needs in advance, a deposit may be required in some circumstances. Unpaid balance at completion triggers daily storage fee starting on the fifth business day following completion and invoicing.

Engine or Transaxle Rebuilding, etc.

"Pay as you go": Unless otherwise worked out in writing in advance, restoration service (e.g. engine rebuilding) is much the same but usually with biweekly (or monthly, if so noted, depending on the rate of work per month desired) payment of balance total within 5 business days of invoicing. Late or unpaid balance triggers daily storage fee and possible work termination until balance is paid in full.

Service Packages

Our Service Packages have their own terms. As a flat-rate fee, usually combining both parts and services, and usually presenting us with consequential risk, we generally require 1/2 down upon initiation of an agreement to ensure our client intends to follow through and the second half of that service package, irrespective of whether all work request has been completed. Failure to pay promptly - within 5 business days of invoicing - may cause work to halt on the rest of the project.

There are a few notable exceptions to these terms, such as dynamometer-related services. If you require to know these specific terms in advance, please ask for a quotation.

"Non-Shop-Time" Work

Many times work is required that doesn't reasonably fall into the "miscellaneous" or "restoration" categories. (Here, "restoration" will most often be work on an engine or transaxle.) On the one hand it's unfair for us to do a lot of un-paid work and on the other, "shop-time" may not be an appropriate category for some efforts. In order to both ensure we are appropriately remunerated for such work and to ensure our customers are charged a most appropriate rate, the following two categories have been added:

Administrative Services

"Administrative Service" is time spent on tasks "in the office" which are non-trivial in nature and vital to a project's outcome but which do not call upon any substantive expertise. As examples, if we are to chase down a specific paint formula or rare parts for a project, these are examples of Administrative Service.

Transport Services

"Transport Service" is in-person time spent on tasks "out on the road" which are non-trivial in nature and vital to a project's outcome which do not call upon any substantive expertise but which does require a physical presence somewhere and for which delegation to shipping services is for some reason or another impractical or inappropriate.Examples of Transport Services include taking parts to or from a vendor which provides required services, such as powder-coating, plating, polishing, or dropping off parts for shipping.

These rates may change from time to time (without notice) as articulated here. Once a job is initiated and we are under contract or other obligation, any rate increase will not apply to such contracts unless they are underway for over 1 calendar year, at which time the then-current rate shall apply, as described here.

Presumption of Service Level

When we offer a standard service, we presume from the outset that when a customer requests a service from us that reasonably fits the description of our standard service, they are asking for our standard service and not an à la carte version of a similar service. Our client needs to explicitly request à la carte in order to receive one-at-a-time services. This often increases costs for customers and is discouraged; here in this policy we both inform customers of our presumption and we enable customers to make this choice. Notably, our quotation will spell out our standard service fees.

As a practical matter, this means that when someone, for example, requests we rebuild their engine, it is automatically understood that they are asking us to rebuild their engine according to our published methods and practices, and fees therefore payable at our standard rates and prices.

 

Sales

This section pertains to sales of all kinds, including, but not limited to, Major components (engines, transaxles, etc), Parts, and Services.

Special-Order Parts

Whenever we identify to a customer that one or more parts we require for our work or something they request us to source is not something we stock or would not like to have in stock, such parts are considered "Special-Order" whether we so identify them with that term or not. Sometimes, we may identify a very rare part that is in our own inventory as "special order" because it cannot reasonably be replaced in our inventory and especially when such part will be modified in some way, such as an align-bore bearing set to match a timing cover's concentricity.

Importantly, our request for pre-payment for an item or a progress payment to cover same shall be considered sufficient to count as notification something is a "special order part."

Returns on Special-Order parts, should we agree to a return, are subject to a 50% restocking fee as very often they are not returnable at all and we'll be stuck with such items in our own inventory. Further, we reserve the right to not accept returns.

Special-Order parts shall be pre-paid and shall not be considered "owned" by the Customer until projects successful end and payment of their final invoice. Post payment of invoice, further work on any such item is a separate matter.

"Non-Automobile" work - components unassociated with an automobile in our workshop

Note that all our work-for-hire applies here as we don't work on customer cars, as noted elsewhere.

Our overall policy is that everything is paid on a "time and materials" basis with the exception of our standard service packages which provide a fixed rate for specific services under specific terms.

Your Major Components

When we're rebuilding your unit, we expect a deposit of half any estimate provided upon delivery of unit to us. We begin work when you provide funds. Storage for nonpayment may apply; in this circumstance, we provide a one calendar month grace period following receipt of your unit unless otherwise agreed in writing.

For engines, we have a standard billing methodology which is articulated in the "Payments and Prepayments" section below.

Major Components We Provide

In most cases, we will sell you a unit outright. However, under some circumstances we may sell you a "core," which is then treated as a unit you brought us. If sold outright, it is sold on an as-is basis unless otherwise agreed in writing. If you wish us to do any work on such a unit, the initial purchase price must be paid in full first, then the engine will be treated as a unit you brought us.

Changing Plans: These machinery are systems.

Whether an engine, a transaxle or a complete automobile, all the pieces have to work together. Where flat-fees apply, unless agreed otherwise in advance, once the unit's parameters are set and work begins, any change to the project will be counted as a new unit and a new flat-fee will apply. There may be times when we have not yet performed some particular steps in which we may permit a change without additional fee, but that choice remains our option. At our option, we may treat some situations as a miscellaneous task, adding time-and-materials to the finished cost. We also retain the right to refuse a change because "our name" is on the line and we don't want to damage our reputation by producing what we know of feel likely will be an unsatisfactory result. Further, we also, and for the same reasons, reserve the right to alter a requested change order to bring it into what "we will put our name to." Insofar as a change we make to a customer's change request has pricing repercussions for the customer, accepting this is their obligation.

Example: Consider that you have an engine being rebuilt and want to change out the camshaft for a different one. If we're still working on the crankshaft, then a camshaft change might be OK with us, though we will make sure to notify you if we think it's a bad choice and could possibly refuse to assemble a bad combination of parts, since the camshaft is the "brains" of the system and since the cam must be chosen with many factors in mind. But once we've assembled the crankcase, a camshaft change will not be OK, though you could pay us "time and materials" to change it for you. This may also alter various quotations and delivery times. Depending on specific circumstances, sometimes we may absorb such costs, but doing so remains our option.

Quotations, Invoices, Prepayments (deposits), and Payments

Quotations

Quotations are valid for 30 days from the date quoted.

Quotations for prices on parts we are to supply are subject to change until purchased by us for your project, and are good for 30 days thereafter. For long-running projects, payment of the total then-current balance in full shall deem previously obtained commodity parts as paid for by the customer, however, such standing is lost should the customer fail to maintain a paid-up status on the work in question. (This means that the price for a part may change if the bill is not kept current.) For non-commodity parts, even if the bill was paid up at the time the parts were secured, the parts may be retained by us should the project be canceled or should the balance not remain current according to the terms and conditions contained within this agreement.

Our quotations typically make assumptions about what will be received before it is actually received, and therefore we rely upon our customer's assurances about the quality and condition of what we are to receive. Our customers are therefore responsible for any errors or omissions in conveying accurate information to us used in any quotation and explicitly authorize us to spend the time on any remedial action in determining the actual state of affairs at their expense. We reserve the right to update our quotations for a reasonable period following receipt of items or following discovery of problems during work to provide the necessary time to examine and evaluate the accuracy of and make update to our quote or estimate. However, it is explicitly recognized that some issues may remain hidden. When we recognize this risk and articulate it to our customers, the upper bound of the hidden risk is the valuation of the quotation or estimate without regard to any other dollar or time figure cited.

Invoices

If not otherwise noted herein: This agreement elsewhere specifies invoicing terms for various circumstances and all such articulations, where they disagree with these terms, have precedence.

Typical Invoicing

For some types of business, we do not invoice at all, such as for storage services.

Restorations are semi-monthly unless otherwise agreed.

Engine builds have periodic payments based on progress and sometimes additional payments, as required by circumstance, unless otherwise agreed in writing in advance.

When invoices are provided

Payment of invoices made are due upon receipt and deemed late if unpaid after the end if the fifth day and subject to the terms provided elsewhere herein.

When email is used for transmission of an invoice and no error is made in the sending process, receipt is presumed to be at the start of the following morning, whether a business day or not. However, as email is not a guaranteed-receipt mechanism, if another confirmation mechanism such as phone call or expectation by date (as with the regular schedule of a restoration) has not confirmed the expectation of receipt of an invoice, then we will listen to stated reasons for lack of reception and provide exceptions at our own discretion, based upon our own perceptions of reasonableness.

When U.S. Postal Service First Class Mail is used for transmission of an invoice and no other means of informing the customer is utilized, invoice receipt is deemed to have been made on the third day after mailing.

Payments and Prepayments

Whether an engine or other item, unless explicitly arranged in advance, we require (at our option) a deposit (prepayment) to begin work, the size of which is generally to cover out-of-pocket expenditures on our part.

The portions of any such deposit which are for parts, for non-service work or for subcontracted service work are nonrefundable. Also nonrefundable are funds provided for service work which has been completed. In the instance of funds for service work that is in-progress, this too is non-refundable.

In the case of a deposit to hold an item we're selling to prevent us from selling to anyone else, we will state the terms in our agreement to accept it, or, in the case that we do not, the default of 30 days (as provided by state law) applies.

In the case of "packaged" services, such as engine assembly or dynamometer runs, the deposit becomes nonrefundable when any portion of the packaged service begins. In the case of deposits that are made to execute an outright purchase from us made in multiple installments, deposits are deemed defaulted if the purchase is not completed within 30 days as provided by state law unless otherwise arranged, in writing.

Engines

A large portion of our business is rebuilding engines, and we have a long-established pattern that serves both customer and us quite well, broken in to three standard payments:

  1. A deposit is due upon receipt of Customer's engine, and not longer than 30 days therefrom, which is at least as large as the sum of half the standardized long-block service package, if chosen, or half the estimated total price of completion to long-block status, plus any additional parts reasonably thought to be required to reach long-block status that are not included in any service package that may have been selected (such as a new crankshaft), and including any other reasonably anticipated fees such as those for wire transfer of funds.
  2. A second payment upon completion of the long block equal to the value of our work and all associated parts (and any taxes or fees). For our standard service package work, this includes any and all "remedial" expenses for instances when the provided engine had atypical needs, such as cracked or otherwise inadequate "core" parts.
  3. When working on a "turn-key" engine, or when providing loaner parts for a dynamometer run-in, an additional payment is due when the engine is completed to turn-key status and / or the run-in has been performed.

In addition, sometimes additional "progress payments" may be required, especially when changes are requested by the customer or when the timeline of completion is upset by customer action (or inaction).

Other provisions in this section likely also apply to engines.

In all circumstances, payment in full is required before shipment, delivery or pickup at our facility.

As an overview, our standard billing, which applies unless otherwise stated in writing, is in three payments as follows: i) A deposit, on receipt or at most within 30 days of receipt, equal to 1/2 of the anticipated long-block price, including all known options and any wire-transfer fees; ii) A payment roughly equal to the first, but also including funding for any remedial work or unanticipated replacement parts that were required, but not including fees for any special parts requested. And; iii) A final payment that accommodates completion to turn-key status and any other billing adjustments that were appropriate. Sometimes during build-out from long-block to turn-key additional funds are required, for example for replacement carburetors. These payments are required to be made in not more than 30 days from the date of non-invoice notification of the additional funds being required or milestone met, or if invoiced, within five days of invoice receipt.

Accepted Forms of Payment

We only accept the following forms of payment, and only under the following terms:

PERSONAL CHECKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED

Due to way too many problems with checks, whether personal, business, "cashier's" or "counter", your check will not be accepted; please do not ask.

The first issue is simply "insufficient funds" or otherwise a "bad check"; we have received too many. It costs us money to fight such things - it's not only the delay in receiving payment. We have accepted literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid personal and business checks, and don't want any more.

But bad checks are not the only reason we don't accept personal or business checks; there is also the issue of repudiation.

Presently, the repudiability period in the USA for checks is two years. This does not mean that a repudiation attempt will be successful, but this is the reason we have a policy of not taking checks.

We have had a few unscrupulous clients. More than one has given us a check that initially clears, then they then made an illegitimate claim against us, their bank took ALL the money from us, gave them back a chunk of or all of the money. While we have successfully defended ourselves and ultimately gotten all the funds from past repudiations, we've had this happen often enough that this is why we do not accept personal checks, and that we got it all back wasn't guaranteed.

Please do not consider our refusal to accept your personal check to have anything to do with you - it doesn't, it has to do with hard-learned lessons of business. We have often heard from customers, "Oh, but this is ME, I wouldn't give you a bad check!" only to have them give us a bad check or pull the repudiation trick cited above. (Worse is when people say, "How dare you impugn my reputation! I'm offended!") So, please, save us the unpleasantry of having to refuse your check, and save yourself the embarrassment that you weren't able to convince us to take your check, and just don't offer us your personal check.

In the event that you make payment into our account at a bank branch somewhere via a personal check, WOW it's virtually certain will we all be unhappy. The big problem in such a circumstance is that it is basically the same thing as you forcing us to take your personal check. Firstly, there will be a delay in our receipt of funds, and, depending on the amount or other circumstance, it may be a dramatically longer delay than you expect. Further, if we are expecting a cash payment - which is what a cash deposit is - and you then cause this delay via a personal or business check, the discrepancy from our expectation vs reality will not make us happy people. In addition, in this circumstance you have just guaranteed yourself a maximal delay.

IN THE OFF-CHANCE WE DO ACCEPT YOUR PERSONAL CHECK...

Consider yourself lucky and privileged that we're extending ourselves to you. But if you then repudiate the check in any way, expect us to act accordingly; we won't hesitate to spread the word about your bad behavior, and would be extremely unlikely to ever perform any further work for you.

Payment Issues: Late, Insufficient or Missing Payments

We understand that sometimes "life gets in the way," and we put every effort into helping our customers cope with unforeseen events, best we reasonably can. However, experience has taught us we must implement these policies.

Note that if you anticipate you may have trouble paying your bill on time, you may offer us some collateral. If you contemplate this, please see our section on Collateral.

In addition to any other provisions of our Terms and Conditions, whether stated herein or via any other form of agreement between us, unless explicitly waived in writing by us, these provisions apply for any circumstance where a payment was expected but not received in full by the expected date, without regard to cause. (These are most likely either unpaid or incompletely paid invoices.)

We are not your bank; these policies are in place primarily to avoid our becoming your banker. They are therefore likely less friendly than you'd expect your bank to require for a loan.

Whenever an expected amount is not received, we shall provide a 5 day "grace period", or as otherwise provided in these Terms & Conditions, and thereafter a "Late Fee" shall apply. The Fate Fee shall be added to the amount due and become a part of the principal thereof, immediately, and for every calendar month thereafter until paid. (That is, it "compounds," like "compounding interest.") In the event we fail to do so, as a courtesy or oversight, we reserve the right to add it to any amounts due at any subsequent time.

Late Fee calculation:

Note that when a Late Fee is due for non-payment, under most circumstances, state law terms this condition "abandonment." However, we have our own policy on abandonment; please see the abandonment section below.

Under no circumstances will work product leave our premises prior to payment in full.

 

Collateral

We are most interested in collateral that is useful to our business - that is, Porsches and Porsche parts. If you want to sell us parts - that is, get the most value we are willing to provide for your item(s) - then just sell us your parts, or negotiate an explicit trade; this section is for those situations where there's an invoice, bill, or some debt to be paid us and the debtor wants to retain the asset(s) in question.

You have to decide what you want to offer and we'll consider it.

In the event that we accept some form of collateral, these terms apply:

 

Semiannual Updates - Possible Changes of Labor or Storage Rates

In the last decade, and especially during the Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 era, price inflation has dramatically increased our costs to the point we have found it necessary to increase our rates occasionally. any updates in our pricing or rates that have occurred since inception of the agreement, or since an agreement's most recent "semiannual update", shall be applicable for subsequent service(s) delivered, subcontracted, or parts secured, as appropriate. We shall articulate such updates on our invoices as appropriate, however, such updates may occur without other notice since they're an established policy and since our current labor, parts-related, and storage rates are published here.

Note that this does not alter our policy on price quotes on parts and outside services - that is, that such quotes are not guaranteed until the parts or services are secured from our third party vendors. After all, their prices are rising all the time, too, and we cannot be responsible for these easily anticipated increases.

Pickup and Delivery

We expect our customers to drop off and pick up all items, or arrange with others to do so. Should we agree to make a delivery, we require payment before we leave our workshop.

Customers are responsible for all transportation of all items to and from our facilities, or an alternate facility we designate, as appropriate, and all fees related thereto.

Customers are responsible for all aspects of all items before they get to or after they leave our facility. We are not obligated to secure insurance, nor are we liable for any issues in packaging, even if we ourselves perform the pickup or drop-off since we ask customers to do this for themselves.

Unless explicitly agreed in writing in advance, our highest applicable service rate shall apply to any and all activities spent assisting customers with either the packaging or unpacking of goods to be either received or shipped, including, but not limited to, crating, uncrating, meeting with shipping agents, etc.

In the off chance that we should arrange, as a courtesy, any shipping, whether it be for a part or a whole car, we agree to provide due diligence in finding vendors who appear to be professional and credible but can in no way be liable for their errors, omissions, mistakes or other faults resulting in any loss. We will, as a courtesy, remind customers about the need for insurance and potentially help them secure it, but we again are have no liability to do so, nor can we be liable for any problems or arguments with them. However, we do agree to provide evidence in support of claims and will serve to help prosecute insofar as it does not interfere with our business. We are likely to have collected photographic evidence since this has long been our habit as evidenced by examples shared on our web site as we do this to protect our own interests, but we are not obligated to have done so without explicit request.

Abandonment

Thankfully, few customers have abandoned their projects with us, but if you're in business long enough, it's an eventuality to be considered - and it has happened to us, unfortunately. In the case of automobiles in our facility which are present for storage purposes only, our storage policy applies. The policy articulated here applies to and is our contractual agreement for all other circumstances.

Because we are a small shop and cash-flow is always a concern, our policies echo state law and the uniform-commercial-code in this regard which provides a relatively short period and applies in most states. Further, those provisions are "default" and contract law provides that we can agree between the parties what terms apply. We simply cannot afford to have large sums outstanding for long periods and these are our terms.

Unless otherwise arranged in advance and confirmed in writing, we require payment within 30 days from date of invoicing or other notification payment is due. For clarification, our invoices are due within 5 days of receipt, however failure to pay at that time has other consequences outlined herein or other agreement between us; abandonment requires a minimum of 30 days. We have always been generous in this regard, but sometimes circumstances prohibit us from having unlimited patience.

Note that abandonment means that we can resell or otherwise dispose of the item(s) abandoned with us, whether payments have been made on them or not, and without further compensation back to you. A possible exception is when an automobile is abandoned with us, which typically (but not always) requires a lien sale which sometimes means there's an additional opportunity for customers to "pay their bill". However, lien sales cost us both time and money and the amount due will be increased appropriately.

Inactive Projects Not Forfeited

Experience with inactive projects that we have decided for whatever reason(s) to not have explicitly exercised forfeiture on, whether or not we receive our minimum storage fee we impose for such storage as articulated under "Storage Rates - Other Than Automobiles," the burden of keeping track of all the small components of not-current, nearly-abandoned project(s) for the indefinite future is simply too challenging. Thus, Customers are hereby notified that we simply cannot be held liable for any issues surrounding losses of or damage to individual parts beyond three months of inactive status. If this matters to you, perhaps you should not ask us to store your inactive project's components and, as appropriate, pay your outstanding invoice and pick up your project.

Standard Rates

Parts

As we are not a parts-house, we generally buy parts at retail. Therefore, we encourage our customers to provide us the parts they want installed at the time of project drop off or shipment. However, we are pleased to provide a parts-sourcing service to our customers. To accommodate our expenses, we have a standard markup of 10 to 20% for most items. Small items have a higher overhead per piece, so they will typically have a higher markup. We may also not necessarily use the cheapest vendor - unless you want us to bill you for the time spent finding the cheapest price, it simply is not cost effective for us - so, again, we encourage our customers to provide parts they require in advance. Once the job has started, you agree we're free to source parts as best we can on your behalf.

Hourly Rates

Now, in the 2020s, we're actually the lowest-priced quality-oriented shop around.

In 2023 we have changed our pricing structures: 1) We have eliminated the "restoration" category because it incentivized non-restoration work, and; 2) We've merge administrative work with other non-shop work that requires transportation. Formerly, the latter included a minor fee to cover fuel and related vehicular expenses.

Shop Time: $250.00 - this is most all workshop work, including all engine-only and transaxle-only work short of rebuilds

Non-Shop Time: $135 - Formerly "Administrative" or "Transport" time, this rate pertains to all work not directly on  work articles.

These rates may be superseded at any time - "subject to change without notice" - and new hourly rates will only apply to agreements made subsequent to any change or at Annual Update, as described herein.

Storage Rates - Automobiles

Unplanned Storage - unpaid bill

If you bring us a vehicle for any reason, storage fees will likely become due. Vehicle storage due to unpaid balance: $75/day for outdoor storage, $100/day for indoor. This applies to vehicles on-site which are awaiting pickup or otherwise for payment of bill as outlined elsewhere in this document and for which their grace period has expired.

Should a vehicle be indoors for any reason and its balance becomes unpaid for any reason, we reserve the right to prioritize our indoor space and therefore move said vehicle to another location at our discretion, though we shall continue to observe our duty of care so long as it applies.

Planned Storage

For vehicles on-site specifically for storage which do not have payments due (other than for storage), the rates specified below shall apply whenever no rate was explicitly specified in writing. These rates are for "normal" car sizes, limited to about 5' wide by 14' long, or roughly the size of a Porsche 356 or 911, or VW Karmann Ghia. For larger cars, a rate adjustment will be required.

Automobile storage, per month (or part-month):

Please Note: We will not invoice you or bill you. And in exchange for our not having to expend a lot of effort, we're offering you a very competitive price. However, if you fail to pay in advance, you then are subject to the full-fair price which is typically about double.

  • Indoors (only available for special customers):
    • Monthly - not pre-paid: $900, prepaid: $450
    • Weekly - not pre-paid: $300, prepaid: $150
  • Under Awning:
    • Monthly - not pre-paid $500, prepaid: $350
    • Weekly - not pre-paid $175, prepaid $100
  • Outside:
    • Monthly - not pre-paid $350, prepaid $225
    • Weekly - not pre-paid $100, prepaid $75
    • Daily - not pre-paid $40, prepaid $30

To protect against bird droppings, wind damage, paint chips, etc, all storage customers are encouraged to have their own comprehensive insurance coverage or well-secured car covers; we shall not be liable for anything but failure to apply our already obligatory standard duty of care.

Pre-payment means just that - pay in full in advance! For those who "forget" lose the discount and shall pay full-fare which is about double the prepaid rate. If you want the pre-pay rate, it's up to you to pre-pay and not depend on us to hound you for payment.

Failure to pay for three months, including "incomplete catch-up", is considered an unplanned storage due to unpaid bill, the pricing of which is already noted herein, and is substantially more.

NOTICE: State law provides that a lien may be placed on an automobile and possibly conduct a lien-sale for nonpayment of storage after only 30 days. Our policy is more generous: When the unpaid bill is only for storage, we will give you at least 90 days, though the storage bill will continue to increase at the new rate, specified above. It's not our job to remind you about storage, and this is why we offer a very generous prepayment option. However, after 90 days of non-payment, or three calendar months, whichever is longer, we will, at our option, lien-sale your vehicle to pay the fees. The law is different for engines, transaxles or other items brought to us for service work and provides for forfieture of the asset after a bill remains unpaid for only 30 days. We never want to do this, however, there may be circumstances which compel our use of this law.

Additional Notes On Car Storage can be found here.

Storage Rates - Other Than Automobiles - including projects "put on hold"

We are not an appropriate storage location for your items you don't have the funds for, lost interest in, or whatever has caused your delay and we impose a minimum fee for this type of storage, though you can make arrangements in advance with us. We consider Items (as defined below) where we are not under a Current Agreement (as defined below) or already funded to act upon in an "Inactive Status" after 3 months. Please note that this is fully three times longer than provided by law. Inactive Status Items are subject to the minimum fee described herein. Further, this policy is not open-ended in time. AFTER 6 MONTHS, WE SHALL CONSIDER THE ITEM ABANDONED. EXPECT NO NOTICE.

An "Item" is defined as an individual engine, transmission, transaxle or collection of smaller components for which the collective stored volume is approximately equal to or less than that of an engine, sans exhaust, for the vehicle to which said components apply, or, if no such size is easily determined, the volume of a Porsche 356 engine shall apply. When components of different vehicle types are involved, or perhaps no actual vehicle type, each grouping that fits the sizing criteria established herein are considered a discrete Item. Thus, a group larger than defined is thereby considered multiple individual Items, as appropriate..

Other sections of this agreement cover initiating work and failure to follow through and related concerns. Here, we consider only those items that came into our care due to previously funded work that have been, for whatever reason(s) not retrieved or otherwise returned to a customer. Therefore, the term "Current Agreement" here only applies when an Item as described here has a quotation for further work provided that remains valid (within the quotation's expiration period), or funds have been received by us. When what otherwise would be a stored Item as described herein has new funding, or new parts supplied by customer, these takes said Item(s) out of this category and other provisions in this agreement apply, however, any previously accrued storage fee remain due. Note that should, with verbal or written authorization, we act upon a customer's direction without funding, the storage fee shall still apply, along with other provisions of terms provided herein.

Note that state law declares that items of any description (size and value are irrelevant) are "abandoned" when left in our care without a valid agreement for 30 days, and this policy does not constitute a "valid agreement" as defined by law; it is a courtesy we provide.

Importantly, at that same time all liabilities of duty of care for Item(s) end. That this policy exists does not reinstate that duty of care; after the statutory 30 day period has expired, our duty of care ends. Further, should a new agreement be reached, according to state law and our policy, we are not liable for any loss or damages which may have occurred during any such period.

Presuming there's no non-storage debt due for an Item, a storage rate of $5 per day per Item, and if a debt is due, it's $10 per day per item. This fee applies for every day or part day since the project was completed, invoice not paid, or, if not done, put on hold until the project is either resumed or leaves the premises. Note that when no non-storage debt is due this date begins at least three months before notification is even contemplated; it is simply not our obligation to warn you that you have abandoned your property with us; if we should do so, as we always try to do, it is a courtesy.

NO NOTIFICATION BY US TO YOU IS ANTICIPATED BY OR REQUIRED BY LAW.

However, we reserve the right to terminate storage at any time in either of two ways:

  1. With 30 days notice given in either of these ways:
    1. Email, when we have what we either know or reasonably believe to be a valid email address, or;
    2. A phone contact that actually connects wherein we, in our own opinion, have expressed the situation, or;
    3. A letter when we have a mailing address and do not have either email or cannot make phone contact.

    The notification period's start date depends on which of the above applies and, in addressing each, shall be determined to begin on:

    1. The earliest date we sent a letter if we have what we reasonably believe to be the address or;
    2. The earliest date we sent an email, if we do not have any other method of contact, or calling fails, or;
    3. The date we first tried to call if that is our only method of contact, or the date we called and connected, or;
    4. In the unlikely event we have no valid email address, no valid phone number, and no valid mailing address, the date shall be determined to be the date notification would have otherwise been given. (And yes, for the skeptical, this has actually happened to us and the former owner came to us 4 years later - they had been "in hiding" for their own legal reasons.)

  2. When the storage bill exceeds one half of the value of what our informed opinion believes, or lacking an informed opinion, a reasonable survey of like-items may be, with or without notice.

To be clear, we do not want to "inherit" your Item(s). But, we have a business to run.

Marketing, Documentation

Our use of images or descriptions we create during the performance of our work

We retain the right to use any and all images, text, and any other materials we create during the performance of our activities, including images and descriptions of your project, in any way we see fit, whether for advertising, marketing, licensing, outright sale (such as posters, book content, etc.), or for any other purpose, without compensation or remuneration to you of any kind, and without consulting with you or seeking your permission. For example, we may leave an ad up indefinitely that pertains to your project as a means of attracting new customers. In engaging with us, you thereby release any and all claims you might have otherwise had on any images or other such materials created by us.

Changes, Errors and Omissions

We retain the right to alter any aspect of our work, our policies (these Terms and Conditions), this website, whether tangible or intangible including descriptions, and work-product in any form, until a transaction pertaining to that work is complete. Errors or omissions are always possible, no one is perfect, and we strive for perfection, however, by engaging with us you agree to indemnify us against any such errors or omissions and hold us harmless insofar as is allowed by law.

As noted in the above paragraph (sorry for the all-capitals, this is apparently required by law, as are a few other bits in this document):

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO UPDATE THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS WITHOUT NOTICE.

As a courtesy, we provide them here and in writing upon request.

It is possible there shall be errors in display of this page, be it an electronic error, an edit gone wrong, incorrect advice given, or otherwise an error such as in articulation of our rates or prices. As the economic climate for our work has never provided for a substantive drop in prices for well over 30 years, and especially not labor, in the event of any such error, the correct, agreed upon rates and prices shall be whatever has heretofore been explicitly agreed between the parties via direct communication, with the possible exception of annual-update as described in these policies here.

ALL USERS OF OUR WEB SITE, AND RECIPIENTS OF ANY ADVICE OR DIRECTIONS WE MAY GENERATE OR SHARE BY ANY MEANS HEREBY PROVIDE WAVIER AND DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN INFORMATION OR MATERIALS SO SHARED AND HEREBY WAIVE ALL CLAIMS BASED OK ANY THEORY OF TORT WHICH MIGHT ARTICULATE A CLAIM BASED ON SAID ERROR OR OMISSION.

Waiver and Disclaimer

The things we work on, and the Porsche 356 series, in particular, have been "out-dated designs" for over 50 years now and a great many parts are no longer available. And, the parts that are available may or may not be adequate to the tasks to which they are applied, at no fault of ours.

Porsche itself, as a part of it's Kunst Deinst ("KD") program ("customer service") way back in 1960 were replacing engines outright that came to their service department rather than fixing the older equipment. This was because they knew the older designs were flawed as evidenced by the changes they made in production which only addressed reliability issues and not features or performance.

NOTABLY, ORIGINAL MAIN BEARINGS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR ANY PORSCHE 356 ENGINE AND OFTEN AVAILABLE REPRODUCTIONS ARE FLAWED.

Therefore techniques used to get and keep these vehicles running in the second decade of the twenty-first century and beyond are necessarily not what would have been done "back in the day," such as we document here for engines manufactured starting in 1955. And, this obsolescence isn't limited to engines. Often, extraordinary means must be applied to return vehicles to service, means which simply cannot be guaranteed.

Therefore, we require all our customers to agree to this waiver and accept our disclaimer of liability in order to use our services.

BY USING OUR SERVICES, ALL CUSTOMERS - YOU! - HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE DELIVERED ON A BEST-EFFORT-BASIS-ONLY, WITH NO WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AND CONSENT TO A WAIVER OF ANY AND ALL CLAIMS UNLESS AGREED TO IN ADVANCE, IN WRITING, AND DULY AUTHORIZED BY US. FURTHER, SHOULD ANY COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION DEEM OTHERWISE, CUSTOMER HEREBY AGREES THAT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF DAMAGES APPLICABLE SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY CUSTOMER FOR ANY DISPUTED PHYSICAL ITEM OR SERVICE AND HEREBY WAIVES ANY CONCEPT OF TORT WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE PERMIT A GREATER CLAIM.

 

Severability

If any provision of these Terms and Conditions or any additional agreement between us is held invalid, illegal, or otherwise unenforceable, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make such provision, valid, legal, and otherwise enforceable, and the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not be impaired thereby.

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