PPI for car sold by F dealer?

I would not be overly concerned about doing a PPI if buying from a Ferrari dealer and it’s a CPO.

If no CPO, then definitely PPI for peace of mind.


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I spent many years of my life in Ferrari dealers and can promise you the existence of a big yellow sign on the wall in no way conveys any promise of ethics, honesty or competency. They are franchises and each and every one is different. Some are really outstanding and some just try and look that way.

 

And believe or not, most dealers have been screwed over by more than one customer. I once came this close to opening a BMW motorcycle dealership. One guy I talked to said, "Don't do it. Owning a dealership will destroy a great hobby."

 

The dealers are often the most uninformed people. The drive is the profit... Not the client. The manager will lose his job or the sales person or the mechanic.

An independent dealer could lose his whole livelyhood.

Also once the great mechanics figure out they can make much more money as an independent they leave unless given squishy jobs that pay just enough not to quit.

On topic:

Insist on a ppi. When they say no. Get it in writing that they inspected it. Buy the car. Then go to an independent to verify condition. The independent will rip the car apart and then go back to the store and watch the managers face turn white.

 

Read my thread about my awful experience with a CPO’d FF from Ferrari to San Antonio. I trusted that their CPO inspection would be sufficient. It was not even remotely close to sufficient. It was so bad that they bought the car back from me. Get the PPI and if they won’t allow it find another car.

 

I think I remember that fiasco here on FCHAT a while back , correct ?

 

I spent a lot of years at Ferrari dealers. We were happy to accommodate buyers having a PPI done on site by their mechanic. We provided a lift for their use.
Not one single good reason not to.

If it was a real Ferrari mechanic it was almost invariably someone we knew anyway. Conversely I have as a dealer mechanic and as an independent done PPIs at dealers around the country. Did one not that long ago at a dealer here in Texas. Car was junk. Didn't care for my assessment.

 

#1 Know what you are purchasing. CPO does NOT mean showroom new, perfect, no defects whatsoever. What CPO does equate to is that the Dealership checked and confirmed that each item on the CPO checklist was inspected and meets or exceeds CPO guidelines. There is zero gray area when it comes to the CPO checklist.
It must conform and now even has to be documented with photographs provided to Ferrari SpA! Often, CPO or Certified is misunderstood and buyers expect to be able to pick a CPO vehicle apart for a discounts. When in reality, the car WILL have additional imperfections and is usually priced accordingly. The FF example above being a prime example.

#2 Be an informed buyer. Know what you are looking for, what is important to you, and present those questions to the salesperson you are working with. Know exactly what is inspected during the inspection process, you may even request a copy of the inspection form. If you are worried about scuffs to the underbody panels, ask them for the condition and to provide photo's of each. If you care about carpet wear, ask. If you care about soft touch button condition, ask. If you care about previous paint work or PDR, ask.

#3 Don't expect a Ferrari Dealership to release their Ferrari to an independent inspector offsite. Like Rifledriver mentioned above, have the inspector come to the Dealership. Just because a Dealer is reluctant or outright says no, to their inventory going to a known or unknown competitor to be inspected does not mean that anything is wrong. So. compromise, have it inspected at the Dealership. Also, be 100% clear as to what your inspector is looking for. Again, if you are asking them to look for anything and everything they can find wrong to negotiate, you can expect them to find something. You may even offer a deposit to let them know you are serious and not just kicking tires.


Good Luck in your search, welcome to the family in advance!

Steve

 

Sage words.
From the dealer perspective they always say the mechanic exaggerates the defects for the incentive of earning their fee. I ve heard it from both sides.

Any purchase at this level must be inspected and sorted. How you accomplish that is up to you, truly. PPI is the One size fits most.

For me, I have developed a relationship with the dealer and the service department. Beyond simple transactions. And I ask the Service Manager about the car- clean, not so, or bad. None of the cars I have purchased from my dealer have had problems or issues. I do look them over and make my own assessment, pictures etc. And as Steve has explained, their is an inspection with documentation to get the CPO and extended warranty.

Steve and his team even did an inspection for their in network Lamborghini dealer when I purchased my F12 for an extended warranty. Nothing was amiss and the warranty was helpful when one year later the bubbling issue came up. I had specific pictures of this area at purchase and at inspection.

Get a PPI and be comfortable. Rifledriver gives excellent advice from a long career in this area.

 

Fwiw I've bought 5 Ferraris and two Porsches for my Ferrari dealer and never had a PPI-

 

I guess it depends on your personality. I bought 4 current sports cars (2F, 2P) from dealer, independent, private without ppi.

My view is that you can’t always trust the ppi and sh*t can happen despite a good ppi. Also I have a great/reasonable Indy if things go wrong. If it drove well without obvious issues and they had good service history I would just accept the potential risk of some up front costly repairs.

In the case of my gated 575, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity, so I bought sight unseen. It worked out well, but it just as easily could have been very costly, but I think I would still be ok with it.

as for more modern cars with DCT, transmission repair is beaucoup bucks, but I don’t know if ppi would give u any extra reassurance that u won’t develop problems.

 

The FF did not have “additional imperfections” - it literally had a 2 inch dent in the fender that would have required a new fender at $10k, and the entire interior was completely ruined with blue dye everywhere including all over the white stitching plus a bunch of stains on nearly every surface. On the CPO checklist it says the interior and exterior condition was satisfactory.

I asked Ferrari corporate what the qualifications were for that because there has to be some kind of standards. They couldn’t give me any answer.

I was also in contact with someone from this forum that bought a CPO 458 spider from the same dealer that had been in an accident with 3 panels painted that weren’t disclosed and listed as a no-accident car when anyone with half an eye could see the paintwork clear as day. The accident repairs were done by a different Ferrari dealer too.

 

It is not my intention to rehash the points of the previous thread.

I attached the actual CPO check list for you and others review.

Those are the standards you asked for.

S

 

The checklist literally says “close scrutiny of paintwork/body work” and “interior - leather including trunk compartment” which were both checked off as satisfactory on the checklist I was given. So again, if those were satisfactory for a car that needs a new fender for $10k and am entirely new interior, what exactly would be considered “not satisfactory”

The bottom line is that the condition was grossly misrepresented and a REAL PPI from a good independent shop would have caught these items. It also makes you wonder just how thoroughly they checked any of the mechanical things on the list too. My local dealer even said “how the hell did they CPO this thing” when they saw it, lol.

 

I had a client that chose your way with a 6 speed 575. About $40,000 later we had it kind of patched up and driveable. Then he sold and went looking for a good one.

 

And a very key phrase there is "Your dealer".

A. There is a good probability they, through your existing relationship knew your standards and sought to satisfy them.
B. They already had you as a client and wanted to keep you.

Neither is unexpected.

Buying from 2000 miles away and having car inspected by someone, anyone 2000 miles away has a very different set of conditions at work.

 

Agree 100%- Hence the "FWIW" But you are IMHO 100% correct- I bought my Hellcat from Ferrari Fort Lauderdale without a PPI BUT was able to physically see/drive the car and it only had 165 miles on it so different scenario.

If I were to find/be interested in a Ferrari (or any car) not being sold at a dealership I have a relationship with I would definitely do a PPI or have "my" dealership procure it- inspect it- and buy it from them pending the inspection results being acceptable.

Cheers

 

In the interest of full disclosure I know SAFE4NOW and know he runs a very quality operation so this has no bearing on him but in support of what you just said I have experienced the exact same situation. One of my clients had a car inspected at a distant location and the entire form was checked with positive marks and all comments were at least neutral but many positive. When I saw the car I was shocked. It had been heavily crashed and poorly repaired. Nothing fit, nothing looked good or worked properly. No form or anything on it matters unless you know the standards of the people filling it out.

 

One "trick" is to get to know the sales manager. They know the cars they sell. They know which ones have been in the shop repeatedly and which ones have not. They know which owners are good, and which ones are not. When a "good owner" wants to sell a "good car," you can be on the short list. But, you need to be ready to move. You can't say well I gotta get mama's permission.

You still want a PPI because Ferrari does not do any product testing. You are the product tester. There is no question that Ferrari makes some lemons. You don't want those cars.