Help on a Cali 348.....

The Northern Calif section has current comments about this dealer.

They are consignment only. So what they relay about the car may be sales "puffing" and may not be accurate. They do nothing to the cars other than display them, and apparently they get irritated when one asks to communicate with the owner.

They are about 8 miles from me. I would be happy to look at the car tomorrow for you if you like.

Let me know.

 

I called them about that exact same car. I can tell you my experience dealing with them was horrible. They are a consignment outfit and seem to have little or no knowledge about the cars that they have for sale. GCALO was dead-on when he said that they seem to get annoyed when you ask them "real" questions about the car or its owner. I disqualified that place after several disappointing phone conversations.

In the end, I chose to give my business to Symbolic Motors in La Jolla. They were always eager to answer every question I had, and they called me when they said they would call me. The car arrived here exactly as it was represented.

 

I dont know if this applies or not, but I just got a custom kevlar/carbon fibre clutch installed in my Audi. Its a ***** to drive normally so be carefull. But then again, you dont really drive a ferrari all the time, although you should Slow shifts are very hard and the clutch grabs so quickly because thats what its designed to do. Great for the track though! Hope that helps.

 

That 90' looks real good. Steve at Sport Auto is great and I am sure that he would be glad to go over the whole car wth you. They have an outstanding reputation over there.

 

Just a quick comment on kelar/carbon type clutch discs they tend to wear out the fly wheel sooner than you would want. I would rather wear out the disc than the flywheel for cost reasons especially a 348/355 flywheel. IIRC the flywheel is about 10X the price of the disc. I had a friend who changed to a carbon type on his BMW and commented on the same problem, being grabby etc. regards, Vern

 

John,

Sport Auto is a much better choice. They know Ferraris and service them. They have had very nice cars for sale regularly, and there have been a few very happy buyers on this site.

Ecoloqua was smart to deal with Symbolic. I know them well as I am in LaJolla every 6 weeks to 2 months. They are a bit pricey, but their cars are good quality.

I would also suggest Jim Lyons at www.sportscarcompany.com in LaJolla as well. He too is very honest and has very good cars. An FChat member from New England just bought a very nice 348 from Jim, and he's now awaiting it's arrival via Intercity.

It's always best to deal with one familiar with Ferraris. Specialty Sales has mostly American iron, and not very good quality foreign.

Keep hunting and don't give in too easily.

You know, the ladies might have Nordstrom, but what transpires on this site is incredible. The knowledge, the information, the help and assistance are just overwhelming.

And as a few have jumped in to help John in this situation, there are plenty others who do the same for others.

This is really without question a fantastic group.

Hip Hip Hooray for Rob for giving us this site and thanks to everyone for the invaluable information.

 

I bought my 328 at Sport Auto and would also recommend them, although with any Ferrari it's worth a trip to check out the details.

I'm over at Symbolic occasionally, and Jim Lyons has a place across the street. Also don't overlook Gary Bobileff -- he seems to have a steady supply of great '90s-and-earlier Italian exotics. I get my car serviced there and wouldn't hesitate to buy from Gary.