Carfax and Ferrari - is this normal?

This is completely normal. I completely understand why we as interested buyers desire that information, but in fact you're asking the dealer to provide the private business details of transactions they did with another customer. That just doesn't fly.

 

Hi Rory, totally get now the apprehension. Very odd history indeed!! If it were me, and my heart was set on the car and price..I would still do a full PPI and damage/accident inspection anyway. A dealer seeing you commit to this may be much more forthcoming knowing you are serious.


I get they can't divulge personal information, but service history and point of sales aren't exactly somebody's address or Social security number!

As for Ferrari dealer non-responsiveness, you can chalk this up to unfortunately many tire kickers and lookie-loos that often have had dealers jump through hoops only to never having the intent to ever purchase. They end up doing a lot of work to fulfill I guess the 'purchase' dream of Ferrari?

I remember this clown here on this forum that spent all his time tire kicking, and never really ever intended to buy a car. He would make the dealer bend over backwards to provide info on a car, and once satisfied would offer a ridiculously low price. Of course the dealer would balk at the offer, he then would go on Yelp and write bad reviews on the dealership.

Crazy, but it happens all the time.

 

I figure a Carfax is a starting point, it can provide/reveal red flags or provide nothing of value
Somewhere there should be history on this car, you just have to find it.

 

Your joking right? You want service records below 2300 miles? That really shouldn't concern you at all

 

The Carfax on my car indicated no prior accidents, but two separate people said there was evidence of repaired damage in the right front corner.

 

Thanks for updating us. I have no doubt you'll find exactly what you're looking for.

Best wishes

 

To add on to what has been shared by others, in my several years of owning many new and near-new exotic cars from various makes (mostly Ferrari) over the past several years, I can attest to seeing countless examples of minor and major services, small and massive warranty repairs, and recalls not being reported by Ferrari and McLaren. I had a 458 Speciale that died on the track on me and then had the transmission replaced and other repairs performed, and there was never a record of this. In case of an accident or damage, my Ferrari dealer offers to work with a local repair shop to repair your car for cash (no insurance involvement) if you wish to avoid loss of value on your car.

Also, my friend's McLaren had 2 engine replacements and several other repairs that he quickly traded it in and it was put it up for sale (at our local Ferrari dealership), with nothing showing on the carfax.

In my experience, there is almost no value to a carfax report when it comes to exotic cars.

 

Pretty work Steve. That’s so generous bro. Good on you man. Best, Kirk

 

Not all dealers/shop report to carfax, believe it or not.

 

Even if you had the service history of the car you would not know how the owner(s) actually drove it. Maybe they raced it or maybe it was a garage queen or something in the middle. Driven in the rain? winter salt? potholes? cold start revving? Carfax should at least be clean. PPI and full accident inspection a must. Once the car is up on the lift and the bottom covers off you will know a lot more than you'll ever get on a Carfax. If all good and the engine/drivetrain test out then its as safe a purchase as any other. If something in your gut tells you to move on now then move on. You'll know for sure when the right one is presented.

 

Just be glad it doesnt show any mileage red flags. Carfax is problematic for that with cars that go between Canada and US due to common errors in reporting consistently miles vs Kms.