Why are found warranty card unwanted by current owners?

Recently I discovered again a warranty card. I always wondered how these warranty cards get separate from their vehicles, but the reality it that they do. Once in a while they turn up and in my experience they turn up quite often. I have romantic ideas of these. To what kind of owners did they belong, how ere they, who supplied the car when new, where was it serviced, were the books stored in the cars, or in a cupboard or even in a safe? When did they separate from the car? What happened exactly, just a sale and forgot the books, of was it theft or something else? Deliberately kept away from the car to hide the (high milage) history? Anything could have happened.

My recent discovery is the original warrant card for 328GTS s/n 62919, original supplied by Charles Pozzi S.A., France. Best thing would be to find out if the car was still around and better, if the current owner could be tracked down. With the help of our FChat 328 guru, the owner was quickly found! Quite amazing!

However more amazing was that the current owner was not interested in the warranty card at all... For me this is unbelievable, owning a Ferrari without the original warranty card. But for some it apparently is not.

Any people out there with similar stories?

 

Well, I know the story of the warranty card of #62919 through Bertrand. I also think the owner's reaction is weird...
From a purely financial point of view, he, or his kids, will measure the importance of the warranty card if they have to selle the car one day: having the warranty card is always a bonus.
Considering the matter more globally, the wrranty card is part of the car itself, and its history, so it is a pity that he has no interest in it. Perhaps he doesn't want to know the history of the car? Or he doesn't want to risk unpalatable discoveries?
Who knows: the Ferrari owner's are very diverse, he might actually have no interest in it...

Rgds

 

Well..I wouldn't be particularly interested, at least not in the sense of paying money for it. I don't see how the warranty card adds any "value" to the car. For example, I have my original window sticker and I don't see how that makes my car "worth" any more to a buyer than the same car in the same condition without the window sticker. At least, it wasn't to me. OTOH, if there were two identical 3x8s in identical condition at the same price and one had the window sticker and or warranty card and the other didn't, I'd select the one with the sticker/card so I suppose it's worth something to me...just not money.

 

I can see how easily they are separated from the car.

I do not carry my tool kit, books, warranty card etc. in my car. They are carefully packed in a plastic bin in the house. For that matter, I have my factory 16" Cromodora spare wheel/tire in a corner in the garage (and carry a fresh/safe Volvo spare), my original front US bumper shocks are elsewhere (since my bumpers are "push in."). I have other stuff squirreled away elsewhere.

It would be very easy to sell the car and have that oh-crap moment when I, or my estate, perhaps years later, realize the new owner didn't get something original to the car. My warranty card is with my kits and books, but other people may keep the different items in separate places.

 

There are some owners who have an appreciation for how those documents become important at some point in the cars lives. There are some who do not or do not care. I understand it but at the same time I do not try and impose my sense of importance of it on others. I look at the cars as an important piece of automotive history of one of the most storied manufacturers in history. To others they are just cars. Document and tool kits etc get seperated for those reasons. I help a lot of people find cars, sometimes modern, sometimes collector grade. When all the books, tools, documents and trinkets are present it makes a big impression on me, but not always on my client. Sometimes it is the difference between a sale and me walking away. I am going to look at a collector grade car for a client very soon in another part of the country. I fully expect to spend considerable time reviewing all that "stuff".

 

None of it does you any good if you don't have it. I was 300 miles from home and needed to replace an alternator belt in the 328. The factory tool and jack kit allowed me to do it on the side of the road. All the technical information in the owners manual...what will you do if you need it far from home? Thats why they gave them to us.

 

Like Brian said, it may or may not be important to some but for me, anything and everything that came with the car originally is definitely cool to have.

 

"Like Brian said, it may or may not be important to some but for me, anything and everything that came with the car originally is definitely cool to have."

COOL to have and "important" to have are different things. I totally agree it is cool to have everything that came with the car originally. But I wouldn't attach any "value" to that as far as the price of the car UNLESS you are looking for a collector car in pristine, original condition that you plan to keep that way (not drive).

As far as carrying the tools, my days of repairing cars at the side of the road - which I did many times with various cars over the years - are long over. Changing a tire is pretty much the only thing I would do. When I drove my 328 across country the first time, in 2008, I had the tool kit and quite an extensive bag of additional tools. I probably could have repaired/replaced anything in the car other than the pistons/crankshaft at a wide spot in the road! The last time I drove it across country - 2017 - I carried the jack and that was it! Of course, part of that decision is that the car has given me no more reason to worry about it than has our Hyundai Santa Fe!

 

Ha! Very true.

I have a homemade general emergency tool kit which I like better that I swap between cars. Its contains a lot more ad hoc repair stuff too like waterproof duct tape and zip ties. But no, I am not going to do too much to the car on the side of the road.

I don't carry jack stands. I have 200 mile towing insurance with AAA. In October, my wife and I took a road trip from California through the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee in my 1987 BMW 325i convertible. Backroads all the way there (Interstate 40 on the way back).

I guess its partially irrational. The first owner of my car did not fix the car himself and must have kept the tool kit in his house. It is absolutely brand new looking and I kinda hate to use it now.

In the Ferrari I carry the belts and an old working fuel pump (… because its never been changed in my car but the original still works fine). My thinking is that I would mooch a hoist somewhere (… within 200 miles).

 

Brian,

Agreed on how the "peripheric parts" can get separated. But what is slightly weird in the example of car #62919 is that the owner of the car, when told that the warranty card of his car has surfaced out of the blue and that he could have it back for a fair price, said he had no interest in it. Considering that you have many owners desperately looking everywhere for the original warranty card of their car, this is a bit disconcerting...

Rgds

 

Hi all,

Interesting topic always.

I consider whatever piece of information you can obtain about your car very importan to understand what has been done and what hasnt.
Documentation is important for both maintenance and originality perspective.
Both aspects impacts on value. Whatever pending maintenance you will have to execute at some point, and clearly the most original car will get better number when selling.

One last thought: original and authentique are not equal terms

Original means "to the atom", the part is the same which came out of factory.

Authentique is a "period correct" or "exact reproduction" of the part.

We must know and demostrate what is original and what is authentique in our cars, and thats a very strong reason to properly document our cars

Best Regards

Julio

 

What are as the price?

 

A gentelman would have sent it back to him and paid for the stamp. I certainly would have.

 

He has done it, and more than once...it is a pet project of his: reuniting cars and original documents. That why he was quite surprised that, for this time, the owner didn't seem interested at all.

Rgds

Rgds

 

Did he offer for free or ask a price? Big difference between, "I'll send you xxxx for yor car for $yy", and, "I came across xxx for your car and if you give me your address I'll send it to you."

 

To be frank, I don't know, but it was the first time that he got a "not interested" answer, and he has done it quite a number of times before.

Rgds

 

Well, I don't understand not wanting it at essentially no cost. If I didn't have the paperwork and somebody offered it to me for the price of shipping/handling, I'd happily pay it. OTOH, if the person says "I have it and it's yours for 100 bucks," I'd tell him to go pound sand!

I have to admit that my reaction would be more directed at the other person's avarice than about spending 100 bucks, which is almost meaningless in the Ferrari world.

 

Fair enough. You stated above that it was for a price. If he was able to contact the owner and wanted nothing in return, he could have just dropped it in the post. No need to contact the owner and ask if he was interested. So I'm thinking there was more to it.

By the way, what's a warranty card? What I got with my car was this. It's got a page that is signed by the dealer with date of sale and owners (me) name. The car didn't come with any specific "card".

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The "owner's warranty and service book", often called "warranty card" in the U.S; to us french, it is a "booklet": in extenso, a "carnet de garantie" or "warranty booklet", but more usually just "booklet" (carnet)
"Tessero di garanzia" in Italian means litterally: "warranty card".

Rgds

 

Some people don't like clutter and must consider the warranty card, and probably the tool roll for that matter, to be clutter. They just see the car as a consumer product (which it is) to enjoy however they want.

There are also people on the other extreme (me, according to my wife) who never throwing things out.

 

why would anyone charge another owner for their original warranty card? seems petty

 

Same here; I keep an incredible numbers of things, especially tools (I am from a family of blacksmiths and carpenters, originally....) mainly late XIXth/ early XXth century.
For instance, I still got about 100 pounds of horsehoe nails (square headed) I have no use for these, having no horse; a big two-men saw, etc...
I don't have use for these things right now, but...you never know.
"You will be happy to find it, should you need it one day".

Rgds

 

If I am looking even at a non investment grade car, say a 328, all the books, tools and trinkets mean a great deal to me in evaluating a car. I can only see so much and can only evaluate so much but having all of those items is a huge indicator of the ownership history of the car. It indicates far more often than not its owners cared about it and probably took as good a care of the car as they did the books, tools key fobs etc.

It is not about the stuff and a book of records. It is an indication of a state of mind that there is very little way of knowing any other way.

 

Towing services are fine but when I am 50 or more miles from any tow truck and who knows how far from a flat bed I have and desire to trust the car to I am not standing around for 12 hours hoping someone shows up.

In my case, a very reliable car had a piece of the rubber padding on the fuel tank come off get in the alternator belt and knock it off out in the middle of the Nevada desert. Wait for help with little or no cell reception? Your kidding right?

 

I think I know this story.

As I told you Elder the current owner of this car don't care about the book and propably about the story of his car. I don't really understand that but somes owners use it just like a toy or only to appear as a "Ferrari owner".
In that case the guy just replied that the price was high and didn't ask ANY questions. And he doesn't contact me and you as I understand, since.

Also some owner doesn't want to see document showing real story and mileage of the car …..