Interesting take on Ferrari Dealerships

Have dealt with them for several years when I was driving an Aston. They didn't know me from Adam's housecat BUT always gave me good service and a friendly attitude when I would buy parts from them. Great place to do business.

 

http://jalopnik.com/5938170/how-ferrari-is-losing-a-generation-of-buyers?popular=true&utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

You be the judge.

 

we've come full circle.

 

Lol

 

I thought that article seemed familiar as I read it. Now I know why!

 

As judge, my ruling is that Jalopnik hates Ferrari and Ferrari hates Jalopnik.

 

Algar, Miller Motorcars and Ferrari of Atlanta are fantastic dealers. Ferrari of Washington used to be great too.

 

The article was republished on Jalopnik, not originally published there, so while they may have picked it up, you can't really say they originated the sentiment.

I think the guy is wrong in the long run, probably, but I think the factory makes the magic and the dealers are in many respects an albatross.

But it is not just Ferrari. The dealer lobby is very powerful and state laws give them a lot of power over manufacturers and that may also breed some of the arrogance.

 

I read the Jalopnik article and was reminded of what happened to me 40 years ago.

I was a salesman in the Mercedes dealership in San Francisco and we had a brand new red 450SL on the turnstile.

In walks a frousy older woman with an unkempt young man and headed straight for the 450. I was the up salesman but not at all happy at all with my prospects.

"Can I help you" I say

"we'll take that one" she says.

Turns out her son was a dishwasher at a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf and had just won the lottery.

They wrote a check for it, the whole transaction took less than a half hour.

Ya just never know

 

Guys:

I know it's pretty hard to get tone across in an article but what I wrote wasn't to put down the brand, or say that McLaren > Ferrari. Far from it.

I love my car, the community, and I'm on here all the time. I wasn't getting upset over just a single trip to the dealership where they ignored me. It's been happening for years.

The point of the article is despite owning a Ferrari, taking it to the dealership for compliance, buying parts quite often, and doing anything and everything imaginable, I get ignored all the time even after asking for help. I could list multiple accounts of that happening if need be.

And yet, I walked into McLaren for the first time and they treated me like I was a customer. That was my point.

After talking to people at local cruises and events, and the sentiment is the same, I decided to rant after returning home from the McLaren dealer.

 

Had some service done at Ferrari of Central NJ, also purchase some parts from them and have been treat extremely well each and every time.

 

I don't think Ferrari's dealer network will doom the brand. I think my dealer and the people in it are great. Here is what concerns me:

430s that eat their own headers. My '06 Spider required an engine replacement with 13K miles on it in '08. I no longer owned it by then, but fortunately for the next guy Ferrari forced me to buy an extended warranty when the car was new. It was on the sticker as an "option."

458s having engines replaced; at least they had stopped spontaneously combusting.

Californias having engines replaced

My 599 needs a new water pump, under warranty. Ferrari sends one which is defective. Out it comes.

$800 or so for an iPod cable which will be recognized by the head unit about every other time you attempt to use it. But for good measure, sometimes it just goes dead while the iPod is playing.

The quality control is abysmal, yet we somehow don't care. Will subsequent generations be as forgiving?

 

Yes.

 

Interesting question.


Too bad some of the Lurking dealers don't chime in.

Id bet 10-15 are reading this thread.


That being said. Seattle and Portland are Great
I've also felt with Atlanta and they were fantastic.
Steve Harris as well very nice people.

Walked into Wynn once didn't have time. The girl at the door was cute. That's my review there.

 

i think the dealer issues are easier to solve. Personally I think that there are dealer issues, I know I've had some when trying to purchase a car. To say there aren't is like saying that there are no quality control issues with the cars. The Ostrich theory and all.

But Ferrari still does something to most of us...so we deal when we have to.

I would also venture to guess that many here are more familiar with the brand than some of the salesmen who work at the dealerships.

 

This reminds me of an old story about a rock star walking into a Porsche dealership. I want to say that it was Axl Rose, but i can't recall. Anyway, the story is basically a "Pretty Woman" story in that he walks into a Porsche dealership looking pretty much homeless when he'd just started making money. He was essentially told to leave and he then went and bought multiple cars at a rival dealership. Anyone can be a customer whether it be now or in the future, so why risk alienating them? And honestly, even if you could say with 1000% certainty that they'd never be a customer, if they're an admirer of your brand, why would you want to ruin something they've always admired for them? You obviously can't let everyone drive every car, but there's no reason for all of the pretentiousness. Luckily FoLI is my local dealer for when I'm ready.

 

Nope....

 

I agree. Owners or would-be owners will be willing to put up with the shortcomings just to own the marque. Owning a Ferrari is a dream come true, regardless...

 

actually that car is a very basic spec, including interior upgrades msrp approx $260K in canadian.

 

"Ferrari has no motivation to step in and restructure - there's still a years-long waiting list for the new models. Why would SpA devote any capital toward fixing something that's technically not broken?"

This is a classic branding trap.

Assuming that current success is a guarantee of future success, and seeing the current paradigm as "not broken" has been the downfall of many great companies. As the original article demonstrates, there's always someone out there who's willing to go the extra distance, and this can be seen over and over again in the consumer landscape.

The "unobtainable" appeal of the F car, in combination with a deplorable service record and nightmare ownership costs can eventually transform "Exclusive" into "unapproachable."

So before you look at the waiting list and say "Everything's GREAT," take a look over your shoulder. And if Ferrari is too arrogant to, then it's only a matter of time.

My personal experience with the Ferrari dealer was not great. I don't own one - I could, but I don't. But at a large multi-marque dealer (Collection, Miami) I was having one of my cars serviced, and wandered into the showroom - Was never acknowledged or greeted in any way, and while I wasn't thrown out, per se, the one person who I spoke to was a salesperson who poked his head out of his office simply to inform me that all the cars on the floor were already sold, so I shouldn't touch one.

 

I truly believe that this is not the way Ferrari S.p.A. want the brand to be positioned and defended. They take extreme measures, and rightfully so, to protect the brand from a manufacturers standpoint. They need to do an audit on the dealer network. Just because they sell every allocation doesn't mean all is well, especially if they want to increase sales volume. some dealers are great.