F430 Dealer screw up. Help!

You just dont seem to be catching a break with this car.......

 

freak out and DEMAND your money back, plus all repairs be done to YOUR liking.

 

I saw them working on your car yesterday. Cost is absurd as usual for FOA. I would, however, not worry about the crack repair. The shop they use-Bo Pirkle is excellent. The prospect of getting it back on Tuesday is optimistic at best.
I do feel your pain as have been in a similar situation with them in the past- damage to my Stradale bumper. The people in the shop are usually good and careful but pricing for any repair is ridiculous. Unfortunately, this is not reserved for Ferrari alone- Lexus and Mercedes are almost as bad.

 

I don't get why people lower their ferraris. I have lowered many cars in my time.. mostly datsuns. They come stock with 9+ inches of clearance, so sure, we lowered them to 4 inches and redo the suspension so they handle better. But a ferrari is already very low and already handles great. Why phuck with it?

Anything much below the factory height of a 360/355, etc. seems like it's just asking for trouble. My 360 already scraps here and there and I'm super careful when I drive it.

Unless you track the car, I think lowering it is a mistake and makes it too difficult to drive any place but the freeway. Does look good though

Just my 2 cents.

Ray

 

agree

 

the dealer will lower your car???

 

IIRC, the US 430 came jacked up over euro specs, and higher than US 360s.

 

Yeah, I think I heard that also. On the 430's, the gap in the wheel well is more noticable also isn't it? It does look a lot better when they are a bit lower, but boy, you must pay a price on drive ways

I was going to install skid plates on my 360, but in the end decided against it. I don't really want any more stuff down there sticking out. If the skid plates were only 1/8 inch, I might install something like that, but the ones I have seen appear to be 1/4 inch or larger.

Ray

 

At stock height, I still scrape - and given the number of posts here by other F430 owners that scrape, we don't seem to need any help in that department.

Stock is fine - After a few weeks of driving, it drops a bit from the delivery height and looks just fine IMHO.

 

How much does it go down by?...and is this due to the suspension settling or?... ( I had never heard of this happening before...but maybe you mean that you just tend to notice it less afcter driving it and enjoying that fabulous engine...)
..Please clarify...Thanks

 

um...does anyone know if there is a suspension kit where you can electronically control ride height from the cabin? is it possible to do with the 430? would it add too much weight, complexity, etc? just curious...

 

also, sorry to hear about your plight...tough luck there. hope it gets resolved correctly in a timely manner...

all the best...

 

kinda reminds me of a story involving my friend Mike. Years ago (I guess about 20 years now), he had this little black car. I don't remember what it was, but he took it to this shop in town and told them "slam it to the ground". So he gets back to work after lunch and comes in all flustered. We go out and look at the car and it's about 2 inches off the ground, literally.

He said "Yeah, they lowered the lift and it looked great.. and I said, yeah, that looks great.. then the lift went completely down and the car sank another 2 inches... and they couldn't get it off the lift and I thought 'dang, that's pretty low'"

Ray

 

Ray -

Basically, the 430 comes into the US with a ride height 1/2" to 3/4" higher than Euro ride height (and higher than the 360 for that matter). I've been told the DOT got after them for headlight and bumper height minimums. The intention is to get the car to the ride height it was designed for. I don't scrape my nose any more than I did in my 360, which I did not lower.

Gary

 

Gotch'ya - that makes sense. How much did you lower your 430?

Ray

 

Would having the dealer replace the entire front bumper be a better option than fixing the cracks?

If the dealer seems like they are going to work with you then I think thats the best you can do. Its a shame, I feel for you. The good news is all of these annoyances can be resolved.

best regards,
Jerry

 

Ray (and Philip) -

I went conservative, right at 1/2"

Gary

 

Sounds like a very wise call - just enough to improve the looks, but not so much that you feel like you are missing the 20 inch spinning rims

Ray

 

ohlins makes a lift kit that has to be adapted to the make and model.

 

phillip,
sorry to hear about the problem.
we need an f-car dealer in town!
hope you get things worked out quickly.

btw why don't you let me have that rs allocation back?

 

philip,
i'm beginning to get the idea that you are ignoring me!?