Seems hard to buy a Ferrari!

Last week I sent Email messages to three different dealers that have cars I thought I might be interested in, asking for more specific info and also about sending a deposit to hold the car pending my visit/inspection. Haven't heard a word back from any of them. All of them provided specific email contacts for "sales" representatives.

Is this normal? Seems like if I was in the business of selling something, I'd want to get back to a potential buyer. But I have never tried to buy a Ferrari before...

 

Part of the problem is that we live in Mexico City (job-transfer) and phoning to the US is extremely expensive. So I figured that since they claim that their salespeople will respond "within 24 hours," it would be a lot easier and less expensive, especially at this stage of looking.

Preferred car is now a 328 with some interest in the 355. I realize that's rather a large variation in model choice but I've determined after several weeks of research that the 348 is no longer on the list. I am not interested in purchasing a Mondial but I had some curiosity-related questions about the differences mechanically between it and the 328. I like the look and "classic" nature of the 328 and the performance of the 355.

I have also contacted some private individuals today requesting more information on cars they have for sale. I hope they are more responsive!

 

Hmm...we use Skype all the time when my wife is out of the country to talk to each other. I don't know why I didn't think of using that to call the dealers. We don't use it to call family because our parents have trouble hearing sometimes and it's harder for them with Skype and sometimes the connection is better than others. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

 

True, anyone CAN write an email but with an email there is a record of what's going on and I find it far better than trying to remember what I think I heard somebody say. I just find it rather odd that someone who is selling something doesn't have the time or inclination to respond to an email with the prospect of getting money from me, especially when they state on their website how quickly they will respond to emails.

I emailed a private owner this morning and received a nice message back this eve answering all my questions, adding additional info and with the pics I requested - just as I would do for someone asking me about a car I was selling. My inclination is to buy something from someone who exhibits common courtesy rather than someone who does not. It's not as if these cars are rare so a seller can act like an A##h0le knowing that a buyer has no other choice. Sales is about SELLING and selling is about treating a potential customer like what they are - possible MONEY for the seller.

Oops sorry for ranting!

 

OK, to be fair, I got an email this morning from the Sales rep at one of the dealers and he was quite nice. So maybe I was a bit to hard on them.

Oh - the car was sold yesterday. Maybe if they had contacted me within 24 hours as they advertise (instead of 6 days), it would have been to me!

Enrique - thanks, I emailed back...

 

There are always several running around our part of town (the Polanco area of Mexico City) on weekends. As I think about it, I see more of them here than I did when we lived on Long Island. But here they are all new or nearly new models. The Ferrari dealer is about three blocks from our house. The general "assumption" amongst the folks where my wife works is that if you have a new Ferrari, you are probably into some sort of illegal activities. Whether that's true or not, I have no idea. I wouldn't drive on here, the traffic is horrendous. Take the most complex and crowded traffic city in the US and double or triple it and you have Mexico City. It's truly a wild west on wheels and what we consider normal traffic courtesy, doesn't exist.

However that being said, it's not hard to drive here once you get into the unwritten rules of the road. There are nearly NO accidents which, at first glance, seems unbelievable. But frankly they pay a lot more attention to what's going on BECAUSE traffic can come from ANY direction - through the red light, the wrong way on the one way street, turning from the right lane across the left lane to make a left turn, etc, etc, etc.

It would be GREAT to have a Ferrari here OUTSIDE of Mexico City. There are some great roads. The road from here to Cuernavaca is wonderful to drive fast though the downside is your car loses a lot of power since Mexico City is at 7400 ft and you climb to 9000+ over the mountains to drop back into Cuernavaca which is at around 8500 ft. I'm told that folks with the appropriate car and so inclined often hit 150MPH on the road to Acapulco for extended stretches. Yes, there are speed limits...