Buying Ferrari from Franchise Dealership vs Indep Dealership

If you build up a relationship with your local Ferrari sales guys (I've never met a woman) where you convince them you have the money and you don't have to ask your mommy's permission to buy a car, they can keep you informed about when a good car is coming in. (Ferrari dealers as a rule don't buy used cars. They are typically consignment trade ins on new cars.) But, if the time comes and a good car hits the ground, be prepared to move on it. Don't start waffling around. You either buy the damn thing or you don't.

The main problem with negotiating on a used car at a Ferrari dealer is the sales price is controlled by the customer, many of whom have inflated ideas on the value of their car. However, the closer the new car comes to being on the ground, the more realistic the customer becomes. So, it pays to be patient. But there are limits. A Ferrari dealer can call one of maybe a dozen independents and the cosigned car is gone in an hour.

Independents, however, vary. More and more independents are also cosigning cars, which gets into the same problem as mentioned above, i.e., the owners are unrealistic. Some, however, are working with their own money. They have $X dollars into a "unit," and their business model is to sell each unit for $X + $Y dollars.

But in both cases, YOU need to decide what a car is worth to YOU. You need to do your homework. It helps to have access to the Manheim auction numbers. However, you also need to understand nobody is going to sell you a car for wholesale. They're in this to make a buck, you're not.

Truth be known, for many of us, the search is most of the fun. It is very much like big-game hunting. You keep looking and looking until you bag that very special car. Good luck!

 

TF covered it. I’ll only add one simple, quick thing;

Yes, you can buy from a Ferrari dealer, or an independent dealer or an individual.

We all do buy from any and all of those. Just be smart and do your due diligence. (It’s a used car...and for the most part even a ferrari dealer is a used car dealer in that sense.)

 

God I hope that isn’t true....depressing and says so much about what these “cars” really are and what those owners are really wanting.

 

Hi, my name is TF...

 

Yes, I would get a Ferrari warranty. Service is a major profit center for dealers, and parts are a major profit center for Ferrari. On the older cars, say over 7 years old, I would go with an independent mechanic and third-party work arounds for problem areas.

Good luck!


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I would get a ppi done regardless of where you are buying from at an independent location. Or if buying out of state, make sure the selling dealer will be responsible for any thing that will fail a state safety inspection.

 

Personally I prefer a franchised dealer, simply because it builds a relationship for future allocations. Also, they can throw in things such as extended warranties or free maintenance if those are things that you would care for.

I see very little benefit to buying from an independent. You gain all the downsides of buying from a dealership (higher prices, dealer doc fees etc.) with very little of the upsides. I actually prefer a private individual over an independent dealership.

 

What he said ^^^