Finally Got my baby home!! Not all fun and games though.....

I wouldn't be surprised if the repaint/touch up/poor blend was at the factory rather than a fix by the previous owner. Not even a very basic collision shop will blend an easy to repaint component like a hood - not to mention a shop with a Ferrari sitting in front of them. Cars have paint defects of all sorts during factory paint and assembly - it is up to the QC guys to find them and get them fixed, sometimes they are less than excellent.

 

agreed. You can test the thickness obviously but the variation between panels will not be consistent. This is what I have been told, and as such when I bought my 430 I had to rely more on the visual inspection to determine if the paint was original (other than the bumper cover, which is typically resprayed.). If you can't find a paint pattern of thickness, it's essentially useless.

I find cars that are too perfect (no chips, small scratches) to be suspicious as after a few years of driving, it is inevitable to get some rock chips, etc.

When I bought my Porsche used on the other hand, I used the paint meter on each panel, and everything was within .5. Ferraris just make it a little more tricky.

Another thing I found - is my car was certified, and I also bought the power warranty. The dealer spent 1 day going through the car to qualify it, and found several issues the owner (it was a consigned car) had to fix totalling about 6-7k. It actually almost killed the deal. My orig delivery date was cancelled at the last minute, but then they ended up working it out. My point is I recommend the power warranty if it is available to your car. It seems like they use much more care when inspecting the car rather than just checking boxes. It also has to be a car they feel hasn't been damaged and is a good example. If they certify and warranty a car that hasn't had the due diligence completed, apparently the factory wont be too happy w the dealer.

 

To the OP regarding the alarm battery: When I bought my 360 it too had the dead alarm battery as yours does. Fortunately, it was not a hard or expensive correction. My suggestion is to become a subscriber to Fchat ($15) and search the threads on the alarm battery. I tried the route of doing the 9volt rechargeable replacement but that didn't work. I ended up buying a whole alarm siren / battery from Ricambi to replace it ($336). I have seen other posts who found a Corvette alarm/ battery unit that was the same for even less cost. It is a small box that one can replace yourself with about 30 minutes time. No wiring, just unplug the old box and plug in the new one and screw it back into the harness. Judging by the appearance of your garage, it would be a no-brainer for you. Feel free to PM me if you want any input on the process of correcting the alarm issue.

Also, the battery inside the alarm remote can be easily changed yourself for $5 but you need to buy the right brand of battery. There are posts on this as well. Lastly, there is a quick 15 minute change that can dramatically improve the range on your alarm remote from several feet to 30 feet or more if this hasn't been done already.

Best Regards,
Doug

 

Please post link regarding the thread to extend the remote range. Thanks in advance.

 

Here are what i feel are REAL examples of significant issues after taking delivery of a 10 year old, hand built, exotic car:
1) oh my god, the check engine light just came on, and it's the catalytic converters!! (many thousands of dollars)
2) oh my god, the tranny throws me into neutral when I'm in 3rd or 4th gear! (clutch job, many thousands of dollars)
3) oh my god, my convertible top is misaligned and scraped the crap out of my quarter panel! (thousands to repair and repaint)
4) oh my god, my car is leaking oil all over my driveway! (change seals and/or gaskets for thousands of dollars)
Etc, etc

A bulb, a battery and a detail job?? Followed by an 11 page thread?? You do realize that you have a Ferrari that doesn't leak, with no CEL lit up, drives great, etc; and you're upset?

 

If you'd refrain from being an armchair quarterback perhaps this thread would be shorter. Let's see how it all resolves.

When I took delivery of the 430 I paid a few extra pennies for the best example I could find that had the right options. It still was under warranty so I wasn't worried about mechanicals, especially after I read through the service history.Received the car and it was perfect except that the alignment was off and I had to take it to the local dealer to have that and a few warranty things fixed. Was the car an excellent example otherwise? Yes, but I had been promised one thing and had expected that. How the selling dealer handled the situation (as it is here) speaks volumes.

 

I have only scanned this thread as its become LONG now. Here's my 2c's on this;

Appropriate Expectations
1. The 360 is an old car now so ones own expectations really do need to be set accordingly about what your buying.

Buying old low mileage cars - Warning for others![
2. I would advise against trying to by an old ultra low mileage car as all of the problems which normally get address in the first 10k-20k are likely to still be lurking - and will need repairing if any significant mileage is now done.

Modern cars like the 360 do need to be driven (ideally) at least once a month . They should be driven to get up to full operating temperature. Cars with more mileage on them perform better, are generally much more reliable and are better value for money too. I'd be also concerned about how many of the recall campaigns have been addressed.

Detailing
3. Paint Swirls - Easy enough to solve, takes a day at a detailer - Job done. The dealer was just likely trying to get you to sign on the dotted line. I would have requested the work be done before handing over the money. This way you could see either receipts for work done or view photo's to see it met your satisfaction.

Tire Failure
4. Tire Failure, see point 2, its highly likely connected, old tires are probably original from Ferrari. They are likely to have cracked/failed when the car was actually used! I'd advise replacing ALL of the tires on any old car that I don't know the history of. They will definitely be 'off' by now if running on original rubber. Don't buy the same tires, tire technology has advanced a lot since the 360 was new. Ask for advice or read the countless threads.

Alarm Siren
5. Alarm Siren, again see point 2, its also connected to not being used and the age of the vehicle. The siren contains a soldered on battery and due to age it will have well gone flat by now. The internal battery is not a consumer serviceable/replaceable item but some people have done it providing its not leaked out and killed the board. Easy enough to buy a replacement. Just plugs in and plays. Just need to remove the front hood area carpet/firewall.

Good luck.

 

You have clearly missed the point.

Kai

 

As usual Kai: BINGO.

I'm glad the OP is happier now. Time to get some miles on that thing.

 

+1 Especially because in the northeast, it'll be "put her away for the winter" time in the blink of an eye.

Uh, oh - here comes the ensuing "I drive my Ferrari in the snow all the time posts"

 

Hopefully, we'll have a repeat of last winter. My av picture if from 2010-2011 winter...since the car came in Oct 2010, that winter was the height of frustration. Go Global Warming!

 

Are you stating this by experience?

 

Based on auto manufacturing experience and consumer service experience. Of course with the limited knowledge of his problem, I am just throwing another idea out there.

Kinda funny though, just last week I had to run my truck to a few repair shops to get quotes on damage to the hood and windshield caused by some carelessness of a roofing crew (a shingle blew down and scratched the hood and windshield)- at the three places I stopped at - a GM dealer, and two collision shops- all immediately said they would repaint the entire hood as the simplest and best repair - so I have a hard time to think that anyone would think that a blend spray across a Ferrari hood would be attempted by any professional.

At the same time having been involved with many assembly plants (not Ferrari), there are all kinds of paint defects that can happen on a paint line that may result in flaws that need to be caught and repaired before a cars leaves the plant. I don't know what the OP defect really is - is it a respray or a thickness defect from the original paint? Is the plant more likely to do blend repairs vs. the repair market ? What was the defect that was repaired if it was a repair?

Just throwing out a reminder that paint work/rework is a part of the manufacturing process- and likely to happen more often on low volume cars - since they have less complex/repeatable processes in the first place and they have better QC - that catches and demands smaller flaws to be reworked than high volume manufacturers.

 

yeah, promised but not done and small problems are two different things......promise is a promise.

 

If you don't want to watch the entire video, just skip to 8:10.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL4na6ZMttU[/ame]

 

Great video and looks like they're doing a great job to me. Of course they are on video.

 

Wait a minute....the car alarm is suppose to chirp when I push the alarm button??? I always thought it's only the light that flashes?

Will

 

In two stage paint (base & clear) its not uncommon at all to blend the color and clear coat the entire panel. And, while they say they would repaint the entire hood, this is more likely what they meant if its just a small area.

 

When I disable the immobilizer with the fob prior to turning the key, yes, it beeps.
Jes

 

On entering unlocked car and to disable immobilizer, Mine (99) does not. Beeping on lock or unlock car depend on euro/ us/ row /Switzerland. it's all in alarm manual. page 12. depend if you have us versus the euro immobilizer alarm.