hello i'd reccomend viewing www.ferrariofdenver.com and their FAQ section. pertaining to ferrari, they explain the current ferrari market like it appears to be. plus they have a killer ferrari + shell video clip. never been to FoD. have no connections. but their website is interesting to say the least. kind regards, joseph
Here's what we know: Drivers aren't buyers and buyers aren't drivers....it's THE oldest rule in exotic car sales, and it is 100% accurate. Real buyers simply dont even ask. We aren't the local amusement park, and this isn't the local Ford dealership. As a business, we wont risk a valuable automobile for your amusement. There's no shortage of folks who would love to spend their day entertaining themselves at our expense, playing Ferrari/Bentley/etc buyer. Isn't that the truth...........I've sold 99% of my F-cars with no test drive...........and the test drives I did were to previous customers who had bought several high dollar cars.
I felt a bit of outright contempt for anyone else in "The Business". There must be some bad blood in Colorado.
Last fall I visited Ferrari of Denver and they were very friendly folks. They had a bunch of used Ferraris on display: 308, 360, 550 Had a nice chat with one of the salesmen, no pressure, just nice talk and took several pictures around the cars. Regarding their FAQ, this is really sobering: No wonder Ferrari no longer shows up at the Chicago car show. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
i do like how they tell it how it is, but then again it can become disheartening for potential buyers. nice find though!
It made me wonder what motivation a Ferrari dealer is left with? Obviously they make a living maintaining the cars and I guess they're trying to sell the used cars. But the center piece of the dealership, selling new cars seems to be all but gone.
someone brought up the point that there will be no new ferrari dealerships for a while (bentley stl as we understand has tried/is trying to get one) because they constantly sell out their lines years in advance. there's no need for new dealerships when the market is already practically full. i also wondered this, it made it sound like they took some orders, then stopped doing it. did the dealership put a number of orders in for new cars and is planning on selling those once they get them in? or are they just looking to take trade ins and sell their existing inventory? it sound like kind of a waste to me, personally.
Ditto. No problems with me getting in an out of a few cars. Bought a bunch of F crap that I really did not need... They did the PPI on my car years ago.
Stopped at my Ferrari dealer in 6/96 and test drove a new 355 Spider. Bought it the next day. Test drove an Aston. Bought one the next day. Test drove a Lambo Diablo. Bought it the same day. All of these cars were purchased new. I think the difference is that real buyers (however that is ascertained by the dealership) are actually offered a test drive. I didn't walk in and ask for one. There is a certain arrogance in assuming a product is worthy because of the label it carries. I understand the dealer's perspective, however. It's just an insane marketplace right now.
LFSC offered to let me drive a testarossa prior to purchase - and I did. But, it was my third visit there to look at the same car, within one month. And, my wife was there with my kids screaming that they want to go to McDonalds...perhaps that gave me credibility ? My wife was just encouraging me to buy something fast, because we had to go...
Wow! Ferrari shopping with hungry kids and biatchy wife in tow. That had to make the experience priceless.
Actually, my wife was quite supportive. Watching me shop for a ferrari, for her, was much the same experience as my having to watch her shop for kids gym shoes... rapid progress is appreciated . Actually she wanted me to buy a yellow 355... .
How long ago was this? There was a yellow 355 I test drove a few months back. A member of this board now owns it.
"... buy something fast,..." Does that mean "buy something in a few minutes" or "buy somehting that goes 180 mph?" Or both? She sounds like a great wife!
I find the "real buyers are not drivers" spiel to be bull****. I would never buy a $200k+ car that I hadn't test driven before. None of the people I know who've bought cars in that range would either. Maybe it's some particular market warp that occurs in Denver. Certainly doesn't play like that in Chicago. I've also never had a problem getting a test drive here. Even before I had any exotic ownership to my name. Test drove both a 430, Gallardo, and good number of 360s here from various dealers. Ended up buying the Gallardo and the 430. But actually, I bought the Gallardo first. In part because the test drive offered was much more substantial and I got a better feel for the car.
Makes you wonder though..how many people buy the cars because they really care and are enthusiasts vs. people who just buy because of the status symbol? Those who buy for the later reason aren't going to test drive..
Not necessary a rule, how many times people order the car without driving it or worse,not even knowing what it would look like? Happens with all new Ferraris that have to be ordered years in advance and they are ordered mostly by enthusiasts. That also applies to many other brands too.(myself,ordered an M5 long before knowing the specs or styling)
