Unprecedented Ferrari bargains on the way...

Us old f*rts bought our cars in the late 70s, early 80s. Don't know what you guys are talking about. Bubble? Simply follow the advice of an old sage, who, after his 5th beer in a downtown Boston bar in 1977 offered to me "...buy quality..., then never sell anything..."

How right he was. My three Dinos, Boxer, 23-Window VW Bus, and Alpine A110 collectively cost less than a used 355 today. But as I continue to follow his advice, value is meanlingless, owing to the fact that if you never sell anything, there is no value. Hopefully my children and their children will enjoy these cars.

Trees don't grow to the sky. Nor do tulips. History is nothing but repeating patterns, and economic sinusoids suggest that there are tops and bottoms. Unfortunately no one can pick the top or the bottom until after they have occurred. My definition of a top? When the price seems ludicrous. A bottom? Hey, I like that car and I can afford it. Simple.

Just remember, when selling anything...your price is determined by your dumbest competitor.

Jim S.

 

I absolutely agree with you, Eric. I own over 30 cars and if it makes me happy, who cares. I am sincerely happy for you and like your logic and principles.

Gus

 

No bargains to be had here, driving a Ferrari was my dream and this one is going nowhere! Of course every car has a price...and mine is about $15k more than I paid for it

 

Not to hijack the thread but I have a question: If the market takes a turn for the worse, will the prices of car parts go down along with the prices of the cars?

 

I hope you're right. The federal reserve is almost out of money so they can't fix anymore bank failures...and I believe some big ones are coming.

 

The American recession is here and Europe will quickly follow. Speculation? You people must read different news than I do and live in different high end towns. Our real estate friends started selling months ago. Our investment banking/hedge fund friends are recovering from recent firings and will list their cars soon. Next up will be our corporate friends. This recession is hitting the rich hard, there will be few soft landings.

 

I have not noticed until recently that it is affecting close to home. Laid off bankers, top producers, are still unemployeed, and whereever I go, I see strip malls empty. Mortgage companies and real estate offices are closing their doors and it is affecting seasoned attorneys, close friends of mine, pretty hard. I have just noticed and I never meddle into other peoples business but I think it will get worse before it gets better.

 

Enzo MSRP in Europe was 660k Euros . Thats $1m today. If the dollar remain as weak , the Enzo replacement will come at over $1m.

 

I know this is very possibly true. A Ferrari dealer offered me a brand new 360 F1 Spyder at msrp the owner didn't buy it and they just called me up on it. I wasn't in the list, but they knew me because they used to service my Testarossa and happened to like me I guess.

 

FYI, analog TVs will work just fine after the digital switchover...you just have to buy $50 conversion box already available at most electronic stores...

 

1000% true but it's sort of like hitting a mini jackpot on a slot machine.
It's just not available to walk in unless you hit the jackpot.
I did get a deal on a ZR1 yesterday but i have a relationship with the dealer and he claims that it's much higher for walk in if you can even get one.
I believe him but what do i know.
Eric

 

No! That's where the real money is. It doesn't matter if you could buy a 355 for $10,000...you're still going to need to fix it. The HUGE money in cars is service and parts. And with Ferraris, everyone knows the more the car sits, the more repairs it's going to need. So, if your car needs parts: 1) Fix it; or 2) Wait, fix it when the economy gets better, realize you have more to fix now because the car sat. Either way, the parts guys make their money...with #2, they make more.

 

This is the difference between new money and old money. New money would buy the multi million dollar homes with IO loans they can barely afford. Then have to sell of everything when markets change. Old money would just shift money into recession proof things like fast food and metals. Look at the metals market. A lot of that gold and silver is sitting in those giant old houses.

Also Real Estate agents made way too much money without doing jack. I know because I got my ex into doing it just so she pull pull a few hundred g's a year from friends who bought and sold property. This was a market waiting to go away and they should have known. Sorry in advance for all of you who may be RE agents. I'm sure some actually work, I just haven't met any.

 

Why? The answer my friend is blowing in the Wind, the answer is blowing in the Wind...

 

It could be worth $20k or $70k...it doesn't matter. I'm keeping her. I need to drive her more, though...only 800 miles in the past 30 months

 

and there will be a waiting list that you cant even get on to buy the sucker

 

That's the way I want to keep it.

 

We'll see how it all unfolds.



_J

 

Re-read my posting. I said PORTABLE TVs. Nobody is going to buy a $50 converter box that plugs into a wall outlet in order to get their hand held portable TV to pick up digital signals. I can't see some redneck at a NASCAR race or football game carrying a hand held TV with a converter box strapped to his back and 500 feet of extension cord running to a wall outlet.

Your portable TV will be worthless after February 2009.

 

Oh dear I feared this might be the case. If the market really does tank, then I imagine some people might get into Fcar ownership w/o realizing the maintenance costs. That's a bad recipe.

 

Having purchased my first Ferrari 3 weeks ago I'm not concerned about a softening market rather the fact that we have what we want. We'll drive it with sheer pleasure and appreciation for the artisians that produced it. If one is worried about a softening market then I suggest they focus on the soon to be flooded (sorry for the pun) American muscle car market.

 

I think that you are correct on the Ferrari repos. I doubt that there are that many that are leased. But who knows? Where are all of the repos? I'm not only looking for a toy, but I'm also looking for a dependable daily driver to replace my trusty BMW with 230K miles. I looked at a 911 Targa today. On paper, a nice car. Should get about 25mpg the way I drive and fun enough to make my commute more enjoyable. Had lots of nice upgrades including premium wheels, carbon fiber interior, remote radar detector, but it needs a new paint job and has been smoked in. Haze, bubbles and scratches everywhere. The car looked like it had never seen the inside of a garage since new. He wants low private party dollars, per kbb. Not a great deal in my mind. Where are the GREAT deals? I refuse to believe that the economy is in the dumper because I cannot find the kind of deals that should be happening if the economy is truly crashing.

 

In my experience, when people are hard up for cash thats when they try to get the most for things. Also many of these people are probably upside down on their loans and will rather get it repoed than have to sell for less than they owe.

 

If at all possible you want to deal with the repo man, not the owner. When you get the emotions of the owner out of the picture you can do business. Lots of repo Fcars in the NYC market. If you want a Porsche, it's even better right now.

 

If you can deal with the owner/seller of any distressed asset you can often negotiate a killer deal before the repo; and when the repo/foreclosure occurs you add expense to the deal.

Do you have any information or source to support the contention there are "lots of repo Fcars in the NYC market"?