Fascinating
of the 53 GTB's that I started tracking back in late May 43 have sold, of the remaining 10 one is sub 300 (really low options) and 2 are still fighting to get sticker or slightly above. I made very reasonable offers back in late August on 2 of the higher asking price cars still available , now they will be collecting far less than my offer.
That one for $299k is not a low option car, it was $412,500 back in 2022, which is a $432k car spec'd today, and it's never been titled despite having 4500 miles. The reason it hasn't sold is because it was a Ferrari Corso Pilota track car and is rough. I too have been tracking 296's since the spring but I have followed and located where some have ended up. Many of them didn't actually sell to clients but went to other dealers. I have been tracking the VINs on some and you'd be surprised how many are just playing hot potato between dealers right now. There are about 200 GTBs for sale on Cars.com and about 25% have sat or bounced around since last summer. There are also about 1.5 brand new GTBs at every dealer in the US that customers walked away from, and I found this out by calling several dealers across the country and just asked. Every dealer has at least one. Many have two. At about 41 dealers in the country, that's at least 60 new GTBs, bringing today's total available inventory to 260 coupes and roughly 80 to 85 GTSs new and used. This is on a current production car that still has two more years left in it's cycle. Similar problem with the SF90 market, except Ferrari seems to have cut the coupe short a bit early to control the inventory surge and lack of interest. This has never happened to the brand in my lifetime, not even 2008. The F430 didn't have 250 cars in the market, or this many people walking away from their builds, even during the worst of times. The 296 is an amazing car, but the numbers don't lie. There is a problem, whether it be the stigma of hybrids, the economy, the over-production, or all of the above. It's not the V6, if it were, then the SF90 wouldn't be suffering the same fate. Clearly unprecedented times for the brand.
LV has like 9 296s indoors and several sitting outdoors and I would guess about half are orphaned and untitled. Cold feet, financing issues and sadly several I understand are due to recent illness that makes such a purchase impractical or a burden. I think it would have to look back to the early 80s to see this kind of malaise. I've heard that back then cars did sit around a bit. Before the late 80s Japan RE boom and stock recovery that was the first wave of stratospheric F40 and vintage 250/275 pricing. I didn't get diehard about Ferrari until the mid-late 90s so I have more memory about that but yeah I remember 355s on the dealer floors but then the 360 was such an incredible smash hit. When I started here in 2003, 360 Spiders were still commanding crazy money and then Stradales were hot hot hot. One obvious issue is that they're just not making the cars the enthusiasts want.* If they listened to us here, they would make 1. a car that still drove like a 458, looks like a Pista or F8, and 2. they would have limited run, lightweight manuals... that are basically what Gordon Murray is doing. Making the Best Driving Sportscar in the World. I really don't know anyone who described their perfect Ferrari to me and it was a Roma. Or even the FF/Lusso even though I like them. And I can't remember anyone saying, "I wish Ferrari had made an SUV." I'm not saying those are bad cars, they're all fine in their own way but it's not Ferrari responding to market desire. No one asked for steering by wire. Touch screens and touch wheels. We actually said keep the start/stop button but no, WE are wrong. Well guess who is spending the MF money!? I feel like Ferrari right now is making cars from committees and then telling us buyers why we want it. "Sure, you don't want a 4,000lb V8TT Hybrid but this is why you SHOULD want it." "A v6TT-H is better for the sports car and you're going to like this better." "A muffed, raspy V8TT, touch screen ridden convertible with fake rear seats is what you need for a daily-driveable convertible." What a crap position to be in when they have to *sell* us on it again, after two decades of hits! *Ok, I concede that there are some desirable cars like the 812Comp/Aperta, SF90XX and SP3. But that's messed up that the driver oriented sport models that come closest to market desire are the extremely limited ones...
This is also what Lotus has done with the Emira. However its not selling very well either and depreciation is not great on it. It seems that what enthusiasts say they want, and what they actually buy are not the same thing. Personally I think the issue with the 296 is really just one of over production combined with the proliferation of 'custom' builds. It used to be 80% of the cars were red/tan so it wasn't hard to find one you liked. Now there are so many wonky builds out there, particularity with the addition assetto nose. I was looking at 296s but it irked me that I would have to pay the same to get someone else's cast off design while other people who got an allocation got to choose exactly what they wanted. With how customizable the cars are now (or at least how common customizing them is) it seems perfectly reasonable that buyers should pay a premium to be able to customize them and folks who don't get to customize them (aka off the lot / used) should get a discount.
Almost all car prices are plummeting - including other exotics and including run-of-the-mill EVs. Most exotic car purchases are aware of depreciation. If they know car prices are tanking across the board, then they’ll even be extremely averse to buy cars that could depreciate 150k or more. Taking a $50k hit on an EV is one thing, but taking a $150k hit is three times as reckless. So people are too scared to go buy.
I think the situation was similar in the early '90s, although Ferrari was in a different scale at the time. There was a real estate crash in Europe; Ferrari then significantly reduced its production (which did never happen before) and it took several years to reach the same level again. As today, there were cases of Ferrari dealers suing customers who wanted to cancel orders (which is never the case when demand exceeds supply).
It’s not all. I’ve been looking for a 2024-2025 911 Turbo/TurboS and their supply is very limited and their prices are astounding.
I may have missed this one. Are Ferrari dealers suing customers who canceled 296 orders? I had assumed their only recourse was to keep customers’ deposits.
Just keeping deposits, in the states that allow it. Contract lays out those damages if a buyer cancels.
Apparently it's happening in Germany now, for an SF90. In the '90s I remembervit happening in France.
I haven’t either. And I have been told the deposit is only non refundable once it goes into production. That makes sense to me, my specs are pretty down the middle so selling them isn’t probably horrible but some of the specs out there….hmmmm…..they make some time and hits on the $$
Don't confuse the person pretending to be a "car guy" on the internet with a real "enthusiast". Too many of the internet car guys can't afford a new Trax. If all the guys on the internet that LOVED the Viper had actually BOUGHT a Viper, it might still be with us. Same with the Emira. Lots of big talk on the internet...not lots of check writing. It's too bad for Lotus, but they've screwed the U.S. launch a million ways to Sunday. You really got to be a "steering" aficionado to buy an Emira over a C8 Stingray/Cayman GTS.
can someone continue the entertainment> when is someone going to post an out of context post about a 296 for sale at 195K? (remember to omit the salvage title). i have fresh popcorn and 15 min of free time here.
‘Tis but a scratch and will buff right off. https://www.copart.com/lot/81647524/salvage-2024-ferrari-296gtb-ca-rancho-cucamonga
Contractually the same here. Once production starts, the chance of getting the deposit back is pretty slim.
Well put. I have become a steering aficionado and moved to Evora GT manual and GT4 RS over a pair of manual and PDK 992 GT3s. Actual front end movement was better on the 992, feel better on Evora, the but didn't like the sound of the 992 GT3 (992 Dakar sounds awesome though). Really wanted to like C8 Z06 esp as prices ar efalling, but the car feels big to me and steers like a videogame. 296 also steers like a videogame but I got one because it drives smaller and sounds as good as the Z06 to me. Sorta wish I liked McLarens more because they do the comfort thing better than Porsche and the steering feel better than Ferrari (not news to anyone).
There are only 16 for sale, and I don't see a single one priced $140K below the sticker. I don't know where you got that info but here's the link to my search: Ferrari 296 GTB for Sale Near Me in Austin, TX - Autotrader Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I use: https://preowned.ferrari.com/en-US/r/north-america/used-ferrari/usa/296-gtb/rfcm?z=price-asc And as I think has been noted, the $300k Seattle one sold.
This one is. MSRP $520k List Price: $475k https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1456347 Image Unavailable, Please Login
My numbers come from Ferrari preowned website that list the cars available at dealers. Please look at actual ones for sales at dealership and not autotrader. https://preowned.ferrari.com/en-US Here are some quick examples of ones. You can look at the ones at Ft. Lauderdale and other and add up the options and see 140 and 150k off. Miller Motorsport. 491k msrp and listed for 370k https://www.millermotorcars.com/2022-ferrari-296-gtb-c-7480/ Ferrari central Florida. Msrp over 500k and listed for 380k https://www.ferraricf.com/inventory/used-2024-ferrari-296-gtb-rwd-2dr-car-zff99sla0r0301685/ Ferrari Seattle. Msrp 505k and listed for 380k. https://www.ferrariofseattle.com/used-Seattle-2022-Ferrari-296+GTB-Assetto+Fiorano-ZFF99SLA1N0281599