Is this a record?

My 348 has been in the shop now for 16 weeks for the 30,000 mile service. No it's not a Ferrari dealer and I thought I had fully interviewed the mechanic.
Every week it's, "well I found this other part that needs to be replaced so we're shoving your car to the side while we work on this Land Rover, Porsche, whatever the F.
Yes I'm stupid. Bought my first Ferrari in March of this year and was excited, took it for the 30k service to a shop in my area and 16 weeks later with the car still there I'm ready to explode( I'm venting and BTW I deserve being lit up by smart A** remarks- anything to help me vent).

Ok, anyone else have gone longer than 16 weeks( without any major repairs that is) or am I the new bench mark?


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Wow... mine was only in for about 4 weeks but that also included finding a few issues we had to order parts for.... have you gone to the shop to actually look at the car?

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Vince,

I have my F355 Challenge and 550 serviced at a Factory-authorized service shop. You'd be surprised at how many calls they get from shops with minimal experience attempting to do Ferrari major services asking for assistance.

Barry

 

Where did you go?

Pull it from the shop NOW

Take it to HESCO in Birmingham or FoA?

 

There's a line toward the end of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark where Harrison Ford's in some cave and makes some correct decision where an old sage says, slowly, deliberately: "You chose well."

Guess what. You didn't. That said, a good Ferrari, especially your first one, will teach you things...

 

I'm curious as to your " interview process".

Also to my first question...have you been to see the car?

I hope your story doesn't turn into a similar story as Megan who took her black 348 to a "reputable mechanic" who ended up royally effing up her car. Her posts are on here about it.

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75% of the time required to fix a Ferrari is in waiting for the parts, especially the obscure one. Still, 16 weeks for a major is a very long time. Truck it someplace else? Find a good DIY site, wait you are on one.

 

Hmmm....call me crazy - when I need parts I typically can source and have them in hand in 24-48 hours.

We are not talking about restoring a Ferrari from the 50's here....

Sound like the shop is working on what they feel are other priorities. Pay them a visit, have a detailed discussion about what they feel the delay is caused by. If it's unreasonable or it smells bad, pull the car and get it to someone else.

 

+ 348!



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Thanks for the replies.
I've been there every week. The engine is out and everything is taken apart. Awaiting a timing belt tensioner now or something. I was too pissed to pay attention when I went by there today. Yeah my mistake and I'm paying for it. I feel it's too late to pull the car since the engine is all apart. I'll just have to be patient. My interview process consisted of me printing off a checklist of sorts from the 348 DIY. The mechanic answered most of my questions before I asked as well as seemed knowledgeable overall with Ferraris. I'm on St Simons Island, Ga. He also seems to be meticulous and has been very good at showing me questionable parts that need to be replaced ( thus the wait for them to order and the part to come in). I'm just tired of going by and not seeing progress. Though the mechanic had pointed out several problems ( timing belt tensioner pads on backwards, nut laying in bottom of pan because the tensioner was failing, etc., I just think 16 weeks in WAYYYY past due. I've been the nice understanding guy through the process, but today I snapped when they said another part had to be ordered( as many times I was promised they would get back on the car on Monday only to find out it was Wednesday or Thursday when they got to it, found the bad part and everything stops again).
Thanks for hearing me out, I know ultimately the fault is mine and I hope the final outcome is my car comes back to me well sorted.


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Barry,

You would be surprised at the number of pros who have asked me for information and I'm not a pro.

Hope your season on track has been good. I had my last race at Watkins Glen a few weeks ago. Weather was perfect and flyfishing local rivers great too. What a fantastic track. What a fun and beautiful area. I was surprised by a hot 16" brown trout that broke off my light line. You guys that run WGI regularly with all those walls to hit are real men. It took me the whole weekend to start getting the track. I had super fun but dismal 2:15 flat laptimes with traffic. I'm sure if I had another weekend I could lop off another 5 seconds maybe more. Dang walls and all the banking play tricks with my brain. My next race is Runoffs at Indianapolis.

 

Vince - call the shop and setup a meeting in the next couple days. Go there calm. Have an open discussion stating that you understand the challenges but are frustrated with the timeline. Ask them "what do you need to properly complete this project without compromise ". Ask, "I need a reasonble estimate on when the work will be complete ". Be clear that you will hold them to it.

Stuff happens and that is to be understood but 16 weeks is a bit much without knowing the entire (both sides) story

Now, if they told you from the start that they had a xxx week backlog and could not start until a certain time, that's a totally different situation. Everyone has limited capacity.

We often have customers that expect we can refinish their parts in a couple weeks when we often have a 4 week backlog.

 

These cars are very easy to work on. So easy in fact that the Stooges exist because of it. I know you are in GA but if you flew out a Stooge or shipped your car in a box of parts to Cali we could have your car ready to drive home in a weekend! That is how easy these cars are to service. I say give the guy an ultimatum drop dead time to completion or you will show up with a tow truck and remove the car from his shop. He will get nothing for failure to complete and you may buy the parts he has already ordered at your discretion if the removal process is uneventful. Then give him 1 more day because guys like that will promise they can do the job by friday and be ready until saturday. If he fails just tow it out to another shop and move on. Sometimes you are the bug and sometimes the windshield.

My friend bought our very own copter John's 348 (former bushmobile) that was near perfect. For his paranoia I pull the motor on a friday, did the service, and had him enjoying his car on Sunday! Who-Hoo it is summertime and time to get these cars on the road!

 

I was told it would take 4 weeks, but could be as little as 3. I think a large part has to do with my car getting bumped back in the order. When they told me 4 weeks in my mind I thought ok, I'll be OK with as long as 12 since I live nearby and can visit weekly.




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Vince - that was yesterday, not today. You need to reset the clock and go about it how I stated or similar. It's project management. You need to state your frustrations, ask what the obstacles are and get them to commit to a timeline that is reasonable. It sucks to have to manage someone you hired but sadly it happens a lot.

 

I agree 100% and thank you for the advice.

I'll post again when I've had a chance to meet with the shop.


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It shouldn't take anymore than one week for one person to do an engine out service on a 348. One day to get the motor out. One day to remove the belt covers, belts, cam covers.
At this point you should know all of the extra parts that are needed in addition to the regular service parts which should have been procured ahead of time. They can be ordered on the second day and will arrive in time to complete the service. Another day to clean everything, install the cam seals, belt pulleys, water pump if needed, time the cams and adjust that valves. One day to install all of the cam covers, belt covers, spark plugs/ ignition wires, replace the fuel filters and start reinstallation of the motor. One last day to finish installation of motor, fill all fluids, run motor and check throttle body synch.

Unless there are other things that need attention outside of the normal service: Clutch, etc, it is basically 5 working days to complete the job. What things are they replacing that are taking so long? How much labor are they charging you for the job? I hope it's not by the hour.

If it takes me any longer than 5 days, I am losing money on the job.

 

Sounds like they're doing the work "in between" other jobs. It also sounds like they have to move vehicles around due to lack of space, i.e. shifting priorities.

 

Brian - I greatly appreciate your detailed and comprehensive posts from Pro experience. Thank you.

 

FBB,

I was at Lime Rock Park a couple of weeks ago. Two fun days and rain held off until after the track went cold. We go back to Watkins Glen in five weeks for three days. A lot of track time to hone our skills. Yes, there are walls and Armco all over the place. Tracking out on Turn 11 onto the front straight is always a bit of a concern with that wall so close to the curbing. But it's fun and it's important to remember that it's an HPDE event; we're not going home with any trophies.

Both WGI and LRP are in beautiful scenic areas with lots of great fishing. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed your visit to my neck of the woods. Now let's try to find a time where we can meet up at one of those two fine, and historic, tracks.

Barry

Sorry for the brief deviation, Vince.

 

I think they are working mine in between other cars ( Mercedes, Land Rover, Jag, BMW mostly). I hear that a 30k service normally runs $5-$7k. I've had a few extra things replaced which I can't remember right now so I'm expecting closer to$10k.


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If the engine has been out and apart for several weeks, I'd be very surprised if they haven't lost or forgotten a number of bits and pieces by now. I can't imagine a good outcome from pausing a major project midway through with lots of loose stuff laying about.

 

Fortunately everything is bagged and labeled


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being your first car and just bought it.. I cant imaging how frustrated you are.
just as a reader it is frustrating..

it seems you did your best to feel out the mechanic.. but he is clearly not experienced with doing engine outs.. and is not treating it as a priority job..

ive been in similar situation with another car.. and I know how you feel to let this guy get the job done.. so hopefully it works out... it is almost at a point of no return.. if the engine is out and in pieces.. the trouble to move it out would be a headache.

luckily I planned to have my engine out performed over the winter... so there was no anxiety of waiting.
dropped the car to my shop in Nov 2015 and picked it up March 31 2016.
the car just sat most of the time in storage..

but to give you an idea.. when he did get to work on it..
the engine was out and back in, in under 2 working weeks, basically less then 10days.
and this included installing new headers, triple seals, inner cv boots, mounts, opening/resealing the oil pan and all the rest of the usual bits..

my engine was on the table, split in 3; engine, transmission and clutch..
and within couple days it was back in the car..

 

But , I saw a tv show , they did the whole f355 job in one episode , lololol !!!