In last few days I noticed 6-7 are available at Calif dears at MSRP. Most weren't ordered for customers..just extra cars that factory shipped. I'm driving an E gear this weekend. If the alleged parking "lurching" is overstated or a non-factor I might take one home who knows?
I found it pretty bad at low speed worse than the box in my Maser. Except for that and the very tall 1st gear it's pretty cool. As an aside I really like NAV systems and would go for one with the radio. Pls. post after you drive and tell me if you agree re egear. ( A software upgrade may be in the works and isn't a big deal. So far my Masers had 2 flashed in and they work.)
I was curious about the performance of the e-gear as well...They have an orange e-gear at Ultimate but if its anything like the F1 360 I will stay with a stick.
Hey Bannana, The E-Gear is fantastic, but I have found that if you drive it in the sport mode it is actually a little more comfortable than the regular mode. I am a die hard 6 speed guy but I do "get" the need or desire for the e gear. As for the lurch, it is not as bad in sport mode and also feathering the gas makes it not that bad. It only jumps about 6 inches or so so it is pretty liveable. Chris
I'll let you know what I think for what is worth. taking into account that I have NOT driven a Ferrari F1. Of course they "claim" it is much better than the Ferrari F1. I understand the stradale F1 is different than the regular 360 F1.
I was told that the Lambo e-gear is far superior than the F1...I hope they can also keep it more reliable with no service issues to deal with. My dealer told me that the e-gear will have a longer life and better reliability that the stick.
apparently the factory is really cranking these cars out. A few weeks ago I made inquiries all over the country. Today 3 dealers called me with cars. One dealer when I told him I was looking at a couple tommorrow at MSRP said "don't do anything until you get back to me"! I think it is great on one hand that you can walk in and buy one. On the other hand I WOULDN'T WANT TO SEE AN OVERPRODUCTION AS WITH THE 996tt. this would kill the resale market. Your thoughts???? TIA
VW has stated they want to sell 5K of these a year. I think they are sniffing glue. Nothing to do with the car but because IMHO there are too many cars in this segment: 360, Gallardo, used Murcie, P GT2, Ford GT, Bentley coupe, Aston, etc. I know they're different. I know some like one and some like another. BUT I don't think they can sell 5000 of these per year in the US and that's how many they can make. What is residual on 3 year lease they're offering? That will tell the tale.
Lambo seems to think they can take Ferrari market share by flooding the market. If Ferrari plays the games of low supply "sell one fewer then is in demand" Lambo can really screw Ferrari by flooding the market at $160k and make Ferrari rethink their game. Look at the cost of parts for Lambo... I wonder if they will try to make Ferrari look bad by pricing the parts for the new Lambos more like Audi then like Ferrari. Things are going to get interesting. Lambo has Audi behind them with big bucks. Ferrari can't afford to play games in their bread-and-butter entry level car. VW can start a price war and dump product on the market short-term to build a new custumer base.
They are a little ahead of their game. Here's a perfect example.. I want to buy NOT LEASE. I want to finance 100k give cashiers check for the difference (about 90-95k with taxes etc) My credit rating is excellent. VW has no financing plan in place yet. "soon they will have" Ordinary banks are balking at what the value is...the dealer says "lease it no problem you have the credit and we have several lease sources." I've done the math..the only hard number lease they gave me is a rip. They claim "almost everyone leases the few that buy write a check." They are checking one other source of funding. If that doesn't work I may pass. The consumer expects to be able to finance. I bought a new 996TT 2 years ago gave them 26000check financed the 106ooo balance and drove off 1 hour later. A no brainer. Buying a Gallardo is like Brain Surgery!! One aspect of my business is collateral lending so it makes no sense NOT to finance things since the opportunity cost of my capital far exceeds stated interest rates.
Ive also been contacted by dealers. It seems lambo went ahead and over produced cars and shoved them down dealers throats.
It looks like they will run out of 180k buyers before cars at this rate, Maybe we can actually buy them below MSRP????? On second thought since they are going up in MSRP in March I doubt dealers will have to discount them now?
I was thinking the same thing, particularly on the lease residual amounts which thus far are unknown. That's the key stat to obtain for sure. Leasing the Gallardo will likely be an option that no one sane chooses due to over saturation of the market leading to faster depreciation than expected. In terms of the 5k figure, that amount of sell through is nearly impossible for a 2-seat sportscar in that price bracket. The category volume leader in this segment is the 911TT and I don't believe even that mass produced car sells 5k a year in the US. The Gallardo is a great car, the segment leader really (save for the GT2 which is a low volume model) it surely will sell say 2k a year, equalling or exceeding the 360's totals. But to say it will do more than that is a gamble. Hopefully they flood the market with them, I'd love to pick one up with a few thousand miles on it in late 2005 for $100k. A Stradale for the track, a Gallardo for the street. Not a bad combo.
This is exactly what everyone thought in 1991 when the NSX hype was reaching insane levels. The feeling was that Honda could produce up to 7k NSXs a year and would dominate the entry level sports car market easily through their critically acclaimed superior product (debateably superior, but let's just go with it for this post's sake). The differance was that while Honda could deliver on the quantity and the quality, they could NOT deliver on prestige, soul, or heritage that many F-car and P-car buyers demanded. Particularly the country club set, etc. So sales dropped off dramatically after the hype subsided, and Ferrari eventually introduced the F355 which effectively was the nail in the NSX's coffin. This time it's different for Ferrari, because you have a company in Audi that can not only deliver on the quality and quantity parts of the equation, they can also deliver on the prestige, soul, and heritage portions due to the Lamborghini branding. The new Lamborghini is not a short term threat, and they are not going to fade into obscurity as Honda's NSX has. Which is why your post Mark is so relevant. Ferrari is also facing threats from external sources that have previously not been in the segment as James mentioned, such as the Ford GT, the lower quantity Saleen and Pagani products, an impressively reborn Aston Martin, and even certain models from Jaguar. Not to mention the improved performance by Porsche's management group, who seem to do no wrong of late. This is a critical time for Ferrari. They need a homerun with their "600 Maranello" replacement, or whatever it winds up being called, and they need a much more dominant/competitive version of the 360 to follow shortly thereafter. Otherwise they're going to be looking at some tough times. Plus you can't dominate F1 forever. Some team is eventually going to emerge that takes the crown and simutaneously retires Schumi, as sad as that seems.
banana boat- you mentioned the 996tt and they flooded the market, resale value was crap. I'd love to hear details... I've never followed P-cars. What happen? How did the dealers get rid of them? What is the Gallardo worth to you?? I really like the car but they missed just a tad on looks, so I discount it. To me its a buy at $130k. Have the Murcielago ever sold below MSRP ? Or do the guys that buy them just know their going to take that big hit? What happens if a car floods the market. Would the dealer or the company adjust the price?
Did you drive the Gallardo yet? As for financing or leasing, i would never lease a car of this caliber. Any bank will finance you, Chase Manhattan for instance, and you should be able to get 3.9 or 4.9 percent. Usaa Federal credit union is also great. They will send you a check next day. It costs 25.00 to join. I believe they are at 3.9 percent. If its depreciation youre worried about, buy it, because in the end, you lose evry dime of lease payments. And leases on these cars are always horrible, you end up having payed for the car, and giving it back.
I'm already a member of USAA (was a Navy pilot during Vietnam). Didn't even think to ask them since they are always sending me pre-approval notices for 35000 loans!!! Drive of couple of them tommorrow.
I know a guy that bought a Black/Black 6 speed for $5k under MSRP...I also talked to a dealer that was asking $30k over MSRP. I always low ball a price and once I have shopped the same price to ALL the dealers then I go back to the lowest. My experience is that Kurt Osterman(sp?) at Ultimate in FL and Vik are the most non BS people in the business. Some dealerships just like to display their cars but if I ever get qouted full MSRP when I have cash in hand I never call them again.... I had a salesman qoute me full MSRP after I told him I would wire the money the same day...I bought the car for $15k less and 3 days later the salesman did a follow up and said he could have done the same deal...I said "Well you had your chance now Ultimate is my dealer so please lose my number"...Beware of the snakes
