We took delivery of a 2012 FF Yesterday. Purchased in Vegas last week prior to the closure of Penske-Wynn Ferrari. Great car. Unfortunately the driver damaged the paint on the roof (deep scratches through paint to undercoat) and it will need to be repaired. Any of you have experience (good or bad) with the paint shops of or used by FOW and Competizione? Any other suggestions - the color (photos attached) is Rosso Maranello. Thank you! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Patrick, Congrats on the purchase. I'm sorry to hear about your damage to the paint. I would contact: D&V Autobody 23550 Overland Dr. Sterling, VA 20166 Phone: (703) 661-8545 This is who FoW uses and they are a FCA-MAR sponsor! Ask for Raj - he's one of the owners. They are a great bunch of people. Tell them that Bill Proctor sent you and we hope to see you at one of our club events soon! Bill P.
I would send the car to Karosserie, in Wayne PA., they are the best. Here is a thread on Karosserie: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mid-atlantic-region-usa-pa-de-md-dc-va-sponsored-competizione/495407-karosserie-wayne-pa.html There is also CoachWorks in NJ, they also do a lot of work for FNA.
I agree about Karosserie. They are factory authorized and just do this kind of work on a whole other level.
Thanks! I will probably try to get the work done in the DC area, but will check these guys out. Obviously the most important thing is to get the work done at the highest standard.
Classic Coach in Elizabeth, NJ. That is where FNA sends all the new Ferraris that are damaged in shipping from Italy.
I would also endorse D&V. They did great work on one of my cars that has a fairly complex multi-layer pearl, and you can't even tell anything was done. Kevin is one of the guys there who is a son of the owners and was extremely helpful. Their parking lot is always full of exotics.
I REALLY appreciate the thoughts/advise of everyone. I am still in shock that the transporter damaged the car. The metallic Rosso Maranello paint has to be perfect, and I want to make sure there are no seams that reflect masking tape having been used, etc... My plan is to visit D&V in person and listen to how they would approach the repair and then call Karosserie and see how their approach/results would compare. Thanks to you all. I will do a full recap once the repairs are done.
Thanks again for the recommendations. I visited D&V and was impressed with the shop. Ultimately I decided to go with Karosserie. After speaking over the phone with Jamie Cummings I was just more comfortable with them. The car was transported to Karosserie this past week. I plan to visit the shop to get a tour and meet Jamie in person. Now, just have to see how successful USAA is in getting the auto transporter to pay for the damage. I will provide updates as the work is completed.
The auto transporter admits responsibility. I will wait before naming the company, a major west-coast transporter, and give them a chance to do right. To further complicate things, this company contracted with a 3rd party transporter who was picking up a Porsche GT3 in my area to transport my car. I had no knowledge of this until the car arrived. Obviously I am concerned. It is going to be interesting to see how USAA, the transporter, the 3rd-party and their insurance companies handle this. The primary transporter claims on their website to have $5MM coverage. We'll see. USAA says it can sometimes take months to work these things out.
That's awful, sorry. Never seen damage quite like that before. Really curious how it could have happened.
Of course the driver, while admitting it happened on his watch, claimed he had no idea how it happened. There is an almost exact pattern to two hand-sized areas of scratches towards the center of the roof - this is where the scratches go through the clear-coat and paint to the undercoat. Then, there are lesser scratches extending a foot or more laterally on each side towards the doors. Almost looks to me like there could have been a strap with buckles used as a tie-down. Don't know much about how exotics are transported, and even though I was there as the car was unloaded, could not see and did not inspect it prior to unloading - it was at the very front of the truck on the top (2nd) level of cars. If I am able to find out how this happened I will report...
BTW, my experience so far with Karosserie has been great. Communication (with Jamie) has been timely and frequent. I plan to drive up to Philly and see their work in progress sometime soon. I am confident I will be completely happy with the repair.
Once your car is at Karosserie I can stop by to check out the progress on it. I'm within 2 minutes of them everyday.
I will suggest Robert Appel. He use to have his own shop in Manassas, VA, but I think he had to take a job at 'Mr Spoiler' shop also in Manassas. He is a fantastic painter and color match master. He did work on my 360 Modena and repainted my 1996 993 Porsche to amazing finish. Here is his cell no. 703.973.4989 say George Bockelmann sent you. Well worth checking him out.
Thanks, George, but the repair is fully underway at Karosserie. I am driving up from the DC area tomorrow to check on the progress.