Why don't more Ferrari owners do their own maintenance?

Of course Skipp, and I welcome and respect your opinion.

In fact, I feel it is my bad: I didn’t explain myself correctly.

What I meant to say is that a pre-owned Ferrari that has always been serviced by an official dealer, seems to command a premium in terms of asking price and desirability on behalf of the vast majority if prospective buyers, over another similar car, that wasn’t serviced at an official dealer.

From my experience, people know that in a Ferrari when something breaks, it won’t be cheap. That official dealer maintenance history is added peace of mind for a prospective buyer.

This imvho will be particularly obvious with modern Ferraris: when the 7 year free maintenance ends (and it will, eventually), some will stick with servicing the car at the official dealer, and some will look for alternatives, either independent specialists or summon one’s mechanical skills. Modern Ferraris are more reliable, but also much more complex. Given the choice between an “official” car and an “indie” car, I think most buyers will prefer the official.

If not because of anything else, because it tells you the car was treated with zeal by the previous owner and you have the Ferrari brand standing behind all the work done in the car throughout the years. You yourself can do the same job or even better than licensed Ferrari mechanics, but in the end and even if there is a paper trail (orders, invoices, etc), the prospective buyer doesn’t know you, how the job was performed and the standard/quality of the job, and that reflects itself on asking prices and desirability on the market, imvho.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

I do my own fluid changes and produce an invoice for it I maintain in the record book. Also with every oil change i send a sample to Blackstone labs who spits me out a report of the analysis of the oil which I attach to my DIY invoice.

If a prospective buyer wants everything done by a Ferrari dealer or an indy... we probably arent a good match so i wish him/her well on their purchase elsewhere.

I guess it would depend on what DIYer garage looked and the condition of the car itself. Also a pretty lengthy convo can reveal immense details about their level of expertise in DIY.





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When it comes to risk aversion, doing service work and light maintenance on a Ferrari is nothing compared to picking the right investment plan (although I'm great for saving and remaining debt-free).

 

I was an aircraft mechanic / inspector for many years and do most of the simple oil and brake stuff myself. I could even do a engine out belt change on the Boxer if I wished . The problem is my body doesnt like the back twisting , lifting and so forth. Thinking about a 360 where the rear bulkhead panel comes out but contorting to get there might be a problem ?
I need to restart a workout program.
Electronics I leave to the experts.

 

Nuno,
Thanks for your reply and input. I really don’t think there is a absolute correct answer to this. Part of the problem is that there just isn’t enough dealership coverage in the USA. I live in Charlotte which is a large city, but no Ferrari dealership. Like many others, I’ve had to learn to service my own cars for this reason and also due to the reality that there just aren’t that many good independent mechanics around. I’m lucky to have a great relationship with a ex-factory trained independent who does the items I don’t want to. I think the level of detail in both the condition and maintenance of my cars will speak for themselves.

There are plenty of dealership horrors on this board too. For example, guy goes to dealer who forgets to do (whatever) and bad things happen. You’re fooling yourself if you think the people at Ferrari Dealerships treat your cars like anything special. Their sole goal is to extract as much money as they possible can from you, this has been depicted on this website over and over for many years.

 

id say also because then you can't technically prove the car has a service history. ie, no service records when you do your own work. sure you can save receipts for parts etc but its still not the same

 

Skipp,

Thank you for bringing a very interesting variable to the debate, one I completely overlooked and neglected and for that I apologize, but that may play a big role here: geography and location of official Ferrari dealers.

Indeed the US in terms of area, resembles more a whole continent than it does a country, namely by European standards. Distances therefore are much bigger. I mean, over here in Europe, we have countries the size of Rhode Island and my own country is no bigger than the state of Maine, which means there’s always an official dealer within striking distance, an alternative that many Ferrari owners in the US don’t have, which in turn imvho means that some owners would continue to service their cars themselves regardless, and others perhaps have no practical alternative.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

No more than you can prove a dealership tech or independent actually did what he billed you for. There have been stories on here of that scenario too. I think you can get a pretty good idea of the quality of care and maintenance when talking to a individual. And I’ll say again that I’ve sold at least 6 of these cars that I maintained with a combination of professional and personal service and it has never been a issue. I think you really have to evaluate each scenario.

If you’re buying from a individual, then my scenario is valid.
If you’re buying from a used car dealer, non-Ferrari dealer, where you can’t talk to the previous owner, I get your point and would rather have factory or independent service records. But I wouldn’t pass on a car because of it. I’d do a ppi and see the results. Each prospective car needs to be evaluated separately without declaring absolutes here.

 

I know nothing about maintenance work and I have zero interest in learning. I leave those things to the experts. Working on my cars has zero to do with the pleasure of owning them.

 

If you take both seats out in a 360, total 8 bolts, you have a nice padded comfy area to work on a 360. You'll be smelling the leather and turning your wrenches with a big grin on your face!

 

You need to read more. A significant percentage of the threads in the model specific forums is about owner performed maintenance. A principal reason why there is Sticky thread at the top of each of those forums detailing various DIY procedures.

 

Absolutely nothing wrong with this.

 

I get mine services annually, keeps the records up and gets a professional eye over it.

Most all other servicing I do myself. So far, suspension bushes, radiators and loads of bits and bobs!

 

If you haven't read stories about people doing their own maintenance, then you aren't reading on this forum.

This isn't a global condition...yeah, the original, concours grade cars probably have to have a certified Ferrari mechanic put gas in the car and sign and date an italian leather bound notebook in front of a public notary on a wednesday after a new moon, but for the drivers, why would you spend $30k in $2k worth of work just to get that extra $10k when you sell the car? My car has more maintenance history in a binder than most of the car I looked at when I was shopping. Yeah, when/if I sell I may take a hit, but I will absolutely guarantee that I will still come out on top by a longshot. Some of the prices posted for service are beyond insane.

 

I think it depends on the model. My Cali30 cost pennies to maintain at a AD compared to a F430. And a F430 is old enough where it's normal to branch out into a Indy Shop or DIY. So educated buyers should be able to understand this.

 

I actually laughed out loud. A genuine response, but still ridiculous to have to say LOL

 

I don't even sleep in a tent I've build myself...

 

When I first bought my 348 my main reason was fear. I didn't know the first thing about working on a Ferrari. I was also scared that if I tried fixing the car I would ruin something and then the repair bill would go from huge to gigantic.

My first repair bill I got quoted $1400-$2400 for a clutch and brake job, then end up with an almost $7000 repair bill (needed to buy a brand new flywheel, as the guts of the old one were melted and "couldn't be rebuilt"). After that it was an $800+ bill for rebuilding the alternator. Back then I was getting $4000-$5000 estimates for the engine out major, which after my first repair bill shock, translated to $12,000-$15,000. Sorry but there is NO WAY I was going to pay someone that kind of money to change a timing belt, water pump, fluid changes, and tune up the car. NO FLIPPING WAY!!! So I bought the tools as I needed them and learned how to fix my Ferrari myself.

You know what I found out?

Working on a Ferrari is NO BIG DEAL. It's still held together with nuts and bolts. Lefty-loosey, righty-tighty. Matter of fact working on my 348 is pretty easy compared to other cars I have worked on. Lot's more room in the 348 engine bay.
Example.
Just last week I finished fixing a severe oil leak on a Chevy Cruze. The seals inside the oil cooler went bad and were leaking all over the catalytic converter, as was the oil line feeding the turbo charger. Guess where the oil cooler was located. In between the engine block, the exhaust manifold, and turbo charger. I had to drain the cooling system, remove the cat, turbo, and exhaust manifold before I could get to the coil cooler. Then once the oil cooler was out, had to tear it apart to replace the seals. The new seal kit was around $12 from Amazon, and the turbo oil line around $25 online. All that work to replace a gasket, a couple of o-rings, and an oil line. But then again, leave it to Ferrari to make you remove the entire drivetrain to change a timing belt.

Anyway, in my opinion it's mainly fear why people don't work on their Ferraris

 

Your comment made me laugh, and reminded me of this

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Jack,

I’ve just realized how that sounds. Mega fail on my part couldn’t help but to LOL as well! If I had to venture a guess, I’d say never before has someone used that sentence

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Robb that’s a bad ass color

 

When I was a teenager, I asked my father why he could not teach me how to work on cars. He told me that when he was a teenager he rode the Subway. I will try some basic odds and ends. After researching I replaced a battery by myself - yeah !! It's not as easy as a Corolla - FYI.

 

Israel,
You totally can.

My Father couldn’t fix anything! This led me to think I couldn’t either. All it took was a mechanically inclined friend to get me started at age 40. All the info is on this site. Get a friend who knows cars to get you going on fluid changes. It was a uphill climb full of frustration for me, but now I’m a pro.

 

Go over to the 308 and 348/355 sections and you will find many owners who turn their wrenches. There is a certain fear factor on Ferraris but it is no worse than other cars given the right tools and on-line support groups. On the other hand, many owners of Ferraris are professionals that are good at doing other things and prefer to do other things with their time. There is nothing wrong with that.