Always get your car serviced at the dealers

I had to learn the hard way but I took my 2008 f430 spider to a guy that only does ferraris and seemed very good. There is no doubt that the guy is a perfectionist, but I put my car with him to change my engine oil for $350, so I told him to fix the wind deflector because it was vibrating on high speeds. I went yesterday to pick my car up and pay the bill, he charged me $350 for an oil change and $300 for fixing the wind deflector. I payed up like a very good boy, and decided that in the future I will always get my car fixed through my dealer no matter how much he quotes me.

 

Do you feel that it was an unfair price?

 

I'm not sure what you mean.

First... when you say "wind deflector" what are you talking about? Whatever it was, did it constitute a complex fix?

A dealer would have fixed the vibrating component for free... that's b/c your car is under warranty.

A little more detail would help.... there are a number of excellent, non-dealer, Ferrari shops around who provide first-rate service at non-Ferrari dealer prices.

 

The pins that hold the wind deflectors are quite expensive -- and the deflector itself is a princely sum. $350 doesn't seem out-of-line, but it'd be helpful to know what was actually done to resolve the vibration.

 

I'm not saying that $350 for an oil change is expensive, but $300 for fixing a wind deflector is a little out of line in my opinion. The pins were not replaced to my knowledge, and BTW wind deflector is the plastic in between the seats. The guy is very very good by the way so I'm not saying that he's not good. I was just trying to say that taking the car to the dealership is better overall even with a price difference in the long run (that's just my opinion).

 

Good luck with that.

 

I don't get it. I really don't.

-Peter Oh

 

Ah, your car is a Spider. I see... sorry, mine's a coupe so I don't have one of those.

IMO... you bring a car that's under warranty to a dealer for warranty work. That's what warranties are for. Trust me, you're paying for it, so you might as well use it.

 

Assuming an independent shop rate of ~$100/hour, spending 3 hours on a seemingly minor repair does sound like a lot of time (and if no expensive parts were involved).

 

This is timely.


http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=139014816&postcount=1


Just because they have that big sign outside and a fancy waiting room doesn't mean they know what they're doing.

 

First of all I want to clarify that in no way am I bashing non-dealer ferrari shops or saying they're bad, some are as good as the dealer if not better, and that guy was very good.
Here's what I'm trying to say:
For example, he asked me if I had skid plates on and if I wanted to install some, I answered Yes. He quoted me $850 for the skid plates installed, on my way home after I dropped my car off, I called Ferrari of Orange County since my car was scheduled to get all the campaigns and recalls done and asked them how much they charge for the skid plates and they said $550. So I called him back and told him not to do the skid plate.

The only reason I would take my Ferrari to a non-dealer Ferrari shop is to save a couple of bucks while still getting some good or custom service done. But when the non-dealer is charging more than the dealer, I think I would stick to my dealer.

 

That's true too, and going to a well known and good non-dealer ferrari shop (like Eugenio's) has great advantages. I hate to say it but I think I would still take my chances with the dealer..

 

I agree, that was too much, but the defector does nothing but block rear vision, take it out.

 

maybe you can answer the following for me?

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259900

 

If the guy does good work, I would just get a quote before he does any job. If you like the price then have him do it but if you don't like (like the skid plates), just take it to someone else to do the work.

 

I'm afraid I'm speechless !!!! I came to a conclusion, as long as your car is under warranty you should have it serviced by a dealer, and take it to a reputable non-dealer shop when the warranty ends.

 

Just curious what the warranty terms are on a 360?

 

You guys are whining about expensive repairs? You know it's a few grand every time you take it into the dealer. Part of it is dealer will find work to fix and Ferraris do have problems to be found if you look close enough.

Those water hoses will eventually burst someday. It's a few grand and you might as well change them all (there are a bunch). Otherwise, you'll be "hosed" a few times and be stranded also.

 

The deflector should have been done under warranty. 350. for an oil change is no bargain either. Did you ask the dealer what they charge? We pay about $200 around here.

Dave

 

Dealer here quoted me $450 for an oil change on my F355.

Seriously. I got mine done at an indepedent for about $200.

 

That's insane. Dealer or non-dealer. The only thing that's important is the tech and the price.

 

Hey people, changing oil in your Ferrari isn't hard. If you can change oil in your normal car, then you can do it in the Ferrari. I have done it many times and I ain't no mechanic. Definitely you'll need the oil filter removal tool from Daniel at Ricambi though. That's the only special tool you need(along with the monstrous Allen key to get the drain plug out)...
Still $350 to change the oil? Amazing. That's like nearly $300 profit.

Hunter

 

There are plenty of excellent independent shops out there.
I use NJB just outside of Columbus Oh......they are excellent and very reasonanble!!

 

This thread is pretty painful. To say that every dealer is great and independent shops are bad is pretty silly.

 

I think you should read the thread better, because No one ever said the statement you're talking about. Just make sure you understand the thread before you post something like this.