Busted through 5 figure$ on my 360 service

Hmmmm. Just took my 83 Mondial to Ferrari of Houston to have a windshield replaced. Asked for an estimate to have the timing belts replaced while it is there. Got a $20,000+ quote back plus a $500 charge for the estimate. And they scratched the paint while installing the glass. The screw driver in the photo is for reference on the gap that is now between the glass and the car. Image Unavailable, Please Login


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Oh damn. SRI did that? How could you possibly catch the tensioner bearings not being changed? It's not something you can see.

 

I had photos of the original bearings and could read the serial numbers. I checked with Paul Hill (Hill Engineering) to find the dates of mfg. was, 2012, (6yrs). I questioned this after the engine was back in. Reply was, they weren't leaking so they're okay...

 

That's another great shop tainted with dishonesty. Oh damn.

 

Yes, very sad as I became close to the people there, considered them to be friends, trust went out the window. Sad!

 

Ferrari of Houston! Oh my, that is inexcusable!

 

Nightmare stories. $20 K service/repair for a car worth ~$40-60? A charge for an estimate? Crazy.

 

So, please offer an opinion on DIY for a 488 Spider. Do I take it on or chase a policy to cover repairs? I’ve managed to put on about 20k miles in little over a year. My diyness is such that I did a soup-to-nuts on a trashed XKE V-12 but completely unfamiliar with Ferrari.

 

Your 488 is just a car, like most other cars. Don’t let the Ferrari name scare you. Do some online research and ask a mechanically inclined friend to help. You’ll be able to do engine oil changes, gearbox oil changes, etc. I learned to do most everything on my 430 by watching Dans You Tube videos and help from the guys here on FerrariChat.
There will be things that will be over your head, but as you gain knowledge, they become easier.
I hate seeing guys pay top dollar at the dealer and get screwed. A shop charging you for work that wasn’t even done is unforgivable.


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With these kinds of maintenance numbers you can see why some owners defer maintenance.

 

I also have a 360 and tend use a hammer after about 5 five minutes of frustration, one thing I would like to try and fix is the sticky heating control knobs.
Does anybody have any easy solution to this problem, I'm sure I read about it somewhere but can't find what I have to do.

 

Search "Sticky removal" and you will find many ways to do it. My advice is to use isopropyl alcohol(rubbing alcohol) and a soft artist brush to gently scrub the sticky until it sort of lifts and loosens up. Be patient and then gently rub off the goo leaving a soft semi gloss finish. Stop before rubbing all the way down to the shiny plastic. A very slight amount of the "soft touch" coating will still be on whatever you are cleaning. I did mine a couple of years ago and it held up very well. The ideal thing is to have the pros refinish all the plastic parts but that is sort of expensive and you must remove all the parts. I removed all the parts myself and figured I could always send it out if I screwed it up.

 

Well..the cars would not require 20k in work all in one shot if the owners kept up on service etc.

You have to remember. At one point the 360 was a 50k car. Lots of people bought them because they were cheap to buy..but soon discovered they are not cheap to fix.

Lots of them were band-aided together just enough to make it to Starbucks and back home. Now that the values have almost doubled..it now makes sense to fix them up for a 20k investment as it is no longer throwing money into a depreciating asset.

 

The real challenge for an owner of a now 20 yr old 360…. There is so much variability in service shop pricing, work ethic, and honesty.

They all seem to have the fancy sign coffee machine techno music and pop collar co shirts….

Get references
Tour the shop
Talk to people in your local Ferrari club
See how and where they store your car…
Shop around// ive rec’d wild variations on belt svc from 3500-15,000… the 15k bid when questioned he said this is a complex car.. perhaps you can’t afford it lol.

 

That invoice from Scuderia Rampante is horrifying, and some of the parts prices look absurd - how can an oil pipe cost $800 FFS! And what on earth is a SR Defelectonator? I sometimes think they make these things up, on the basis that most customers never look at the individual items on the bill.

Some of these posts are quite alarming, and the inevitable conclusion is that most people involved in maintaining Ferraris are rip-off merchants.

I can't believe that ANY repairer would have the cheek to try and charge for an estimate, let alone $500. I hope you told them to shove their bill where the sun don't shine!

I suppose it's a result of Ferraris being expensive cars and dealers / repairers therefore assuming that all owners are both too rich to care about being screwed and too stupid to know that's what's happening - lambs to the slaughter. It's a pretty depressing conclusion, and reflects very badly on Ferrari as a brand.

Maybe it would be a good idea for a group of Ferrari owners to band together and form a co-op non-profit repair workshop, if only to wipe the smirk off the face of some of these repair shops!

 

Firstly, all figures I post are Australian dollars, so much better value

For the fluids and filters, I'm assuming it was for a full service as well, so put away $1,500 for that anyway (especially at a dealer). The potentiometer whilst fiddly, is easy and relatively cheap component (you can get them 2nd hand from Eurospares / Prosport). Manifold gaskets again, straight forward, but if you don't want to play there, don't attempt it. The rest, as noted in the posts, is straight forward and not expensive. Also, you note that you "Sent" it to Dallas?? On a truck - because this would be more $$$.

What I'm getting at is that for a 20 year old car (and especially something rattling in your door), take it to a good, local mechanic who not only would be pleased to have a Ferrari parked in his workshop, he'll be honest with you.

For serious stuff - absolutely, take it to a factory trained Ferrari specialist. I had a flywheel back refirb a couple of years ago at a factory trained mechanic, so new flywheel, clutch (it's a manual tranny), all fittings, new rubbers for exhaust, filters and a cam belt service for AU$8,500.00.

I think you were ripped off because US$11,800 is AU$15,700... which is WAY too much for what you had done.

 

There is. It's the SoCal Stooges.

 

These bad stories sure make me feel good doing all my own 360 service as well as the 308 and in looking back, I should have done my own TR service. I was dropping my 911 race car frequently but stupid me, I thought the TR was SPECIAL". CRAP. In fairness, my 360 is a coupe and stick so that drastically reduces the odds of expensive problems.

 

Pro-bono — we could form a club of Ferrari owners mechanics that offer feedback on repair parts quotes….

 

Meant to say dropping "911 engine" frequently. Having engine out of the car makes it so much easier.

 

Just a bit of a warning from a guy who fixes these things. The 458 and 488 series of car are NOT mechanic friendly at all. Not saying certain items cannot be done at home but they are much different then the 360/430 cars by quite a large margin.