Sheehan Sez - Avoid Ferrari Chat!

From the perspective of a seller, including a dealer, mention of damage in a Carfax report can kill a car, regardless of the actual amount of damage. Some dealers find that a car that's only been involved in a fender bender becomes a very hard sale.

I'm all for disclosure of accurate information; the idea of hiding from the internet is very 90s. Good luck with that.

OTOH I have seen inaccurate information circulated on the internet about my own cars. I have received inaccurate information about my cars from internet experts. I have received inaccurate information about cars from well known brokers, at least one of whom should have known better. Who knows, maybe I have unwittingly circulated inaccurate information - I hope not.

There are so very few people you can trust. And I think part of the problem is buyers who want a perfect car, but aren't sophisticated or energetic enough to do the legwork, or willing to pay up for perfection.

I agree with Rob that fchat has been good for owners.

 

Actually, you may want to read the latest on that.

Of course I don't have a link, and can't remember if I saw it in print or net..... but apparently the plot has thickened.

Try a yahoogle search

 

+10

 

There is a thread down in Vintage about it.....

 

Agree with you and Jim, but had a two confrontations with dealers telling me to stay off this forum and of course those aren't sponsors.

 

This is sort of like when Barrett Jackson kicked Keith Martin out of the auction for saying the Muscle cars were over valued on speed chanel.... People only want to here what you say as long as it does not impact their business....

 

Yes to your first two questions, to avoid the forum.

I never intended to cause any trouble between them and those customers they consider very important, but posting positive about my new car or talking about it was causing them problems. I saw letters sent from members that included printed posts with mine highlighted. In one letter a member wrote them to not sell me a car, someone else called me a small fish, etc...

The person who directly gave me several talks doesn't work there anymore

 

wow, if a dealer or any other business that i give my hard earned cash to had the nerve to try to dictate what i do with my life i would quote them the title to cee-lo green's last hit and lay rubber off their lot. truth be told if i didn't know about this site and a dealer told me that i would break records searching for this site. this is a great site rob, keep it up!

 

That is funny. I once offered him access to the most pristine 330gt on the planet, and all I got back was a lengthy explaination of how the lower tier Ferrari's are of no interest to him. You just can't generate enough income out of a car like that.

 

or maybe Ferrari Advocacy Group *** LOL

 

Thread hijack: let me tell you all about how I sidestepped my clutch and switched to recycled motor oil.

 

When I got the email I was lmao.

 

Zing.

Zing.


These made me seriously LOL.


Anyone advising owners to hide information is shady.

 

"Anyone advising owners to hide information is shady."


I have heard this from a couple dealers and a body shop:

Let's say you have a brand new 599 GTO. As you are pulling up to your house for the first time, one of the workers building your new pyramid shaped garage/shrine backs his pick-up out of your driveway and into your GTO. It's really a fender bender, not a lot of damage, but Ferrari prices being what they are: $25,000 in repairs.

If you make a claim, get a police report, Carfax may note the damage and your eventual loss on resale may be far greater than $25,000. You could argue diminshed value with your insurer. Or you might be inclined to pay the damage out of your own pocket, and not involve police or insurance.

That's my understanding of how the incentives work in the age of Carfax. Buyers tend to treat Carfax damage reports as the kiss of death. I'd personally disclose any damage to one of my cars, as I suspect most here would. But everyone should be aware that there are strong financial incentives to keep problems off Carfax radar. Yet another reason for the emptor to caveat.

 

"For the life of me, I cannot get my 24-year old son to check his e-mail. The ONLY way to communicate with him is via text. He thinks the Internet is old school."


Dale, does he answer his cell phone? My 22 yo daughter won't check e-mail and won't answer the phone (at least when her father calls). Text only.

 

It's FoH Body Shop, posting here, the Sales side quietly monitors, and never says a word.....


Mr. Risi (not him I am referencing in this post) is a polite and cordial gentleman in my experience, he has signed some Team things for me, and I rode with him in an elevator at the FFQC, thanking him for his $$$$$ support of the event.

Nice guy.

 

Ouch.

 

Sounds like Sheehan is telling folks not to ask for repair advice, or make insurance claims if their car has been damaged, because it could potentially cut into HIS bottom line, if the car passes through his hands at some point.

Anybody can make a post about a particular car on fchat, and it seems sombody on here either owned it, or knew sombody that did at one time. Some of the techs here could really give you the full story on quite a few cars.

Mr Sheehan appears to be scared of the large data base ferrarichat has become. And is also scared of carfax, because it cuts into his profits. Suddenly he has very well informed buyers looking to buy cars. He now must disclose everything about the car, else risk being found out at the stroke of the keyboard.

The internet has changed the used car market dramatically. And it's put the hurt on many used car dealerships. Profits are no where near what they used to be.

 

Used Google to check some dealers for a recent Audi purchase. Good and bad comments and some horrible ones by customers. Don't recall seeing anything so bad on Fchat.

 

I have bought a couple of cars that were brokered by Mike Sheehan.

I have to say criticizing sales approaches 3 1/2 years after the last post is kind of out of date.

Mike was always upfront and honest in descriptions. I never had a feeling I was "sold" something by Mike.

What arrived was what was expected. I wouldn't hesitate doing business with Mike again.