What are our main motivation to choose spare parts suppliers?

Sometimes price first then I look for alternatives. Like when I made my own ignition wires.
Sometimes service comes first then Ricambi is king of the hill
Sometimes availability matters, then the dealer down the street is best like the time I paid $300 for an 328 oil hose (since then found alternatives)
Sometimes quality is job one, then something custom from Hill Engineering
Sometimes I just like to tinker so out comes the welder, and grinder, and ...
Sometimes I just get so pi$$ off that anything else will do except dealer replacement like when they want $18 for a simple spring roll pin for the door.
Sometimes you have no choice like an oil filter for the 348/355. Dealer or Ricambi.

 

hill engineering makes excellent parts, but not everything you need.
eurospares always seems to have what you are looking for.

 

USUALLY in this order (assuming all have "it" available): Price, Shipping Time.

But sometimes Shipping Time and Price swap places.

 

This is a good summary.

 

Inquired 3 days about a part with a well known supplier. Called in the AM,he said he would check on availability, I said I would call later in the day. I called in the PM and once again he said he would check and call me back.I waited in my office for 1.5 hrs and no call. I called another well known supplier and had the parts in hand in 48 hrs.For me service trumps all. The first guy never did call back and I probably won't either.

 

Mods, please move to 348/355 section.

 

make your own....
or
get race fab shops to make 'em...

 

For genuine parts with a horse on the box there is only one source which have the worldwide distribution rights: Ferrariparts.co.uk . Everyone else who sells genuine parts adds their markup which is huge in some cases, although international shipping is a factor unless you are in the UK.

Hill Engineering for the range of parts which they make, top notch quality.

Superformance for certain parts although they have to be treated with caution. Certain of their items are suspect quality (certain gaskets for example) or sometimes they will simply send a wrong part for the year of the car. To be fair they always attempt to rectify issues as smoothly as possible. In many cases the Superformance part is identical, from the same source as the genuine part in the horsey box.

 

I buy from TRutlands and and what he doesn't have, I get from FoA.

 

I generally pick up the phone and call T Rutlands as I know the guys pretty well from living in Atlanta years ago. Have bought some stuff from Richambi; good prices and service is excellent.

If the price seems outrageously high even for Ferrari parts, I try Eurospares and Maranello Autoparts in Engalnd and at times have found adventageous pricing from them especially on the older stuff which they tend to have more of.

Drew

 

For me service and price are close to tied for my highest priority. There are a couple of places that I won't buy from any more even if they have a lower price. But generally speaking the ones with the worst customer service also have the highest prices. Go figure.

Not in any particular order I generally look at 3-4 places...

Ricambi America
Ferrari-UK
Ferrparts
T Rutlands

Superformance and Eurospares are sometimes tossed into the mix. The local dealer is usually the last resort because mark-up is almost always a lot higher.

 

You want spare parts that meet, or exceed, original OEM specifications. New, OEM parts for machines made after 1995 are readily available everywhere. If you're wanting a factory-correct part, you care deeply about price-point and service, as you should be getting the same quality OEM part from all sources.

Parts for cars made before 1995 are in trouble. Sometimes, Ferrari no-longer has these parts in-stock. Take Magneti Marelli rotors, for instance. Certain OEM Marelli rotors, in a Magneti Marelli box, are NLA. Ferrari 'might' have them, but probably do not. That leaves one to search the earth, hunting the dusty shelves of the independent parts suppliers for that forgotten item in-inventory. Price 'might' be a concern at this juncture, but availability will trump it - and the laws of supply-vs.-demand kick-in, and those parts become worth their weight in gold if that part stands between you and getting your car back on the road.

Ferrari, and some indie parts suppliers, are now selling third-party vendor parts as 'new', when the original 1980s or 1970s vendors no longer exist or refuse to make new stock of parts for low-production cars. Bosch has quit making Ferrari-specific Jetronic components. Certain bearings, fittings, Mahle cylinder liners - NLA. For common wear-items, some 'enterprising' folks have contacted the Chinese to make spark-plug extenders and rotors, giving them 'some' of the specs from the OEM parts. This stuff is hitting the market as OEM-New parts from Ferrari, and many of our big-name parts sources - Rutlands, Ferrparts, Superformance, etc. is stocking it at an attractive price-point to the unwary. They can't help it, its all that's available. This situation is particularly visible if you're looking for 308-era parts, where many of these machines are pretty long-in-the-tooth and need serious maintenance updates.

Many Ferrari owners are unfamiliar with the term 'high-performance' with regards to engine parts, and neglect to connect the fact that the cheap prices they're paying for certain parts means they are NOT getting high-performance parts - they're buying NAPA-grade parts, some of which are third-party remakes from China. Lots of REAL experts, like Brian Crall, Dave Helms, David Feinberg, etc. have sounded the alarm in numerous threads here. Its your business what you put in your engine bay - when a professional has to guarantee the work, they look for OEM-caliber parts to support that shop guarantee. Their search for the 'real-deal' is MUCH harder than it was 10-15 years ago.

 

^
Very informative!

 

I am the same. Living in the Atlanta area means I can call Rutlands in the morning and swing by on the way home from work and pick up my parts. That said I have also bought from Ricambi and the service is great. Can't beat Ferrari of Atlanta for service as well and they are open on Saturdays.

 

Customer service then price

 

access is the only factor, nothing else matters....if you cant get stuff, what is there to talk about?

street cars/new stuff...OEM followed by price-its the car business, call my cynical, but cost is the only factor, if you want a lifelong friend-get a dog...