Hi All, I'm George, a new member; I would like advise on purchasing options. I have saved around $80k-$100k, and would like to start seriously looking. It appears to me there are three basic options. (1) Purchase a used model from a reputable dealer (ie. Ferrari of Atlanta for example). (2) EBay or other on-line approach. (3) Purchase from private individual. Of the 3, I would be most comfortable with (1) buying from the local dealer, as that seems the least risk, but likely the most costly. Can anyone advise me about experiences going this route? Should I expect the ticketed/advertised price to be negotiable? Or do they generally hold firm? For option (2) I would only go that route if I inspected the car in person, which is possible only if the car is local. Has anyone had experience going this route? EBay motors does seem to have decent car history reports, so perhaps it's not so risky. I would be very hesitant to buy from a private individual; I think the risk of getting a bad deal (problem car) is just too great. I would be happy to hear advise from others who have experience with purchasing options and what worked or did not work. Thanks in advance for your responses. George
George when you get a moment take a good look through this site as your questions reflect lots of people's concerns and have repeatedly been answered - there's lots of information in the general area as well as the model specific and the geographic
Welcome, George. My experience has been that the dealers are as hit-or-miss as the private sellers, both in the quality of cars and in ethics. Some are great, some are to be avoided.
Welcome George, although I'm not an owner, I would say regardless of where you buy the car from, always get a PPI done, and some of the owners/previous owners will say that you want to make sure you can afford to fix it/maintain it. Take my "advice" "with a grain of salt", I'm not an owner, and not an expert. Good luck on your future purchases, and we hope you stay on Fchat and...what model are you looking to buy?
BIG PLUS on the PPI... I'm curious, too... what model 'rings your bell'? oh, and Welcome! Mike in Kuwait
In my price range the only reasonable options are a F355 or 360. I was told by a reputable dealer (a salesman at the dealership) that he did not think i would be happy with an F355, as he claimed it was hard to drive and not a "good ride". Perhaps he was just pushing me to higher priced 360, not sure. Ideally it would be a red 360, 2004/5/6, with a 6 speed manual. There is an interesting post by ddemuro on 11-28-2009 called "360 pricing" that gives a nice formula for a ballpark asking price for 360's. Worth a look if you have time. He claims that both "red" and "6 speed manual" add substantially to the price. I am also going into this with my eyes open about maintenance costs; I realize they can be substantial. Thanks to all who replied (so far, please keep them coming), particularly from greyboxer, who commented about looking for past posts about this subject. I did find a lengthy thread on eBay car buying and was quite informative. George
Just to follow up on this thread, I got excellent support from Steven Echhoff at Ferrari of Atlanta. He found me a beautiful 1994 360, and I am now a very proud first time owner. Red, tan interior with red stitching, 6-speed manual transmission. Just what I wanted. George
Congrats, but there is no such thing as a 1994 360. They were made in 1999-2005. Might want to verify/check your information.
Go with the 360 and a 6 speed is a good choice IMO. They are much harder to find however so be patient. Decide which options, colors, etc are most important and start looking. Negotiate hard but when you find what you're looking for, don't worry if you pay a few thousand more for it. It will be worth it.
