let mother nature decide..if its rainy or wet, I'll have to bring the M3.. I am headed to the track tmw and my MPSCs are on its final run..
Absolutely. Its the relationship isn't it ? I assume SF and others received better treatment because of their relationship with Melvin because I did not get a particuarly good reception at Melvin's either despite the comments made earlier. The sales people did not even bother to greet us and we had to ask for service. I suspect that these tit for tat anecdotes abound. For every bad Hong Seh story there is probably an equivalent one at Melvin's. Bottom line is Absolut is spot on in saying that "business is business". I would add that its the same all over, and not just at the exotics or even cars. Melvin (who is a very nice guy) is probably as much a "friend" as Edward (who is also a very nice guy) or your banker or lawyer if your a customer or client. That's the reality. Naturally, they are people too and some of us hit it off better with them than others, and for some of us, they become personal friends. Don't forget that relationships also depend on how you deal with them as well. For example, Sam went to great lengths for me in one case. I am aware that I am a customer but I believe its also partly because I have a good personal relationship with him and I don't just talk to him only when I have a problem. So I don't agree with the comments that suggest that HS are worse than other dealers. At worst, they are as "friendly" as all others. Anyway I always enjoy the postings of SF Challenge and his pics. How's your F car ? Any new "developments" (ie new purchase plans?) I drove the CLS 55 recently and must say its not bad looking or sounding. Speaking of sound, I saw a post earlier on the sound of the 430 and have to agree that for now, I prefer the 360s shriek. I could grow to love the 430 sound however ..
Car trader, it will be nice if you can introduce yourself. What car are you driving now etc. Totally agree that the scream on the 360 is more intoxicating especially one with a Tubi.
Well said, speaking of gathering, only Ray, Absolut & me (on the way) were @ ECoast last time. I have since had at least 3 chilli crabs There's this interesting one @ Changi village (Corner coffee shop next to the hotel) that cooks the crab with thick white been hoon, milk soup & XO then served on a claypot heated by wax all for S$28. Yummy! Anyway, a forum is a free discussion area for all to voice their minds in an undiplomatic way IMHO. I speak my mind & share my experience but if you guys notice, I didn't bash HS workshop @ all & I did voice some dissatisfaction over other workshops as well. Neither did I sweep the sales people off completely while still hoping for some nice ones? The showroom people & sometimes receptionists? didn't give me a warm feeling thus far & I didn't want to mention names of their A-list clients that I know of just so I get a better treatment. I would like to enter & be greeted as me myself. It was perhaps my lucky day that I entered Eurosports & served by a nice Ms Selena. I didn't parked in front of them nor turn up in a suit, in fact I was there to visit A-Long. She was so kind to show me everything about the Gallardo, gave me peripherals, insisted that I should test drive one (I politely rejected), invited me to their trackdays & I have their '06 calendar on my table now. All this while, I told her that I couldn't afford one so soon. I'm still on their mailing list. I'm impressed by her service & VCDs and will purchase one when the time is ripe & I refer clients to them who are ready. I run my own business & similarly I can't expect all my clients to like me. Some probably caught me @ a wrong time while others hit it off immediately but I always tell my staffs never to look down on people based on their age, race & dressing. I once patiently served an Arab guy dressed in just jeans & T-shirt even though I knew he wouldn't buy & he gave us a hard time scrutinising everything. He came with a group of guys in all races & we thought they might be some con-man. Few weeks later, we received a call representing a shiekh (& those guys with him were his bodyguards) & gave us some businesses. Back to subject; Cartrader, nope much as allowed I must offload my Merc before acquiring the Mondial & in fact the Black 308QV owner even offered me his car @ 100% loan or barter with my toys It went for a baremetal respray that costs more than S$10K but I suspect it needs some professional tidying but not too much work to run well. Still, it's a beautiful car with lots of charisma & is constantly voted within top 10 cars in Forza over the past 3 issues! Anybody interested may PM me. This morning, in my comfortable Merc I was wondering whether to have a good one-for-all family sports car like a 996/7, G'sport or a lowly family beater & a glamourous weekend 2 seater. I concurred that I still need a business/family car & a weekend toy. The 348 is raw & little electronics intervention but it will be in time to move on. It becomes boring if driven daily & no urge to rush it out & wear a grin on the weekend drive. Having too many cars is silly for a one driver. The rest are always sitting @ home feeding off insurance company & contributing to the economy. The 360CS seems like a choice for wealthier & true passionate drivers, you guys can check out what others said about comparing it over a 430 in this site. MaoMao must be enjoying so much of it My 911? I've just found a 3.8 race engine for it It's due for overhaul & I can't sell it so might stretch it like a project = Zertec is doing. I subscribe to 3 Porsche magazines & sadly there's only one Forza. My personal summary is that Ferrari has become more of a lifestyle ownership, social events, many times enchanting. The good'old days of Mille Miglia, hillclimbs, Sebring, celebrity owners, restored old horses. F1 is another category which I'm not familiar yet so I can't comment. Porsche ownership is more about driving, performance, pushing you & the machine to the limits & unlimited possibility on engineering. There's a lot of experimenting on street cars whereas a Ferrari (I stress street car owners) is keeping it concours. Both give different experiences eg German engineering vs Italian passion. Apple & orange I guess. Many of you guys here have both
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If the black 308 is the one sitting full time at a dealer at Thomson near the Hawker Centre, then its a nice one and I was tempted myself to look into it. To philiptan, thank you but I shall stick with the majority for the time being and retain my cloak of invisibility.
I think car trader makes sense. I am an owner of a late generation Fcar in Singapore and have been invited to all of HS' events (debuts, cooking, driving, pilotta, track etc...) and have been given first class treatment all around. HS should and do care more about sales of new cars and growing those sales aggresively in line with Ferrari's strategic objective of penetrating Asia Pac markets in order to ramp up production while maintaining the exclusivity of the marque in other more mature and existing markets. HS is not a body shop and as such isnt obligated to do any more for second hand customers than a professional job servicing your car, notwithstanding personal relationships. Sure its great that second hand buyers provide liquidity to new car buyers so that they can upgrade and continue to support HS on the primary end but be realistic - you get the second hand cars for a "song" compared to other markets given double depreciation from ARF and COE in addition to the body. Thus, HS relies on pleasing very wealthy clients who can afford the buy lose buy cycle of Ferrari ownership in Singapore. Thus, just because you drive a Ferrari doesnt really make you an "owner" in their eyes because they really don't benefit much from it. If you want respect get it from this site or a club but dont ask for it from HS when its not due you. I realize its a provocative post and I am just trying to be frank about how this game works.
Well versed & very frank. I like it! Anyone should be pampering their VIPs. I know we are suckers for cheap deals but it helps to clear their rubbish. But may I add that people do upgrade or buy more. The wealthy elites here evolve around a small percentile of the population. Market changes so it helps to broaden one's vision. Look @ how Maranello is working hard in China, Russia & India. Then, Ferrari is about it's heritage. Without the enthusiasts out there to support the F1, vintage, classic & pre-owned, would they have survived? Back to Singapore. There will always be new found wealth be it inheritance, hardwork or that DBS card lucky draw. Not every owner are fortunate to have a father buy them a new car, most of us have a childhood dream with that poster on the wall which reminds us to study harder. Assuming all goes well for say Absolut, a young professional. In ten years time & all goes well, he becomes a specialist & children are grown up, he would possibly be looking @ a brand new exotica. In fact, I count more than half of the meagre owners aboard here are young, hardworking & goodlooking folks who would aspire to own a 430 spider like you do. Some of us actually can afford to but chose not. I'm not telling anyone how to run their business but I thought being a little more friendly doesn't hurt. Perhaps you are right in their vision to maintain exclusivity of the marque. It seems that we must fit into the circle before buying the toy & not the other way round, someone said this earlier. Stimulating.....but I'm not bothered. End of the day, I buy what I can & that it pleases me to floor that horsie
I fit your description of the aspiring owner who has had a passion for the car from a young age and the need to fund it through hard work and patience. My post is not intended to propogate a point-of-view or sound snobbish but just reflects the reality of this brand and how dealers are asked to sell it. The Singapore experience is far better than in other markets, especially the US, where you are laughed at if you try to buy your first F car from a dealer. They just try to sell you the prior generation second hand at a premium to MSRP and tell you to wait your turn or buy a new F car in the auction market at an even bigger premium to MSRP. At least in Singapore, you can drive a recent generation F car at 50-70% of its original value after 3-5 years and if you are an enthusiast then you get all you need from ownership when you turn the key. If you want to buy new, HS doesnt try to pawn off some consignment stock but actually gets you a new car in a reasonable amount of time and rewards you for the order. Anyways, I think the point of my post is that you dont need recognition from HS to get the most from the Ferrari experience but if you want it then you got to play by Ferrari's rules even though they often fly in the face of the people who truly love and appreciate their cars.
This is a very interesting debate, but I just finished my yoga session with my personal guru and too meditative in mind to think of anything else for the moment. Watch this space.
Hey cars aside, let me buy you a drink when you're free to meet up, just shoot me a pm. Don't get me wrong either, I didn't feel you're snobbish & in fact I agree with you earlier. There are many lurkers here either from HS or those about to step into ownership & we're just sharing our opinions. Benjamin if you're reading these, don't get me wrong either. I would love to drive side by side with you in your Testa & our numbers are very similar Mine will always be the small bro. I can imagine them parking side by side outside Marriotts. I'm not ready for the complete Ferrari experience so I don't quite bother about them or what they think about me but to me sitting alone in my own Ferrari with the tan leather seat & the Momo steering in my hands and speeding down my favourite roads is the Ferrari experience for me. My point is still that these luxury brands should not be too aloft. You are right about the US folks but maybe not all? Well, probably most will be corrupted eventually, makes the brand more mystic huh. I've heard they do that on other sections of this site.
I too bought my car without an inheritance or "daddy's assistance". However, it was not purely out of interest in the marque. I love Ferraris but when you are in the office sometimes up at 4 am for 3 months at a stretch over several years and the only time you see your family during these stretches is when they are asleep, you too would need a "little compensation" in order to preserve your sanity. The irony that its me who gets ""rewarded" and not the family has not escaped me but, what the hell, when else will I get to spend it ? I do reward them in other ways of course. My wife usually has issues with my buying this or that but she did not utter a word when I brought the F car home. I had expected her to complain about the harsh ride, lask of storage but she never did. She really enjoys riding in it and more importantly, she understood what the car meant to me. She did not see it as just a toy. On the question of those who can afford but choose not to, a friend of mine who can well afford an exotic but has always hesitated was suprised when his wife told him one day to "stop wasting time and get a proper car like a 911". Unfortunately, he did not. If not now, I ask, then when ? Life's too short to hesitate. Oh dear, I sound like an "old" man. The US experience is extreme. The rip off extends to all cars and all persons and not just first time Ferrari owners. Its an "accepted" practice there to charge the premium. Its very frustrating because your delivery can get pushed back even when your order is "confirmed" and you are "assured" a car. From that perspective, our dealers are angels by comparison.
i'll not think of those negative things when I hear the Fcar roars! hehe.... saw another F355 owner just now, dun think from this Forum. SCFxxx
Inspiring, cartrader. My wife protested @ 1st but when i told her it's my childhood dream 2 own a Ferrari by 30. She kept quiet 4 a moment & smiled. She still doesn't like it & prefers a Mini ;( Come'on anybody else? This thread is finally alive. Ultimo, u seem 2 know a lot, plse share wif us yr 1st Ferrari experience when u're sober but d't give us links 2 Russian sites again. Isk, was yr 1st e 355? How is e circle like in MY. Synergyx, i d't feel it's negative & on the contrary it's positive that we are engaging in this discussion to help us get different perspectives & hopefully the companies would listen & more people will understand the mystic & pride of the brand.
The anonymity is in fact the minority. I see people who proclaimed using their hard earn monies to realise their dreams as one who is admirable and creditable. Anyway, no worries, I am sure we will meet someday.
Ha ha - well I did not originally intend to "proclaim" anything but as this particular series of chat progressed it became increasingly apparent (to me at least) that it was necessary that I did so otherwise the comments I made would lack legitimacy. As you had pointed out, some who had offered comments on this thread may not actually have had any "real" Ferrari ownership experience and so they should not knock what they do not know. I was most impressed however by the spirited and knowledgable exchanges during this series of chat but I was even more impressed by the courtesy and decorum that chatters accorded each other on the whole. A cynic might say that the civility shown was because the majority know each other. That may well be true. However, I believe it shows that we have some quality chatters here. Its not ass kissing however. One can imagine how all this could have ended ie with trading of insults, etc. Happily those chatters have gone away or at least have reincarnated as more reasonable ones.
oh you will be surprised at who hangs around this chat... Trolls are always among us. Just ignore them.
Hi SF, I concur very much with what you said. I have this exact inspiring dream too, however I will not be able to fulfill it anytime soon, so I have set my goal with a little more flexibility... Currently the small fun car (Cooper S) is my ride...Still hopes and living with the dream of being a Ferrari owner this life ... Cheers epoh
my 2 cents... i'm 20, still serving NS, doesnt own a F car (obviously) yet, in fact, i havent even got my driving license yet wanting to own a ferrari since 16, anyway tatz beside the point... recently watched a VCD "FERRARI" (apporx 146min) - a biopic of Enzo Ferrari starring Sergio Castellitto and Carlo Carlei (nv heard of them before) ... anyone watch it before? how true is the story? gd day to all
Yes I have much to say...much to say, give me a few days, I am trying to reach a new level of Pranayama, cant get involved thinking about other things at the moment.
