[Matt G]

Hello my name is Matt from the southland's of Chicago. Been a lurker here absorbing all the info you fine folks post. Well I am ready to plant my foot into Ferrari land soon, in a nice 360. I do have 1 question that i haven't found a good answer to and that is, Why do what i see called gray market vehicles seem to sell at a discount to US issued cars? Isn't a Ferrari a Ferrari ? and the vehicles i have seen and researched have all been in the this country for years. What am I missing. Please educate me on this ....espsealy since the car I have narrowed down falls in this category. Are there any pitfalls that Iam not seeing esp if the car has all the documentation and passed the ppi.

Thanks a bunch Guys and Gals
Matt G

[tazandjan]

Matt- Welcome to Ferrari Life. In general gray market cars have been monkeyed with by non-factory shops and many have non-OEM parts on them. I imported two gray market cars in the 70s and 80s, when the conversions were done by some touch and go outfits. The work is now much more reliable and the cars are more consistent, but there is still the non-factory stigma. At various times, used Euro cars have been much cheaper than similar condition US cars, so doing a gray market import made sense. Especially since Ferrari has tried to push towards world cars that meet everybody's requirements.

So there is nothing wrong with a gray market car, but the mass production models (not talking about Ferrari Supercars) have never, and likely will not in the future, brought as much as their US versions

[Granucci]

welcome.

- Grey market vehicles are any vehicle not specifically designed for the area of licensing. It may involve Fed and/or state requirements.

- In the NAmerican/NA market, the Fed and Canada to a degree have many similar mfgr rules related to mileage, SMOG blinkers etc. etc. etc. matter of fact there are some cars mfgr'd for Europe that were not even considered for the US market due to MPG SMOG and the like.

In NA market to convert a car into the US market, for example, is called FEDERALIZING it, or making it proper for licensing in one of the states/provences in this area.

Taking a car from the NA to Euro market is much easier in terms of conversion...most likely will pass in their market by even to the extent of 'taking things off' should that be necessary.

Most people stay from the conversion process as it is expensive, and many here will have some first hand knowledge. My mech has a few being converted back to Euro specs as they are now old enough to escape the local NA terms. won't even address that.... way over my head.

IF you are talking a 360, way way too many here to even consider the process I suspect. Stay with NA licensing and get the best example. the conversion would make that 'deal' a breaker.

[champagne612]

Matt

Welcome to Ferrari Life

360's are a lot of Ferrari for the money - whatever you save going in it will cost you double in the end.

Trouble going in is double trouble going out ... just my .02

[Matt G]

Thank you for the nice welcome and a very good explaination. Is it me or is there also a seasonal change in the pricing of these car's. I noticed in the cooler months the prices where what appeared to be lower. It sure cant be the stock market or ecomomy thats driven the slight increase, just an observation.
The search continuies till she calls to me.

Matt G

[IDriveM5]

Originally Posted by Matt G

Thank you for the nice welcome and a very good explaination. Is it me or is there also a seasonal change in the pricing of these car's. I noticed in the cooler months the prices where what appeared to be lower. It sure cant be the stock market or ecomomy thats driven the slight increase, just an observation.
The search continuies till she calls to me.

Matt G

Depends on the car and somewhat on the location. My leasing agent said there is a seasonal affect, especially for the Spider models. We've found this mostly to be true when watching prices on the east cost and mid west.
However, I don't anticipate it being much more than 3-5 percent. That seems true also because the depreciation for the 360 has REALLY flattened out in the past 12 months. I've been trending this for a while now.
I feel like buying in the summer will cause a *slight* price premium. Then again, you get to drive it for an extra summer as opposed to waiting. So, how much is that worth to you? Some people might say it's priceless! Maybe even more valuable in a Spider!

If you subscribe to Ferrari Market Letter, you'll get a lot os useful information. Folks here have suggested it, and I subscribed. It upped my pricing knowledge to another level to the point I feel like I know the market really well now. Conversely, your best offer is only as good as the desire of the other guy to sell it! And Ferrari's carry a lot of emotion, which is hard to factor into the price. Good luck, we're in the same boat!

[tazandjan]

Matt- Best time to buy a Ferrari is December-February where weather is a factor. As mentioned, on the Left Coast, it does not make much difference.