Are us dumb Americans are getted ripped off for service ?

Well, not to put a damper on this whole issue, but anyone ever do the math of NEVER doing a belt service on a 308? If you can get 50,000 miles over 12 years before your engine blows, at $5000 per service every 3 years....that's $20k. Part out the car for what, $10k? That's $30k...you can buy another 308 QV for that.

(My son's hamster cost $15. I actually have vet bills for well over $100. No, I don't let him die; he's still with us and healthy. I must have failed math.)

 

Very interesting--and sloppy work! The cam timing marks on the pulleys are no better than 2 degrees. You see to properly check the cam timing requires pulling the cam covers and using a dial indicator to determine which plug the dowl pin needs to go into for perfect belt to sprocket to cam dowl timing. In effect all you did was put it back where it was; at best. Sloppy sloppy sloppy.

 

"I have friends with concourse winning F355s that will rather jump off a cliff than have their engines removed for a routine cambelt service when they do only 1000 miles a year."

I have always said that there are two types of Ferrari owners.

#1: The ones that drive their cars on a regular basis,
and follow a proper maintenance schedule.

#2: And the above...

 

Ken,
That's brilliant math! Screw it, no more belt changes for me!! ;-)

Birdman

P.S. Hundred dollar vet bills on a hamster?

 

Yes. He had pneumonia! We got a hamster antibiotic. I though he was going to die for sure but he pulled through! He's 2 and that's old for a hamster. The doctor and medicine combined was $100 (Pet Smart actually has an on staff vet who does hamsters!). I think I need a cat; somehow the vet bills don't seem as silly.

Ken

 

>I think I need a cat; somehow the vet bills don't seem as silly.

Ken

I don't know Ken... My Vet bill for my wifes (former) cat was over 2K.
And it died anyway.
Never again.... g

 

This thread just PISSES me off. I own an independent Ferrari shop, just personally did the wrenching on a major service on a TR. There is no way you can properly do the job in less than 40 hours, no f.....g way. Only way is to take shortcuts and not do the job half ass.

If you think you can do it for less, come to work for me. I want to see it personally. I have ads all over the place, including Autoweek right now for a Ferrari master Tech. I'll pay you $65k a year, plus full benefits starting tomorrow if you can do that kind of job in 20 hours and do it right. I'll go get a TR and fly you down and video for all to see.

Anyway this TR, that we just delivered, came in for a broken water pump shaft. So while we had the engine out, after replacing the water pump components including shaft sprockets and tensioner (a previous service from an authorized Ferrari dealer forgot to release the tensioner screw to set the tensioner, causing the woodroof key to break and screw up the shaft and gear and pump) we replaced every coolant and fuel hose on the car as many were swollen and cracked (which is not easy on a TR, you try it), replaced braided steel oil lines, all new belts, repaired some wiring connectors, serviced the A/C (which had been updated to R134 compressor/fittings by others beforehand and had an alignment problem on the mounting making the belt twist), some helicoil repairs here and there, R&R'd the coolant reservoir tank, stripped it and repainted, updated a fuel tank sender, replaced a faulty ignition module, detailed and painted the engine/suspension frame (since the car blew a hose when the H2O pump went, there was baked antifreeze everywhere), changed all the fluids, repaired a few oil leaks, fully detailed the inside and out of the car, replace and repaired missing or broken fasteners in the fuel tank pan area and wheel wells, and then typical lubrication and services of all systems and adjustments you do while an engine is out, supplied the customer with a 3' long 3/4" drive ratchet and wheel socket to R&R his wheel nuts without banging them with the old lead hammer, set the CO, i.e. fuel mixture....etc, etc. etc.

I discounted the ticket 7 hours and it still was over 40 hours. I don't work slow either. We have way too much work to screw around.

You can also Thank Bin Laden for the cost of service. If you don't own a shop, you have no earthly idea how much we pay for insurance. It doubled after September 11th. Doubled. WE charge $85 per hour and may have to increase it again....as my insurance just renewed this week and it's up again.........AND I HAVE ZERO CLAIMS!!!!!! So I'm already a little ticked.

Guys like me work our asses off, and yes the tickets get big on a Ferrari. I was up here til 9:30pm yesterday working on a 355 for a loyal customer who needs the car back soon. The parts are expensive. That's why we try to find OEM parts for less and pass on the savings to our customers. WE still have to make a living though and the profit margin is much lower than you think.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm in this business. But then I remember why, I love cars. But particularly I love sports and race cars and who are the best? Ferrari and Porsche in my book. And that's what we specialize in.....It's nice to do something for living that you love, but it doesn't make it easy. I grew up with cars. I started pumping gas at my Papa's American Oil service station in 1967 at the age of 4 as a novelty for the little old ladies. I spent every summer until I was 13 working at the service station...old style, machine shop, paint shop, engine shop, gas pumps up front.....it's in my blood. No wonder why I left a career in Architectural Engineering to work on cars in 1988 full time. I got a job as project engineer/manager for Bob Norwood and then soon after opened up my own shop back home in Austin. The first race car I ever drove on a track was a Ferrari at Road America in the old Chicago Historics. It hooked my hook line and sinker for good. Since then we've won many professional races, set world records, and serviced many thousands of Ferrari and Porsche road and race cars. I love these cars. But what chaps my ass, is one someone gets on the notion I'm ripping them off.

IF you don't like the prices of having your Ferrari maintained......go by a Honda or maybe you need a Saturn.

I'm done, and If I pissed you off....well so be it, I don't care.

People who know me, know I'm straight up, honest and don't sugar coat how I feel or what I think. I tell it like it is and do the best work I can, because all that's really important in life is family and your integrity. You certainly struck a nerve and my blood pressure is not normal right now.

D

 

Well stated, Speed.

 

Speedmore! No one suggested that you could do the cambelts on a TR in situ! It is well known that on that model the cambelts can only be done engine out there is no shortcut. Relax friend!

This discussion is about 348 and 355 cambelt changes.

Regards,

Knight

 

This discussion is about 348 and 355 cambelt changes.

Thanks Knight, but read the first page or so of the thread.

However, I'll agree with Mitch and everyone else including the factory who says service the motor with the engine out. Just did majors on both 348 and 355 too and now doing 2 more on 95 355s. Frankly, we take em out. It's easier to get to everything as well as see potential problems. With all the bad hoses I've seen lately, even on 360s, it's a no brainer to get it out and have room to work It's also easier on the car. Your not hang'n over the top or laying on top for that matter. Yea, you can take the tanks out, and pretend to be a cave dwelling spelunker. I said I love Ferrari's but I'm too old and not perverted enough to be contorted in some trick position making love to a Ferrari...I'll save that for the ladies.

D

 

WHOAA!!!!!! Speedmore, this seems like a friendly discussion- you need to chill out. Maybe the solution to reduce your blood pressure is to do the cambelts in situ and save time and sweat and enjoy the finer things life has to offer with the spare time you'll gain! (Or better still employ some younger Ferrari TRAINED mechanics to do it for you)

 

Hey no problem......I just hate to hear "rip off". We hear it all the time, and yes there are rip off artists out there. Case in point, I'm rebuilding a Motec twin turbo race motor right now cause some other shop ripped the guy off by using crap and cutting corners....ultimately causing ....Ka-blewy.

Hey if you know of a qualified F-mechanic out there, send him my way. Please. I've been looking for a factory trained (and up to date) for a while now. They are not at all easy to [email protected]

Back to eating my lunch ;-)

D

 

BTW, I notice you're from London.

I'll have to say this for the Brits......there is few harder working mechanics at the race track than the Brits.

I'd hire anyone with good references and the right experience from over there and help them get their green cards. Same goes for all the former Brit colonies.......Kiwi's, Aussies......I've had the pleasure of working with many and they can hang any day.....most of them.

D

 

BRAVO, speedmoore. When one buys a Ferrari they know, or should know the maintainace cost. If they consider a Ferrari too costly to properly maintain, perhaps they would be happier with a Porsche. It's a great car and, compared to a Ferrari, almost trouble free.

 

What an interesting thread. And someone mentioned the P-word (Porsche), so I'm now qualified to make some comments.

I have limited exposure to the Ferrari world, but I have tremendous exposure to the Porsche world. That said, I have made the following comparisons and conclusions:

- Parts are expensive, about 3X more for Ferrari than Porsche (which is 3X more than BMW, which is 3X more than VW). About 27X more expensive than VW ($10 distributor cap vs. $270). It does appear cheaper to buy OEM parts from Europe due to some strange network where the US prices are marked up tremendously. I haven't figured that one out yet, but being "in the biz" I suspect I will find out more in the future.

- Ferrari mechanics seem different than most Porsche mechanics. While Porsche owners aren't cheap - they don't appear to have unlimited supplies of funds. I think that the Ferrari mechanics operate under the mantra of "money is no object - replace everything and anything that might be less than new." Speedmore's post sortof cements that theory together. I think that the Porsche owners demand that their mechanics find economical ways of doing things, whereas the Ferrari owners don't (and the Ferrari mechanics probably tell them to take a hike, if they tell them to replace the belts without dropping the engine).

- Some things are easier to work on with these cars than with the Porsches (specifically comparing the 308 to the 911). For one, a clutch job on a Ferrari looks like it should take about 2 hours, compared to about six to eight on a 911. The engine must be dropped on a 911, whereas the engine does not need to be dropped on the 308. I would suspect, however, that the labor for a clutch replacement on a 308 would cost more than on a 911.

- The 911 air cooled engine is a very unique beast - much different than the 308 engine, which echos more of a standard engine. For example, the engine in my Nissan Pathfinder is much more similar to the 308 engine than my horizontally opposed, air cooled, 911 engine. All things considered equal, I would say the 911 engine would appear way more complicated and unique to work on, as opposed to the 308 engine.

- Without saying that Ferrari mechanics 'rip off' their customers, I do get the impression that there are many Ferrari mechanics out there who say "it's my way or the highway - if you don't like it, then take it somewhere else." This is fine, of course, but being that there aren't too many choices for Ferrari maintenance, this doesn't leave the customer with too many options. In the Porsche world, I know of several mechanics who are good, but do things only 'the factory way.' (although probably the best shop I know of, Callas Rennsport, still removes the engine without the transmission, which is not a factory procedure) and I also know of shops that perform good work, but used clever short-cuts that save time and money. These short cuts do not diminish the quality of work, but instead get the job done quicker. There is no harm in this.

The bottomline is that you need to be aware of what you are getting done. It would appear that the Ferrari mechanics tend to recommend replacing a lot of things before they fail as preventative maintenance. While I'm all for this in general, you have to weight the costs against the benefits. I see way more replacing of items on these cars in the name of "preventative maintenance" than I do on Porsche 911s. I'm pretty sure that if you followed the same mantra with a 911 (or any other car), that your repair bills would be just as high as well.

Also, look carefully at the parts costs. Shops tend to make a lot of money on parts. Many shops charge OEM list price for parts, and then use aftermarket ones (which can be as much as 80% cheaper) for the repairs. There's no difference between the two types, but the customer is unaware of the price difference. Bringing in your own parts is a general no-no, as most shops hate this and will view you as a bad or problem customer. They also won't warranty the work on installing your own parts. If you feel like the shop is overcharging you for parts, then make sure you negotiate prices for parts beforehand, or instruct the mechanic to get the parts from your chosen supplier, with whom you've worked out a discount in advance with.

-Wayne

101 Projects for Your BMW 3-Series Coming 2004...
101 Projects for Your Porsche 911... Available Now!
How to Rebuild & Modify Porsche 911 Engines Now Available!!!

 

Wayne!! How can you go on how a job looks?

FYI I've done several (about 6 or 7) clutch jobs on Porsches, and a 1982 vintage 911 SC or similar clutch takes me about 5 hours..engine out, clutch change and clean up, back in, test and finish.

A 308 takes about the same...(but can be done at the roadside for all you rally competitiors out there who think Porsches are the rally car to beat.......)

Add extra time to both for flywheel work, oil seals etc...but they're about the same so I cancelled it out.

8 hours max for both cars.

TR Major service inc valve clearances BUT NO REPAIRS....40 hours, engine out. Repairs extra.

(TRossa slightly quicker R+R, as subframe comes out, TR/M takes longer to R+R (no subframe), but tend to need less once out so job about the same.)

 

What makes the 308 the same time as the 911. Even my BMW 3-series clutch jobs seemed to take forever, having to drop the transmisison and driveshaft.

Now, I have not done a 308 clutch replacement, but looking at the tech articles, and all of the info that is available (and speaking to someone who has actually done one, and said it was really quick and easy compared to the 911), I can't imagine how or why it would take as long as the 911. Standard clutch replacement for the 911 is a bit more than the 5 hours you're referring to, by the way. You must be very quick. R&R of the 911 engine is usually booked at about 4 hours when you disconnect everything that is involved (lots and lots of stuff).

Looking at a site like this:

http://www.cameragear.com/ec/clutch.htm

the clutch job on a 308 seems incredibly easy. Perhaps I'm missing something though...

For reference, here's the 911 clutch job:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_engine_drop/911_engine_drop-1.htm

and

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_clutch_replace/911_clutch_replace1.htm

Comparing the two procedures, the 308 clutch replacement would seem to be tremendously easier than a 911.

-Wayne

101 Projects for Your BMW 3-Series Coming 2004...
101 Projects for Your Porsche 911... Available Now!
How to Rebuild & Modify Porsche 911 Engines Now Available!!!

 

Interesting misconception Wayne. I disagree with your statement.

Ferrari owners are every bit as frugile with their money if not more so. They pretty much leave their cars as they came from the factory less wheels, exhaust and brake pads. Whereas, p-car owners spend thousands on swaybars, mass air flow sensors, torsion bars, shock tower bars, steering wheels, recarros, etc. etc. You don't see that kind of expenditures on the Ferraris. But they do spend the money to take care of their cars and keep them tip top always. Probably a big reason why they hold their value so well.

Fact is, we service more Porsche's than Ferrari. As there are a lot more Porsches around than Ferrari cars in our town.

If you really want to know my theory....and basically where the business is right now in Austin Texas, the economy is still down...but I think making a turn.....

During the past few tough years for most, the Ferrari owner's never quit bringing their cars in for maintenence. Whereas, the Porsche owner's seemed to wait til it had to come in a hook i.e. wrecker. It's only the past few months that we've seen a general trend towards "preventive maintenance" from P-car owners. Some truth may lie in the fact that not every one can afford a Ferrari in the first place. It's pretty much the cream of the crop and always will be. That does not mean I don't have respect for Porsche, as I've won many a pro race with Porsche. They make damn good race cars. But the pinicale of racing is F-1 and everyone knows F-1 really means Ferrari is no. 1....the only manufacturer to be in every F-1 race in history.

But as far as forcing a customer to do something as you imply, that is just not true. Like the example I stated on the TR service, we did not "make" the owner of the TR do anything. Like ANY customer, Ferrari or Porsche, we diagnosed the car, I called him to come over and look, we made a decision together based upon our experience and he asked us to change all the hoses while it was out as they were showing obvious cracks. The fact that it's an 18 year old water cooled car "might" have something to do with it as well as being in our gloriously hot state of Texas. It get's freak'n hot down here you know.

I think the Ferrari owners as a whole understand that cars are machines with parts that have finite life. The old school Porsche owners, which are fewer and fewer these days, were of the same philosophy. Wereas, "the modern day" P-car owners (I refer to them as the dotcom syndrome) are more into the Toyota run it into the ground until it's time to sell attitude. 100,000 mile oil change!!!!

I can assure you Boxters and 996's will be every bit as much troublesome and probably more so when they reach 18 years old. They just are not built like with the same quality workmanship and parts that the 993,964,74-89 911 or 65-73. There is more plastic bullcrap like the shifters and pedal boxes in high use/wear areas than any Ferrari. It's a shame. The Boxster kept P from going bankrupt, but their not the old Porsche. I predict they will be just like the 928 and 944s. Those cars sold no less than $40k and some as high as $80k. Now you can buy a 944 for $1500 right now and a 928 for not much more. You can buy a 944 Turbo in good shape for $5k. So the syndrome I see is, someone "who always wanted a Porsche, but could not afford it" buys one and spends ZERO maintaining it and the cars fall apart. I guess it's good for you, cause those guys can't afford me, so they have to try and do it themselve and buy their own parts. As one who took delivery of a first generation watercooled 911 GT3R in 1998, I've seen numerous problems very similar to any water cooled car. That's a big reason why watercooled 962's are not nearly as reliable as the aircooled ones as they sat for the past 20 years corroding away........I've also sent no less than a dozen Boxster customers to the dealer to get the water in the oil warantee....where Porsche REPLACED the engine. Do you know a Ferrari dealer that keeps crate motors in stock?

Now Ferrari, the parts are sometimes astronomical, especially when you get into the older cars where unobtainable turns into purchasing things at vintage restoration prices, but the cars are worth the dough.

As far as maintenence service times......As one who routinely works on both.....let's see.....we've got no less than 12 factory Porsche race cars (68R to 2001GT3RS) in the shop right now, one 355 challenge, a stock 355, Euro 308, TR, 288GTO conversion, 2 993 Carreras, 996TT, a 912 (oh and my old street mechanic leaves the trans in 911s too just like he did on the 912....I think it has something to do with being a 356 mechanic first), a Strosek Twin Turbo, 944.....I can say each has it's own tricks for doing work. 512 Boxers are diff, than TRs are diff than 348/355. The 308 clutch, I can do in a few hours if I do the clutch only. I can do it in the same time on a 911 race car which includes R&R the engine. But a twin Turbo Porsche, forget it.

But general rule, the Ferrari takes more time because there is more to look at. An 8 or 12 cylinder Ferrari with overhead cams with 4 or 5 valves cylinder with shims/ buckets will always take longer to adjust the valves than a 6 cylinder Pcar with 2 valves per cylinder and adjustment screw. But you can't rev a stock Porsche as high as you can a stock Ferrari......until the 996..........that is almost identical in valve train to a Ferrari.

Bottom line, you are comparing APPLES to ORANGES. Germans do things different than Itallians than Americans than Brits than........what ever floats your boat.

And lastly, a good shop will Always recommend preventive maintenance. It's the last thing you want, is for a customer to be stranded on the road because you did not recommend some suspicious looking component needing replaced.

And your comment on shops not wanting to put on customer's parts. You bet we don't do it. I've done it in the past, sometimes we'll allow. However, 99.9% of the time something is wrong with the part, costs us time, we have no recourse to get it replaced or exchanged with the manufacturer and the customer does not understand the time involved. You bet I'm not going to warrantee "your" part. If I buy the part, it's waranteed by the manufacturer. If I screw up, I warantee it. If I screw up real bad, well that's why I have Garage Keepers Insurance. Insurance is not cheap Wayne. At least if an engine I build blows up due to something I did wrong or a mechanic forgets to tighten something causing a wreck.... my shop is covered and so is the customer.........But if I'm not making money on the part, where is the money to pay for the insurance premium. There is not profit in labor, overhead sucks it up in a hurry. Parts are what keep you in the black ink.

You just sell parts though, so you don't have to have layers of insurance like us shops, i.e. Fire, theft, Garage liability, Garage keepers, Racing liability, Workmans Comp........you also don't have to pay a master technician or diagnostic equipment like $15k Euro for an SD2 or $350 for that special socket to get this F-car part off..............you get the picture. Ultimately, it's the customer that keeps the insurance salesman in a cushy desk chair or a cushy Yamaha golf cart

I've seen your Pelican parts come into the shop, you sell quality parts pretty cheap too. And you give Pcar owner a wealth of knowledge. But generalizing us independents to charge "dealer retail", just is not true. We are the alternative man. Somethings yes, but many and most, no. It's tougher to get cheaper prices on Ferrari parts, MUCH tougher. If you want to really help, become a Ferrari parts supplier to us independents. There needs to be more competition in parts for the F-cars no doubt. Right now, I can only count on one hand the number of "reliable and cost saving" non- dealer source parts for Ferrari. I end up buying stuff from overseas quite a bit thru guys overseas like Heiko at HG or Ferrari UK. I wish I could get parts delivered free twice a day from World Pac like I do for Porsche parts or be on direct drop shipment from PCNA parts depot. There is no such thing for Ferrari.

However, being a race and a Porsche shop too, we've learned many pure race parts work as many of the Ferrari parts are frankly racing parts in the first place. Or parts that fit on Porsche fit on Ferrari too at half the price. Jaguar too. Examples: Ferrodo, Pagid, brake pads, Brembo rotors, SAMCO racing water hoses, Tilton or AP dual disc clutches, standard morse cables for throttles and shifters, NNB or Hirschman rod ends, racing silicone brake hose Bosch electrical components and filters, GKN CVs and boots, A/C parts....we modify off the shelf stuff locally for a 1/5 the price we pay at the dealer and it's the same damn stuff......we also pass on the savings while making a profit....that's how we stay in business.

FYI

d

 

Amen to that!!!

 

Hmm, the phrase "I've opened up a can of worms" comes to mind. Keep in mind that my previous statements were sweeping generalizations, and not meant to apply to any specific people or shops here. As stated previously, the extent of my knowledge at this point in time focuses largely on Porsche and BMW.

Also keep in mind that shops like those owned by speedmoore (well, probably not *his* shop, since they are so high end, but Porsche shops in general), don't really like me that much. When shop owners find out who I am, then they usually have a few colorful words for me. Catches me off guard all of the time. They take issue with our website (www.pelicanparts.com) and my books (www.101projects.com) that actually empower Porsche owners to attempt and perform their own maintenance. A lot of shops don't like this - all of a sudden, lay-people on the street know how to rebuild their 911 engine. It's not good for their business, but it works in conjunction with ours.

I prefer to look at it slightly differently. We've developed a new breed of empowered customer who now has the knowledge to work on their own car. While yes, I've probably taken market share away from fellow parts houses in the past, I have also taken market share from the dealers and independent shops. Needless to say, I'm not on their Christmas card list.

I agree with your statement that Porsche owners modify more, and Ferrari owners tend to "keep it stock." I also agree with your statement that Porsche owners can be frugal, and try to squeeze every last drop out of their buck. I think that the people who buy Ferraris in general have more disposible income to spend than comparable Porsche owners, and thus keep spending on the cars when the economy is down. Keep in mind that I'm referring to cars at least 10+ years old, where depreciation has done it's dirty deed already.

"But generalizing us independents to charge "dealer retail", just is not true. We are the alternative man. Somethings yes, but many and most, no."

Hmm, you just disagreed with yourself! I'm just calling it like I see it. Just one example, the paperwork that came with my 308 has dealer retail prices (or higher) listed for all the parts that were replaced on it.

You obviously run a good quality shop there, and are not the norm when it comes to discussions like these. The fact that you have such rare and special iron in your shop right now is a testament to the fact that you guys are not a 'normal' shop.

"I've seen your Pelican parts come into the shop, you sell quality parts pretty cheap too."

Funny, some of my customers complain my prices are too high. I also have a bunch of competitors willing to sell on 6% margins.

I still agree with the basic argument here - service costs seem to be much higher on these cars than they should be. Perhaps it's because Ferrari is dictating a 30K timing belt change. Heck the timing belt in my pathfinder is almost identical (dual overhead cam), and Nissan says to replace that one every 60,000 miles. Why the shorter interval (didn't someone say that Ferrari says 15K now)? Are the engines (or timing belts) so crappy and unreliable that they are failing left and right? If so, then there is a huge part-quality problem. I think the problem is that people are scared silly. They believe that if the engine goes to 15,001 miles, then the timing belt will snap and they will have to spend $$$ on a new engine. I'm sure there are many Ferrari mechanics who capitalize on this fear.

Anyways, I know there is no right or wrong answer to this argument, and someone earlier stated correctly that it could be waste of time talking about it. The bottomline is that you need to find a good shop that will work for you on getting good prices on the parts, stand behind their work, and not charge you a "Ferrari tax" just because your car has the badge on it. Actually, the same is true if you own a Porsche, BMW, Lexus, Range Rover, etc...

-Wayne
101 Projects for Your BMW 3-Series Coming 2004...
101 Projects for Your Porsche 911... Available Now!
How to Rebuild & Modify Porsche 911 Engines Now Available!!!

 

Speedmoore, that was very interesting reading. How long did THAT take!

I can only talk about my own observations. The Ferraris I've owned have always been maintained pretty well. There's ALWAYS something, though, where the Ferrari mechanic says "well, while we're here, we should do this too...cos if we don't, it's hard to get to later/it might break and kaboom/better to be safe than sorry" type of thing.

I never got this with the Porsches I've owned.

I think THAT is the reason why Ferraris cost so much to maintain.

But here is the big question....DO all those things that I'm always advised to do REALLY need to be done "just to be on the safe side"?

If so, then Ferraris have lots of really crappy bits on them, since I never did this with my Porsches and never had a problem, or, if not, then we're all being ripped off!

You're the mechanic...which is it?

 

In the Ferrari world you hear a lot of "if this ever happened, it would cost $$$$$ to fix". A lot of the mechanics would also make you believe that no one except THEM could/should touch your car for fear of the thing being totally screwed for good. Luckily, I woke up to that years ago. I've owned 5 Ferraris over 26 years and have never had what I would call a major mechanical disaster. That's with lots of track time and everything. Usually, when something DOES go wrong, it's usually minor and is bad mechanic related!

 

Hi all i agree with ferrarifixer and david of moorespeed,engine out its not hard and ive never done one,serviced aston martins,tvr's,bmw all models,
mgb's-yuk,mercs inc amg,porsche,morgan+8's,and loads of other stuff to,
been at the same garage since i left school 23 years and NEVER had somone comeback and complain with some sort of fluid leak,
if the motors out you CAN service the motor to a far higher standard and thats whats needed on a vehicle of this type,ive seen jobs so called techicians have done and bent everything to gain access to the said component,what a dam mess has been left and you just end up calling the customer in to look for himself what micky mouse and donald duck did to his car,
cheers
Dale.