Post 599/612 Build Quality

I've always felt Ferraris are a special place to be from an interior perspective.

I bought my first, a 550, in 2000. I definitely expected it to be special and stir the soul relative to the German cars I'd owned previously. But i was amazed that it felt so much better engineered than those German cars, both in the cockpit and the engine bay.

I currently own a lovely 599. It's in great condition and I love it. It feels incredibly special in the same way as my 550, 575 and other Ferraris did that came before it. I've read several posts where people say that the "FF is a big step up on fit and finish compared to the 612" and that the "Lusso is a further step up on the FF". Similarly the F12 being a setup up on interior quality than the 599.

I had some time to kill in a Ferrari main dealer the other day. I sat in a couple of Lussos, a Portofino and an F12. All were really nice. But, they all felt a step down rather than a setup up compared to my 599. The leathers were nowhere near as nice and the whole cabin, whilst more modern didn't seem up to the quality of my 599. They didn't seem as "bespoke" or uniquely Ferrari as my 599. The F12 in particular seemed average - could have been spec, but I'm not so sure.

Anyone else share this view, or was I subconsciously talking myself out of an expensive upgrade!

 

Well over the years I have owned a lot of Porsches and a few MBZ and only 1 Ferrari (612 OTO). I have always thought the recent build quality/reliability of the Porsches were very, very good - not as much on the earlier 911s although well engineered. I thought the build quality on the earlier MBZ was very good less so on the later MBZ as they went for higher volume and down scale. Even on the S class vehicles which I have owned the relative quality seems to have slipped from prior decades and the C class build is no better than a Chevy.

On my one Ferrari I find the build quality quite good perhaps on the same level as current Porsches but not better. The interior appointments on the 612 are superior to either Porsche or MBZ but the wear ability of the Ferrari does not seem nearly as good. I guess there is a trade-off there somewhere elegance vs wear ability.

The Porsche is more utilitarian and wear resistant. I find the MBZ somewhat more elegant than the Porsche but not nearly as elegant as the Ferrari. Kind of on the lines of if I wanted a pair of track shoes I would get German shoes but if I wanted a pair of comfortable elegant loafers I would get a pair of Italian shoes.

 

I find the interior of my 612 OTO to be really special, but I touch and use everything carefully. It’s like a fine china tea set, an occasion when using it, but please be careful.


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I don't know if anyone heard yesterday on CNBC, they said Ferrari was clearing over 30% profit margin on every unit. That's a HUGE margin! They are charging more and putting less into the cars.

 

George- A good chunk of those profits are on the very high margin options being ordered with most Ferraris. Not unusual to see a Ferrari with $100,000 worth of options now. Needless to say, those did not cost Ferrari anywhere near that much to add.

 

i sat in an 812 and there is zero improvement from my 612 oto to the latest models. my 430 has held up really well also and that interior is tough to beat!

 

Good to know.

 

I think the interior of a 612 is exquisite however some parts are fragile. I was sitting in an 812 last weekend. The impression I had was that it had a slightly cheaper feeling but more robust. More like a modern Porsche.

I remember certain parts of the 612’s interior being criticised when it came out. For example the heating controls where said to feel a bit ‘clanky’ and loose. Well they are leagues better than those found in the 812 and Lusso. I was genuinely shocked at the quality of these.

Try finding plastic in the interior of a 612. Yes there are a handful of parts and buttons (mostly covered with rubberised coating) but 95% is leather, metal and carpet.

In a modern Ferrari you need to throw 10s of thousands to replace all the plastic with Carbon. Now they are doing the same on the outside!



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For me the big step up in perceived quality came in the early 2000s. The interior of my 430 (started in 2005) feels a big gap up from a 360 that preceded it. The 458 was a little better, but the 488 no better than that. My F512M feels shockingly plastic and basic - very Fiat. The 550 that succeeded it in 96/97 felt better. My 575 (02 onwards) much better, and I think the 599 was better still. Not sure the f12 was much better.