What is up with this looooooong ass wait?

If the customer is willing to accept the lien, it's completely do-able. If that's they only way he can get his car, then he'll do it. The dealer has been around for 30 or 40 years. The buyer is a Ferrari addict, and has got to have the newest one no matter what. He routinely gets KILLED reselling cars... in fact he offered me his last had-to-have car at a six-figure loss today. Lots of successful people go kooky when it comes to cars. It's like everything else in a hot market -- hype.

 

Great post.

I think the lusting is definitely part of the whole emotional need. But, I think the big part is knowing yourself well and knowing what you'll actually enjoy.

I bought a Porsche 993 after I sold my Mercedes, just because the 911's had always been kind of held out there as the sports car a successful young professional guy should be driving. It was a great car, but I kept checking around highline dealers' inventories for something else. For the last 25 years, the cars that kept coming back to mind were the 308 and 328 -- they just looked right, had all the right motorsports connotations and more importantly no one I knew had one. (I grew up in Cleveland.) I mean, I saw one Ferrari -- a 308 -- during the first 20 years of my life.

If someone had just handed me the keys to a 308/328 when I was twentysomething, I think you're right. The wanting would've beat the having. But by the time I had the discretionary income to go out and pay cash for a Ferrari as a second car, there was the 348, TR and 355 that were very doable. But I saw the 328 next to all the newer cars and I knew that was the 'it' car for me. So, while the shopping is fun, I can definitely tell you that when I head out to the garage and see her parked there -- and don't see any others like her, ever -- I get a rush from that as well.

I think too many people try to make it into a 'how much money can I possibly spend on a trophy car' proposition. It's not. If you're a car guy, there will be cars that just do it for you. There are a lot of great cars that really leave me cold -- like the 911, Corvette, NSX, Paganis, Saleens, etc. If you set your sights on something rare and worthwhile, there's usually a wait to find it and buy it, and you'll appreciate it more.

 

order a new ferrari and for the waiting time buy pre-owned f-car

 

Been waiting over 3.5 years for a 430 Spider. Maybe I'll get lucky and get in on the newer model. Nah. I'll get the last 430 Spider made and the price will drop like a rock.

But I have a 360 spider to drive while I'm waiting. Not even close to tired if the 360 yet. So, life is good.

 

The waiting for a car that you want is a real pain. I can hang on so long and then I usually buy something to tide me over. I agree that Lambo is catching a lot of guys who want but can not get a new F car. I think Lambo is forcing F to get better as well. It's a tough call.

 

+1

 

I don't think Ferrari is concerned with maximizing profits. If they were, they'd build another factory to spit out the demand. Although their production is increasing (sad as it is), they're still pretty exclusive in the new car market. It's the used one's that are selling everywhere with no regulation. If you got the $$, you can buy a used one. No exclusivity there at all. I guess it's always been that way though, but with the increase in wealth worldwide, more and more people are buying Ferrari's, especially those 360's.

It's obvious they knew you weren't going to buy a car. I highly doubt they'd tell a real potential client the same thing. That's absurd.

 

Even ultra exclusive brands want to increase profits. The problem with increasing production is that although short term profit is increased, it may ultimately hurt long term profit by hurting the brand image.

When I recently bought a new Mercedes, the salesman told me this true story: a scruffy guy with dreadlocks and eating french fries walks into his dealership. He looks at an SL65. Nobody wants to talk to him. Finally a young salesman goes up to him and he asks for the price. It is $180,000. He said he has to go get a check, but the salesmans knows it is just an excuse to get away. Then he pulls out a wrinkled check from his back pocket and writes the check. His last name is Getty.