Click the play button on the video window to the see the storySCOTTSDALE, AZ -- The sound of the engine alone is enough to turn heads, and the moment Ralph Gertz hits the road, there are plenty of gawkers.
"It's a beautiful car, its exciting," said Gertz. "I love the handling, the performance, it's a wonderful car."
The real estate investor paid nearly $250,000 for the 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spider convertible.
"It was the last one they made of this model for the year, the next model is a 2010," said Gertz while sitting in the idling sports car in a Scottsdale parking lot.
It's actually the second time he's owned a Lamborghini.
"My first one was a 2007 model, identical to this, except it was a yellow one," said Gertz.
The thing is, the part-time Scottsdale resident now wonders if his current orange Lamborghini should actually be yellow, after he says an arbitrator ruled it's a lemon.
He has a home in Washington state where he also does business and spends much of the summer in the northwest.
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.
He says he took the car back to the dealership and was told it would take a while for the brakes to break-in. After a month or two, Gertz became concerned and once again took it in. Eventually, he says, after three visits to the Lamborghini dealership in Washington, he brought the car to Scottsdale.
"The brakes were completely worked on during this entire period, new everything, they even had Lamborghini specialists from Los Angeles and Boston working on the situation," said Gertz.
As time passed, Gertz says he became more and more frustrated and says the Lamborghini representatives stopped answering his calls and failed to show up for scheduled meetings.
"They were done, and there was no fix," said Gertz.
So, Gertz says he returned to Washington to make some noise himself and filed a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General's Office.
Following arbitration, Gertz says his nightmare over the 2008 dream car was over after he won his battle and the Lamborghini was thus labeled a lemon under Washington law.
"I love Lamborghini, I would have just thought they would have better taken care of someone, like me, who has actually owned two of these," said Gertz. "I'm just very disappointed a manufacturer would take that stance with a consumer."
Gertz says Lamborghini will soon pick up the car and he will receive a complete refund.
He hasn't decided what kind of car he will buy now.
