Did anyone see.....

All I can say is I drove by it a couple months ago and they had a real nice 430 challenge car in the show room.

 

I attended the "Grand Opening" last night and, although I didn't pay too close attention during Allie Ash's speech, I think the implication was that the service techs were previously at FoW.
They did show a New Maser Gran Turismo- more attractive than I'd imagined from the photos, but bigger/bulkier than the previous Coupe/Spyder (with no real increase in power), and of no real interest to me.

 

might want to check this recent thread. There are many others along the same vein for FOW (north and south).

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170593

 

Congratulations to FMoW on the new Baltimore store. I haven't been there yet, so I don't have any pics to post. The FoW/MoW/LoW/maybe someday ARoW empire continues to grow and IMO we're lucky to have them.

Visited FoW in VA a couple days ago - a little construction dust in the air - the new building is starting to take shape, looks to be very impressive. Some nice 360s in stock - while I was there, Ralph Cestero made me buy a 2000 360 with some miles on it - 11,000 of them. What was the PO thinking? Who knew modern Ferrari odometers even had five digits? The car has an unusual third pedal in the driver footwell (footrest?) and a faux gated shifter, very retro cool, though I may have it removed. PO seems to have been a real enthusiast, broke the shift paddles off the thing. Hope to have the new toy on track Sunday, Glenn and crew went out of their way to prep the car in time for the event, but they may want me to pay for the car before taking it out on track.

 

Well said and congrats on the new addition

 

inquiring minds want to know who you are.

 

You will find that wetpet has a penchant for "pointing out possible shortcomings" of the current FoW service group and promoting Competitione in Gaithersburg, founded and run by former factory trained FoW mechanics. Many here have expressed similar opinions on both fronts.

If you like using a dealer network as many do, I am sure FoW (VA or MD) will take good care of your 360.

Since you mention the Baltimore store you should also think about visiting the folks at Radcliffe Motors in Owings Mills. Others on this board have also expressed satisfaction with the service provided there on routine maintenance - haven't heard about any major services from them, though they will do them, I'm told.

Luckily I have not had to use either of the shops to this point (knock on wood). I have visited both independent shops and was very pleased by the passion expressed by both principals. Keep reading ont he board and enjoy the 360.

By the way, the following thread talks about an upcoming open house at Competitione. You should try and go by there.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=171206

CC

 

Love to hear some "i took my car to xyz shop and it was running poorly when i got it back. then i took it to FOW and wow, it's like a new car, i'm hooked on fow". Let's hear em. i don't dislike fow, i've never done any biz with them beyond a magazine purchase. In fact i was over there today trying to convince a friend of mine to buy a maserati from them. I just keep reading and hearing horror stories. Someone post the stories about how they turned your problem car around. I'm all ears. As an aside- i haven't posted any of the horror stories i have heard. so i think i've been pretty reserved. you don't want me to go there. let me just say al's story is typical of the ones that i've heard. let's not even bring up the two clowns they sent to represent them from the baltimore dealership at the baltimore concorso.

 

I don't have any of those stories but I will say I have had nothing but good results with FOW's service department.

My service experiences are limited but the two used Ferraris I bought from them were good car ownership experiences. Both cars had just had a major engine service done by FOW before I bought them where the timing belts had been changed. Both my 1988 328 GTS and 2001 360 Modena were 100% trouble-free for the 2 year time period I owned them after purchase. So, the lack of follow-up service needs is a good reflection on their engine service work, but probably more a testament to their 100+ point inspection of the cars they take in for resale.

On my new 2006 F430, which only has 2100 miles on it so far, there isn't much to say except that FOW's oil changes and brake fluid flushes have been error free (not hard to do, I know). They did upgrade the software in the F1 once as part of a factory campaign.

FOW is only 15 - 20 minutes from my home in Leesburg, VA so they are close and convenient for me. Also, if all you're having done is an oil change, it is a great place to hang out and visit while you wait for it to be done. They have been very flexible on when I can bring the car in. I used to talk with Josh for all my needs but lately Rob Jones has more than adequately taken over those duties.

I too have heard some of those service horror stories. It's hard to know what percentage of the customers they represent, but given how busy FOW's service department is and how many bays & lifts they have (I think I heard something like over 20 service work stations now - when you combine to the road car and competition repair garage spaces), there must be over a 100 service customers there every week.

I realize not every dealer is perfect, but I've had a similar situation with my local Lexus dealer. Lots of stories of unhappy service customers but I've had nothing but good experiences there for 5 different Lexus cars over the past 15 years.

So, for my limited service needs and given how close they are to home, I'll continue to take my car to FOW for service.

 

Just Ed wants to know--we don't care...A Ferrari owner or fan is good enough for me..

 

The "horror stories" one reads on the internet often are not the whole story - or are only one side of the story. Had it been added to a couple unfavorable FoW service reports posted on fchat, the "other side of the story" likely would have been informative and might even have embarrassed the original posters. Unfortunately, I suspect FoW will never respond here to any comment, favorable or unfavorable, even if to do so would help them.

Competizione's Richard and Fernando are great guys; they have a beautiful shop; IMO they are top notch techs. I really like them personally and - among other things - they're building an Alfa Romeo vintage racer for me.

I also have a 360 - right now - at FoW for service. On Tuesday it needed a lot of work; they had it ready in time for the track event this weekend. Not bad. And, notwithstanding the kind of turnover one finds at most businesses, there are still a lot of familiar faces in FoW's service department. Dan and Sean have probably worked on all my cars and have always done a great job. Yes, there seem to be a lot of new faces in the tech area and yes, we all get nervous about having new guys work on our expensive cars.

Do we really, really need to slam the local dealer, who not too long ago sponsored a winning pro race team, puts on many track days (including the one this weekend) virtually all at a financial loss, co-sponsors many FCA club events, throws its own parties, etc etc, and, most of all, IMO, has put together, for the first time in the car enthusiast wasteland that is the DC area, a truly great toy store. Anyone remember Ferrari at ASC, Lambo at Criswell - those were the days, eh? How about all those wonderful, small, clubby, enthusiast and racer oriented, track day sponsoring dealers in the area, like Rosenthal and HBL? Hey, Scott Heishman is a great guy - oops, never mind.

Wet, I've met you at Competizione, you seem like a good guy - and Luigi is a GREAT guy. Give FoW a break. Please? You haven't even done any business with them; can we just leave the feedback to customers?

Am I the only one tiring of the negativity here about FoW? Trust me - and ask them yourself - Richard and Fernando don't want or need to be promoted at FoW's expense. I suspect they think there's room for everyone. In fact, I personally think having a strong independent ultimately helps FoW, because it facilitates wider ownership of exotics.

We're lucky to have FoW. We're lucky to have FoW. A lot of major cities have no exotic dealership; we've got one that's trying to grow. Maybe some feel FoW's going through growing pains, and maybe it is or it isn't, but it strikes me that Jon Stewart could spread his "You're Not Helping" awards liberally around this corner of fchat. Can't we all just get along? You go your way and I'll go mine and if by chance we meet it's beautiful. All you need is love. And so on.

 

I would tend to agree that the whole us vs. them mentality is getting tiresome. We should be thankful that we have so many resources available to us in this region. FOW has been very supportive of the hobby and we should recognize them for what they have brought to the area. Its a great time to own a Ferrari/exotic in the Mid-Atlantic region... Pumping up one business at the expense of another doesn't help anyone no matter how good intentioned anyone may think it might be.

 

good analogy!

 

+1

I thought it was just me; thus my - I thught - fair assessment of the area choices. Shop around and make your own decision.

CC

 

so when someone asks about a shop we should just blow sunshine up their? like i said above, i have never posted a bad story about fow. i know of many. some about some of the sunshine blowers on this thread. i linked the op to a recent thread about the service at the baltimore store. i think it was relevant. you'll also notice i didn't say a word about competizione. all you fow dl's need to read my post and cut me a break. still waiting for the "fow fixed my nagging problem recently" story. my op in this thread was on subject. anyone knows that one bad experience does not define a shop. but al is no stranger to ferrari repair and i think his post is relevant to the op's question. would it be better that she didn't know? i also explained my relationship with competizione to her in a pm, before the other posts. full disclosure. if i have posted any erronious or exaggerated info on fow please point it out and i will retract. otherwise, take the bad with the good.

ps- curtis, i thought your post was a fair assessment.

 

who is we? you got a mouse in your pocket? I posted "minds" because there was more than one that wanted to know who the returning person was. we thought it was someone else.

 

i thought that was what i was doing by linking to a customer's feedback,(the only feedback i know of on the baltimore stores service) with no commentary and no mention of another shop. are you asking me not to do that anymore? show me the positive baltimore customer feedback and i'll link that one too.

 

Wet, my Fiat 500 brother, I didn't mean to make you the subject of this thread. I just think FoW is a valuable asset for all of us; you have to admit they've paid their dues in supporting the community. And keep in mind FoW folks do from time to time read these pages; they're not the Borg come to assimilate enthusiasts. In fact, I've met a lot of their wives and kids, and it's a truly great bunch of people, with a lot of great stories. You find out this guy was manager and lead singer for a band; that one has two great young sons; another plays hockey; a fellow owned not one but two classic Minis at the same time; another guy has NASCAR starts; one is related to a well known comedienne; and it goes on and on. Of course you have to call them as you see them, and no sunshine should be blown, but try to picture all these FoW folks - get to know them, you'd probably like them - trying to grow their business and bring even more automotive goodness to our backyards - and be gentle. Fair?