Ferrari, Not for Everyone?

It's not for everyone. Lambo/Audi might just be a better car for you to be honest.

the latest DCT transmissions are going to be trouble. I'm not at all shocked that they failed. If more owners actually drove their cars... I'm sure the numbers would be higher.

California? What were the issues? And the catastrophic issues on the 430.. what defines catastrophic?

I don't know what you do to your cars.. but I've had my 360 for 4 years now and it's been a great car. Though.. with so many issues between many cars... there is one other commonality.. the owner or the repair shop...

 

360 coupe 2004, 7000 miles ,no problem at all(tracked few times)
458 2013, already more than 7500 miles nothing yet (gaz only)
Always heard sometimes the problem is between the seat and steering......
So probably not for everyone

 

After the 3rd gearbox swap out I would have lemoned the car.

 

Sorry, read California thread after I posted. Sounds like a service issue so to speak.

Also sounds like you went to the dealership for most servicing. Might account for the costs and the issues you had.. because I don't know who told you that you have to buy all the hoses.. but that's BS. (Ferrari F430 (05-08) Parts : Table 21 - COOLING SYSTEM)

Also sounds like you may have been harder on your car than most, pushing the components to the limits of their engineering...

 

thats some bad luck. all monday and friday cars.

i have never bought a new car. ever.
so maybe i have been lucky in that i have bought cars that did enough miles to get themselves sorted by the previous owners.

if lambo build quality has improved so much, then maybe i ought to try them sometime.

 

Don't jump to conclusions just yet, this Dealership wouldn't have sold them as a " have to replace all at once " kit , but then again, we weren't the one who serviced the F430 in this instance either.

As for the Cali/458's , Yes, we are the ones who have repaired each of them, correctly, each time I might add.

Sorry, a little defensive, since the OP named the Dealership as a whole , I didn't want anyone thinking my department has done anything but been helpful and offer solutions as needed.


While I cannot speak for the sales department, I am looking into what happened there as well.

Boardwalk as a whole works really hard to NOT be " that Dealership " we want to help be part of the solution.

I am sorry you've left the Ferrari family, but I am happy that you have found a better fit to your needs and look forward to seeing you on the Fall Rally in your new car!

S
:-D

 

Hard to "lemon" a car that comes without factory warranty from the get go < wink >

S

 

With exception to the 3 DCT you've gone through in your Challenge car, I'd have said you would be a shoe in for Ferrari Challenge in 2015!

I wish you had had better experiences with the 458C.

Maybe the Lamborgini racing series might interest you?

Talk to Nathan Dunning if so, tell him I sent you to him.

S

 

Since you described any failure requiring 2 weeks to remedy as catastrophic, I'm afraid to say that a Ferrari isn't for you. AS you said, they are not for everyone.

The problem is that nearly any problem with a Ferrari can take weeks to fix. This is because you are dealing with supply constraints on labor and parts. There are very few shops that service them in every area. And those shops have very limited parts on hand. So when they get your car, you are waiting in line for a mechanic and then you are waiting again when they figure out what parts need to be shipped over from Italy.

This is part of Ferrari ownership and why the majority of Ferraris are not daily drivers. So the problem is one of expectations and your choice to get an exotic as a daily driver. They are called exotic for a reason.

The Audi based Lambos will be slightly better for you if this is your criteria. But you might want to look at a high performance car with better general reliability and service availability like a Porsche or BMW. Or dare I say, a Corvette.

Ferraris are great as long as you understand the ownership experience is not the same as a mass produced car.

 

You definitely have had more than your fair share of problems. l have an 07 430 spider. I've put 14K miles on it since I bought it from the original owner Dec 09. Hardly any issues at all.

 

2 weeks???


There is such a shortage of qualified people, 2 months or more to get an appointment is quite common.


I agree, another make might be the best solution.

 

A couple of your posts refer to the FCA.....FNA is I believe who you are refering to. Sorry to hear about your problems and hope you find the car best suited for you.

 

Wow that's a lot of bad luck. I was thinking this guy must be caning the cars, but by the same token, it is a Ferrari, are you going to put a limit on how hard you can drive it? I would think if you were driving the road cars around like a Challenge car, you would have lost your license by now. Anyone have an idea as to how these gearboxes are getting shredded?

 

Yikes, after reading this starting to think my F430 isnt bullet proof. Should probably get some CAA coverage (Canada)

 

Perhaps Lamborghini expect their cars to fail more than Ferrari do and so they're better set up and prepared for any required "major repairs"?

 

Although i have come close to mentally buying an f car i have concluded they are more trouble than i can tolerate. I could get lucky and land a trouble free car but not worth the risk and headache if i am wrong. Tracking down issues and annoyances that detract or prevent trouble free driving is not my ideal ownership experience .

 

You need to change dealers - call Will and the folks at Ferrari of Atlanta. first class all the way.

Ferrari has rarely cared about its customers for very long. once the check clears they dont even care about their dealers! its the ultimate snobbery.

 

I'm a secondary market guy. Each of my four ferrari's have been near the lowest priced examples out there. That still makes them as expensive as the neighbor's brand new BMW 760il or S class Mercedes, and the difference of course is that I'm taking a risk on an out of warranty low production exotic. Risk is a big part of it. If you can't live with the risk, it's definitely the wrong brand. Don't get me wrong. I completely disagree that Ferrari's are becoming less reliable, quite the opposite. But there's a blowfish sushi aspect to ownership. Low production numbers, more bugs in the field, more chance of an expensive or catastrophic repair. But, generally speaking, for the vast majority of owners, the cost of ownership is going down, not up. The only Fcar owners that aren't assuming risk are paying for that luxury with late model vehicles with warranty. The rest of us do assume a risk. I don't know if it helps for me to tell you that you get used to it. But it's one of the things that separates us from the rest. If you want to drive a $300,000 car for $100,000, you have to be ready for the occasional repair bill you'd expect on a $300k car.

 

Interestimng, maybe we have ayoung owner here so he drives his cars as they are meant to be, as opposed to pootling tot he local C&C. Or maybe he beats on them, you know burnouts etc.

Ferraris are usaly pretty robust machines but need care and feeding.

As to going for Lambo. If you are driving a modern paddle ferrari besides badge is it really any different to lambo. i mean they are all modern cars and pretty much of a like kind.

Get an older ferrari and experience the magic, plus they dont break.