Why do I try to give my money to Ferrari of Houston?

Are you sure he was at work? I've never dealt with FOH and don't know Steve but he might be out sick, on vacation, or otherwise disconnected from his voicemail and email.

When I can't reach someone directly, I usually call the main number and ask if they are in the office that day.

 

Hi Dave,

Crazy huh? I don't know Steve or FoH, but I know some service guys just don't want to deal with specific people. Most the time it's because they've had a bad experience with the customer or because they smell trouble down the line writing a service ticket for them.

In all fairness, none of us know what happened the last go around. My immediate theory is timing and not quality, but again...we don't know. Not knowing you or Steve, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but there are a lot of us which are way too anal about our cars which boarders on personality disorder.

I think regardless of circumstance someone from the shop should call you back and I also think by them not calling you back, this is likely to be the beginning of a bad experience for the both of you. You are probably better served to find service elsewhere. I wish I could refer a shop. Good luck in your endeavors.

There's an old saying "F me once shame on you, F me twice...Shame on me!".

 

Rapid body works on the far north side of town has done good work on BMWs and Porsches for us. I can't say I have a high enough confidence level to say they would be right for a Ferrari. But, they are worth checking out if not too inconvenient.

As for FOH. I am in the same boat. I took my Mas GT in for warranty service the first time and parts needed to be ordered. They were never actually ordered. Took it back to get them ordered and mentioned that some trunk bolts were rusted. They touched them up with paint that doesn't match with a level of detail below what my 3 year old would have used and have now created mismatched paint blobs the go beyond just a few bolts in the trunk that were an issue. It is just in the trunk, but a very dissapointing level of service. The very minor cosmetic problem is actually worse now. I haven't been back to have the ordered parts installed and discuss this, so still giving them a chance. But, so far I am not impressed.

 

You can try Metropolitan Collision, ask to speak with Jason Holder.

They have contracts with BMW dealerships and Lamborghini of Houston.

 

It's a quirk of his......it can take weeks sometimes....

They run the race team FIRST, and as he gave me my last estimate admitted they were short of repair techs..

There was a subcontractor there, doing final finish prep on a car for delivery.....

I'm using the shop down a 6th and Yale......talk to Roy.
He's open every day and very good to use the phone...sadly calling for more money! LOL!

He also uses subs on wheel refinishing but as far as I know does the paint and repair himself.....

 

Leaking power steering = new rack and hoses $1600.

Exhaust leak/broken stud = tear the engine down......

*sigh*

I might just sell him that Pontiac, he collects them....

 

He DID loan me $20 BACK the other night, so I could take Valeria to the show....

That's a "right" kind of guy.........

 

I happen to know that the Bodyshop manager at F.O.H. has a memory like an elephant, and he also has caller ID on his phone! NEED I SAY MORE?

 

Sounds to me like a trip to Dallas might be worth the time and trouble.

Go to Jano at 4M Body Works in Lewisville (sort of northern suburb of Dallas). He's on FChat - send a pm to 348spy or look at their web site:4mbodyworks.com.

Jano has worked on several of our cars - top notch EVERY TIME.

 

Hey Dave and all!!

There could be a REAL reason that Steve is not calling you back. Who knows wht it could be. It could be his schedule (he worked many late night hours recently repairing the Risi Comp race car (IE 14 hour days and worked on nothing else) or he could be sick!! Who knows. His work is the best and his work is very much in demand. Give him the benefit of the doubt FIRST before you broadcast your grievance on a public forum. Besides will he return your call now after a thorough bashing on F chat? Doubtful.

On a side note we will have a bunch of great Ferrari's tomorrow at Ronald McDonald House for the kids over there tomorrow. Everyone come by and see the cars and kids!! The kids all love it. I'll post picks on Sunday. My F-40 will be dressed up in costume for the kids!

Have a great evening everyone.

Ciao.

 

The last time I was at F.O.H.'s body shop I didn't see a car valued less than 100K. Maybe they have their standards. Ask yourself that....

 

You need a 'shade tree' mechanic with my persistance as I owned 4 MR2's, one being a turbo model, and I did ALL the work on them. Save money and supply the beer/CFS and were square lol + onsite security!!!!

 

Sounds like a bummer deal to me Dave. There is allways a reason, just like an opinion, everyone has one, as the saying goes. Still looking forward to that glass of vino in the near future. Sonds like a good time for one now .

 

I've been to FOH a few times, parts department was great in person and was lobbying me to buy my parts through them, I could have them shipped to my home and avoid sales tax if I called and didn't pick them up in person. So I called one day the number on the business card, got a vm, left a message that I'd like to orders some parts and to please give me a call back and left my phone number. The next day I called the general number and asked to be put through to parts, got a different persons VM. Left an identical message. That was about 3 months ago. Still haven't gotten a call back. After a week I got the parts from elsewhere.

I have noted when I look at the new cars the sales person seemed to put effort into ignoring my existence. Never once acknowledged me. But like I said before the parts guy was very friendly. I don't think they know much about the older cars though.

 

Is this to suggest that they only want to work with valuable cars and they dislike or look down upon lower cost cars? When I was there recently I was able to look over an Enzo that I hadn't seen before.

 

Dave and all.
Yes it appears that you did in fact try and give them the benifit of the doubt as to "If" the body shop manager was there or not.

So based on all of your comments there is obviously a reason as to why you are not being called back and I will not speculate as to the reason. I personally have never had this happen to me at FOH in the 15 years I have dealt with them.

 

So are we to conclude from your comments, that the reason they didn't call him back was because they just didn't want to work for him? If so, they should have at least been professional enough to call and tell him.

 

I have had more than one car repaired at the Ferrari of Houston body shop. Everyone in the body shop has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the repairs are of the highest quality and on time. I have nothing but praise for the staff.
I did notice they are a very busy shop with race cars, Ferraris and Maseratis. As an upper end shop their average repair cost must include their operating expenses. Those alone can excide the value of some older lower cost cars. How could they justify repairing say an old 308GT4 that needs a part or two (takes up shop space and a lot of time waiting for parts) When they could be working on a 599. It is a business they work for profit. I heard some older Ferrari owners get estimates from the dealer then go elsewhere for the repairs and then keep the extra cash in their pockets. Have you ever gotten an estimate from them and taken your car to another shop?
If you want them to work on your cars you must understand they are busy and they still decide whose cars they work on.

 

..AND they don't ask where the money came from!!

Welcome to the board........