348 My First Major & Belts - UK style!

"That" time has come around all to quickly, and having owned my 348 for 3 years now, its time for its first major and belts in my ownership. (Once I have baselined the maintenance I wont be doing it every 3 years, more like 5!)

To prepare for this I've done a fair amount of reading and getting quotes from indies and main dealers alike. We are blessed here in the Uk that the main dealers do "classic" rates and are keen to get the older cars through the doors.

So it has gone into my local main dealer, who are actually cheaper than some indies (those around London)! I only didn't use the indie I have for the previous services as they are a little way away and it would mean a day out of work to take the car there and drop it off, whereas my local main dealer is 20 minutes down the road and at the moment work is flat out.

So, first impressions!?
1) They were expecting me and had all the paper work ready. Always a plus!
2) They were happy to fit some aftermarket coolant hoses I had that I could not get access to with the engine in the car, the ones at the front;
3) They have offered to let me into the workshop to clean the engine and engine bay for as long as I like. (Very impressed with that!)
4) They have put me on their premium scheme which is free, whereby they give me a list of things they think need to be done/ changed, I get a healthy discount on some parts (up to 50% apparently; but that doesn't mean they are any cheaper than aftermarket parts/alternatively sourced!), if within 10 years I clear the list I get a Classiche Certificate! If I don't clear the list, I still get the discount. (Happy days).

So I'm having the major service and belts (£1.8k), rocker covers redone powder coated crinkle finish (£650), and I've got a quote for all cam shaft seals and shims (I'm not sure when last they were done) as I have a couple of leaks so they have given me a worst case quote (£1k). The tensioners were done last time with Hills so I don't feel the need to replace those. I'm sure there will be a few other bits and bobs, but hopefully not too much as she currently runs very sweet; although I wouldn't be surprised to hear I need new engine mounts etc, and there are some other annoying oil leaks or something!

I'll update this post as we go and with pictures as I fully intend to spend a day in their garage cleaning, as it has had a leak for a few years and whilst I've cleaned the areas I can get to with the engine in the car, with the engine out there will be a lot more to do. (Oh and their receptionist are hot!...Sid )

Fingers crossed the rest goes as well!!!
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These guys don't hang around.....email video health check received lunchtime today.

Engine is out, cam covers off and in the post to be powder coated.

As thought cam seals are leaking so that will be done. Additional things picked up:

- left hand radiator is missing a few veins. I knew this so that's fine and will get that re-cored myself later this spring.

- two brake pipes are corroded and need replacing. Not the end of the world, but I do have a receipt from an Indie that was suppose to have replaced those prior to my purchase, and a comment about the use of mole grips (farmers micrometer to you and I)!!

- one tensioner pully is sweating a lot of grease. This is odd as they are Hills and only replaced 6k miles ago! Still needs replacing.

- my handbrake shoes are likely to be worn, again I have a receipt that says they were replaced 6k miles ago by above indie. I cant recall that many handbrake turns since I bought her!!

- my rear brake calliper clips are in upside down. Well that's my fault!

- and some "tool" has damaged the cam belt covers (another one being sourced at the moment)

So all in all, not as bad as it could be and just re-enforces my view of a particular indie.

I'll be speaking to them probably tomorrow to get quotes for the brake pipes, tensioner and handbrake pads.

 

Whilst I won’t be into the dealer to do some cleaning and agreeing some extra work until Monday; they had their apprenticeship open day today (wouldn’t that be an awesome opportunity for a young person?) and it seems my 348 got some extra attention!


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Little update...

DL kindly invited me to a “dealer clinic”, so a day meeting them all, test driving something new and take the opportunity to do some cleaning/ work on my car etc.!!!

and a very pleasant day it was too!!

Bonus was I got some NLA caged bolts for my front roll bar they had stashed away; and found out that you can get the sales man to be very quiet; you just have to get his £300k gt4lusso slightly sideways at the roundabout!! Oops!!!!




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So, got the 348 back last week, just in time to be locked down!

The main dealer, Dick Lovett Ferrari has really looked after me; a real top class in how to do customer service!

In addition to the major with belts (fixed price at £1,800) and cam shaft seals, valve shims (fixed price £930) and re-powdercoating the valve covers (estimated £400 and came in at around £300 which I think look amazing) I had the following work done:
- rear handbrake shoes replaced s they were on there limit;
- 3 brake lines replaced due to corrosion;
- left hand radiator re-cored (I'd done the right hand side and oil cooler, but didn't get to the left hand side);
- new Hill tensioners;
- new cam belt covers, some idiot mechanic had mullered the old ones and a) they needed repairing and b) were rubbing slightly on the cam belts;
- air con re-gassed;
- remaining coolant hoses I couldn't get to replaced with silicon hoses;
- MOT.

They also took some time to do some paint correction as part of the handback valet which was much appreciated.

A great experience and I will defiantly be going back next year as the service was great and the rates competitive to indies.

Now to find an opportunity to drive it as my track day, Monaco Historique F1, Uk Ferrari Owners day and all cars and coffees have been cancelled. That said if that's my only worry life is good; given the dire crap a lot of people are going through right now!!!

 

Basically yes; sorry!!!

You do have to be careful to compare like for like on what’s done. And devil is in the detail that I found out about in that fuel filters, transmission oil and check plugs/replace are two yearly so not in a major as majors are odd years.

I paid extra for the fuel filters (got done on Ferrari tax for those due to the yellow and black box, but lesson learnt. That said point above on parts prices is spot on and what I’ve found as well) and gearbox oil. Plugs were done last year so no need to replace those yet.

Im guessing that here the main dealers are seeing the expansion of indies, some of whom are starting to charge interesting hourly rates not too far off main dealers. Not forgetting that a a lot of us have a lot of choice. Within 1.5 hrs drive I have 3-4 main dealers and 5 indies; so lots of competition. Couple that with a number of clients with a varied collection of fcars and a desire for their cars to be looked after at one place and ultimately get you back into the brand! (I’ve already put my order in for a 812 gts...to be collected in 5-10 years!!!).

As to the hours charged, Ferrari says a cam belt change is 14 hours. Looking at the job and talking to the tech I see no reason to doubt that once you have done a few. The extra costs come in in the “whilst you are there” as we all know and love!

 

Correct.

I have had some of those additional items undertaken as they are scheduled items but in a different periodicity to the cam belt. (Plugs last year, gearbox oil and fuel filters this year for example)

Other aspects I have had checked and only addressed if there is an issue. (E.g water pump, they were happy with that so no need to replace, similar with other seals with no sign of leaking etc)

A proportion of the items listed I would not see as routine maintenance items (eg HT leads, injectors, wrinkle paint is just cosmetic, etc) and would only look to replace these items when there was an issue or I was dealing with them because I had the opportunity whilst doing something else.

As mentioned, whilst UK would appear to be cheaper to maintain an fcar, one needs to be careful to compare like for like. I think our hourly rates are less and we don’t do as much “preventative” maintenance as done in the US. I think we might be a bit more “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Just my subjective observation!