New Owner's Diary: Week 1

This will be a long, useless post for those of you who are on your third or fourth Ferrari, but I noticed there are a lot of people looking for their first or maybe thinking about "pulling the trigger". So, here are my thoughts after the first week with a 328:

1. Arrival: If you live in Malibu or La Jolla, everyone can tell an F430 from a 360, a 328 from a 308, etc. For the rest of the world, even in San Diego, a Ferrari is exotic, period. And your neighbors are going to wonder. On the other hand, I got a couple of "Nice! New toy?" comments from guys on my cul-de-sac who just understand the "car thing". People like Ferrari's. Maybe not everyone, but the "eccentric car guy" label is much nicer than the "d@mn snob" category.

You want to warm the car up after it's unloaded, so - time for the maiden voyage. Driving a Ferrari is always "involving", but when it's your "brand new" 3x8 the lousy/charming ergonomics come into play and you're wondering when your feet became EEE and why you have to stare at the shift gate when manual transmissions were -- up until an hour ago -- something you shifted without a second thought. By the time the car is warm and happy, you'll remember how. Until then, don't take a girl you're trying to impress on that initial drive. You'll look like an idiot with a big grin, as you re-learn how to drive a car. You don't know the car's personality after it's been locked in a truck for 8 days cross country. After a wake-up drive that day and the next, she started easily and settled into a nice idle. Old cars are cranky after storage, even when they're running right.

2. Your garage: If you're like me and have a two-car garage, and the other half is filled with something ordinary and disposable, you may be taking up part time residence there. The shock value of a 3x8 in a Ferrari showroom isn't much. The shock value next to whatever other normal vehicle you drive is constant. This is good. Everyone who slams 348's, or thinks 355's look like Toyotas or thinks 308's are dated needs this perspective. The car WILL look like a Michelangelo statue compared to everything made since. The aesthetics critiques on F-Chat are fun, but kind of like pointing out the ugly contestant in the Miss Universe pageant.

3. Is it broken? It's Italian and out of warranty. You'll find minor things that didn't work when the car arrived, and -- things happen. In my case, the courtesy light switch in the driver's door post worked when it felt like it, and the passenger window stopped working day 1. This is your car reminding you that it's a Ferrari. One $20 switch and a brief service visit to Bobileff to get the window glitch diagnosed -- dirty contacts on the driver's side switch shuts down power to the passenger side as well -- and we're back in action.

It starts and runs with a lot more commotion than a modern BMW or Porsche. No radio, so I'm listening to everything, and you hear more with this car than any other. It's healthy now, so that's good. That PPI and having Gary Bobileff look it over here in San Diego put me at ease that all of that noise is a cause for excitement and not panic.

4. Driving: Where the h*ll do a drive a Ferrari? It's still an event for me when I slip in and turn the key. You are conscious every minute of the fact that what you're driving makes everything else on the road look like a beige Camry. Again, no radio -- even if I had one, not sure I'd use it. First day and the tubi is annoying, second day and I'm in love. Red or not? I went with the black, and the attention is still obvious. Guys either stare or sneak a look. I'm liking the stealth and for now I'm happy I didn't go rosso - although they do look nice. One "Magnum" comment from a guy at the smog test station, and the usual story about a friend who once had a 308. The smog test station owner starts assuming I'm a Ferrari expert, because he wants one. If you drive one of these things, people think, you must be a guru.

5. Shift from shopping mode to ownership mode: Big relief, actually and surprisingly (to me). If you've done everything right and get a good car (none are perfect), happiness sets in. I still admire the 355 and 288GTO, and an F40 would be nice -- but your 3x8 is nothing like buying an old BMW or Saab where newer would have been better. Your satisfaction at having the one you liked will cancel out those doubts you had about whether you should've stretched to a newer model, or saved some bucks with one lower in the Ferrari food chain. You will get the same dumb joy out of that 2-valve 308 that the 360 Modena owner got when he picked up his car. So, in hindsight, not a worry.

6. Dealer: You don't know your dealer till after delivery. My Porsche experience was a bad one, not because of the car as much as misrepresentations and getting abandoned after the sale when the car needed $700 or so of immediate attention before driving. For the 328, I bought from Sport Auto, and they offered to reimburse me the $25 for the window switch issue, even though I didn't ask. The switch probably stopped working during shipment, who knows. It's too early to know what other sorts of expensive stuff will come along, but if you're planning to buy a Ferrari I'd spend more time researching the dealer than debating the aesthetics. I think buying a 3x8 from a shady dealer would make your initial experience uncomfortable (to put it mildly). I'll offer my opinion that Sport Auto has been very forthright and gets a thumbs up.

(More to come if new/prospective owners want... otherwise I'll leave some space on the F-Chat server for important posts! )

 

I hadn't planned on it, but I checked the site and it looks like it would fun. Will keep you posted. That could be a great drive up from San Diego to Monterey.

The unassisted steering is different, but I'm getting used to it fast and I like it. It might be tiring if this car was my daily errand-runner. I haven't tracked the car yet, but it handles very predictably in spirited street driving.

 

Well, there's always week 2. Week 1 you're still too busy fondling the key chain.

 

Sorry, but the sales guy said Italian cars never drip.