I have had it with this piece of junk!

Gotta try to 1 up the other people there I suppose. That's how that places come off to me. Not just the drivers and their cars, but the skyscraper builders, too.

 

Please do us all a favour and post some pics ,preferably with the Vin# .

Then we can avoid that 'POJ' like the plague.

GLWS

 

my guess is the op bought a car that had rarely been serviced, and likely abused. he bought it cheaply, without first getting a ppi.
then wonders why it all breaks.....
ferraris are brittle, but they are not alone in being finicky and delicate after the warranty period, but so are any german car.

but, by all means get a toyota.

 

Ferrari's reliability - or any other vehicle for that matter, can only be assessed if the owner purchased it new or if he has that FULL history of it. This is even more urgent for the Middle Eastern Ferrari.

For the reliability to be judged, we should know if the car has been abused, if there was lack of preventive/scheduled maintenance and if ALL interventions were done according to manufacturer's standards. (Of course, there are also lemons - but again, those exist for every manufacturers)

There are MANY happy Ferrari owners at this forum, with reliable vehicles - many are 599.

I hope the OP gets rid of that 599 in particular and tries another Ferrari from a reliable source. Dreams shouldn't finish like this

 

Like you my childhood dream was also a Ferrari. Bought a 360 Manual 5-6 years ago. Totally reliable and driven regularly.Just normal servicing required along with consumables like tyre's and brake pads etc....Very sorry you had this experience but in my opinion and experience Ferrari's are true to the dream.

 

I'm sorry you had a poor experience. I also had one. Lifelong dream to own a Ferrari and I wanted a 360. I loved the look and the sound of the engine, especially with Capristo exhaust. Sounds like an F1 car when they were awesome and not with the crap sound they have now. I had service history and a clean PPI, mileage was good compared to age in that it appeared to have been driven enough to avoid sitting issues. Unfortunately, it spent more time in the shop than in my garage. In the 23 months I owned it, I managed 1800 miles and that's it. The last time it broke on the way home from the shop. And I had all my repairs done by the two most reputable shops in Dallas, so it wasn't the quality of the repairs. It was something different every time. I got to the point where I was afraid to drive the car because I didn't want it to leave me stranded.

Bottom line, regardless of the reason, when there is no joy in owning or driving the car, you need to get rid of it. I attempted to trade mine on a 458 but the salesman was so dismissive and condescending that I got pissed and bought a new Huracan instead. So technically, I left the mark over their sales culture and unless it changes, I'm not likely to return.

But you should get another exotic that you love. Don't give up on the dream. I absolutely love my Huracan. It's the best car I've ever driven. Just looking at it makes me smile. You can have that. Just keep looking and find that right fit. If you want power, fun and reliability, try a GT-R. That's my husband's car and he loves it. Also a ton of hop ups you can do. His is over 800 hp right now. We also have a GT3 which is so much fun and ready for a track. Lots of options. Try something else.

 

If you don't like the car get rid of it. No need to waste your time on something you don't like.

I have the same philosophy for Girlfriends by the way.

 

While I don’t currently own a Ferrari I still rent different ones often. I have to say they are quite easy to keep at legal speeds and overall very easy to drive in general. Yes the more power they have the quicker they gain speed.

While yes the more electronics you stick in any car the easier it is for them to break Ferrari and more importantly maserati have improved a lot. The biggest thing I see complained about is sticky buttons. Sure some models have issues that are well known and documented but overall it appears that both Maserati and Ferrari have improved in leaps and bounds compared to how they once were.

I do sympathize with your situation, as it appears you tried to do your due dillagence, but sometimes no matter how well we prepare we still get the raw end of the deal. Don’t condemn the entire brand for one bad example. And Ferrari’s break, they are after all limited production hand build automobiles that were using cutting edge or near to it technology. And it seems as if the dealer hasn’t been the model of excellence as far as service goes.

 

I guess ranting to a probable group of owners helps. I've had trouble with most European cars I've owned and even (though not much) a Japanese car. However my belief to unreliability is down to two simple things.
1) Design (fault)
2) Owners (including any previous).

Many marques have the first and many more the second. IMHO more often the case is how the car has been cared for, including the garage/mechanic and how it has been used (or not).

Move it on and move on.

 

Look guys.... some of them were pieces of junk. We all know it.

If the OP has had it with the car let him vent and get rid of it. Maybe someone at Ferrari is actually listening. I don't see the harm.

 

I’ve noticed this as well. Visited Boardwalk yesterday; when I asked to sit in a car, I got the impression that I’d sprouted 2 extra heads.

Flip side is that the guys in the service dept have always been super nice and attentive. It’s like two different cultures under the same roof.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

They may be listening, but will they do something about it? If history is any indication, then I'm afraid it's wasted energy complaining.

 

I wasn't referring to someone living in Dubai I was thinking if you were in the UK, Germany or the US etc. why buy in Dubai unless it is a rare F40 or something. There are lots of nice 599s around.

 

This is why I posted the LS swap thread. Wouldn't it be nice to have modern Ferrari styling and amenities, but an engine with bullet proof reliability and a stick shift?

Just an idea...

 

Ah gotcha. Prices seems a lot lower on the cars in Dubai compared to the rest of the world so if you can import a car easily without much tax or conversion, it could make financial sense. For instance there's a Speciale for $258k USD and 599 GTO for $489k at Deals on Wheels, but miles are a little up there.

 

When I envision a car in the Middle East I envision it getting beat on. I guess it is from all those videos out there of Middle Easterners wrecking new Ferrari's for fun.

 

i can imagine they treat there cars the same way as they treat and respect women out there...

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/2009-599-gtb-for-sale-86k-only.554749/ this one sold for $75 k last july.

 

Official Ferrari dealers (sales guys) have always been stuffy and a bit stand offish in my experience. The one big exception back in the old days was Ferrari of Los Gatos. Those guys were a hoot and always cool to everyone.

In contrast, independents are usually very welcoming. When I was at Canepa a few years back I asked to sit in the 288 GTO they had in the showroom. Had never sat in one before and thought I may as well ask. The sales guy said "Sure thing", although I could tell he was relieved when I emptied my back pockets before getting in. He knew I had a history with cars but he also knew there was no way I had the 2.5 + million they were asking for that car at the time.

 

Yeah but every car company produces lemons. The old "built on Monday or after lunch on Friday = lemon" theory.

You know, you walk into a forum of Ferrari enthusiasts, and say "I bought a lemon so the brand sucks", and you're going to get some heat in return. Keeping in mind all of the forum members regularly log in to complain to each other about the direction of the brand, the cost of maintenance, the unobtainability of parts, the market bubbles, the electronics, the stickies, etc etc. But the difference is they complain out of love and passion, like "my beautiful, smart, caring, nurturing, supportive, perfect 10 swimsuit model, rocket scientist/amateur porn star, nymphomaniac wife is also high maintenance and a bit crazy and a pain in the ass." Duh. That's different than going "I always liked blondes, then I finally dated one and didn't like her, so all blondes are terrible and I'm only dating brunettes from now on", which is a bit reductive and is what the OP is essentially doing.

Edit: I doubt this car is even a lemon. If the backstory is true the original owner probably never drove it enough to bring out the needed fixes. Every car eventually needs to have everything fixed. So the OP is discovering them. After a while it will be sorted but he'll be racing Yaris's by then.

 

I completely agree. Ferrari however seemed for a while to be a bit more than that though.

What the OP is also complaining about has another component though-- the ridiculously high cost of replacement parts and parts availability AFTER it breaks. Ferrari still has control of those issues.

 

Yeah, I've dealt with the availability issue a lot even on my Mondial, and not just with Ferrari. For example, Koni doesn't make the shocks anymore (or they are heavily back-ordered - can't remember which), so I had to send the originals out to be rebuilt. And finding other stuff like 35 year old emissions equipment is even more fun.

Even with modern Ferrari's, I will admit that it does seem like the second a model goes out of production, parts become harder to get, which I'm sure is no accident on Ferrari's part, and a pretty lame planned obsolescence tactic if that's really what it is. On the other hand, places like Superformance and Ricambi make life much easier than it would be otherwise.

I have a hard time with Ferrari owners complaining about the costs involved. Ferrari's have always been expensive, to buy and maintain. I'm not rich and would personally be thrilled if fixing an '83 308 cost the same as fixing an '83 Camry, but that would be disingenuous. Certainly nobody ever pretended to me that that was the case. Quite the opposite.

 

Here's the problem (full disclosure, I've haven't owned a Ferrari yet) this company does not have a stellar record for reliability. In fact, throughout this board, when the issues of reliability and maintenance costs come up there is a general theme of "that's just what it costs, and if you have to ask you can't afford it". Which sounds good. But Porsche has been producing VERY reliable high performance cars for a very long time. So the idea that it's just part of owning a high performance vehicle is just not factually accurate.

I mentioned this in another thread: Chris Harris described a Ferrari engine (Cali T I think) as "fiendishly complex". Given that most Ferrari cars are in the middle of the performance range, and not at the tip top, it seems they may be over-engineering these things for the sake of saying they did it. Which is great for bragging rights if you're a super purist, but not great for the prospects of long term ownership.

I love Ferrari cars. But as I also mentioned elsewhere in these pages: If they're going to bend to public demand by shoehorning an SUV onto the market, it seems to me they could invest some philosophical capital into engineering for a reasonable level of reliability. I don't think that's an unfair ask, given the king's ransom that their customers are forfeiting to earn the privilege.

 

I must be lucky...bought a 2007 430 9 months ago and haven’t had one single issue.