I will pick it up in about a week and very much benefited from all of the great input and advice! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Congratulations and drive it in good health. I got mine last November and absolutely love it. Any pictures?
Not new pics. When I get it I will post more. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Congrats Josh, and I wish you good luck with it! BTW, now that you're an owner, I don't know if we told you that there is a $100 initiation fee payable to every other 612 owner who responded to all your posts!
Congratulations!! Beautiful car. Cool window sticker also. You know it’s authentic because the word “Imformation” is misspelled in the top right corner. Got to love that Italian attention to detail. Though if I’m not mistaken, those window stickers were produced upon arrival to Ferrari North America, so I guess you gotta love that New Jersey attention to detail Image Unavailable, Please Login
They failed to inform me that they had created a video of my new car. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2138933703063622
Thank you so much! I am in Manhattan and trying to decide where to have the major service done... Ferrari Long Island, New Jersey or Greenwhich CT. Any thoughts or recommendations?
I do not know the Long Island dealer though I have read people here use them. I use the Greenwich dealer for sales and service and I have also used an independent for service. I'm not sure which place I will bring my '09 612 for it's up coming major, but leaning to Greenwich. I will be curious to know who you decide.
The specs on your car are almost a match for mine Except mine is Bianco Avus over cuio with ylo brakes I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
Josh, I would strongly recommend finding an independent for a number of reasons. I have used 2 dealers in Florida and 1 in California. The experience was mediocre. They are large shops and you are just a number. The “service advisor” assigned to you to give you the personal “OTO” experience knows nothing about your car and in fact may have never seen it. All he knows about your car is what he sees on his screen and perhaps he may talk to one of the number of low end mechanics that work on your car. They are a supermarket and their goal is to get your car in and out and charge you as much as they can. If the issue is too complicated and will take too much time they will issue a “no known solution” letter. The Southern California dealer I dealt with as well as a Northern California dealer that another member dealt with did just that. You want a really good independent where the “service advisor” is the owner and he has 1 or 2 guys and they work on your car and live and breathe your car. I have such a guy and he is a godsend. He knows my car backwards and forwards and I can call him at any time if I have any question. He will also make recommendations on innumerable things from ceramic coatings, to dash and sticky replacement and all will be in the best interests of your car, not the corporate bottom line. Also, if the mechanic you need is going to be the one that fixes your car with the list of issues that you had, you want someone personally involved. Lastly the cost will be about 1/2 of what the dealer charges (though for me this was the least important issue). I wanted somebody that my car and I could have a personal relationship with. I have had the same Mercedes mechanic for 15 years, the same Ferrari mechanic for 4 years and I just embarked on a relationship with a Corvette mechanic. It is very important if you have a special car.
Not all Ferrari dealers are like that. My car has been dealer-serviced since new, and the same Ferrari Master Tech (or one other) are the only ones who have ever worked on the car. The service advisor has changed once, in the last ten years, I think.
Not all dealerships are bad. I'm the second owner of my 612. The first owner had a belt service done by a dealer in Florida. Without going into detail, the tech butchered the job. I started to ask around because I couldn't understand how a trained Ferrari tech could do such a poor job. It turns out some dealers pay their techs by the job and not by hourly wage or salary. Consequently if the tech can rush and squeeze 3 jobs in a day instead of 2, he makes more money (and so does the dealership). So I would find out how the dealer pays their techs. If it's by the job, run away.
To be clear, I am not saying Ferrari dealers are bad. I am saying all the ones that I have dealt with are mediocre. I am sure there are some good ones and there are some bad ones also. What I am saying is they are all a supermarket rather than a ma and pa grocery store and you lose something in translation. You car is merely a can on the shelf in the supermarket. If you want personal service and somebody that really, really cares about your particular car then find a really good small independent where a former Ferrari mechanic is the owner, service adviser and actually works on the car. Can’t beat that and the price is likely going to be much better as well. In Josh’s case I think this is probably even more important because he has a bit of a project car where a number of things will need to be done (probably more than is really known at the moment) and you want the car done holistically, not just filling out a checklist. As it happens I just got my car back today from its annual servicing. While there my mechanic also supervised an outside vendor working on the 10 year old clear bra, paint correction and ceramic coating as well as another vendor adjusting the stereo antenna. I couldn’t be more pleased and my mechanic made sure everything was perfect because he treated my car like it was his own car (he also has a beautiful black 550 so he lives the dream). Also, all his clients have his cell phone number and he answers calls 24/7 (not that I do that very often but it is nice to have). Josh, by the way, congratulations on the car. It is gorgeous both inside and out. Love black. Welcome to the club!
I am actually not sure that I have a project at all. Interesting story that does raise questions about dealers... So, the Porsche dealer provided me with all of the service records from the prior owner. All of them had been done at Ferrari of DC. The last service by the prior owner was in spring of 2018 and the car checked out fine. The last major service (belts...) was July 2014 but it had been annually serviced (sometimes more if the owner felt there was an issue ie ‘please check to see if the a/c hose is leaking...). Porsche claims that the Ferrari dealer was insanely aggressive in their PPI and that perhaps that was due to having lost a car that they had tried to get the owner to seek to them (rather than trade on a new Porsche Cabrio 4 Turbo). I drove the car for a 20/30min test drive (spirited and in sport and comfort) and there was no wiggle, play, creaks or anything else. I checked the leather on the rear deck and the dash and couldn’t see anything other than a couple of small hairline creases near the a/c vents. To me the damn stickies were the biggest problem I felt or saw. Yes, the electro chromatic on the roof didn’t work but I don’t care about that. The finance guy showed me the receipts for the work that Porsche put into the vehicle post PPI and they should be posted... they lost a lot of money on the deal due to Ferrari of DC’s seemingly aggressive PPI.
Josh, very interesting but not surprising. I bought my 612 in Florida. I bought it from a Lamborghini dealer and so I had the PPI done by a particular South Florida Ferrari dealer. They found certain things. I had a friend drive it after the PPI and he felt the Ferrari dealer missed some things. So I had a second PPI done by another Florida Ferrari dealer. The second dealer found things the first dealer didn’t but also didn’t find things that the first dealer did find. Of course both Ferrrari dealers wanted my repair business. Ultimately I had the car brought current by an independent as I trusted neither Ferrari dealer. Josh, you may be dealing with the same issue here. Again if you can find a really good independent that you can trust i think that is the best way to go and it may save you a lot of money. But if nothing else it will give you peace of mind.
Be aware that you are 2 months away from needing a belt service at approximately $2200. I've heard you can go well beyond 5 years, but do so at your own risk.
Josh -- congrats, a beautiful spec and love the Challenge wheels. I have owned 2 which were manuals, and loved them. Soto Veloce -- hilarious! Never saw that but I see it on mine too. Not as funny as the upside down luggage stripes, but close!
The only reputable independent I can find anywhere near NYC appears to be almost 3hrs away in the Poconos. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Great car, you will love the HTG2 package with the sports exhaust. I assume you have the CCB with the caliber’s painted red instead of yellow, to follow with the red stitching.
Josh, I would call Dave Lelonek at Sticky No More in Orchard Park NY. You need your stickies done. He does that and he is a nice guy and I have spoken with him before. He deals with lots of independent Ferrari mechanics and he is a Ferrari owner himself. So he will know who is a good independent in your area and he can work with the independent to get the stickies removed and to him. Alternatively you can come out on a road trip to Southern California and I will introduce you to my mechanic.
