Factory Visit in June/ Tailor Made

I did and I may be jaundiced having been to the factory so many times and so I was somewhat underwhelmed. However, if you have not been to the factory before then as part of a factory trip, the atelier would be a great addition.

 

I've been told its well worth it. Supposed to be a first class experience and is much better than ordering/ speccing the car at the dealer or even the Atelier.

 

My wife and I did it for our FF, and thought it was fantastic. One of the most special experiences in our lives. We felt like we were treated special, took all the time we could possibly need, with no sense of pressure or urgency, and were given really useful advice and assistance. We went in with no real clear idea of colors or options, and found our advisor extremely helpful in making our final decision. Also got a private tour of part of the factory as part of the experience. We'd been once before on the factory tour, and found the one-on-one private stroll down the assembly line way more special and personal. We got to see many different examples of color combos on the assembly line, and in final prep, and that really helped us to make a decision.

Lunch afterwards at Montana on Ferrari's tab was a totally unexpected and special treat that just made the day complete. Three years later, that day still sticks in my mind as a truly once in a lifetime event that will never be forgotten.

 

I did a Nov visit. Very well worth it. I been to the factory many times and still enjoyed ordering at he factory. You'll enjoy it.

 

What are your plans for Tailor Made?

 

Is there a separate charge for this service, or is the expectation that you spend more on options & customization?

 

Pretty cool. Does the car come out of your local dealer's allocation or not count against it? If the latter, I suspect it's a win-win.

 

There was no charge for the service. I imagine they come out fairly well, as once surrounded by all those gorgeous optional goodies it's hard to resist adding on more bits. I don't know if its just free, or if the factory charges the dealership, or what. Its all seamless fun to the buyer: really great customer service all around. The experience of speccing our car has made the car itself all the more special to us. It embodies some really wonderful memories for us every time we use the car.

When we specced our car, it wasn't yet even available in the US, and FNA didn't get their first allocations for the FF for 6 months after we specced it. And at that, the first nine months of US bound cars didn't come with the panoramic glass roof, which wasn't even an option you could see in the configurator in the US at the time. So we waited for that feature to make its appearance in the US before taking an allocation. At the time a car with panoramic roof came available for us to submit our spec, we made a few more changes to the spec with our dealer, and placed the order.

Our dealer and the factory were incredibly helpful all the way along the process. Great fun! Absolutely worth the time and travel to do at least once in a lifetime.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what's the spec? I'd assume since you're going the Tailor Made route it's a bit more than just a standard choice of exterior/interior color.

 

Thanks for the insight guys, I'm turning 50 next January and to mark the occasion I intend to replace my F430 F1 with either a 458 Speciale or F12 (I know very different cars). But in order to make the whole occasion more memorable the intention is to both spec and collect the car at the factory.
Your experiences and comments have been helpful - Thanks again.

 

You weren't charged for the Atelier appointment? Strange. The last time I checked the price was around €1.000 for a quoted 2 hour appointment in the atelier itself. But things do change...

You're dealer must have paid for you. Sounds like a dealership I would want to remain friends with!

Just to clarify for the OP, you do not need to set up an appointment with Tailor Made in order to build your car in the Atelier in Maranello. Those are two separate services. If you are going through the Tailor Made route, you will be taken to a separate department full of drawers with inspirational items and material types as well as having a personal designer. For instance they have loose bits of carbon fiber in different colors and weaves lying around. There are so many niche items and variations of materials and that you'll never run out of imagination for your build. It takes the art of designing your car to a different level.

The cool thing is let's say you like the look of an item, but when you touch it you want it to feel like something else that you found in another drawer. And the color, well you want that to be a mix of a certain piece of cloth you saw over there and a metal piece in a drawer you looked at a few minutes ago. Well, they will fix it for you. Pretty lame example, but the sky is the limit, also price wise.

The Tailor Made department also has three themes; Scuderia, Classica and Ineditia. The personal designer can help you with preparing a design within one of these themes. For example, if you want a car with a lot of classic materials, colors and design elements you will be looking at things in the Classica section. Scuderia is where all the tricolore and racing stripes, golden rims etc. come in.

 

Yes, I think its yet another measure of the high quality of customer service our dealership offers that we had no idea there was any fee associated with either the Tailor Made appt or our factory tour we had taken a few years prior. Ferrari of Seattle has earned their recognition as the top dealership in the world with customer service like this and so much more. We've been so pleased with our dealership in particular, and really every other Ferrari dealership we've visited in our travels throughout the US, that we're committed to buying any and every other car we ever buy again from our Ferrari dealer, whether it be a Ferrari/Maserati/Alfa, or whatever we decide we need. Eight years ago we even bought our Scion XB through them, and they presented it to us on delivery with all the pomp and circumstance befitting any new car purchase regardless of the price. Our Scion proudly wears the Maserati of Seattle license plate frames...

 

That sounds excellent. Kodus to them.

 

It's great to hear such positive experiences with the Ferrari dealerships.