Classiche: No need for Main Dealer Servicing to uphold Status. | FerrariChat

Classiche: No need for Main Dealer Servicing to uphold Status.

Discussion in 'Vintage (thru 365 GTC4)' started by miurasv, Sep 25, 2017.

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  1. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    Steven Robertson
    I have been speaking to and corresponding with Charles Pestridge of Dick Lovett in Swindon regarding possibly getting 2 cars Classiche certified. He has been most helpful.

    When I called and asked if there was a need to get a car serviced at a Classiche Authorised Centre annually after it had been certified to uphold the Classiche status he replied that there was not, BUT as he was saying it he said he had better check. He came back to me and replied that yes there was now a requirement that a Classiche Certified car would now need to be serviced annually and inspected at the Classiche Authorised Centre.

    I brought up the fact that this would put many potential customers off applying for Classiche Certfication as not all classic Ferrari owners would want their car serviced at a Main Dealer as many have existing relationships at Ferrari Specialists such as DK Engineering etc and the cost of Main Dealer servicing would be an issue. Mr Pestridge's reply to this was very encouraging. He said that they at Dick Lovett are realistic and very competitive and that the servicing costs would be very much on par with other specialists outside the Main Dealer Network so good news there.

    Further to the above, Mr Pestridge has since informed me that there has now been an about turn by Ferrari Classiche and there will now be NO requirement to get the car serviced at a Main Dealer to uphold the Classiche Status and can be serviced elsewhere but the car will still have to be inspected annually at the Classiche Authorised Centre.

    When I asked about the cost of the inspection Mr Pestridge replied that Classiche haven't yet provided them with details of what needs to be inspected but couldn't see the time involved and charged for being more than a couple of hours work. The price he quoted was very reasonable.
     
  2. Wheels1

    Wheels1 F1 Rookie
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    That’s good Steve.
    How many of the young lads at main dealers know how to tune a carb. is debatable! They would spend an hour trying to figure out where the plug is for the ecu!
    I would stick to specialists.
     
  3. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    Very interesting. Keep us posted if you hear more. Thanks.
     
  4. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    I have my 246 and 550 serviced at my local main dealer (Carrs in Exeter) and have no hesitation is saying that they have the necessary expertise.
     
  5. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    Spoke again today with Charles Pestridge at D i c k Lovett in Swindon, UK and he reconfirmed that ongoing main dealer maintenance is not now required to uphold Classiche status. They have 2 very experienced classic Ferrari technicians there, one of whom has worked on nothing but classic Ferraris for 20+ years and the other served his apprenticeship with Bob Houghton many years ago and has worked mainly on Ferraris ever since so I think it's safe to assume they have technicians who have the skills to maintain Ferrari cars from all decades.
     
  6. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    Steven Robertson
    Not the 20+ years experience I was told Joe had (not by him) but he does have quite a few years Ferrari experience plus many years with other modern, performance and classic cars so I'm sure he'll be fully qualified to maintain classic Ferraris. See here: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/joe-bagnara-6a0678b9
     
  7. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    That's very interesting, Steve. My Dino was Classiched a few years ago. Is there an update process then that I should complete to keep it up to date?
     
  8. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    That's spot on!

    Matt
     
  9. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    Steven Robertson
    I called Charles to ask the question earlier today but he wasn't in and his colleague was with a customer. I'll email him and ask so he should reply when back in.
     
  10. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    Thankyou, Steve. Do you take your car to Dick Lovett for servicing?

    I use Carrs in Exeter, because I am very happy with the service I get from them and their expertise on older cars like mine and they are almost on my doorstep. However, my Dino lives more often than not at our house near Cirencester, only a short distance from DL, so it might be convenient sometimes to take it to DL instead of Carrs.
     
  11. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    Know your main dealer - see above. Here in the UK at least, some of them have a great deal of expertise on older cars (though by no means all!).
     
  12. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    There's no main dealer within 300 miles of me. And I don't trust the ones that are within 500 miles of me. It's sad.

    Matt
     
  13. TTR

    TTR F1 Veteran
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    Maybe that would in line with some previous reports of authorized certification centers required to direct certain ($$) amount of work annually to "Classiche" HQ.
    I'd imagine HQ having a pool of experienced screw turners, possibly even for those found on Webers.
     
  14. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    The cars I am possibly arranging Classiche certification for are not mine but for a dealer/collector I have bought and sold cars for.

    I have heard good things about Carrs in Exeter who service a friend's Maserati. I know they sorted some problems out on a Boxer we bought that were caused by a well known Ferrari specialist.

    As the car you'd be getting worked on/maintained at D i c k Lovett is a Dino you'd get Joe Bagnara doing the work so should be ok. If I was you I'd call in there and speak to Joe and judge for yourself. Charles had suggested I call in to meet him which I thought was good.
     
  15. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    I emailed Charles at D i c k Lovett on the weekend and spoke to him yesterday. They haven't been informed by Classiche in Italy regarding the ongoing status of already certified cars before the introduction of the annual inspection but he said he would get Joe Bagnara to speak to Classiche to find out and let me know and I will pass on that information here when he does.
     
  16. Bluebottle

    Bluebottle F1 Veteran
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    Thanks, Steve. I'll see what I can find out from Carrs.
     
    miurasv likes this.
  17. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

    Nov 19, 2008
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    Charles Pestridge at D i c k Lovett in Swindon replied to me today that Classiche' Maranello have conformed that all vehicles that currently have Classiche status will also require an annual inspection to keep that status. They haven't received any more information than that so are not sure how this will be implemented.
     

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