HighLine wheels won't fit over 360 calipers

Hi,

I need some help in understanding which calipers came stock on the 360. I recently purchased a set of Ferrari look-alike Highline Wheels from oemstyles4less on Ebay. He has a lot of wheel listings. I bought them to use as knockabout wheels so that I can save the original wheels for special occassions such as concours. Unfortunately, the wheels won't fit on my 360. Andy Varona (the seller's email name) claims that I don't have stock calipers so he is refusing to take the wheels back. He is instead suggesting a large (2inch) spacer for the rear. I only bought the rear wheels, he claims that fronts would need 1.5 inch spacers). He can sell me the spacers for an extra $300, but I don't want to go that route and I don't see why he can make a claim that my calipers aren't stock. I'm pretty sure my 360 calipers are factory stock, so I don't understand how he can make this claim. Was there a caliper option from the factory for the 360 modena or the spider (I'm not asking about the carbon system in the Stradale)?


Lou

 

The exact auction that I referenced to the seller when I bought the TWO wheels (in silver) was:
< http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D230011657847%26fvi%3D1&item=230011657847 >

The ad states:

"Ferrari billet adapters are also available for those vehicles with
oversized brakes which could include 355,360, 456 and 550"

However, I'm pretty sure I have stock calipers so the reference to oversize brakes doesn't seem applicable. The "could include" phrase would imply that some 360s would work since he markets the wheels for that car and others. In one of his more recent email responses to me has stated that:

"Sir, 360 do not have stock calipers they have oversized calipers
since I drive the same car. As the auction clearly states if your
vehicle has oversized brakes or calipers you will need the
Ferrari billet adapters."

So the argument seems to be over whether or not the calipers are stock. I don't understand his reference that "360s do not have stock calipers" since that would imply some special meaning to the word "stock" other than what Webster's would list.

Yes, this is the guy that continually lists many wheels on ebay. He also lists wheels for Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW. I'm not a member of any of those forums, so I don't know if he's had similar problems with those makes.

I didn't mention it in my earlier post because it wasn't tied to the stock caliper discussion, but my tire installer has told me that one of the wheels was out of round. When I contacted Mr. Varona on this he said he didn't believe it and wanted results from a road force test. My installer is happy to provide this so I plan to do it this week, but this certainly doesn't match the customer satisfaction policy that the seller listed in the auction.


Lou

 

Thanks. The seller has refused to take them back, so I will have to challenge the entire transaction.


Lou

 

Thanks for the dramatics Steve. I'm just trying to exercise some due diligence in researching the seller's claims before I challenge him harder. I think I have everything I need now.

As for your question, there are quite a few $300 and under wheels that fit cars of the same weight range as the 360. In fact I have two cars with Kazara wheels that are down in the sub-$200.00 range. The point is that for street use there are some strong wheels in lower price ranges, and I don't have to agonize if I happen to scrape a curb or hit a nasty pothole. My aim with the Highline wheels was exactly for street use going back and forth to work, and I wanted to keep the look of the original Ferrari modular wheels.

As for track use, I already have a $4500.00 set of Kinesis wheels that I love (add $900.00 more for custom size bolts). I also have a $2500.00 set of SAC wheels that I like almost as much. These are valuable to me because they are very lightweight and track-proven. Both sets are permanently mounted with my track r-compound tires.

So, in retrospect it was a mistake to buy these wheels because they were misrepresented. The fundamental idea of finding a semi-disposable street wheel for non-exorbitant prices seems to be viable for other 3000+ lb cars, but the Ferrari bolt pattern makes it almost impossible. I may instead convert my SACs to road use and buy another set of Kinesis wheels for track, though this means giving up on the OEM Ferrari modular wheel look.

Two inch spacer ... nah, I'm not that crazy. I only mentioned it to show you what I'm having to put up with in this "stock caliper" argument with the seller of the wheels.

Thanks everyone for your kind advice. I think I have what I need.


Lou

 

Looking through the archives, this seems to be the guy who called his company "Modular Wheels" but was selling one-piece wheels under this name. The poor attitude in his responses here seem to match what I'm seeing from the guy that sold me the wheels in question.


Lou

 

Thanks guys. I've documented the complaint to the Paypal resolution center. We'll see how it goes.


Lou

 

Well, that was quick. I documented my complaint to Paypal yesterday. Seller responded that I ordered incorrect wheels, offering credit as long as I paid for shipping both ways. I pointed out that the ebay listing was for 360 wheels and that they don't fit factory hubs and brakes, then they followed with this gem:

"Customer made order bye the phone on wheels that he was viewing on ebay.. We sent him a special request of only two rear wheels which were suppose to match others that he had purchased somewhere else. Once he recieved he mounted on vehicle and then called a week later to tell us that they did not match color correctly. We then instructed him that he would have to pay for shipping both ways since it was his error not ours in ordering. Furthermore, our poicies state that if you mount them and are not in new condition you own them. Regardless, or our policies we have bent over backwards for this customer and offered to take them back as long as he pays for shipping. He has not bothered calling us and has relied on just making a claim."

The above was a blantant mistatement on several points:
1. I did not order by phone, instead I used the ebay auction tools to contact the seller and negotiate for silver rather than red (plus rears only). This is an important point for Paypal, see below.
2. I never ever complained to them about the color (which is actually a good enough match), instead I complained that they don't fit and one is even out of round!
3. The offer to send some sort of replacement if I pay shipping both ways was not made till AFTER I submitted the claim. Prior to this they just flatly refused everything.

The seller submitted this response to paypal at 8:57am PST and at the same time escallated the dispute to a claim for resolution by Paypal. Paypal responded 1 minute later (email timestamped 8:58am PST) that the case was closed because the transaction was not an ebay transaction. Huh?!, that was stunningly quick!

I always use Paypal for ebay auctions because they advertise buyer protection, so I was very confused by the above.
I called Paypal and it turns out that their buyer protection is much more limited for purchases outside of ebay auctions. In my case, the fact that I started from an auction using the ebay messaging process became irrelevant because the seller moved the discussion off-ebay via direct email (albeit retaining the ebay subject line in the emails).

The other interesting news is that since I have a Paypal certified account, I lose the protection offered by the credit card company. The Paypal advertising lead me to believe that I still had similar protection through them, but as described above that protection is limited to direct ebay transactions, and I'm starting to doubt that as well given that they were quickly swayed by incorrect responses from the seller.

I've heard of two other people who have reported very bad experiences Highline Wheels guys. I'm not sure what can be done next, but I'm still chatting with the Ebay folks.

Incidently, add "Carrera 1 Automotive" to the list of names that the seller users (oemstyles4less on ebay, hlwcorp.com & modularwheels.com on the net).



Lou