[Peter C]

456 #132007 was going to be my first Ferrari. A 2003, it was purported tohave only a bit over 4000 miles - none better to be found the salesman said at one of the countries oldest Authorized Ferrari Dealers. I had searched high and low for the right one for nearly a year. So cash on the table, we shipped it to LA for inspection - First thing it came out of the trailer and I was shocked to see it had been partially painted. TWICE at least, maybe a third time. All bad jobs, lots of tape lines, overspray, blend lines, dust particles, runs, orange peel. The dealer was not forthcoming and either feined ignorance (which I now believe to be the case) instead of admitting he had mislead me. OK, my mistake for not going to Salt Lake City to see it in person.

Then we tried to smog it - remember the seller claimed this was a 50 state car and smog would be no problem - Didn't pass, TWICE. So compression test - LOW AND NOT HOLDING IN 11 AND 12! - Proceeded to LeakDown - confirmed intake valve problems - non-carbon, probably valve guides or seats damaged - FAILED.

The dealer has placed this car back in inventory with no compromise on price and no disclosure of the facts after not accepting my reduced offer for the car in order to pay for the misrepresentation and heads, valves, paint and body work required to make it a decent driver.

Painful for me, disgusting on the part of this used car salesman, in my opinion.

BEWARE of this car! It may be badly misrepresented.

My search resumes.

 

[Ferrari328GT]

Won't you tell us who the dealer was, please, so we know who to stay away from. -Steve

 

[Magnum6464]

Won't you tell us who the dealer was, please, so we know who to stay away from. -Steve

Yes, please do tell us and prevent others from getting caught who might not have your knowledge on Ferrari’s and want to enter our magnificent world but would get a sour taste after their purchase and think all Ferrari’s are like this because they bought it from a dealer.


~

 

[Pete04222]

I wasn't really sure exactly what the poll questions where going. "How do you rate dealer integrity?" is not exactly a yes or no question.

But your main question of should the Ferrari community engage in this type of shared information? My answer is, YES! That is one of the reasons why we are here. "You don't want this car because....." or "Yeah! This is the car for you because.....", if the car was tracked you have a right to know, if the car was a garage queen you have a right to know. If I have any information about a particular car I will share it with all who want to know. The whole purpose of these forums is to spread information.

If you know of a bad dealer, spread the word! If you know of a good dealer, spread the word!

 

[Peter C]

To update this file it is probably required, and certainly smart, for this information to get to Maranello regarding one of their cars and one of their dealers, so any help the readership of this Forum can be in that regard would be appreciated.

To answer the question about "who", please refer first to the "breadcrumbs" I tried to provide (. . . Authorized Dealer, Salt Lake City . . .) and I may get more specific later.

Suffice it to say at this point that this has been a pretty distatseful experience, and as an "experience collector", not a strict car collector, but rather one intent on finding a good driver 456 M GT (six spd manual only) late vintage, I will get back in the hunt after learning some valuable lessons.

Including, BTW, meeting two of the finest people you could ever imagine in the service side of things, Mr. Gary Kawakami, Service Manager at The Auto Gallery in L.A. and Dave at Premier Motorsports in West L.A. for body and paint. Spread the word, you can ask the right questions and get bankable answers from these two men.

To think that if this Seller had only listened to reason I would have the car, spend the money to cure it's defects and end up saving an otherwise interesting sample of the 456 M GT. Now the hope is that you, in the Ferrari Community put out the word enough to compel the Seller to fix the car correctly, or price it accordingly. At the $125,000 I agreed to pay originally (note the asking price of $144,900) it needs to be adjusted for a decent partial repaint and heads/valves. I ended up offering $95K with these defects, determined and committed to spend the balance and more to correct them, and was not even given the courtesy of a reply from this recalcitrant used car salesman.

More as we proceed.

Peter C.

 

[Peter C]

no more?

I sure said something that killed this thread . . . what was it?

 

[Magnum6464]

My guess is maybe you should have gotten to the point and answered our questions instead of giving us bread crumbs…and your last post said “More as we proceed”……

As well, you poll questions make no sense…Sorry, wanted to vote but your 2 selections were also questions instead of answers….

I found it after a while, but wished I would have been told or given a link.

http://www.ferrarisales.com/more.phtml?method=lkup&firsthid=855&offset=0&qty=6&id=


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[Andrew]

I sure said something that killed this thread . . . what was it?

Do you want me to edit the poll for you? I think you were trying to ask two poll questions and both are YES/NO questions, correct?

 

[Peter C]

poll assistance

please do edit the poll, and now I see that you guys like to get to the point, no messing around.

It was most helpful to add the link.

Thank you, Peter

 

[Andrew]

I edited the poll.

 

[Magnum6464]

Thanks Andrew,

I voted...

the first one, Yes it is an issue and yes it should be shared


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[Speedway]

I agree. Name and shame.