RIPPED OFF??

I am certainly not upset as I said maybe I am not explaining it very well,it"s difficult to write down what you see,my background is that I have been an aircraft inspector for many years and find it difficult to understand how such a damaged item was missed,anyway I get the car back at about 4 this afternoon and will keep the board notified.
I also have to say that so far the dealer has been okay about it and their attitude was no prob we will fix it and I certainly hope I have not given an impression otherwise.
Best regards
Dave McGuire

 

Tell them you think the truth has been twisted in a way to make the goods more applealing to you, If you had the facts you would not of purchased/and not at least for that price...its the difference between what its worth and what you paid " thats the bit you want"

All else fails tell them you will post there details on here with the story...Simple.

Joe

 

Mark you misunderstand me!!

I feel very sorry for whats happened and having had bad experiences myself I understand more than most!

However there are many posts on here about sueing and various forms of 'action' and these comments are valid in a textbook world but we live in reality.

Do youlike the car?? is it everything you expected it to be?? if the answer to these questions is yes then best to mention the previous owner issue to the dealer- fair enough but with these cars the expenses can be enourmous, better to have them on your side to sort out warranty issues and get friendly with the guy who actually looks after the car than threaten this kind of action.

In my instance I purchased a car with a whole host of problems and after a sensible conversation with the dealer they gave me a full refund - so much for that lovely one owner car!!!! - and offered me a new car which I have had for 3 years.

I hope it gives you great service and you dont have reliablity issues but they can and do crack headers, the exhsust bypass valves pack up and the motors on top of the the shocks go- not to mention alarm units ( not covered under ferrari warranty by the way) I have had 3 of these already.

What I think is- if the car is good with no real issues I think I would be happy that I have found that car rather than push for compensation(which as ive stated earlier is a two edged sword)

I mean what if they said ok, we take the car back and refund all your money?? then you have to look for another--- better the devil you know and all that! and I dont see ferrari dealer pricing varying according to number of owners unless its truly excessive.

So it helps therefore that you have a good rapport with your dealer as life can be pretty tough financially if you dont.

The 'everyone to bail one out' comment was really meant as an indication to us all that we need to be extra vigilent when spending vast sums of money on a motor car

 

I agree with RobinH and TonyH. This would be by far the best approach.

To not mention it to the dealer would be unthinkable, particularly on the basis that we 'don't want to upset them'.

It's the manner in which you approach them that's important. Legally I think the disclaimer finishes the litigation route, however I do feel you deserve and have the right to put your view to the dealer in a reasonable manner. These dealers thrive on 'word of mouth' and have an obligation to divulge accurate details about the cars they are selling.Don't live in fear of a local dealer, there are others.

 

335Boy,

I hope you are sucessful in getting this resolved . All the bad things aside, it sounds like you paid a fair price for the car anyway. I have the same car as you (97 spider with 6 prev owners, 19K miles) and paid about 60K.

Its time to sit back and enjoy it knowing its a great car for the money - summers nearly here for the spiders!!

 

Well this is a very sensible post . You paid a fair price even considering the 'extra owners'!

The point i was making was not i quote 'lets not upsest the dealer'!! but how much worse off are you now you are aware of the facts?? if you had a refund today would you get a car thats as good with only 2 owners froma main dealer that was not a million miles away in as good a condition bearing in mind prices will harden now that summer is comming??

I never advocated not saying anything, its correct you should mention the issue and see what they say but you dont need a sledgehammer to crack a nut, as some onhere would advocate;but reality is you are on weak legal grounds, you have a good car, you have not overpaid, I mean it could be worse!!!

 

355BOY, you're perfectly entitled to have your own criteria for buying a car, if you demanded a 2-owner car and got a 5-owner car, then I can see there might be a problem, insomuchas you didn't get what you asked for..

Having said that, take a step back and think about what you've currently got.

1. A 5-owner car. For Ferraris, this is nothing. It's not like buying a Ford Mondeo that's had loads of owners. Heck, some cars have as many as 3-4 owners in their first 6 months. I have never seen the number of owners count against the value of a Ferrari. It's all down to the condition/mileage of the car.

2. Since the number of owners doesn't necessarily devalue the car, the only negative conotation is that multiple owners may mean that the car is in worse condition that say a 1-2 owner car.. but thinking about it, it only takes one owner to wreck a cars condition.. The F355 I bought from Graypauls 2 yrs ago had 8 previous owners (I think) yet was an absolute minter. They had another car there, with just 2 owners and yet looked pretty rough around the edges.

You were happy enough with the cars condition when you thought it had 2 owners, knowing it now had 5 won't change the condition of the car or it's resale value.

Ripped off ? I don't think so. Misled, maybe.

 

F355Boy,

Sorry you've had this experience. If it's the one I'm thinking of, I was looking at it myself. Very very nice car! Either with 5 or 2 owners.

But don't let this slide. Granted, you didn't check the log book, but the dealer also didn't go out of their way to tell you otherwise... You can only do but ask (firmly), as a gesture of goodwill, to do something to rectify the situation and take the sour taste out of your mouth.

Then sit back and enjoy the sun!

(I will be with our GTS...!)

Tuan

 

Have you checked who the 5 previous owners were,3 of them may have been dealers that registered the car in thier names.That would then make it a 2 owner car to all intense and purpose.

That aside,it will have no effect on the value wether it is a 2 owner or 5 owner car.If it is the best car you saw(which it must be for you to have bought it)then like others have said,"enjoy it for what it is".

Steve

 

Update on my situation as follows,got the car back at 17:00 this afternoon and all seems to be well,they even did extra work which I did not anticipate.
best regards
Dave

 

I've had a similar experience with a main dealer too.When I bought the 355 also from a main dealer in the Midlands I had specifically asked for it to be serviced MOT'd and a phone car kit to be removed.I also was promised it would be fully valeted etc.When I went to pick it up,not one thing had been done,the car had been washed only,the seats were dirty,no MOT or reg transfer(to a private plate),etc.However,because I was so excited and i'd come a long way I foolishly took it.It was only then that I realised that the service history was missing which they lost(I had seen it).This dragged on for a year and they did'nt want to know.It still makes me angry now nearly 3 yrs later! However,when I bought a 328 from Reg Vardy Ferrari in Houghton le spring a few years ago,the service was superb.Car pristine,polite picked me up from Huddersfield to collect the car etc,it just goes to show...

 

Right, I've been here with my 355 sort of.......

The Approved Dealer offered the car as a 2 owner UK Registered vehicle, and when I came to get the car and sign the docs, he then showed me the log book, but only when I asked he was slow with it but it showed that it was:-

1. An import - Jersey car (they say it's ok, but try selling one then you'll realise the difference!)
2. Had another 2 owners on top so it was 4

So it was about 5k less in value for my guess, as I'd looked for 5 months before buying. I've just gone through something with my 360M which was that it was like a fish tank on wheels, and to be honest I had to even rattle Ferrari UK's chain a bit.....it's all fixed now, but for a 2 year old car at the time it shouldn't have been like that!

Guys to contact in Order:-
1. Finance Company if you have one involved as THEY own the car not you!!
2. Trading Standards - www.tradingstandards.gov.uk find your office and call them to send you all the related info,explain your case, they are very good IMO.
3. Dealer - Give them a chance, only fair I think.
4. Ferrari UK Customer Services - Mr Alan Mapp on 01784436222 (Excellent)
5. Lawyer to discuss your rights

Ask for alot more than you want, as they will most likely only meet you in the middle, I don't want to cover it too much as theres lots to the story but with my 360M I got a free 1400 quid service which I think was fair and a heavy discount of the clutch and some other bits, so thank you Maranello for sorting it out, a big thanks to Mark Bridges at Maranello, a nice chap, and Lewis Arthur at the pretty much top of Maranello Sales for sorting it out.

I think you'll always be kicked owning these cars but can't agree more, to just enjoy it, keep the issue to yourself and the involved parties and the board as we truly understand but others don't all they see is a waste of money on a hunk of metal, but it's different for us owner/enthusiasts

I love most things about these cars, I lived next to the factory for 6 months when I was a teenager watching these beautiful streamlined cars in all colours leave on trucks, and hankered for one all that time......I even share the same birthday as Enzo....but one thing we must all remember..... when the ordinary guy walks past you in the straight, smiles and says lovely car mate, it's a dream for him, he'll maybe never own one as not everyone is lucky like us, love the car, and the marque, it'll make you smile everytime YOUR out in it!!

Paul
CUE 99T

 

I once bought a almost new SL500 ( when they first came out) from a lage Merc Dealership...It was a great car silver fully loaded and was 72k, I paid my hefty deposit and waited to collect the car, on the day i was to collect the car i arrived at the dealership and was given a coffee and introduced to the Bussiness manager who was preparing all the Paperwork.
I sat down and was exited and eager to just get the keys and take t the road in my dream Merc, I had signed the Docs and was looking at the registartion Docs when I saw that the car was a German import by a Royal Forces Soldier, I asked what was this all about and ONLY THEN did they bother to explain that the car was purchased by them brand new by an army officer who can import the car legally, I explained that the cars re-sale value was far less than a normal purchased car, they still tried to get me to buy the car.

I eventually left with my Deposit and purchase a new car 3 months later..It just shows you what salesman will go to to get a sell...

I learnt a good lesson ..not is all it seems

 

Interesting point about Main Dealers selling UK Spec Imports....In 1999, I was a ptnr in a company that specialised in sourcing car just like this.Our biggest customers were.......???
You guessed it. Porsche main dealers.But , to be fair, all the main players were doing it too.

Tony