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My Murcie, A Love Affair, or Nightmare? Updated daily.


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Hello Everyone, I thought I would start a single post outlining my adventures with the 2006 Murcielago I purchased over a year ago. I hope this thread provides some insight to people when purchasing a Lamborghini and helps to save them many thousands of dollars and headaches.

 

When I started out looking for a Lamborghini, I spent a little time (Mistake #1 - SPEND A LOT OF TIME) in the forums as I was looking to purchase my first one. It was within my budget to purchase a Murcielago from 100-150k. I found several in the 150k range, but I like a deal. So I found one on Ebay for 125K OBO. It looked nice enough from the pictures and the price seemed right. I negotiated the final price down to 110K (I thought I was killing it lol)

 

At a purchase price of 110k I felt comfortable that I could have 20-30k to spend and still be below budget. I did some research and I made the decision to purchase a car with a clean title. I thought that was it, clean title, no problems. I had zero desire to get a salvage vehicle and deal with insurance, registration problems and future resale problems. I spoke with the mechanic that previously worked on the car 3500 miles prior to my ownership (Serkan GTE Engineering) and I asked him about the car. He said I should get a PPI no matter what. I decided against because there was no one who could PPI the car locally and it would have cost more than I was willing to spend to transport etc. (MISTAKE #2 - GET A PPI)

 

After I went to pickup the car, not mentioning any names here, (Roberto Boligan) I drove to Jacksonville, FL and picked up the car around dusk (Mistake #3 - PICKUP YOUR CAR DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS) Obviously, if it's not daylight, you're going to miss a lot of imperfections you would have otherwise seen. I paid the man his money and made the 200 mile uneventful trek home.

 

The next day we looked at the car and begin to notice problems. The rear decklid was loose. The left rear tail light was loose. There were several imperfections in the paint around the lower rocker panels and rear passenger quarter panel. Do not get me wrong, the car was easily 90%, drove fine, but the imperfections drove me crazy.

 

So, I did my homework and made the determination I needed to 1st get it over to Lamborghini Sarasota for new tires, balance and alignment, an oil change as well as LARA and Egear snap. Well, we decided while they had it, we would replace the third brake light, install a mesh cover (which was missing) and I purchased the OEM clear bonnet so I had a more complete LP640 look. They installed that as well with the upgraded shocks I had to purchase.

 

Lamborghini gave a clean bill of health, snap looked great, car was never driven at crazy RPM, just a really good report. We had them trailer the car over to the body shop for work. I picked a body shop that does the repairs for Ferrari Tampa and many other exotics. I told them I wanted the car perfect. They gave me a price of around 13k plus or minus for a total respray, factory color, glasurit clear, perfection. I said, sounds great, let's do this. It should be noted that this price was discounted from around 20k because I did not put a rush on the car.

 

So they began working on the car, disassembling, etc etc. This process took 6 months or longer. They run into many issues along the way and as they run into things that looked to be a problem, I replaced it. They had issues with some of the ventilating hoses, I replaced, the Lambo hood badge was crap, I replaced. Also, one of the people in the forum let me know that many of the interior carbon fiber engine panels were missing, I replaced everyone of them.

 

As the car was nearing completion the body shop started running into issues. I received a call telling me my windows would not roll up and down and they probably needed new regulators. I am like wtf, my windows worked fine before you took them apart. I said my windows better work as they did when I brought it in. (THEY STILL DO NOT WORK PROPERLY) Then I get a call telling me that my tint had a scratch in it when they removed the window and the car would have to be retinted. wtf #2

 

They tell me for some reason there are now check engine lights and the car would flash N and would not stay in gear because of the door latch. I said fix it, the damn latch worked fine when I brought it in, wtf #3. I had the car towed over to the place which was installing the 3M Xpel clear bra. They called me a told me that could barely get the car in because it kept kicking itself out of gear. I told them to go ahead and get the clear bra on the car and we would deal with that issue later. Then they told me they could not tint the window because there was a scratch in the window, wtf #4.

 

Now I am pissed to high hell. I called Mirek at Mirek's European AB and told him, fix the scratch, it was not scratched when I brought it in and a body shop is supposed to make a car better, not freaking worse. So I get another tow bill for 300.00 to take the damn car back to him so he can fix. He fixes the window and I send a tow truck to pick the car up and bring to me in Lakeland. Whoo hoo, I am getting my car back.

 

The truck drops off at a local hangout of ours. They had a time getting it out of the tow truck and I had to get into the car to help guide it out. Go figure. Once the car came out, I drove it about 50 feet and parked outside of the venue. As it was time to leave, and confidence was at an all time low, I asked one of my employees to ride with me in case it broke down. I was not inspired with confidence having everything that had been told to me.

 

So we drive around and within minutes I could feel the clutch slipping and the car would not stay in any gear. I dealt with the flashing gear numbers, car going into N and a plethora of gearbox related issues. Running through my head at this time, why am I having these problems? The car run perfect when it arrived at Mireks, just received a clean bill of health. What a coincidence? I am frustrated, sad and full of many mixed emotions. I limp the car to my friends garage and sleep on it.

 

The next day I called Lamborghini Sarasota and asked them to look at the car. They sent someone to pickup the car and bring it in for diagnostics. I did not think there was anything major, hell, the car worked fine prior to Mireks. Lambo tech told me he could not get his computer to talk with the egear system. He would have to consult with Lamborghini Italy and have them remotely look at the car. He told me there were some issues with the door switch relays and he replaced those for me.

 

I get a call from Lamborghini Sarasota with the good news! We found your problem, your egear is shot! I am like wtf kind of good news is that. He said there are some pressure issues etc and the motor will need to be pulled etc. I said please give me a quote. They quoted me appx 20K to rebuild the actuator and put back in. I said would that be it? They said, no, we could find other things while we are in there. Makes sense to me, of course you will, here is to another 20k on top. I made the decision to call Serkan of GTE Engineering and ask him the cost on an Egear rebuild, installation etc. He quoted me around 9k for parts and labor. He did say could be more if we get in there and find other problems. I accepted this.

 

I have the car transported to GTE Engineering in Pompano Beach for evaluation etc. He pulls the motor out and determines that the egear actuator is indeed shot. We spoke of replace vs rebuild. I chose to go with the rebuild as he has done many in the past with great results. He found out the TO bearing was leaking and needed to be replaced. He found issues with the motor mounts, serpentine belt, tensioner and idler pulley, AC evaporator, AC compressor, F1 Pump, F1 Accumulator, leaking seal on rear diff, leaking seal on front diff, straight pipe exhaust replacement, 02 sensors and we replaced/repaired all of these. I am sure I am missing something but you get the gist. Also, he resurfaced and installed new Organic clutch (free) getting rid of the old Kevlar.

 

As he gets ready to put the car back together he calls me and tells me there is an issue with the transmission and the egear cannot engage it in R. He is not a transmission specialist so we look for someone to work on it. Since Lamborghini Dallas is highly regarding in the forum and through a recommendation from Glenn at AMH, I called them to rebuild the tranny. Sirkan shipped the transmission to them for repair. The pulled the unit apart and said the transmission looked perfect, however, they broke the oil sleeve upon disassembly. This is something they said would happen sometimes. They had the wiring harness, actuator shipped to them and they hooked it up to another Murcie they had in the shop and programmed tested 5 times. Crated it up shipped it back said works great. Price ~6K

 

Sirkan notifies me that he has the transmission and he will be getting the car ready within a week or so for me to pickup. He calls me up and lets me know the car is ready and the test drive went beautifully. I come to see him, pay off my balance and we go for a 5 minute test ride. Everything worked great. Clutch is smoother than ever no problems. There was an airbag light and the ebrake light switch needed to be replaced. I decided to deal with those later on. I took the car home on a 200 mile exciting journey.

 

About 40 miles from my house, I made a detour to my mother's house for a visit. This is when sht went sideways. As I was starting to pull up in her driveway car went into N. Then I try to put into R and I hear the egear moving but nothing. No R. I put into 1st and drive up in the driveway. Wtf #?

I give it a few minutes, walk back outside get in the car with my grandson and it goes into R and we go out for a joyride. We get back, I pull in the yard, cannot get back into R. Now I am pissed. I call Sirkan, he tells me no problems, he will come out himself with the computer to my house to check out the car. If there is something wrong, he will take care of it. He cannot come out for a week he tells me so I am ok with that.

 

I drive the car home and the next morning when I get up the car goes into gear just fine, no problems. I drive around and 15 minutes later, no R. Everything else works. Sometimes at a stop light may take me one or two tries to get into 1st gear and sometimes goes into 2nd gear instead of first. I am still able to drive the car around and it sounds great and shifts very nicely when driving. Also, to be noted that gears shift perfectly with ignition key on.

 

I called and asked Lamborghini Sarasota if they could connect the diag computer to my car and check it out. I figured if it was something simple I could save Serkan a long trip and be on the road enjoying my car. I made the 100 mile drive over there and parked the car out front. It was a fun drive no doubt. I walked back and talked with the service manager, Fernando, and he said let me check the car in and we can connect it to the computer. I hung out in the show room and looked out front and noticed my car was not there. I was not aware it was going to be moved. I thought they were going to bring the laptop out to the car like they did with my friends Murcie.

 

So I asked Fernando, can I go back and talk with Matt about my car. He says, sure and lets me in the service area. My service bay door opens and Matt is driving my car in the service area. To my surprise there is smoke coming from the engine bay and it stinks to high hell. I am like OMG, he just drove it in here with the E brake on. He get's out with an obvious concerned look on his face and I am like what it that? He said, that is your clutch. I am like WTFxInfinity. Dude, the e brake was on. Now sht getting serious. I am thinking the worst and all of a sudden I am shuffled from the service area to the front of the dealership and several people go back in the back to have a "discussion"

 

They call me back in the service area and tell me that my front differential is toast and the wheels do not move as freely as they should (car was on the lift and in N) I am like, what a coincidence, everything worked fine or at least seemed to before I got here. This still does not explain all of the smoke coming from the car after you got behind the wheel sir. I said I need some time to think this over, they told me there were going to quote me to goto a two wheel drive setup and maybe this would work itself out. Also, they told me they could not do an egear snap as their computer could not tell anything and they said GTE did not use or program right. I said, well that is kind of funny because you were able to tell just fine before when you had it the first time. Finally, they recommended I not drive it home. So I have not been able to tell if it works/drives the same way it did when I brought it in.

 

As I have the night to sleep on it, I get more and more pissed off. I am thinking, damn, am I going to let people run all over me? I decide to write an email to Fernando the service manager and I told him I wanted Lamborghini Sarasota to take full responsibility of my clutch if they indeed fried it. He called me back and gave me the runaround and told me he did not feel comfortable working on my car and I could pay him to deliver it to another repair shop. I told him if he thinks that will be all to this he is nuts. I said, have the owner call me directly so I can explain my situation. I have momentum of massive amounts of cash going to make this car perfect so I can easily direct that cash flow to legal counsel as well as many bad reviews as I can get out there. I want the responsible people to step up and fix what needs to be done! I call an attorney and he told me to try and work everything out with the dealership and talk with the owner to see what he says.

 

I get a call that day from Victor Young, CEO Lamborghini Sarasota to talk about the car. He told me that he would be willing to take the car back to GTE Engineering at no charge. He said that he would be opening up a lot of liability if he pulled the motor out considering the car came in with an issue of not going into reverse. So it was in his opinion that Serkan work on the car to resolve the R issue and if there was some type of damage to the clutch to get back with him. He also told me he spoke with Lamborghini directly and they said you cannot burn a clutch out driving 100 yards with the e brake on.

 

I called Serkan and told him what happened at Lamborghini Sarasota. He said he would come out and meet me over there, connect the computer and determine what the next step would be. He should be coming over Thursday or Friday of this week. I will update often with regards to

 

#1 What Serkan does to resolve the R not working (I believe he is going to sort this out)

 

#2 What Lamborghini Sarasota does to compensate for any damage they have caused.

 

I will utilize every ounce of energy to make sure my problems are taken care of. I have nothing bad to say about any of these companies as I have no reason they will not take care of me. The last thing I am looking for is a damn handout. I want people to be responsible, step up, and make things right. Stay tuned.

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Damn, sounds like one hell of a saga thus far. Sorry that you have not been able to really enjoy the car since you got it. I hope you are able to get it sorted it. :(

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That is some tale of woe / bad luck !

 

As an alternative I bought the cheapest Murci in Europe, Manual 90,000 km and have had no problems with it. Yes it needs some cosmetics but other than a service it has needed nothing.

 

Good Luck

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Make sure the guys working on it legitimately know Lamborghini. I had a similar issue.. a mechanic who swore he knew what he was doing..... the Murci is the first step into the "modernized" e-gear system on the V12.. it has SOO many weird quirks to dial in properly. SMARTEST thing I did was take it to Jeff at Newport who went through the car front diff to rear and since then cars been a peach (15K Km since)

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Sorry to hear about this nightmare. Good advice about picking the cheapest car. thenewbruno needs to pay close attention here about this buying experience. He was on the 99 diablo roadster thread suggesting the cheap cars that are out there and forgoing the market prices for good cars.

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So sorry to hear about all your troubles!

 

I hate to bring up what may be an obvious thing you've already checked, but by chance, did the previous owner put on non-OEM tires? That might explain some of your diff/tranny issues. AWD Murcis are notoriously sensitive to tire size.

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So sorry to hear about all your troubles!

 

I hate to bring up what may be an obvious thing you've already checked, but by chance, did the previous owner put on non-OEM tires? That might explain some of your diff/tranny issues. AWD Murcis are notoriously sensitive to tire size.

 

As long as you match the ration front to rear to stock, which most people do then no issues with non oem wheels/tires. There is a chart on here somewhere.

 

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So sorry to hear about all your troubles!

 

I hate to bring up what may be an obvious thing you've already checked, but by chance, did the previous owner put on non-OEM tires? That might explain some of your diff/tranny issues. AWD Murcis are notoriously sensitive to tire size.

 

I remember this previous owner very well when he was advertizing this "absolutely perfect" car.

 

Bottom line, anything is possible with what he did to the car. I wouldn't be surprised if he ran the engine without oil or coolant, and that's what's next for the long list of surprises with this car.

 

 

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That sure puts me in my place complaining about my few piddly Murci issues. We need shops to take care of our repairs, but still I hate taking my cars in because something else bad usually happens. I have learned there is a difference between shop negligence and an accidental mishap; and of course shops typically say "accidents happen". Not related to your particular issues, but I have learned to spend 5 minutes quickly snapping about 100 interior and exterior photos before taking my cars in anywhere. If I am real paranoid about a shop, I usually do it right in their parking lot so they see me doing it. Anyway, a bit off topic with my comments, but when we place our property in the hands of others it is good to take some precautions. My WTFs have typically been such things as door dings, interior scratches or grease, wheel damage, and one instance of an oil change where they forgot to add oil which was discovered on my drive home with engine damage (none of this stuff with my Murci though). I hope yours gets resolved soon so you can have enjoyment rather than anguish.

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Diag report from Lamborghini Sarasota after the smoke, etc. Veru interesting we cannot read the LARA report. I will also attach next the email from GTE questioning LS. I will await their response and post.

Screen_Shot_2017_06_23_at_2.58.01_AM.png

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This was the reply from my mechanic. I have talked with several other independent shops and they said there should be no reason that Lamborghini Sarasota shouldn't be able to do a clutch snap. I am not a mechanic so I am posting what I can so everyone can see how this finally gets resolved.

Screen_Shot_2017_06_23_at_3.01.59_AM.png

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How did you manage to drive the car to the Lamborghini dealer with a front diff so locked up that it smoked the clutch? I'm sure I know the answer bur had to ask the question.

Sorry for all your troubles after you went so far over the last year to get this car back to perfect condition.

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Sounds familiar... not knocking them but if this GE Engineering maintained the car how is everything a surprise now? Ive dealt with both.. the indi mechanic (also Ferrari tech btw) and A Lambo dealer that just plugged in threw their hands up and walked away.... I hate to say this but you should consider trucking it to Newport and getting Jeff to look at it ( not a plug but he was around when the diablo was out and the murci came out) there are a lot of things on these cars you need to have experience with to understand. Aka you plug it in and cant instantly get a reading what to do next

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Tearing a car apart from top to bottom and having multiple shops work on it for different items just generally isn't a good idea. Having a car painted complete is a big deal and requires a lot of things to be taken off and put back on. All these things lead to liability as you go forward with other items. A properly driven car with miles on it is generally a much better option. Who you are purchasing the car from is a big deal. Sadly many sellers are trying to hide stuff.

 

Your main issue now with the egear having issues going into R is most likely your brake switch. My friend was recently having some issues and I told him to wiggle the brake pedal when he had those issues. Solved the problem. Now he just has to replace the brake switch. Your front diff could go bad, but it most likely isn't going to cause an issue in that short amount of time. However when you stopped the car there is a possibility the gears bound up because something did break inside of it while driving. Highly unlikely, but possibl. Most of the time when the diff's go bad the oil is black and there was gear whine coming from the diff prior to it going bad. Usually there are warning signs of a diff going bad.

 

Good luck. Definitely not what you wanted to get into when purchasing a Murci.

 

 

 

 

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Sounds familiar... not knocking them but if this GE Engineering maintained the car how is everything a surprise now? Ive dealt with both.. the indi mechanic (also Ferrari tech btw) and A Lambo dealer that just plugged in threw their hands up and walked away.... I hate to say this but you should consider trucking it to Newport and getting Jeff to look at it ( not a plug but he was around when the diablo was out and the murci came out) there are a lot of things on these cars you need to have experience with to understand. Aka you plug it in and cant instantly get a reading what to do next

:iamwithstupid:

 

I am a very mechanically and analytically minded person. Any time I see an issue I remember what it sounded/looked/felt like, etc. That way the next time I see something causing the same type of issue I at least have a starting point of where to look. Sometimes the symptoms are different than the root problem and you need to know how to figure it out. Sadly many technicians have no idea how to do this. I see it all the time in the Semi truck world. Many technicians don't remember what sound or feel an issue was causing even after fixing the same thing 10 f**ng times.. It's mind boggling how they even earn a paycheck doing it.

 

Take the car to someone who knows 100% what they are doing.

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I have heard of egears being toasted just being taken off carriers with the ebrake on.....sounds like a dodge to me.....

 

I have heard that too. OP I hope it all gets resolved so you can enjoy the car.

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What a nightmare, I am sorry to say but I would've sold it the first time it started giving me headaches, I do not have the patience of dealing with such nightmares.

 

Just imagine the anxiety you'd get from the fear of the damn thing leaving you stranded in the middle of the road.

 

I hope it will turn out well for you.

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Going forward with the ebrake on is probably a lot less damaging than going backwards. The egear never engages the clutch more than 50% in reverse, so that kills the clutch and the ebrake pads to have the ebrake on when reversing.

 

But going forward, the clutch probably engages just fine and the ebrake pads do all the suffering.

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Going forward with the ebrake on is probably a lot less damaging than going backwards. The egear never engages the clutch more than 50% in reverse, so that kills the clutch and the ebrake pads to have the ebrake on when reversing.

 

But going forward, the clutch probably engages just fine and the ebrake pads do all the suffering.

 

I cross my fingers and hope this is the case.

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What a nightmare, I am sorry to say but I would've sold it the first time it started giving me headaches, I do not have the patience of dealing with such nightmares.

 

Just imagine the anxiety you'd get from the fear of the damn thing leaving you stranded in the middle of the road.

 

I hope it will turn out well for you.

 

Thanks. The irony here is the car had worked fine before I took it to Mireks Auto Body. I drove at least 400 miles for 2 weeks. But no, I had to have it perfect and here we are. I must also add that alot of the money I have put into the car was because I wanted to, cosmetic etc. I should have left well enough alone lol.

 

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Serkan is driving 3 hours from West Palm Beach to Sarasota to look at the car for me. I have to give him props for driving all of the way to check it out for me. I look forward to a speedy resolve. As I told him and the owner of Lamborghini Sarasota, I am not looking for any handouts, I am used to Lambo bills. However, if someone is responsible for something I want it taken care of. If I need a new differential, then so be it. I look forward to report how I am treated by both parties. I can say at this time Serkan is stepping up to the plate and I am happy for that.

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