The Official "Jay Leno Doesn't Like Ferraris" Thread

I can't help but find this behavior completely inexplicable. Are the guys in this business so crazy busy that they can afford to ignore anyone? I suspect the sales attitude varies significantly from dealer to dealer (and even salesman to salesman at the same dealer). I can tell you from experience this is not universal behavior at F dealers. Not at FoLI at least.

 

It was good toooo see that Jay was having fun with the Ferrari. Watching the video brought back memories of when my fuel light went on for the first time in my 3x8. I was taking my friend Vince down hwy. 111 in Indian Wells. The light went on, two blocks later we pulled over out of gas. It seemed at the time all the people driving by us highly enjoyed seeing a disabled Ferrari on the side of the road. Thank God for AAA which showed up (within 30 minutes) and allowing our lives to continue. I did learn a hard lesson; when the light goes on you better have comfortable shoes on or a phone.

I’m sorry that Jay has had problems with the F-Dealers. The three or four dealerships that I’ve visited have all been great to deal with, even with an older car.
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I like how Jay says he's not a Ferrari guy and how complicated the new ones are, yet if I'm not mistaken, he owns new Corvettes, the new McLaren.

 

For one, I agree that you can't really blame him. Two, why do people continue to care?

 

They don't know the story yet, and are curious why such a "car guy" doesn't have the (arguably) quintessential car.

 

The real question is: Why does anyone care if he has a Ferrari or not?

 

I believe he is just being polite and not coming right out and saying how he feels. Seems fairly respectful to me.

 

Look - dealerships thrive on repeat business from LONG-time, repeat customers. Those customers already exist, and spend LOTS of money on cars AND service annually at pretty much every dealership around the country. I have been to six-eight of them in my travels, from Ferrari of Central Florida to Ferrari of Beverly Hills, and get the same story at each one - their 'regulars' spend north of ONE MILLION maintaining their collections, and when the latest-and-greatest model is available, these folks get first-dibs and almost ALL pay cash-in-full, up front, no B.S. Ferrari Spa knows these people well, they buy new cars regularly and keep 'yesterday's car coming back to the dealership showrooms as 'used inventory' so the dealerships LOVE these guys - they make money on the front end, back end, and in-between. Its called LOYALTY. Some of these customers have cultivated their LOYALTY since the craze of the 1980s - they are not car flippers, they do not deal with indpendent service shops, they do not sell their used models on ebay. They put a lot of money into the dealership network - they get special treatment. YOU, joe-shmo, will not. When the F-50, Enzo, 599 GTO etc. were available, these folks got phone-calls to buy the car allotments the particular dealerships have.

Once their allotments are sold-out to their Regulars (they almost-always are), the salesmen are playing solitaire and maybe trying to sell the Newbie a used 360 IF said-Noob has the class to make an appointment ahead-of-time. That tells them you're not just-another tourist - trust me, they get LOTS of them in all shapes/sizes/pretty faces, wandering-in to look at the pretty cars. Some have been known to vandalize cars on the showroom floor to grab a 'souvenir', some just want a $12 t-shirt and not be hassled to buy something they can't afford. People who call-ahead, and bring some financial documents, are treated with the seriousness the situation warrants. That's how its done.

For the record, Ferrari Spa has 'tried' to get Jay Leno into the fold back-when the 550 Maranello came out - Ferrari gave him a set of keys, a startup car magazine gave him a Cover-shot, he drove and wrote-about the car. He really liked it. Jay Leno is NOT the sort of customer Ferrari 'really' wants - Jay runs his own garage, has his own mechanics, does his own service, and really does NOT have any brand loyalty nor will he really be supporting the Ferrari Dealership Network. Yes, he's the world's most-famous 'car guy', but if Ferrari can't make a solid profit from a customer like Jay Leno, there are MANY OTHERS willing to fill that role, and they already are.....so 'meh'.

 

It's funny but why is this even a discussion? He's not an F car lover. I know about a million others just like him that are car lovers.

Jay's one of the great auto enthusiasts out there. He's one of the biggest gear heads of all time. What he likes and doesn't like is his deal.

Do Lambo people whine that Ralph Lauren doesn't have a Countach in his garage?

 

Two problems with that logic:

(1) The "LOYAL" customers were all Joe Schmos once.

(2) Maybe Jay Leno doesn't fit the precise profile of the sort of customer Ferrari "really" wants. He is, however, (a) very, very rich; (b) very famous; (c) someone who could give Ferrari a great deal of free positive publicity if they were to treat him differently, and (d) one person who shouldn't have to present his bank book if he's serious about buying a Ferrari because of (a) and (b).

"Meh" is a pretty crappy attitude to have, anyway. And what, by the way, does Ferrari plan to do when all of their "LOYAL" customers pass on?

 

Well, he has plenty of people in his shop to keep busy so this is a good choice.

 

Probably.

 

I never met the man but my impression is that he is not the type of person to have someone else do his shopping. I think he is a car buff in the truest form. I think he is fairly hands on, as much as one can be with his schedule. Of course he has a staff maintaining his collection, anyone would have to with as many cars as he has.
Just because he is richer than God doesn't mean he is fool hardy with his cash.

 

I don't care.

 

I dont care.

 

I don't care either, but he is a cool car guy.

 

No one cares. Better he doesn't have any. If he did, he'd join and we'd have to listen to him.

Art

 

Anyone that has met Jay knows what a great and personal guy he is. He's passionate about cars.

What he likes and doesn't like is none of our business. But, we admire him for being one of great gearheads of all time.

Personally, I love that he loves odd ball cars for either their look or their engineering. His love goes from steam power to Duesenberg to the latest modern trends and technology.

That's an auto enthusiast. We are lucky to have him and I hope he continues unchanged in his likes forever.

 

And what a wonderful addition he'd be to the community here!

His knowledge, expertise & passion for all things automotive would be great to have IMO.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Why do Ford guys hate Chevys? Why do Chevy guys like everybody? Why do Ram Tough guys crash into everything? There are thousands of questions left unanswered...

 

Jay's jaw hits the steering wheel in a Ferrari.

 

I don't care.

I like Jay. He seems like a really cool guy and definitely loves cars. I doubt I will ever own a Lamborghini. Granted I am not a celeb (in my own small little world I am) like him but does anyone care?

 

I like Jay too. He just low-balled me $35K on my 1954 Vincent Black Shadow I just sold for $115K. He is an awesome motor-head and I love his stationary steam engines.

 

I think it's kind of cool Jay doesn't own a Ferrari, whatever his reasons.

The prettiest girl in my high school class refused to wear earrings or get her ears pierced, unlike everyone else, even though it's sort of expected. She still won't/doesn't.

I think it makes her unique, kind of like Jay Leno. Here's a famous gearhead who "should" have any number of Ferraris, and he'd rather have a fleet of Stanley Steamers than a 550.

Why should a Ferrari be a must-have for every gearhead with the means? Where's the fun in that?

Audi