Preferred List - Anyone know how to play this game?

I know some people that have that it before.

 

what?

 

First the second part of your question, yes it works, but you have to sell your car back to your dealership, and if you sell your car to anyone else you would risk being taken off the list...

I know a customer of mine was on the list...he owned a 348, a 355, then a MY99 360 coupe, after that a 360 spider. He bought every car from the same dealer, all new and all above sticker....he sold his MY99 to one of his buddies, and was taken off the list, or so he guesses...when he went to buy his 430 spider, $95k over sticker, so he went and got cash, no deal...

Though I have another customer from TX. and Ferrari just dropps cars off at his house....From my exprenice it's going to take more then one car to get on the list...many car buyers have been let down in the past thinking there on the list when really they are not...or they are on the C list which is still over MSRP....

 

Is cheaper and better to buy a F430 over sticker right now at a Ferrari dealership to start making a very good start. Playing the game of use cars will prove more expensive and you wont have the latest right now. I know of dealers that demand at least six used Ferraris in a time frame of at least 5 years before taking anyone into consideration. In some dealers is almost impossible to enter into the game because they got way too many VIP customers already. From personal experience it took me 6 deals with Ferrari to enter to buy a new at msrp and probably over $160,000 invested in maintenance and depreciation sales. The only positive was experiencing different many miles in Ferraris for many years.

 

+1---+2---+3 --An old story that get real real expensive... Best

 

The list no longer has the intergrity is used to have. Not even close. You can easily be bumped down, people inserted ahead of you. If a guy walks in and buys a Lamborghina, Maserati, and/or Porsche from a dealer that sells other brands, I have seem him have a brand new 430 in less than 6 months because they inserted him/her at the top of the list. Also, at my local dealer I heard the story of a guy who walked in and said, "what will it take to be #1 on the 599 list. The dealer said $100K and they guy wrote them a check on the spot $100K (PURE PROFIT... do you think a dealer that sells 25 new cars a year would pass this up?). It has definitely become a-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately thing.

I have figured I will just go on DuPont registry and buy a 200 mile car from a flipper when I want for some $$ over sticker. It will still be cheaper than buying and selling a car a year (and the associated consignment fees, depreciation on a Maserati, Aston, Porsche, etc.) but I don't have to play the kiss a$$ game and waiting game along the way. Plus, keep in mind FIRST you have to buy from the dealer... with no guarantees down the road. I bought an overpriced 360 2 years ago to get on the 430 "list" and have not heard from the dealer since. No guarantees.

Many threads about this dealer list BS.

 

America is a crazy place for fcars - largest market with too few cars. I read these threads and shake my head

 

fwiw

I purchased one used 360 spider from an F-dealer and was told by my sales person that I AM on the list for the 430 replacement if I wanted one. He said I could get that car at sticker, drive it for a limited number of miles ( 3k or less over a year) and bring the car back to the dealer where they would purchase the car at the price I purchased it for.

We shall see if this holds true

 

Contact pchop. He will be able to help you and he knows all of the dealers in the tri-state area.


I don't want to post the information he shared with me since he shared it with me privately.

 

The problem is WHERE on the list are you... I'm sure there are many guys on here that are on the list, but unfortunately the list is usually longer than the number of cars available... just cause you're on it doesn't mean you're getting a car

 

Yeah, and peace in the Middle East is right around the corner. BTW did you get that in writing? I'll have to share a few of my experiences with you at one of the next events. The car business is a den of thieves and liars. It doesn't matter if it's a Ferrari or a Ford store, they will do whatever it takes to maximize their profits. You my friend, mean nothing to them. It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Let's take a look at the assumptions underlying this. There were approximately 15K 360's sold direct by authorized dealers, each one of those customers is/was a candidate for "the list" for the 430. (If "list" driven market behavior is only present in the US, multiply by the US share of the global market and the rest of the argument still looks good.) Let's assume a third to half of those 360's went back to the dealer eventually, turned in by customers hoping to get preference or at least secure a position on the 430 run. That means the dealer then resold that 360 to another customer that now has some expectations of making "the list". You can continue this 1-2 rounds more with a much smaller population each time (since dealers get far fewer of the 2nd or 3rd round resales). If you do this, you end up with a population of 360 customers with "the list" expectations that is at least 1.3-1.5x the number of new delivery customers and maybe even 2x. The 430 run is expected to end larger than the 360 run, but probably by only 1.1-1.2x. The estimate of this "list" size also assumes that all 430 customers are customers from original or repeat 360 sales; the reality is that the "list" pool was expanded as some/many dealers sold to new buyers that were willing to pay premiums; this reduces the 430 population available for "the list" candidates based on a 360 sale even further. The difference WILL be disappointed customers or customers who will be asked to pay partial or full market premiums or customers who will be offered F149 slots instead. Carry this on to the 430 customer generation and you've grown the expectant customer base even further for the 430 successor. Either Ferrari has to grow production to meet these expectations or this method of getting on "the list" doesn't/can't work.

 

Im sorry but i dont think buying a 360 will put you on any preferred list that matters. Dealers will get you on their list after several trade in.

 

Good post, but from what I know about "the list" is that one car will not get on it....that 3-5 cars might..but not one, so not all the 8000 US 360 buyers would be "list" buyers for the 430 and so on....

 

good writeup. you missed one thing -- the number of people that drop off the list due to disinterest. also, and i realize this is just a thought exercise, please provide some basis for your assumptions (aka guesses), such as 1/3 to 1/2 of 360s go back to dealers on first round.

 

My assumption was that the disinterested taking themselves off the list would be a small population due to the potential benefits of garnering the market premium by feigning interest then flipping (which might take them off the next list though).

I have no strong basis for the 1/3 to 1/2 guess, just an off-the-cuff estimate based on a few samples of the number of used cars in dealer inventory times typical sales time versus what I've heard of average dealer annual allocations. I've often seen from 8-15 used cars listed in typical dealer's inventory and I assumed average sales time was 2-4 months. So an average of 12 cars every 3 months is about 48 used cars per year per dealer. If NA sales were 1500/year and with about 30 dealers, that would be an average of 50 new cars per year per dealer. So used sales seemed on the same order as new sales. A good chunk (half?) of those used cars in inventory seemed like first round flips (less than 3-5K miles), leading to the estimate of up to 1/2 going back to dealers. Perhaps someone with current F-dealer sales experience could give better estimates.

 

All "8000 US 360 buyers" may not technically qualify for "list status", but that doesn't mean that they haven't been told by the Ferrari dealer that they will be on the list, even if really, they're at the bottom. "Yeah, I'm on the list!"

 

I've now had 6 f-cars and I still get nervous when it comes time to order a new one. I love the resale values Ferraris hold but the "LIST" game does get tiresome.

 

When Ferrari of NA removed the dealer restriction of having to sell new cars at MSRP, the game changed yet again.

First hand knowledge has it that some dealers still sell at sticker, but they make their “overage” money in other ways. Other dealers sell over sticker for new cars, but at a discount from market for “preferred” customers. Again, they make their “overage” money in other ways. E.g., trade in your previous cars purchased from them, continue to buy non-loved cars such as some Maseratis and Ferraris (612), contribute to their kids’ college fund, etc…

Dealers are in business to make money, and they will do so with you or someone else. You can easily become “non-preferred” in a heartbeat. Some dealers are more “loyal” to their customers than others. Seems like there’s just too many people with money nowadays… ;-)

Tim

 

........and Ferrari NA is acting blind & deaf to this game???