Any Singapore Ferrari owners?

The conrad hotel and the millenia parking area designated free parking for Ferraris and Lambos....are due to the well know fact that the owners the Kwee Brothers are car fanatics, with the older one a v12 only guy.. so his limos and sprts cars are all V12s no V8 no V6..and the most visible of the 4 brothers is of course the balding guy...hmmn no names here.. he is the one that came out with this concession for free parking

 

The things about going to a workshop at Hong Seh is.....if u want no expense spared u look for Ben.....

If u want to cut corners and get the job done for less u go talk to the asst workshop manager..... hahahah

 

Actually...Ben has been pretty reasonable with me. When a part can be serviced and not changed...he has done so for me. I think like all things in life, if u have a good relationship with another individual most things can be worked out.

I just had lunch with one of the Brothers today.

 

My client had an awful experience though. He even hired a lawyer to get his trade-in Porsche & $ back. Sweared never to touch a Ferrari since. A pity they lost him as this man really spends on cars!

I guess sometimes certain relationship doesn't work out well for some. I'll find some time to visit them to find out on this myself. Mine is in the workshop again for some parts change to make it run/stop better.

 

Yah thats tough.... I have been sending my cars to them since 1998...and have been lucky to not have been "Hong Seh-ed" by them....hahahaha
I have heard of some real horror stories.

 

Actually ultimately the one calling the shots is ET...have a good realtionship with him...carry a little can go along way as he is the real figure that is in charge of....workshop.

For Ben.....as long as u can take his occasional preaching abt christ and the lord....i think you will be off to a good start.

 

Got my car back today....awesome.
1. Changed the aircon filter.
2. Serviced the power windows.
3. Tightened the gear shift springs.
4. Lowered the shiftgate.
5. Rewired the daytime flash lights.
6. Removed some rattling noise from door panel.
7. "sponged" the gear shift to prevent 3rd/4th gear rattle.

The car runs super smooth now after my KL run last weekend. The exhaust tips are all white i.e. all the carbon blown out

 

Hi,
Would like to know how much to maintain a Ferrari in Singapore.Is there anyone else that would be able to service it besides HS,As I heard they are very X and they do not TO service imported F 360.

Please Advice.

 

Very hard to say how much to maintain a Ferrari. It depends on how picky u are. There are some owners who want to maintain their cars in "as new" condition and therefore spare no expense at maintaince cost. Having said that, 1. A regular service would cost about $600 which would include oil change, filter change, etc. Mind u this is for a V8. A 12 would cost more. So it now depends how many times u want to send the car in. I send mine in every 4-5months. 2. A 3 yearly "drop engine" to change the belts, hoses, etc would run about $9k+ for a F355.

Compared to a Japanese car...yes servicing and up keep is high.

I find that owners run into problems with their cars when they don't drive em. I drive my car on a daily basis and have encountered fewer problems.

Will HS service a imported car? Sure they will. Will they charge the same price for servicing?... I think so. I know this coz my friend has a imported Testa and its been serviced by HS. Pricing seems ok. U looking to bring in an imported 360? Not worth it. Might as well buy it locally.


Read in a pervious mail that u were looking to export a damage 360 to Sydney? Ask the workshop or Edward Tan of HS. They may know a few.


Hope this answers ur questions...

 

I'm a poorer owner, so I bought an older model & I would love to do my own work & understand the car as much as possible. I've stripped & rebulit a bike before in my school days & done work on my other autos. I'm more of a DIYer.

I do my servicing outside with ex-HS boys & there are a few out there. General servicing like oil change & filter is about S$2~300 on V8 every 6 months & I check the oil every 1000km. I've changed new plugs (plat. @ S$21.5 each) you can have normal plugs for a few bucks each & these can be changed yourself. Drop engine+new belt is quoted @ $3K+. This is for old models up to 355. I think F1 gear box up to current series mus be done @ HS.

I've seen several 308/Testa owners who care little "as long as it moves". These owners use them daily with one driving to KL & back often. My mech. told me the maintenance is quite low as long as no major work. My Kevlar brake pads are only US$200 (Set of 4 & finally stops the squeals!)

My old car needs a lot of work & I've spent about S$10K+ so far on parts & labour(very reasonable). Almost all parts & accessories are available on the net & the sponsors here. Do compare the prices as some of the prices differ quite a lot. But you save a lot of time & $ from going to agent. I'm sure I have saved as much as I've spent by doing my own shopping. This is NOT to say the agent is no good, they have high maintenance on large warehouse, showroom, workshop, staffs etc. I'll visit them on my next servicing to keep the relationship.

Now, my clutch is fried! Needs to order again This old car of mine looks more like a project car than anything else. But I guess it's part of the "fun" building it up to "my specs" & making it run! Other things on my list are Racing bucket seats+harness, carpets & interior, exhaust, wheels, 355 rear & maybe repaint!

Once it's up to my specs, I'm sure the maintenance would be manageable.

 

I think its great that there are alternative sources for repair and maintenance work.. i.e. Rozaini, Roland Andrew, Ruf, etc.

The one downside I have seen and heard and am very unhappy about is how some HS staff (sales) will "suan" the cars that are serviced outside.
They will use scare tactics to desuade potential buyers from buying cars serviced outside. I have heard these comments from a particular salesman before "this car ah, never come in, don't know who service, not original parts used... maybe got ACCIDENT. But our cars here in the show room, we gaurantee..etc, etc" This was used on me before. It sucks!!!

I am sure some of you have heard this played many times before.

 

Oh yes, heard it all the time from owners, dealers & would-be buyers. Would they bet everyone of their cars ain't got some funny history? IMO, it reflects badly upon themselves. We're dealing with worldclass automobiles here with a worldclass clientele but lowclass salesmen(not all but a few bad egg spoils it). Maybe what they've said about some cars are true but they could have been a bit more positive & that would encourage more ownership here(more $ for them). Anyhow, I'm going HS next week to install some parts. Many drivers simply are "frightened" to own a Ferrari here. BMW & Merc aren't exactly cheap to maintain either.

About parts issue, Ferrari don't make every single component but outsourced them, stamp & repacked with the horse logo then mark-up some $ then pass on to the dealers who finally pass it on to us. Furthermore, many of their parts are simply terrible to start with. I would gladly pay lesser $ for better parts that are more reliable. Not that I'm a stingy garbage man but perhaps a bit more streetwise.

Hey Lung, where's your pix?

 

ok two problems on the photos....
1. No good photo locations.
2. I left my cable that connects my flash card to the Mac in KL.
So even if I took the photos I cannot upload. What can I say.
But I will be taking photos for sure.... akan datang.

 

Jon,
Could agree with u more on the quality of the parts.
In fact, my center console has bubbled up and the lighting is showing thru when my lights are on. Ferrari doesn't have a solution other then changing the whole piece...ridiculous!

Anyway, thru FerrariChat I found someone who is going to manufacture a decal/sticker that will solve the problem. HS price for the replacement part S$300, FerrariChat solution S$75 including shipping. What can I say???

 

Sounds like Rudy that idiot...i heard he got into so much trouble before including crashing a 355 that was meant to be sold. He took it out to pleasure dome with ETs permission, showed off, got drunk and high hit the curb badly coming out of specialist centre. It was 1/6 355 Spyder F1s..hmmmn got the pic some where....

 

Yess i had to replace a stolen ferrari rear logo (horse)...the bill 570 for the part alone...

 

U sure it was Pleasure Dome? Coz there was another incident when a saleman wrapped a 355 around a tree after drinks at Huu Bar. Wondering if it was the same incident. It was the weekend of the drive up to Sepang around Sept/Oct 99 or 2000. The car was repaired and exported quietly.

When is Rob from DMS back in town?

 

Hmmn nope...this happen earlier...i have the pics some where....he sought of hit the curb sideways and there was alot of side damage...the car was repaired and resold to another perosn to the best of my knowledge...

 

Am back in town for a week....happen to see a red 355 drive past my hotel at 12 midnight at the Hyatt...i hope it is not your car Lung....it did not sound right (engine note) probably out of tune......

 

Dont think its my car coz:
1. My engine sound is pitch fork perfect.
2. Don't usaually go out after 9.30pm.
3. Car has been in the shop whole of last week.

 

So if what u say is correct...our salesman has wrecked 2 355s??

And the car has been sold off to some unsuspecting individual? Wonder what story they said about the car...."This car's engine is PERFECT!!" but never say anything about the body work..hahahaha

 

i am not to sure abt the other 355....but i am sure about the accident that happen outside pleasure dome specialist centre.....i have the pics but it is not with me now...

The Joke i heard from one of the sales man was that it was sold off to a cocky customer by the sir name seet if i remember correctly. As there are only 6 355 F1s in Singapore it is very easy to narrow down....ha ha

 

There is another story but with a 348 instead of 355. My friend bot a 348 back in 98 and asked HS for a check up and report.
They said it was a good clean car. But left out the fact that a RAT was trapped and crushed in between the belts a few weeks before. And that the whole engine needed to cleaned out coz of the squashed rodent. True story. My friend found out only when the guy incharge of stocks (Steven, who has since left) accidentally let the cat or should i say rat out of the bag.

 

I think the 355 F1 has already been exported. I think there is only 1 or 2 left. 1 of which is a Spyder. Don't remember any GTB F1 left in Spore.

 

Back in 98 I coined the term "hong seh-ed". The term means whacked with a high bill for repairs or service. This term is used among a few owners.

It may be used in a few context:
"I got hong seh-ed today"
"better send the car to Rozaini, if not kenna hong seh-ed then u know"
"Did u see his bill? Really kenna hong-seh-ed"