I had to post this as I am in shock. I took my perfectly running 2000 550 in to have the A/C charged, the passenger door lock fixed, and all the switches removed and sent to Randy Padgett and then have them reinstalled. Central Florida Ferrari then said they would do a safety inspection for me also. That was my first warning that they were looking for work. I get a call one week later informing me that they want to do 17K worth of work on it. new tires (P zero's) and compressor (rebuild) and dryer replace ($4900.) Another belt inspection and service for $7K. The remainder fixes at $10K for a total of 17K. Insane.
Wow that's a serious service estimate. I don't know your dealer but have heard similar story from a friend who suggested that sometimes service dept. has to generate certain amount of revenue.
Gary- Would probably never go there again. A receiver/dryer/filter from Ricambi was ~$250 and my techs replaced it for way less than that. Do have to drill out a couple of rivets. Big deal. Compressor is ~$1500 new. Probably cheaper than an FNA rebuild at $160 or so per hour, but probably not necessary at all. Dryer, yes, compressor, no, until you try a recharge and see how it works. http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=263861 Tires from TireRack are $1310 to $1466 for PS2s and Rossos for all four. I would rather have the PS2s. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?frontWidth=255%2F&frontRatio=40&frontDiameter=18&rearWidth=295%2F&rearRatio=35&rearDiameter=18&x=66&y=8 Find a good independent to take care of your car. Rob jettisoned his 550 because he kept getting ripped off by a dealer. Where was the rest of the $17K? Taz Terry Phillips
The dealers have been doing that around here too. It's been really good for business. I am thinking about taking them all out to dinner as a way of thanking them.
They wanted to do a belt inspection for 7K. I did that at 7K miles when I bought the car. Now there is 23K miles on it. I don't think I need to do that again. I am refusing that. They want $3000 to replace the compressor for parts and labor. Then they also want $2300 to rebuild and replace the compressor. That does not even make sense to me. So the A/C totals $5300.00 They said they charged the A/C and it is leaking. They want $1850 for 4 P Zero's and $325 for laser alignment. They want $540 to replace the security alarm siren and said the battery needs replacing. They want $1200 to replace the right hand door lock. They are charging me 2000 for Randy's sticky work of which he is doing it for 1800 and they are marking it up to me and then they are adding $750 to R & R the switches and plates for a total of $2700.00 I will have them R&R the switches, and probably do the door lock and security alarm and then take the car to a good A/C guy. Anyone know a good service place around Ocala or Orlando Florida? I am through with Central Florida Ferrari. Thanks for the help guys. Gary
Gary- Are you sure that is how much Robbie wants to do those parts? I would contact him directly. stickynomore.com Is the alarm siren causing problems? A new one is ~$330. A new battery is ~$150 at most for the two Interstates that fit. Ten minute job to R&R. There are leaks in the A/C and they want to change parts that do not leak? Crud, I think we could fly techs to FL and have everything done for way, way less than what they want. Or pay to ship it round trip to Brian to check what it really needs and fix those things and still save a ton of money. Unbelievable. Taz Terry Phillips
I hope the owner of CFF dealer is reading this. Of course as Brian (hilariously...) states, they are keeping the high quality independents in business!
the alarm system does not work as you can not lock the doors due to the passenger lock not locking. The alarm system light stays on all the time even when I drive now. I think that just the battery is dead which I believe is behind the front headlight. They told me it is sealed unit and needs to be replaced as an entire unit. I don't understand why they say I need a new siren. I have my good friend in Orlando looking for a shop who works on our cars. I think any good A/C shop can do the A//C. Hell, when I replaced my alternator it was made by Nissan Denso. I put a new one of them on and had my original rebuilt so I have an extra one now. I would not doubt if the compressor is japanese also.
The siren holds the batteries and IS a sealed unit. I used to replace the internal batteries and had about a 90% failure rate. Come to find out the batteries usually die because the internal charging circutry is bad and why the batteries died. Throw the siren away and buy a new one. Or better yet find a replacement not built by those idiots in Germany. You do not want some monkey at an A/C shop doing the R+R on your compressor. That would be a very false and unwise economy. Find a good shop and take your car to them for everything, in the long run it will be cheaper and better. Every car we get here that goes to this place and that place turns into a mess and a big fingerpointing game. In the end they wind up paying me a lot of money to sort it all out when it would have been cheaper better faster to just bring it here and let me do it all. Sorry to say but it really is dumb to do it any other way. It is no different than putting up a building. Hire a general contractor and let them deal with it. One guy is responsible, one guy to point a finger at and in the long run it costs less.
Brian has it right. The A/C receiver/dryer/filter is a pain to remove on a Maranello and the work should be done by someone you trust since it involves removing a wheel, panels and drilling out and replacing rivets (on the 575M, at least). If another shop is required to do work, the techs then take it there themselves and supervise or remove the parts to be rebuilt. Brian uses an excellent machine shop, as an example, when doing a valve job, but he is responsible for them doing it correctly. Mine, for instance, use an A/C shop only to fill the refrigerant after doing the mechanical work themselves. They also have a shop they use for tire changes, balancing, and suspension alignments, but they are there to make sure nobody screws up or fries a clutch. Taz Terry Phillips
And thus the reason why so many of us here do as much "Wrenching" as possible- and have the BEST local indie on speed dial. I had similar issues with my 355- Siren Dead, F1 Indicator shot, A/C inop... simple, basic stuff. Thought I'd give the dealer a shot since they had a "10% off coupon" sitting in my inbox (Yeah Brian.... a 10% off coupon).. spoke to the service manager- described each issue in detail- asked for the general parameters of the repairs- Seemed to total about $7200. Gave three indie shops a call- "General Ballpark" quotes were in the $5k-$9K range (Seriously.) A couple of hours printing out some informative posts here- $300 with Ricambi- $260 on ebay...$175 to Steve Jones and now EVERYTHING is fixed. Simple parts swaps- especially stuff as clean and easy as switches, locks and sirens- should be cheap- but most dealers and may indies still quote 1-2 hours EACH for 5 minutes swaps. I looked through my service history and found the previous owner had replaced all four hood struts 6 years ago at his local Ferrari dealer- $680. I bought all four for $89, replaced them myself with a 10mm wrench in 20 minutes.
Jay- That is why we get ridiculous quotes in the TR and 348/355 forums that Maranellos are way more expensive to maintain than their cars. Give a dealer a blank check and he is going to fill up the digits, and cars like that are what they use as examples. I am very lucky with my techs here. A five minute job gets charged a five minute amount. I trust my guys implicitly. Taz Terry Phillips
OK. I believe you guys. So, Who is around me in central florida that I can rely on to take over the service. You keep mentioning Brian but I think he is in California. Thanks for all the input I really appreciate it. Gary
Tim Stanford is often mentioned........not sure where he's located. Yes, Brian's shop is on the West Coast.....
Gary- Some recommendations. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162295&highlight=central+florida+mechanics http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196976&highlight=service+central+florida Taz Terry Phillips
Thanks Taz: I had completely forgotten about Tim Stanford. But the link you gave me gave me a whole list of guys to consider now. Thanks again Gary
