Guys, have my eyes on a Scuderia - recently moved to Manhattan and seeking advice from locals that park their exotics in downtown area on two fronts: 1) any recommendations on garages that are trustworthy and won't kill me on the monthlies. I am located in the tribeca area. 2) what can you tell me about any ride height issues with the scud? The other option I was looking at is the Carrera GT but the ride height on that vehicle is a serious problem for practical use Any other ownership thoughts that I should be aware of?
I dont know about a scud but I can tell you that a 360 is not a good vehicle to take into NYC and that a Sucd would be just as bad and possibly worse for the follwing reasons: 1. unwanted attention - folks pull stupid manuevers to get close (driving or walking) 2. pot holes and poor road surfaces make for a bone jarring ride 3. no offense to NYC garage owners, but you are risking bumper rash and door dings at every location good luck arguing fault If none of this bothers you, ride height is not as bad as many other sports cars (Lotus, Viper)
But keep my Ferrari's at my house in AZ, however I keep an SL55 at a new garage in Brooklyn heights, its very spacious, costs $200 a month, and its a 5 min drive from the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn bridge... This would be a better option, the Manhattan garages will KILL your car. PM me for garage details...
I've blown three tires on potholes(craters) in my F430. I've changed to run-flats so I can get home. One of the three was a run-flat. The City is hell on tires! Joe
I think the tire/pothole issue has been discussed enough. Regarding the parking question, I drive in every day and park my M5 at the Battery Parking garage. It's on the west side, beside the West Side Hwy, right near the Battery Park underpass. The nice thing is that your car isn't parked by an attendant - you self-park, you take the keys, your car isn't moved around all the time. There are some areas where the spots are a bit oversized - I always park in those areas and after 2+ years of parking there I still don't have a single door ding. I frequently see very nice cars there, including a couple of Astons. $440 a month, come and go as you please.
Live in Westchester.. Take train to city. I know on rare occassion I see an exotic in Manhattan, but personally if you are particular, there is no way you can drive around in NYC without inviting some mishap of some kind.. The streets alone are a disaster. I have never driven anything but an SUV into the city.
One option you have is to join one of the private track clubs nearby. They can store your car. You arrive and drive. Very convenient and safe for your car.
I live in Tribeca now 10 years and kept most exotic cars in the central garage on North Moore street between hudson and greenwich street.We have a 599 a F430 spider a carrera GT a porsche turbo etc. etc. The guys are terrific and if you want to park your own car and then cover it NO PROBLEM.Myself an the other guys there with super exotics never really had any issues. If you want to contact me regarding seeing the place and talking with them please email me at; [email protected] Welcome to the neighborhood Steve
I have my 360 and my Testarossa here in the city as well, I park in quick park and pay them $50 extra per car per month to have my own spot. They call that park and lock. It's only in NYC that you have to pay extra to park your own car it's like going to a resturant and pay extra to cook your own food. The other day I couldn't get my TR started and had to get it tow to the dealer. The towing company charged me $150 extra just to get it out of the under ground garage and use wood planks as "special" tools to get it on the flat bed. Driving around the city is lots of fun, everyone is snapping pictures, screaming, cute girls will ask to see if they can get a ride but the massive amount of pot holes will cause you to scream louder than your exhaust. 1 pot hole you will be calling the tow truck. I just upgraded my AAA to the plus membership for this reason. One other thing, if you have a "exotic" car, most garages will charge you a "exotic" price. parking a Ferrari will run about $650-$1200 per spot depending on where you park. With that money living in Westchester, you can get another Porsche as a daily driver in to the city.
thanks very much for the comments - super useful. I have walked by the garage on north moore and seen the 599 in there and suspected that this might be a good spot. Surprised that the CGT is in there, can it get out without scraping the underbody?? The ramps into NYC garages seem to be steeper than normal .. i live in BPC north currently but actually moving to tribeca in the near future. So either the battery place garage that brian mentioned is park your own or the n. moore garage would work well. on the other hand as hotcello commented the sad truth is that if i just moved to greenwich i could use garage money to get another daily driver toy .. oh well
Beirut is better than most cities when it comes to parking, but the streets are pretty bad. It seems every time we pave a new road, they end up excavating it again to lay down pipes and wires. Of course they could do it all at once rather than dig and patch up the new asphalt, but they would be making less money that way...god forbid. I guess (depending on which city you live in) we are all gonna have to accept that some places are just not supercar friendly.
We have no problem with hitting the front end at the North Moore Garage.When leaving the garage you just need to exit at an angle. We installed front skid plates anyway for the general NYC driving. Steve
Driving around (even in my M5) in downtown Manhattan with all the construction these days, sometimes I think that all 4 of my tires are going to end up in deep potholes at the same time, and the car is literally just going to be sitting on the belly of the car! Ironically, 2 nights ago I had a dream that I arrived at my car in the parking garage and found 2 of the tires flat. Then yesterday, about 10 minutes into my trip home (I was on the FDR Drive) I got a FTM warning (flat tire) on my dash. Long story short, something had caused a cut on the inner sidewall of my front tire...it's still at the dealership waiting for a replacement tire! Thank goodness for tire insurance... Brian
I know you guys are making a lot of money, but man, life is so much simpler down SOUTH. This is a non issue in God's Country. Head South.
Gary, I could not agree more... I used to live in Columbia until a few months ago (I'm sure you know David S. and Danny B...), now in NYC and parking my classic (not a Ferrari) is a nightmare. My brief experience is: find a garage where you can get your own spot and PARK IT BY YOURSELF. As much as you can tip, you still get the scratches and dents (not to mention those F1 clutches up in smoke). At least my '60 Mercedes doesn't care about potholes... Luca
As said, NYC roads and NY state roads for that matter SUCK.. one other option is to get a space in Bedford Hills.. great facility, 350 a mo and you can walk from the train station.. PM me if you want more info
A year ago I had an idea of buying a warehouse in Edgewater New Jersey which is directly across the Hudson near 100 street area. There was a factory that went bankrupped and half of the factory was inside the cave inside the moutain and the other half you can see it on River road. I thought it was a great idea to buy it and convert into a extotic car garage where you can have your own spot, lifts for people who wants to do their own works and detail station for those of us who likes detailing our own cars. The best part is there will be a sitting area with large flat screen TV for game times or just hanging out. Well, thought it was a great idea till I called the broker to ask for the price. $3.5 million. Well, was a great idea though right?
No, No.... Life is horrible down here. You won't like it. 30 minutes on curvy mountain roads to the grocery store. No stop lights, not many cops, schools are crap-no taxes here... Plus HUGE yards that you have to mow all the time and tons of privacy-- you won't have any friends. And no restaurants either-I have to drive(on a curvy mt. road with no cops) for 90 minutes to get to the nearest sushi restaurant... Stay in the north where there is all that good life and leave the crap life to us rednecks...