First Time Buying....

I know you are a newbie and there is a 'specialness' to Ferrari. However, here is the low down. FNA doesn't let dealers sell over MSRP for new cars.

The dealers have good customers who will order heavily optioned cars (that Ferrari wants and makes the dealers meet option quotas). These customers drive the cars for a short period and 'sell' them back to the dealer for what they paid. Then the dealer puts it up for sale for $50, $100K or whatever over MSRP. That's where you come in.... or whomever is willing to 'pay up'.

So, what's in it for the original customer? He gets to drive a car for basically free. Gets a buying history with the factory and maybe gets a shot at something special. The dealer gets to make $100K on guys like you. Everyone is happy.

I hope I didn't take the shine off.

 

Personally, I don't know the answer to any of your questions. My approach is much more simple. I tend to find relatively unique cars that I like a lot. They tend to be the top end of a particular manufacturer’s product line and I buy them a couple of years old with low mileage and at hugely depreciated prices. I tend to heavily shop them (kind of like going on a big game safari) and get precisely what I want and then keep them for a very long time and enjoy them.

With that approach I thought about Ferrari. I do like the cachet and uniqueness of the brand. So I applied my above “formula” and found what I wanted and am very happy. So frankly I have never bothered to think much deeper about Ferrari ownership than that.

You sound like you need to know “how the sausage is made”. I know that a lot of people on this site will have their views but you are also likely to get a lot of divergent views. Since you are a potential buyer, why dont you give a guy like Mike at Yellow Compass a call. He appears to be very knowledgeable and connected with respect to all the ins and outs of Ferrari ownership.

 

I'm not an expert, but I have the time free, so I'll summarize what I've learned from others:

You know what they say about "assuming"...

Newbies order new Ferrari's all the time. Its mostly a matter of "how long do I have to wait". Straight into the dealer off of the street, you can get on the list at some dealers for the entry GT (cali, now portofino) or the entry mid-engine sports car (488, now F8). But its all about demand and timing. Meaning, "early on" in a car's life, this may not be possible. But late in the car's life it usually is. They may literally tell you "on the list, but likely to be 3 years" or something like that.

If you want to get on the list to order a higher-demand car or move-up your timing to get one, then buy a used Ferrari from the dealer first, or order a lower-demand car from them first.

Where the "newbie can't get one at all" comes into play is for; limited production, or "special cars" (like Pista for example), or early on in a car's life cycle. Also, high-demand, relatively low-production cars like 812 also would be hard to order as a newbie.

But this also depends upon your geography. Some markets have long lists of would-be customers. Some don't. Some dealers are more flexible in the pursuit of new customers than others.

So, to summarize, a newbie can order a new Ferrari, but it depends on:

- Which model (not all can be had by a newbie)
- How long has it been out (most cannot be had by a newbie until the model is near the end of its life cycle)
- Where are you located (all markets don't have the same supply/demand profile)

A newbie can "buy" their way up the list by spending $$ with the dealer. On used cars and on lower demand new cars. The more you spend, the faster you move up the list.

Of course anyone can buy any used Ferrari (there might be some corner case out there where its being held hostage or tied to something, but that is very rare).

Brand new (untitled) Ferrari's do show up at the dealerships from time to time (rare, but not unheard of). Usually (but not always) they are customer-ordered cars that the customer ultimately did not purchase upon arrival (for whatever reason). The dealer will offer those cars to the public. As pointed out in a post above, most likely these will be offered at MSRP. I'm sure the dealer has a pecking order of customers to call about such cars in the rare events they end up with one. But, if its on the floor and listed for sale, I'd bet anyone that wanted to buy it could. That said, this is a corner case that only rarely happens, and then likely only on cars with lower demand profiles (like a lusso or cali in their time).

Finally, don't over-think it. If you have the money and want a car, go talk to your dealer. Better yet, if you fall outside of a specific dealer's geographic exclusivity, then you can talk to many. (you will have to ask the dealer about their geo zone, I don't recall the miles distance rule)

 

Which model(s) were you thinking of getting? That will help the community give you better answers.

Cheers

 

Lots of good threads about how Ferrari dealerships work. It's like nothing else I've ever experienced, or perhaps I should say it's like nothing I've read about with any other dealerships since I've not bought a new Ferrari at MSRP from a dealer. But I'm always amazed at just how fast these cars depreciate. It's way above my paygrade to be able to buy something that depreciates that fast. The F430 is not an upper echelon Ferrari, but there was one that sold recently on BaT with only 1000 miles for $120k I think. Not sure of the original sticker, but that 1000 miles didn't come cheap. I think most of the good customers that are buying and then reselling back to the dealer are mostly setting themselves up for the halo cars that come out periodically by building up a buying history and moving up the list as mentioned before. Good luck - at some point you just have to jump in at a price point that your comfortable with.

 

If it is “used” then you can buy it....if it is on DuPont Registry...you can buy it. If it is sitting on the showroom for sale..... you can buy it.

If you want something a bit more special...and want to order it.... that might be a bit different. What Ingenere said is spot-on.

 

It just so happens I was at my dealer (Algar Ferrari) yesterday. What Dino says is spot on, though I would add that there are times (Like now ) where you could be the first owner of a Ferrari (488 or Porto). Algar has a couple of each that they are offering for sale, and you will not have to pay 100K over list.

 

It is amazing how markets change. I put a $5k deposit in 2001 for a 360 spider with manual at MSRP. I was told it would be 3-4 yrs and I was 14th on the list and it would probably be a newer model by then. In 2005 they sent my deposit back without any interest. I threw the check on the shelf while I figured out what to do. The letter with the check said the 360 was no longer being produced and they were refunding my deposit. About 8 months later (May 2006) I received a letter from a judge saying two guys with the same last name had a lawsuit against the dealer and they would like to talk to me. Turns out it was two brothers who were first and second on the list and never received the car. They settled with the dealership in July 2006. My lawyer entered into discussions and I was finally allowed to order my car at MSRP in January 2007. I had to agree to a 2 yr flip agreement not to sell the car. The car arrived in December 2007. Then the recession kicked in. By June of 2008 you could walk into a dealership and purchase a car off the showroom floor for 10% off MSRP

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