Looking to join the Ferrari club

Hi,

I am looking to join the Ferrari club. I have narrowed down to the California as it is price right for a Ferrari and it seems to be the most reliable for the money. My question is should I try to get one with the Ferrari Powertrain extended warranty or just take a chance? Also should I be concern buying from used car dealer or should I stick to private person or new car trade ins?

Any advice about buying a first Ferrari would be helpful. I live in a high price state, does it make sense to buy one from the east coast and ship it back? Or do all the added expenses just make it not worth while? Even if I save $15K on a car, the PPI, in person inspection and shipping cost would eat up most of that?

 

Lots of relevant advice in your original thread https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/seriously-thinking-about-a-ferrari-i-have-questions.622264/

 

The best advice I could give, if reliability and cost of ownership are the main factors, would be to really look at the history of each car and not so much color and options. Look at mileage, number of owners, service history and definitely consider a PPI. The very low mileage cars aren’t always better especially as they go up in age. also try to look at the individual invoices for each service instead of just looking at a spreadsheet. A lot of times the detail in those receipts is critical. Test drive the car if you can. You may not be at Ferrari guy yet but it’s just a car and things can be easily pinpointed by spending a few solid minutes behind the wheel. One last thing would be to not just choose the cheapest one. A lot of times they end up being the more expensive car in the long run.

Be patient and best of luck. The hunt has always been a big part of the fun for me!


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I just purchased a 2011 California from the "Toy Barn" - in OH. Car was sorted out well - given the age a warranty was not available. I flew to OH to test drive. I would not buy one unless I test drove it.

 

For our peace of mind, we narrowed our search to CPO'd cars, which of course also means from you are buying from an official F dealer.

The wife and I analyzed over and over (we're scientists, it's what we do!). But, at the end of the day, you have to just say "F*** it!" and take the plunge.
As my wife said, even if this turns out to be a total lemon, it won't put us in the poorhouse, I won't divorce you, and you can brag that you once owned a
Ferrari. (She's a keeper, I tell ya! ) . We bought our Cali via the internet, sight unseen (except for internet pics), from Miller Motorcars in CT, and the
first time I sat in it was when the truck dropped it off @ Boardwalk Ferrari, who were kind enough to babysit it for the first few months of our ownership.

You can't cost:benefit analysis an F-car purchase IMO. Consider it money pissed away. If you can sit down, run through all the costs (purchase, maintenance,
insurance, maintenance, living the F lifestyle with other owners, etc.), and handle the payments, plus all your other financial commitments, go for it.

Closing in on 6 years and 30K miles later, it's been a total blast!

T

 

Love that. So in 6 years/30k miles - what have you had go wrong? And what was the mileage when you bought it?

 

To be honest, the biggest $$$ we've spent is due to squirrels using the Cali's engine bay as their winter love nest! Not sure what it is about Ferrari wiring, but rodents think it's tasty. They never touch any of our other cars.

I replaced the battery right after I got it. Got a new battery tender. Have had a few codes thrown due to gas cap / evap system. Oh yeah, it once pitched a fit because I was low on windshield wiper fluid. I fixed that myself! [emoji2]

Eventually, I'll have to attend to sticky plastic, but it doesn't annoy me enough yet.

All in all, it's been rock solid reliable. Keep it on the tender whenever not driving, and drive it frequently, and the Cali is a great first Ferrari IMO...T

 

P.s. It had a little over 5 K miles on it when we got it. It's at about 32 K miles now.

 

This is the attitude needed to own any super car. Valid arguments.