Ferrari’s horrible daily driving experience

Nope, I've netted ahead. If you feel taken advantage of, I dare say you should seek a new dealer.

 

Why do you need a loaner? You have a 458, which is a great car to drive daily while FF in shop.

 

I don't doubt your used car had a corroded wire. My new Acura Honda RDX had a lousy wire out of the factory. They never could fix it; I had to go to a third party to have it sorted. (Even though it was under warranty, mind you) I even have contacts at corporate - it didn't matter. If the $20 an hour mechanic can't fix it (twice) - what is the VP of Honda to do? I could have filed a lemon law, but I ultimately liked everything else about the car.

My 10-year-old Toyota Sienna's alternator blew up, yes - I know two years later than your 8-year-old car. Just letting you know - horsey badge or not, it's still an 8-year-old car.

I don't own Porsches, so I can't comment on the impossibility of corrosion of the same eight years; I'll take your word it doesn't happen. Why else would I give you kudos on your permanent move to Porsche?

As I said, I never expected any exotic dealership to give me a car loaner during repairs. I know SVF used to do it when they had Maserati under their wing; it was Tributo Fiat 500s, as you stated.

 

By that logic then the Roma/Portofino/Gran Turismo all should also not exist?

Also, again, let me ask - what dealership is this?

 

I’d agree … I’ll be chastezised for that but I moderately daily my ff. great , cool car… prefer an e63 wagon.
Don’t kill me


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yup

me too

Reading a contract? hmm - you mean I'm supposed to do that?

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My Toyota's alternator went kaput at year 10 and they asked $2,500 to fix it. (Good thing I wrench so I just did it myself for $430 and some change)

As you said "stuff happens", especially with cars that are past factory warranty. That's exactly why/how they decide on those years + what warranties cover (or don't)

I'm not going to go on a Toyota Forum and cry that actuaries exist or that there's such a thing as statistical math.

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According to the OP though, California should never have been a Ferrari, so sorry - this doesn't count. Wonder what he thinks of the Roma/Portofino M? Hell if the Cali is not a Ferrari - what's a 456?

 

Economies of scale. A huge thing that makes Ferrari special is that they are limited. You often have to take the good with the bad. I mean, I can't think of another small production-run car company that has consistently high reliability that exists today and for the last 75 years.

 

The f car dealership here does flatbed pickup and drop off, and all of the notable independents do as well, I’d imagine your dealer would do the same. I’ve actually never dropped my Ferraris off for any service, they just get picked up at home.

Daily driving a Ferrari is a gamble, unfortunately u were unlucky. Wouldn’t do it unless I had a backup car. Probably would need another car anyway since there may be social situations or places u wouldn’t want to drive a Ferrari to.

 

Sorry to hear, but exotics really aren't the best daily drivers, in my experience -- and the dealer network is a major reason. I lived in Cleveland in the '70s and '80s, and the Ferrari dealer was (sort of) in Columbus, Ohio, 2 hours away. Most Ferrari owners were (are?) are pretty affluent, so being without the car presumably won't keep him or her homebound. It's the tradeoff for having a fairly rare car. You almost never saw a 308 on the road, and that was Ferrari's only U.S. model.

I've had two Ferraris and currently on my third Porsche. For every track weapon GT2-3-4 Porsche sells and services many more Cayennes and Macans. While I'm not really an SUV guy, this has made Porsche's dealership network robust. It wasn't always like this, because when they sold only 911s and 944s there wasn't much volume, and the franchises would share a sign with Audi (before Audi was big...).

When I bring my '93 911 in for Classic service, I get a Macan loaner while they order parts ... for weeks, lol.

 

they aren’t the fastest either.

 

There is no perfect car. Except my 911 that is.

What you all are rating are the dealership networks. Porsche isn't bad.. but at least here in Minneapolis they gave me a 3 week wait for a loaner car and an appointment to replace a fuel injector. I ordered it used and had it fixed in 4 days. I cancelled the appointment. Same for what turned out to be a bad camshaft timing sensor. 3 weeks wait every time. What am I supposed to do until then?

I both cases fixing it myself saved time. It's not the car, its the dealership network and that's going to vary where you are. FWIW I'd daily my 360 any day if I had to (and did with the Cayenne out of commission).

 

Where are you in proximity to Denver? Blue Chip may be a good service option for you if south

 

I’m sorry to hear about your trouble with the FF and frustration with keeping it running. I keep a database of FF and Lusso transmission failures as this is considered to be a weak point of the car. Would you mind telling me what sort of transmission failure you had? The FF has two transmissions: The DCT at the back (like the one in your 458) and a PTU at the front which handles the 4WD system and is unique to the FF and V12 Lusso.

It would be helpful to know which of the transmissions failed, why it failed and at what mileage. Thank you.

 

Our local FCA Chapter President has approx 70k miles on his 458. Been driving daily since new. YMMV

 

Whether or not a Ferrari can be daily driven isn't really the issue we're discussing. The crux of the issue is Ferrari's pitiful warranty coverage.

Someone earlier in the thread suggested it's normal for an 8 year old car to have an issue like this. I think that is nonsense. 8 year old cars have issues because of wear and use, not because of time. Why aren't all the other wires in the car corroded as well? Why does my 33-year-old 328 not have any corroded wires? There are 70 and 80 year old cars that are still being driven with original wiring.

This is a design flaw, proven by the fact that it is a well known and apparently common issue. Design flaws are Ferrari's fault, and they should be fixing it on their dime and not hiding behind a legal document. Ferrari and the dealer need to step up and own this. Over $5k to replace a wire that probably cost 10 cents a foot? Gotta love Ferrari.

Did they point out to you the verbiage in the warranty that indicates you're on the hook for this? Have you reviewed it yourself?

 

If you think the Porsche dealership experience is better, buy a Lexus, you will absolutely be blown away! I own both makes and while Porsche is OK, Lexus far exceeds. I will concede both are better than Ferrari in some aspects, e.g. loaners.

 

THIS is my daily. Heated and cooled seats, apple car play, power everything, camera rear view mirror, power hard top, good climate control, magnaride adjustable shocks, blind sensors, front parking camera, plastic body, front lift with GPS memory, leather seats conditioned to last and plenty fast enough on city streets. Gets better mileage than my 458 had and cheaper to insure.

I agree you don't buy a Ferrari as a daily driver. The C8 is not a Ferrari but its fun to drive and I don't worry about it. My dealer is 3 miles from my house and they will give out a loaner like any Chevy.

The only thing that's gone wrong with it in 18 months is the glovebox won't open. I'm too lazy to bring it to the dealer just for that.

My point being, if you really want a DD get a DD. Leave the Ferrari for the nice days when you can enjoy it.
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I would think a qualified European car shop could work on your 328 with no problem at all. By today’s standards, the 328 is pretty basic mechanically.

 

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