Somebody at Ferrari hates me... no Stradale for Brian... again...

Brian C. Stranded,

Is there anyone higher up at Ferrari NA or SPA that you can get ahold of and that can make sense of the monkey business? I wonder if the dealer isn't just dicking you around. If you can't get a clear answer then either pull your deposit or leave it and pretty much forget about it until the car shows up. Planning that calendar around a "shell game" seems to only lead to frustration.

Good luck and I hope you get some concrete answers.

 

Brian: Did you ever contact FNA directly? Bumboola: ever drive a GT-2?

 

That's a good idea, but you could also try it another way

I'd tell my story to the VP's at Ford.
I'd love to be the guy at Ford...that gets to put this ad together.

Photo of a Ford dealer in your area handing you the keys to one of the first FORD GT's in April
and a little story about how poorly Ferrari treats people with $200,000 to spend.
Then maybe a little track-time showing the GT blowing buy a few 360CS's

or Maybe one of those MaterCard ads
Ford GT........................................... $140,000k
Fireproof race suit................................ $1,500
Helmet.....................................................$900
Change back from your F-car deposit.........$40,000

Being first in line for the New Ford GT because Ferrari lost your $200,000 order twice, and can't get its **** together .......PriceLess !!!!!!!
.....
...
..

 

Brian, i am sorry to hear your horror story but the problem is not from FNA but from your local dealer. Your local dealer is the one that gets the allocations and should have given you a number to track your order. You should probably get in touch with FNA but i don't think you will have a case since not order number was given to you.

 

Yes Brian, there is a Santa Claus, but....

I can tell you from experience that the folks at FNA are a draconian bunch. I've seen it first hand at the former Ferrari dealer (1963-1998) in Montreal. The gent running the shop had very harsh words for FNA, often referring to them as crimminals. Needless to say, his shop is now an independant F-car shop, and he's never been happier.

However, your experience brings a question to mind Why would anyone subject themselves all this gut-wrenching waiting (and getting scr*wed) while there are quite a few year-old-low-mileage-f-cars for sale?

Kinda makes me go hhhmmmmm??

 

NOW THAT IS OLD SCHOOL

 

Mark(study) is DA MAN!

absolutely do that. find a contact high up in Ford marketing and see what they can do. i bet they'd hear you out, at a minimum.

doody.

 

It sucks, but I would wait. One day it will be there and a Stradale is worth waiting for, isn't it?

If this was a story about Lambo or Porsche; I'ld forget the order, those are just cars. A Ferrari is so much more than that, and they know it.

This summer you're cruising around, and all the waiting is history.

 

This is becoming a pretty crazy story – taking the emotional aspect out of the equation I am surprised at the business behavior – looking at the price for the car, the number of possible customers, and the competitive situation one would expect that the dealer / F would go out of their way to keep their customers happy - although my experience with my dealer is very positive Brian’s case makes one wonder about the brand as well as the underlying system – at minimum I would have expected the dealer to handle the second case better

 

No. You wanna let be borrow yours for a while?


I have more respect for the GT2 than any other current production car on the planet. But a 200k sports car is an emotional purchase. I just don't want one in the way I do a 360CS. Call me a sucker for a pretty face, a beautiful body, and a sexy voice with an Italian accent.

Paul

 

Azzurro328,

There will ALWAYS be used items and Ferrari has NO CONTROL of these. i KNOW i am making a risk by posting certain options, yet as a photojournalist am also bound to offer a service to my friends. Virtually everyone here is my friend and therefore post accordingly. If i get blackballed, so be it. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

In THIS SPECIFIC CASE it seems something is not quite right, or a sever lack of care/attention on someone's part and it NEEDS TO COME TO THE SURFACE and be taken care of properly and with professionalism. i KNOW the folks at Ferrari (Italy) seem to conduct business in a proper manner. Perhaps they, once alerted to this situation, can INSURE the right thing is done.

Hope this makes sense.

Enjoy the Drive,

Steven R. Rochlin

 

PMFJI, and this does in no way excuse the lousy treatment Brian has gotten, but Art has been on the waiting list for some time at FoSF, perhaps he will chime in with exactly how long. He didn't just place an order, that's for sure. And for some reason FoSF has had shorter lists on the 360 than anyone else in the country...still a weak silicon valley economy, I guess.

Gary

 

The factory has a VOM Order form. This is available on the net but only accessable by the dealers. Ask your deler to show you your VOM Order form!!

I was handed my copy on Tuesday, confirming the options that I have ordered and the total price. This forms part of my final Sale Contract.

 

Maybe this is Enzo himself influencing the delay of your car. Wasn't it his philosophy to build 1 less than he knew he could sell, leaving one person without the car they desire?

Anyway I hope that this is not the case and the good things come to those who wait...hopefully. It builds character...thats what my parents used to tell me.

I too have been on a list with FoS since Oct. 2000 for a Spider and changed my order to a Stradale, thinking that the car was in all cases thee car to have. They tell me April, May or June. Fingers crossed!

I find it interesting though that this is the second time. Has anyone else on F-Chat had anything close to this experience?

Maybe if it doen't come through this time you can get one of the secondary market Stradales we've seen on this site.

 

Think about this... think about it *hard* Brian! Either try FoSA or even FoSF...

Imagine...
- flying out to San Fran with the wife
- picking up the 360CS from FoSA
- drive out to the PCH
- drive down to Monterray, CA
- break the 360CS in at Laguna Seca

sounds appetizing, right?

 

Sorry to hear that. I was looking forward to ride & drive your new Stradale. (just kidding! we haven't even met yet so I don't want to be pushy)

When you made a deposit, isn't there any contract you signed? Or do Ferrari expect buyers to have $200K or so (whatever the cost of a car) just sitting in your account anytime? (I wonder what you can do w/ that kind of money) When the seller has no bindings & do whatever they like to do, we call it "King's way of business". But as years go by, this type of business goes down.

Since some personnel change occured in FMoD, they may not be aware of your situation in the past.

When I requested to search good 328 or 348 Feb '03, the sales man I talked left the dealer, and I didn't know it till I visited the dealer for the status in April. All this time, I thought they were looking a car for me! I did buy 328 from them in May, and told the salesman to call me if he gets any 355GTS or 512M, but I never got a call from them yet.

Since they had only 2 salesmen then, they must have a lot to do. (honestly) Thus face to face meeting may solve some problem for Brian. That is what I hope or wish for him.

Sorry to hear your problem. Upside is that you are now well-known at F-chat!!!

To the man who introduced me to F-chat.

Yoshi Ace

 

This really sounds like a dealer problem. Reputable dealers have an open list. You know who is on it and when each order is processed. I think you are correct in saying a "preferred" customer got your car, but not via FNA. Once you order with your specific options the car should be yours alone. The dealer should also be able to track (report to you) the progress of your car through the various production stages.

I guess this is a warning to anyone dealing in Texas with the so-called authorized dealers. BTW I had heard that FoH and FoD were under the same ownership

 

Have you considered grabbing a seat in the factory lobby?

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm here to pick up my car. It's the Ti Stradale. Do you have the key?"

Obviously it wouldn't accomplish much but you'd have a good story to tell.

-Jeff

 

Order a brown one. I don't think anybody will buy it out from under you

If I was in your position I would buy something else and write them a letter, noting that your current AND future business will be going elsewhere.

 

You know Brian ,If I were you I'd go test drive a Gallardo.You can buy one today drive it home today,no grief no BS!

I had a deposit on 360CS which I would have gotten by years end.
However from the reviews I read, I decided to drive the "G" car.
That's it... I bought one..love it! i got my 360 CS deposit refunded! I've had 7 Ferraris in the past and 1 Lambo.
THE CAR STICKS LIKE GLUE!!

In my opinion Ferrari does not currently produce a car to compete with
this car...not even the stripped down 360 CS. Hopefully that will change
as I still on 6 speed Spider(still 8 positions down after 2 years of waiting)
on order.

 

Seems like most dealers can give you a computer tracking number to follow your car though the production steps.

When I hear that the Texas store doesn't do this because the owner is not into computers... it sounds fishy.

Maybe Rob is right and there is some kind of politics going on, and the owner in Texas knows he would be even more exposed if people had the computer tracking for his cars.

When someone doesn't have a great little handy tracking system, usually he dosen't have it for a very good reason.

 

I have heard from a dealer that they were tracking a car for delivery on-line.
Everything was going great, (color, interior, all the options), the on-line system said it was being shipped to the US....

They checked again to see when it came in to the port.....
surprize... the car was no longer in the system, the entire order was wiped out???

They said that maybe some high power guy must have wanted the car and greased some palms to get it.
All they would have to do is order another one.

That Sucks!!

Personally Brian, I think you are having dealer issues.
I would try and call around other reputable f-dealers.
They might not have any in stock, but might be able to get you one.

Heck, I know a guy that just picked up his last month Silver with stripe and radio. He might be willing to sell it. But then again it would be used.


Good Luck to you..

 

Uhm, isn't that why we have Lamborghini?

 

Brain,

Which dealer did you make the purchase? If mine did that, I would be bad-mouthing them all over town but mine does not do that.

I think something may be wrong locally, not nationally. What did your dealership say to you about it?