Hi everybody, I hope you are well. Have been lurking here for a long time (a few years...) and finally have decided to bite the bullet and purchase a 2012 FF, in part due to the wonderful feedback from all of you! FYI...I'm looking at one of the three cars below: 2012 Used Ferrari FF 2dr HB at Ferrari of Central New Jersey Serving New York, NYC, Manhattan, NJ, IID 11663843 2012 Ferrari FF Base - Newport Beach California area Ferrari dealer near Los Angeles California ? New and Used Ferrari dealership Long Beach Anaheim Van Nuys California 2012 Ferrari FF for sale by Ferrari of San Antonio in San Antonio,TX 78249 | duPont REGISTRY Does it make a difference that a car has 1 or 2 owners? (The one at NB has had two)? I live in NB (the dealership is 5 mins away from my house) - should I opt for one of the out of state cars, is it possible to use my local dealer to do a trade with the other dealers or do you recommend that I go directly to the other dealer(s) I've checked the Ferrari CPO site and all of the above cars are listed - is there anything else (assuming that I need to do a PPI) that I need to do? Should I purchase am extended warranty in addition to the CPO one? I also assume that I will have the 7 year maintenance with either one of these three cars. Do you have any experience with either Ferrari of San Antonio or Central New Jersey - The dealer at NB seems to be very good. Since the missus will be driving too, I need a front & back camera - the one in NJ doesn't list all the options - is there a way of checking? Lastly, my wife and I are at odds as to which color I will get - she wants red and I want black...apart from the 'if your wife is letting you buy a ferrari, pick her color of choice' argument, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for all the questions, apart from buying my house, this is the largest purchase that I will have ever made! For completeness of information, I will be trading my lease on a 2013 Maserati GT-Sport (I'm $4k upside down on my lease), putting $100k down and financing the rest via FFS at 3.99% APR (I've been told by the NB dealer, that FFS don't report the loan to the credit bureaus - not that I care, but it was interesting all the same). THANKS!! SCMF
Opinions are easy to come by. Experience is not so here is mine. I have dealt extensively with F of San Diego which is the same company as F of NB. I have found them excellent and value the fact that we are close to them. The service is fine though I have had little in the way of problems on three F cars. Now for opinion. I would pay somewhat more to get a one owner car with less mileage. Looking at the F of NB I would consider the low mileage white one for some more money but not a huge difference. As for color, the FF is a big car and IMO a red one makes for a big bulls eye. Black and white are easier and you will not have an issue at resale. Having said that I do not want to create domestic problems so the old philosopher who said "Listen to your wife and you will be a happy man" was on to something.
Colors are subjective but I believe the FF looks most elagent in darker colors: Grigio Silverstone or black are my favorites on the FF. Your dealer can tell you the specs of any Ferrari from VIN through the Ferrari computer system. If it were me, I would get the extended warranty since I would likely keep the car beyond the CPO warranty. Good luck and don't forget to post pics when you bite the bullet. Cheers,
One might be tempted to say whoever is paying for the car should be the one to pick the colour he or she wants..., if its a joint purchase, tougher deal. But either way, its a bit of no win proposition to go against her choice, unless... ... you can find 3rd party source of information to persuade her, then it's NOT you. So... I have heard the resale values for red FF's is lower. Of course I could be wrong, but so many of us on here seem to prefer non red colours in the Big Ferrari 2 + 2's. Red does not seem to suit the FF well at all, same with 456 and 612. So you might want to share with her that red would be a bit more of a financial risk... Hope that helps. ;-) In my experience you can hardly ever win if you are the one who is making she who must be obeyed wrong...
I would stay away from the one from San Antonio. I looked at that one last year while doing my search. I think that cars been to COTA several times as a demo car, not that there's anything wrong with that, if you are OK owning that car I also live near Newport and have a car that looks almost identical to the one in Newport. Very popular choice for FF to go Black/Red. The red one is definitely more rare, dont see those often
If Red then personally I would look for a deep red metallic rather than a flat red. I wanted Blue, but there were so few in the UK that I compromised to get the interior I wanted in a Grigo shell. It's grown on me and I can't imagine having a bright colour, it's not like a grey FF is a shrinking violet anyway!
Mr. Tony// You are absolutely right. The metallics suit the FF very nicely, being formal as well as well a bit sporty. The standard reds such as Corsa are really very sporty and suit the smaller sports cars better. Here for example is a Rosso Mugello FF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=linoIRMBt-k But I am sure they are very rare birds.
I'd go for a black on black, and I suggest you use some black cover for the seats, as the material they're made of is quite **** and they tend to take the colour of your blue jeans or whatever you're wearing in the long run. Or keep them cleaned up constantly. Then bite the bullet and go. I tried an FF yesterday. Mind Blowing.
Gents, First of all, thank you for all of the valuable advice based on your experience (& the odd opinions here and there!) - the decision is becoming easier....but it took four rounds of attempts with the better half.... I tried the following with the wife on the color combination - here's where I ended up: 1) 'Red has a lower resale value' than black. Doesn't it make better financial sense to go with the black one? Wife's - 'nice try honey, you forget that we did our MBA's together...You are buying a Ferrari.......its a depreciating asset, even though you are buying pre-owned, it's value will go down a lot - where's the financial sense in that??' Outcome - still with the Rosso Maranello option. 2) 'The black color is much more subtle and less 'in your face' than the red one. I don't want to create unnecessary attention. Wife - Honey, you are buying a 650 horsepower sports car which makes a lot of noise and you don't want to attract attention....seriously....? Outcome - still with the Rosso Maranello option. 3) 'I think the FF looks slick in black'. It's the same color as my Maserati. Wife - 'Yes, I like the black color but isn't red the racing color of Italy and hence the only color that we should get our First Ferrari in?' Also, since you have told me repeatedly that the FF is a family car for me and our 5 year old daughter and I will be driving it too, and since both of our favorite colors are red, why are we having this debate again??' Outcome - still with the Rosso Maranello option. And so onto the final one...and the key was to look at the inside instead of the outside.... 4) 'ok, let's go with the red one dear. Before I email the deaier, let's take a look at all the pictures online together' Wife - oh...you didn't tell me that the interior was grey - i remember it being black. I don't like it at all. I want the interior like the two black cars you showed me at the San Antonio and Newport Beach dealerships. Is there another red one with this interior available? Me - no honey. I've checked everywhere and there is only a tan interior on the two pre-owned cars available. The only other option is for me to custom order a new one, but this will be almost double the price of the pre-owned ones we are looking at. Wife - ok, fine. Go for the black one - it will be a nice 40th birthday present for you. At least it has red stitching and the speed dial is red. You're daughter will like the rear entertainment system too...Oh and stop looking at these car's every night - it is ridiculous.... Outcome - nero exterior and nero interior!!! Bottom line, I'm down to two choices, the black FF at San Antonio or the black one in Newport Beach (my local dealer). I am being loaned the black one from FoNB for the weekend and if the experience goes as well as I hope / think it will, I will probably buy this one - I love the interior and its simplicity & elegance. Only 'issue' for me is that it doesn't have any carbon fiber goodies, the diamond forged wheels, or alacantra seats like the San Antonio car. Also, it has had two owners vs. the FoSA which has had one and has been the owner's car & dealer demonstrator. The 'issue' with the San Antonio car is that apparently (thanks Popsmurf), it has been round COTA a few times and has been loaned out on numerous occasions to prospective buyers. The dealer has told me that it is in 'as good as new condition' but I have a niggly feeling that it has been thrown around a little. But does this mattar?? Any words of wisdom on where I should finally land? My gut tells me the Newport Beach one... Cheers, Sam
Best colour there is! You can always change the wheels. Or keep the ones on the car now with a set of winter tyres? Good luck! You'll love it!
I agree, you need an additional set of wheels for SottoZero tires. Do not drive her in the snow with summer tires. After a weekend with the car you will not want to part from her! You certainly will not be able to park her for the winter. Also, unless someone already did it, take it to someone to remove all of the swirl marks (like Todd Cooperider at Esoteric Auto Detail in Columbus, Ohio ? Detailing, Training, and Product Sales. , throw away your drying towels or use them on your interior but not the paint, buy the Tri-bed Standard Model water deionizer from Deionizers | On The Go® so you never dry your car with towels again, throwaway your California Duster too! After two years neither of my Ferraris has any swirl marks, making the paint seem wet. Adding 22PLE rather than wax saves waxing, and the FF is huge, lots to not have to wax . And lets see the photos when you get her home!
The one in San A. looks fire... Not sure what the interior is like but the exterior looks amazing. IMO I think red is a little much for the FF, I have mine in white but I think the black looks amazing. Saw a red, granted it was Rosa Corsa, FF and it was a little much for me. But to each there own. The FF is my favorite to drive, you are gonna love it.
Darn, my FIRST mistake here ... I read New Jersey ... better pay better attention here. Forget the snow tires, just watch out for Democrats, too darn many of them there. I'd rather have snow than Democrats although there is also an over abundance of them here in Toledo too .
BTW Newport Beach is in Orange County...perhaps the most conservative Republican county in the state. Home of John Wayne Airport...John was no Dem. I like the dark red FF best of the 3. My choice would probably be silver. Really shows off the lines of the car. easiest to keep looking clean. does not get hot sitting in the sun. and you can get just about any interior you like and it will work...but alas not on your option list. Good luck. Best
Off topic but I wish to report that the other day a Prius driver actually moved over from the left lane when I came up on him in the FF. I don't know what was wrong with him.
I had one pass me today headed to Detroit. He looked and smiled. What he didn't know was the Michigan HP was about a mile ahead, my Escort Live already warned me
My wife and I were in Newport Beach two weeks ago. Drove PCH north to Monterey. It was 8am on Saturday morning. Not much traffic. Going 50 mph would be fast. Where are you going to drive an FF to stretch its legs?
PS. The interior of SoCal offers some great driving roads including incredible grades and twisties. Won't specify exactly where so as to avoid attracting too much gendarme attention. PPS. Phil// Once in a while invest in a trip down a few thousand feet in your 458. Your engine will love having real air to breathe.
