Whats wrong with Ferrari imports? | FerrariChat

Whats wrong with Ferrari imports?

Discussion in 'Australia' started by zakeen, Sep 29, 2004.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. zakeen

    zakeen Formula Junior

    Aug 29, 2004
    989
    Czech Republic
    Hi there, I have been looking at a few ferraris and came across one from Hong Kong, in Australia. Rather cheap and very nice.

    Whats wrong with buying an import?

    Would they sell well?

    anything else you would like to add?

    many thanks.
     
  2. moretti

    moretti Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 1, 2003
    58,229
    Australia
    Full Name:
    John
    Adam,

    the few HK cars I've seen have been poorly maintained but starngely I have seen 2 testarossas that came from HK that looked Ok.

    We've had a few fly by night car dealers here on the Gold Coast try importing HK Fcars amongst others that were in a very corroded state and had no service history so take from that what you will, they were cheap though, so you have to ask the question...why ??
     
  3. Frari

    Frari Formula 3

    Nov 5, 2003
    1,194
    brisbane australia
    Full Name:
    tony
    Hey John you will be upsetting a good friend of mine with this broad brush answer to the question. Glyn Pearce on the gold coast sold me my tr and it was in great condition it was a hk car with no rust and full books. Glyn has sold numerous imports and all come with full history and he helps should anything untoward go wrong. I would be a little carefull about what you say as Glyn phoned me and asked if you were brain dead saying such things. He has a mondial that won the outright award in adelaide if you can remember and he has some magnificent tr,s and 348,s at present as one of them was at the concourse, its black with red and is superb. Please re-post an apology as I think you have offended him, I know I would be gunning for you. regards Tony
     
  4. stephens

    stephens F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Feb 13, 2004
    4,647
    Australia
    Full Name:
    Stephen S
    Imports are very hard to sell and attract a discount of 20-30% over a local delivered car, concours or not. There is no rhyme or reason to it from what I can see.
     
  5. Aircon

    Aircon Ten Time F1 World Champ
    BANNED

    Jun 23, 2003
    100,524
    Melbourne, Australia
    Full Name:
    Peter
    That pretty much hits the nail on the head, in my experience. It's usually exactly the same car, which highlights the stupidity of it all, but you think you're getting it nice and cheap, which you are, but wait until you try to sell it! Almost nobody wants it. People keep getting told "don't buy an import" ...ludicrous...like porsches and ferraris are made here!
     
  6. moretti

    moretti Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 1, 2003
    58,229
    Australia
    Full Name:
    John
    Tony,

    I would never offend Glyn and your car was one of the HK cars I was refering to. But surely you would have seen the 3 car dealers on Bundall road over the last 10 years who have come and gone trying to sell various exotica from HK that had obviously not been looked after and on several of them I asked for the books about I got the standard "they're coming from HK". Two of the cars had parts fall off them as I opened the doors!!

    If Glyn was offended by the above then I do apologise but I had no idea he was selling cars from HK in any case so I must be brain dead although I don't stick my nose in other peoples business.

    Now if Glyn has got a nice 328/348 he would like to show me I'd be more than happy

    John
     
  7. jmillard308

    jmillard308 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 29, 2003
    6,568
    Perth West Oz
    Full Name:
    John Millard
    Funny that, I thought Noel Roscrow won outrght..........?
     
  8. jmillard308

    jmillard308 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 29, 2003
    6,568
    Perth West Oz
    Full Name:
    John Millard
    Ahaaaa
    A credible admission at last
    :)
    JM
     
  9. moretti

    moretti Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 1, 2003
    58,229
    Australia
    Full Name:
    John
    go on JM, put the boot in :)

    I only report what I've seen first hand, I saw Tony's car and it was nice but the other Fcars I saw at the dealerships that have been gone for nearly 10, 6 and 1 year had cars that had massive corrosion in the engine castings and showed all the signs of a car never maintained and the dealer had no proof it did, plus at the last dealership to go under the cars there were in terrible condition (the Boxer in particular) with door mirrors falling off and dooor handles being inoperative.

    At least I know you're a dodgy travel agent ;) , how's Vladimir Airlines :)
     
  10. 360C

    360C F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    I am with you Moretti, the VAST majority of imported Ferrris that I have seen are absolute DOGS. I think this is because the importers tend to be bottom feeders hoping to get into a Ferrari cheaply or dealers maximising their profits by buying the cheapest examples they can find.
    MC here in Vic has imported some really nice Ferraris; but they tend to be high end big $$ cars. Nice cars generally speaking. He is the only example of "good" imported Ferraris that I can think of.
     
  11. daveking

    daveking Rookie

    Dec 12, 2003
    16
    Buying an import is no different from buying anywhere, you get some good and some bad. But the official dealers try to scare you as they are protecting their market.

    The only concern with HK cars is that being a small island, the cars live their whole lives not far from the salty sea water. Rust is a big concern depending on age.
     
  12. Steve_nero

    Steve_nero Formula Junior

    Nov 4, 2003
    261
    London
    Full Name:
    Steve
    Interesting thread guys, hope you don't mind me jumping in and asking a question (I'm not only in London but I'm also a Kiwi.....!)

    I've always had in the back of my mind that I would move back to NZ or Aus one day and bring my Ferrari with me. Mine's a UK delivered RHD so would that fall under the "import" tag and be worth less as discussed?

    Steve
     
  13. Aircon

    Aircon Ten Time F1 World Champ
    BANNED

    Jun 23, 2003
    100,524
    Melbourne, Australia
    Full Name:
    Peter
    Steve, as weird as it may seem, yes. Your car would be worth significantly less here than the equiv Aus delivered version IF you could find a buyer...and THAT takes a lot of time because so many people are brainwashed not to buy non aussie delivered cars at any price. go figure.
     
  14. Steve_nero

    Steve_nero Formula Junior

    Nov 4, 2003
    261
    London
    Full Name:
    Steve
    Well, thanks for the info, that's one idea that I can forget about.

    I'm not sure I could afford an "offical import" car in Australia. In the UK I think Ferrari ownership is quite cheap in comparison to what you guys have to fork out. I thought it was just to do with import and sales taxes but maybe there is more to it.

    Imports aren't a problem in the UK. The market it full of LHD cars from Europe which are cheaper than RHD but only because of the side the steering wheel is on!

    It's a crazy world.

    Steve
     
  15. asianbond

    asianbond Formula 3

    Nov 8, 2003
    1,275
    Full Name:
    Chris
    I think the comment about Aus dealers being bottom feeders and only bringing in more beat up models for maximum profit is dead on. I live in HK and am very active with Ferrari community here. I have yet to see a beat up ferrari in HK. I would not hestitate in saying that a large majority of owners here maintain their cars very well where cost is not an object.

    Btw, I do think a full service history is an over-rated concept. It's more valuable to have a good mechanic assess the current condition of the car.
     
  16. ferrarifixer

    ferrarifixer F1 Veteran
    BANNED

    Jul 22, 2003
    8,520
    Melbourne
    Full Name:
    Phil Hughes
    There are pro's and cons either way I think. For example....I've seen many HK cars here, and some have been very nice, but it has to be said the humidity (or removal of the car from the humid environment) causes all sorts of problems.....smelly interiors, rubber deterioration, corrosion etc etc. UK cars corrode, but don't suffer the humidity problems.

    That said, I wouldn't want an Aussie 328 at any price, having driven UK cars until recently. The Aussie 328 is absolutely anaemic (sp?) in comparison to it's UK spec cousin...... With it's low compression engine , restrictive exhaust and catalytic convertor. They also have ugly square mirrors, no abs and a few other specific down sides.....

    So, I think it is very much model dependant. With the newer cars...348, 512, 355, 360, 550 etc... It doesn't matter so much. Biggest differences are mainly just a stupidly high ride height...easily fixed, so you may be better off with an Aussie version purely for re-sale.

    If it's an older model you want, then you need to be more careful with your choice....do you want an enjoyable car, or do you prioritise re-sale when you've finished with it......

    The buyer should get good advice from an unbiased source (me!) before committing.

    One particular customer of mine has imported a HK 308 F/Glass car...with dry sump and UK spec engine which is a gem and owes him much less than an Aussie car would cost. He also imported a UK 328, which again, owes him much less than an Aussie spec is worth, and is twice the car........
     
  17. Frari

    Frari Formula 3

    Nov 5, 2003
    1,194
    brisbane australia
    Full Name:
    tony
    Hi John, I ahve seen one of glyns latest at the queensland concourse a month osr so ago. It is a 348 that was in superb condition and but for Ray Saunders car would have won the concourse. I suggest you call glyn and see it his number is0418759877. He has a regular intake of hk cars and they are all inspected by him prior to importing. I have seen a number of them as they come in and all look to be similar to mine. I would suggest that Glyn does a great job at his selection of cars. regards Tony
     
  18. asianbond

    asianbond Formula 3

    Nov 8, 2003
    1,275
    Full Name:
    Chris
    Ferrarifixer- that yellow fiberglass 308 belonged to my friend in HK, he invested about HK$500k restoring that car.
     
  19. ashsimmonds

    ashsimmonds F1 World Champ

    Feb 14, 2004
    14,385
    adelaide, australia
    Full Name:
    Humble Narrator
    for anyone else wondering, that's like $80k AUD.
     
  20. ferrarifixer

    ferrarifixer F1 Veteran
    BANNED

    Jul 22, 2003
    8,520
    Melbourne
    Full Name:
    Phil Hughes
    My customer says "I wish he'd finished then!...."

    That's a bit harsh....the work that has been done is mostly OK. There's just an awful lot of "little" things to sort out. The body and interior is really nice though.

    But, Whoever made the outer rear wishbone bush chrome tube replacements needs to be dipped in acid and towed behind a really fast car by his ankles....naked....and that's not too harsh....

    And if the same guy fitted the rear wheel spacers without using longer wheel bolts, well I guess the first therapy will have fixed him.....
     
  21. Jam

    Jam Formula Junior

    Oct 4, 2004
    368
    Aus-Asia
    Full Name:
    Jam
    Hi All,

    I currently live in Hong Kong and have owned a 355 here for over 3 years. I would say that most Fcars are very well looked after up here. Most HK people who own these cars spare no expense in maintaining them. Thats not to say that there arn't any poorly maintained cars, there are. These cars are normally very cheap.
    Italian motors the approved dealer and service centre up here are very professional and helpful at the same time, they keep meticulous records on all the cars they service and will release them to the current owner. To give you an idea they always seem to have at least 20 cars in the shop for servicing at any one time, from Enzo's(9 in HK) to Dino's. If you are looking at a HK import that has no service records, it probably means it hasn't been maintained by Italian Motors.
    If you are keen on the car and the seller insists it has been fully maintained ask him to call Italian motors in Hong Kong on 0011 852 23650269 and get the records. All he will need is the VIN and proof of ownership, if they won't release them, its because it has been exported however they will give you a good idea on what it is like.

    I will bring mine home with me when I return to Aus, however I won't be selling it, done 30000k's in it and still love it!!

    Hope this is of some help.

    regards JAM
     
  22. aventino

    aventino Formula Junior

    Jun 16, 2003
    768
    Hong Kong
    Full Name:
    David L
    What's the kuxury car tax come to for importing one into Oz?
     
  23. 360C

    360C F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

  24. maurice70

    maurice70 F1 Rookie

    Jan 25, 2004
    4,308
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    maurice T
    Is that 25% of the Foreign purchase price converted to AUD or is that 25% of the australian market value of the vehicle?I had the oppurtunity of buying a low milelage dino 246gt in good condition for 50k AUD in Italy.What would it have costed me to have it landed here in Australia?Would it be worth converting left to right?Would the whole exercise be worth the while in the end?Anyone have any similar experience?
     
  25. ferrarifixer

    ferrarifixer F1 Veteran
    BANNED

    Jul 22, 2003
    8,520
    Melbourne
    Full Name:
    Phil Hughes
    I saw a left to right converted Dino once...biggest piece of crap I ever has the misfortune to work on. And the chassis are actually handed in several places so although it can be done, to do it properly is WAY non cost effective.....

    Either leave it left drive or get a right drive in the first place.
     

Share This Page