Why do so many exotics end up at dealerships?

I see that at least 75% or more of the 355's out there (seems like there are a few more 348's being sold by the owners) are all at dealerships.

How do they get them? People just unload them for cash? Upgrade their cars to another exotic? Auction?

I would much rather buy a 348/355 from the owner vs. a dealer, I would think I could get a better deal and like to meet the guy who use to own the car.

 

I would imagine most people trade them in and upgrade to something newer.

I'd rather buy privately if I knew the owner well enough to trust them.

otherwise, i'd rather pay a little more and buy from a reputable dealer because there's a name behind it.

 

I think it's the opposite. If you spend good money making a 355 "right", the last thing you're gonna do is take dealer trade for your car.
Many of the good cars trade privately, before any public offering.
Many, (not all) of the dealer cars were traded on something newer or equal, often (but not always) due to the fact that their were pending repairs or services needed.

 

There is a big tax incentive to trade in at a dealer.

 

Some people, especially ones that can afford it, always buy from dealers they have a relationship and hence trade in their car no matter how much they are given for it.

Kind of like people that use a real estate broker to find them a house, something I've never understood.

 

When people are ready to sell the love has expired and they want the pain to end. They also don't want to deal with anal buyers with PPI nitpicking buyers often don't understand or deal with rumors about this or that about 355's. The big question...how fast does it go? The couple thousand less you get at resale is worth giving the headaches to the pro dealer.

 

Again. I disagree. When it's time to sell my 355, I will contact the 1/2 dozen real buyers who have PM'd me about the car.

It likely won't ever hit the market.

 

Because if someone is desparate they can unload the car fast and cheap without drama and save face.

The dealer will never say that dr...so and so... Or mr.so and so is hard up for the money and dumped off the car.

Sometimes it's to save face ...... How many times have you heard, I need to do a new business opportunity and I got good money for it ....or they owe the bank almost the same as the value of the car, and trading it in to get out of it.

Many reasons and advantages to go to the dealer.

 

Good luck with that. You are a 355 dreamer.

 

It might not be for $100k, but Luke would likely sell his car within one week of listing it. Good cars will sell and don't need a dealer to do it. I bought my car from a private seller for top dollar and those cars are out there if you know how to look.

The guys that actually own 355's now this.

 

No Carl, I'm not. It's my user name, and when I joined here 7 years ago, the 355 was a dream. Since then, I've owned 2, and have learned a lot about the cars and the market.

My car is a one of one. It's the only 95 F355 GTS ever made in white. I've done everything to the car possible to make real fixes. I've spent a ton of money on it, and it will sell, should I ever choose to sell it, for a premium off the market.

I still can't figure you out, or why you spend so much time in this section of the forums.

 

Well the premium should not matter if you are not going to sell it. Until then we can only guess if you will have all the buyers you think you will.

The OP asked a question. The answer is selling a car is not easy. You can read me however you wish. The English is pretty clear to most.

 

Is this a serious question? Its because its easy to sell to dealers, and easy to get buyer financing.

 

First off i'm a dealer , so i just checked average wholesale prices. I just checked 1997 355 spiders . average wholesale price for 97's is $38,000 ( manheim market value ). So i guess to answer the question, there are a lot at dealers because of economics, buy low sell high. Prices ranged from ( again i only randomly looked at 97 spiders) from 30k to 44k (the 44k car had 11,000 miles on it). A lot of guys won't want to hear this but obviously dealers see an opportunity to make a lot of money on them. again probably not what you guys want to hear , but the dealers see buyers with deep pockets ..... simple capitalism

i don't mean to incite a riot, just putting some facts out there to answer the question.

 

Except he did try to sell his car here 2.5 years ago and no one bought it. I have to say I'm skeptical that the private market he always says good 355s trade on without ever being offered to the public actually exists.

 

The only english that's clear is that you have no idea what you are talking about. And, we all ask the same question: why do you post in this forum when you don't have a 355?

 

Really? I don't think Luke owned the white one for 2.5 years...

 

Prove me wrong I'm waiting.

 

In some states. Unfortunately, not true in California. I wish it were, since I own a motorcycle shop and would love for folks to have more incentive to trade in bikes.

 

Yes, the white one. But as Luke himself pointed out, this car is not even representative due to its rare and sought after color.

 

Based on his garage owners forum, he bought that car 3/2010. Therefore he has had it less than 4 years. Hard to believe he tried to sell 2.5 years ago but maybe I'm wrong. Luke will chime in I'm sure.

 

Why is this forum always so combative/arguementative?

I can almost gaurantee that out of every 4 new threads in this section....
2 of them are asking the same "F1 vs Manual" or "which is better" bullsht that is asked every 10 seconds....
1 is always to argue about the future values of specific models.....
and the last will be to complain about the price of maintanence / major services..


this place is getting really old really fast.... and its a shame.

 

No it's not!

 

Back to the OP's question ... I traded in my 355 at my local Ferrari dealership because they found a pristine low mileage 430 stick for me that was 2500 miles away and took care of delivery (across the Pacific Ocean) , ownership transfer, and freed me of the time I would have had to devote in selling my 355.

Yes, I could have gotten more for my 355, and yes, I might have found a 430 for less, but at the end of the day, I'm very happy with the whole transaction and to me, that's all that really matters.

Good luck to all in whichever route you decide to go ... there's really no right or wrong way.

 

Dealers typically "over allow" for what they are giving you if you are buying something from them.

For the dealer, it is all about the profit they look to continually generate.

if you really want to know what your car is worth, call a dealer and ask them to buy the car directly from you with out a trade. I doubt any dealer would put over 60K on a 1 of 1 gts and the car would need less than 10K miles.

In fact, they may even tell you that a white car might be hard to sell.

Your car is nice, but several nice GTS cars have traded for 50K. If you have been reading this forum over the past 2 years you will remember them. Typically this group says "wow thats a great deal" but they sold. This is different that the cars that list for 60K plus and sit month after month.