Google reviews on Porsche dealer sparks marathon battle

A Google review of Port Melbourne car dealer Srecko Lorbek has spiralled into a marathon defamation battle costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.

Srecko Lorbek with Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo.

Luxury car dealer Srecko Lorbek once said, in the elite world of prestige car sales “we can never refuse an offer”.

The high-profile salesman was, in a 2016 interview, referring to his regret at selling a “very special” Mercedes SL Pagoda to an enthusiast who made him an offer too good to refuse.

But that same year, the sale of a Porsche Panamera would spark a marathon defamation battle with a customer lasting four years and amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.

Perhaps, in hindsight, this Porsche may take the title of Srecko’s most regrettable sale.

Over the past month, Srecko and brother David have gone head to head with the customer in question — Peter King — in a high-stakes defamation trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The Lorbeks accuse King of launching a smear campaign against their good name and business by using Google reviews to spin falsehoods and scare off potential customers.

King claimed in the series of online reviews the Lorbeks had knowingly sold him an unroadworthy car and had “lied to his face” about the vehicle’s condition.

“If you’re thinking of dealing with Lorbek turn and run away,” King wrote online in April 2017.

King began penning the poison reviews after purchasing the 2011 Porsche Panamera Turbo from the Lorbek Luxury Cars for about $150,000.

Representing himself at trial, King claimed he was just “an average Joe Blow” who lives in the suburbs with his two kids and “got dudded when he bought a car”.

But barrister James Catlin, for the Lorbeks, urged the judge to see a very different image.

Mr Catlin argued this was no longer simply about faulty brake rotors – which would’ve cost only $2000 to fix – it hadn’t been about that for years.

“You’re on a vendetta to injure the Lorbek brothers,” he said.

“I am putting squarely to the court that he is not the person who presents himself to be online or to this court.”

Mr Catlin accused King of using the internet as his “coward’s castle”, hiding behind the walls of anonymity and pseudonyms while throwing rocks at other people’s reputations.

Mr Catlin alleged that King was not the unemployed, almost bankrupt, dad he claimed to be – rather “a pimp” and director of a company which registered the business names Six Star Models – which appeared to be an escort agency run out of Sydney.

King said his modest income came from his wife’s booking agency – through which they ran “conferences” – with the latest tax return putting their turnover at more than $340,000.

King vehemently denied having any knowledge of how he and his wife’s company came to register a business in the sex industry, suggesting someone may have set it up fraudulently.

Justice Michael McDonald suggested to King he must appreciate this was “a little hard to accept”.

“I’m just struggling to understand what’s your motivation, you seem to be a man on a mission to bring down the Lorbeks,” Justice McDonald said.

FROM THE COMMENT SECTION TO THE COURTROOM

Srecko Lorbek knows how to work a room.

He’s been in the business of selling European luxury cars for more than 30 years with his Port Melbourne showroom housing hundreds of vehicles with eye-watering price tags.

Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maserati and Ferrari.

From humble beginnings as a repair shop, the business is now among the top two dealers of prestige and exotic cars in the country.

Customers will drop hundreds of thousands of dollars without ever seeing the car, based on Srecko’s recommendation alone.

“I go to a restaurant for dinner, I go to a cafe, a walk around the Tan, somebody will bump into me and ask me about a car,” Srecko said.

Srecko said he had worked tirelessly to make sure the Lorbek name was “synonymous with luxury cars”.

“Whatever I do I will be involved with cars till the day I die,” he said.

The dealership’s marketing manager described the two acre showroom being transformed into a glitzy playground for the wealthy elite.

Chantel Thornton and Srecko Lorbek. Picture: Josie Hayden

Porsche and Ferrari clubs would regularly hold their meet-ups at the business.

And charity events, including a fundraiser hosted by Formula One racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, would see more than a thousand guests fill the space.

Images of a smiling Srecko rubbing shoulders with Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber were presented to the court.

Evidence from a Melbourne cosmetic surgeon — friendly with Srecko’s wife, high-profile breast cancer surgeon Dr Chantel Thornton — spoke of his good character.

Every day Srecko was beamed into court via a video link wearing a suit, tie and matching pocket square — a replica F1 race car peaking out from behind him in the showroom.

Srecko embodied the luxury brand completely.

But, he claims, the series of bad Google reviews from King threatened to tear it all down.

Just days into the long-awaited trial, Justice Michael McDonald warned the parties there may be more than one loser should the case proceed.

There were flaws in both cases and even if one party did prevail over the other, there would most certainly be “collateral damage”.

Evidence emerged the third party mechanic engaged by the Lorbeks who issued the Porsche Panamera its road worthy certificate should never have done so.

The instrument used to measure the Porsche’s brake rotors was later found to be faulty and out of calibration.

The mechanic said the measurements were out only “a tenth of a millimetre”.

“It’s like the discrepancy of three or four hairs,” he said.

VicRoads launched an investigation once the fault was discovered and went on to ban the mechanic business from issuing road worthy certificates for four weeks in early 2017.

King believed this was a smoking gun.

A judge urged both Mr Lorbek (above) and Mr King to attempt to settle.

He had in fact been sold an unroadworthy car.

But could he prove the Lorbeks had known this at the time?

Evidence was called from the Brighton Porsche Centre who had assessed the car amid its sale to the Lorbeks who then on-sold it to King.

A sales executive at the dealership said the undersized brake rotors were noted on an internal job card, but he does not remember ever telling the Lorbeks.

It’s unlikely he would have spoken to the brothers directly at all, he said.

The court heard the Lorbeks had offered to pay to repair the brakes once the issues came to light in 2016 — an offer King denies was ever made.

Instead, King said he was forced to take the Lorbeks to VCAT and then the Magistrates Court, where he was awarded $8000.

Mr Catlin argued that is when the matter should have ended.

On the third day of the trial, Justice McDonald urged the parties to re-enter mediation and settle the matter once and for all.

The parties returned to court the next day without any success.

The Lorbeks had offered to walk away from the whole matter, forgoing years worth of legal bills and the $250,000 in damages they were seeking, if King simply apologised and withdrew the imputation they had arranged a fraudulent road worthy certificate for the Porsche.

King refused the offer.

More than a week later as the trial neared its completion and the evidence had been presented, Justice McDonald again appealed to the parties to attempt to settle.

“Given the evidence that we have now heard … you really should be very seriously revisiting the question of whether or not you should accept that offer, if it was still on the table,” he told King.

“If you lose this case, quite apart from whatever damages are awarded, you stand to have costs orders against you personally for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“That’s plainly something which will have an impact not just on you, but your family as well, for the rest of your life, and for the rest of your family’s life,” Justice McDonald said.

Further, he warned the Lorbeks they faced reputational damage, should the matter proceed to judgment.

“There is objective evidence which would support a finding that Lorbek Luxury Cars sold an unroadworthy vehicle, such a finding … is potentially damaging to your clients,” he told Mr Catlin.

The parties will make their final submissions on November 5.