| Author |
Message |
Danny R. West (Dan_West348ts)
| | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 8:01 pm: | |
I shopped for a year in all sorts of places. Most of it was on the internet. I finally went with Steve Harris Imports of Salt Lake City, UT. I actually purchased the car from Sean Harris.
The reason I went with a dealer was due to the fact that there was a pre-owned Ferrari warranty with the 348 I bought. All business was done by EMAILS and was contingent to the car being everything Sean had promised.
Sean picked me up at the Salt Lake City airport and we went cruising for about 2 hours. After that we went to the office and I turned over the check for the amount we had agreed upon in our EMAILs.
I drove the car home to California. That was fun.
Dan |
Adelina Vallese (Dina)
| | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 9:38 pm: | |
My 308GTB belonged to a customer of a Ferrari dealer in Newport Beach (LA). He just bought a 355 from them and was going to keep the 308 for a while till his 355 was ready. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The owner was a great guy who was happy to let his 308 go to a good home. He did not want the 308 to go to the dealer and be wholesaled off. He still contacts me whenever he finds something in his garage thats relates to the car. Although it's a high mileage Ferrari, I have had no mechanical problems as the car was well looked after and always serviced. Dina |
BretM (Bretm)
| | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 9:20 pm: | |
I looked forever. Like 4 months until I found one that I liked, which happened to be near me. I looked on autotrader, ebay, Hemmings, and the FCA website mostly. |
Martin (Miami348ts)
| | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 2:12 pm: | |
I told my Non Dealer mechanic that I was looking for a 348 TS. He actually found the car for me and won a new client. Although he does not see that car much...he made a great choice when he selected my car.
There are also always good cars in the club papers. FCA and the FOC. These are usually priced a little higher than on the street but you get a car from somebody that cares about Ferrari's that he became a member of the clubs.
Once you know where the prices should be for year and mileage, go and look at some cars at dealers. See conditions. Remember the dealer will polish the car like crazy to make it look good. Look into the cracks and inside the doors, under the doors, get a good overall impression. Against the light you can see swirl marks from the polish machines. Bad polishing.
When you are very close to the car you want and you want the last thing checked out, see if you can find a mechanic you trust to check out the car and I will take my detailer with me as well. My guy has a paint gauge. He can measure the thickness of the paint. This will tell you right away if the car was in an accident or was repainted in some parts. It will also tell you if too many bad detailers polished the cars paint to nothing. That is a frequent thing. A good detailer is almost as important as a good mechanic. Make sure to ask lots of questions on how he will detail your car, which products he uses. A full detail will cost you money. The $49.95 special requires a $ 7,000 repainting of your car in a few years, so what did you really save?
Anyway, as the others before....take your time. Make sure you understand everything about the car and know what to look for.
Go and act dumb in the dealership. Ask them a question and then let them talk. They will usually reveal something that you have not heard before. Then question the next dealer about that detail.... ;-) |
BobD (Bobd)
| | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 1:28 pm: | |
It probably took the majority of us months of looking before we found the right car. In my case, it was 6 months.
It takes all angles... another good source is to find a local event (FCA or whatever) and get the word out that you're looking. If you travel for biz, get the yellow pages out.
Good luck... but be patient. It's VERY easy to jump on the first one you see! |
Steve Magnusson (91tr)
| | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 8:26 am: | |
Brandon -- I'd add:
http://www.autotrader.com
to Rob's list of sources. I found it very useful for generating a list of possible cars and seeing enough asking prices (from high dealer to low motivate seller) on my exact target car, or very similar cars, to get a feel for what the low end of the realistic selling price range might be. |
Chris_N_Chicago (Chris_N_Chicago)
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 10:46 pm: | |
you can have an ISP's Search Engine email you any cars in North America that fit your search criteria, and an email notification will be sent to you anytime a car comes on the market that
fits your requirements. |
Warren E. Smith (Magoo)
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 10:35 pm: | |
That's how I found out about my car. I was having some body work done on another one of my cars. The body man saw me drive up in my 66 sting ray coupe and I told him I was a collector. Then he told me of a guy who knew of a Ferrari that had been in storage for 18yrs. I followed up and bingo I struck gold. Just as Rob said, these are the guys who know where the "Special Cars" are. |
Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 10:25 pm: | |
Best deal will be an owner/seller who maybe bought it new and has every single service record. He probably walked into a Ferrari dealer and was offered about $20k less than he thought he might get. You might be able to buy for $10k less than he thought he could get.
Best sources are Ferrari Market Letter, classified ads (Dallas has 2-6 Ferraris every day), FCA newsletter, and ebay (if you are really daring). There are also a few cars for sale on this site. Dealers will be asking the most money.
Also, local non-dealer Ferrari mechanics will know the area cars better than anyone. Sometimes they act as the local match maker. |
Brandon Estes (Brandon)
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 10:03 pm: | |
How did most of you guys find your ferraris? Did you get a dealer or location service to find it for you, or did you look at classifieds and the internet yourself? I'm looking for a good used 355 spider with reasonably low mileage, but I'm not sure where to start looking and what the most thorough method of searching would be. In other words, where are the best places to find ferraris for sale? |
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