Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Spec-ing Our A New Ferrari Order [Ferrari Digest, Vol 26, Issue 37]

[Adam (flatcrank]

On Sep 21, 2008, at 12:59 PM, BRIGANDBAR [at] aol.com wrote:

> Adam:
>
> The quick and dirty of it is you are making a significant cash  
> outflow on
> the car anyway you look at it and I would suggest that you figure  
> out whatever
> makes you happy and equip it exactly that way. I know there are a  
> lot of
> experts  who can advise you on which options will reward you with  
> the best payback,
> but  IMNSHO shopping for a niche car, as Ferraris are and most  
> probably
> always will  be (at least if the factory can make it work that way,  
> I understand
> that they  like to produce ~5k cars/yr. but also are concerned about  
> keeping the
> in-line  time to ~2 yrs. so as to not discourage potential new car  
> buyers and
> cause them  to divert to something such as a Lamborghini), and as I  
> believe
> it was Clyde  said, the dealers always love to have the buyer take  
> an in-stock
> used (e.g.  trade in from another new car buyer) car to drive in the  
> interim
> until their  newly positioned order is filled).

I guess that's the long and the short of it!  If I run the numbers and  
examine the real cost too closely, well, I'd probably just drive my  
Prius ... but I have a pretty clear picture of the consequences of  
spending $200K on a car and the lease burden or the cost of  
opportunity in having cash parked in a Ferrari are manageable, the one  
thing I'd like to get away from is the depreciation curve.  At least  
to stay higher on the curve.

As noted, Ferraris, especially the 360's and 430's, have become  
somewhat numerous and the upside of recent production has been quality  
and lower operating costs.  From my last three cars, I know my mileage  
habits have changed a lot in the last few years, so I feel I'm finally  
in a position to have a car that I don't expect to rack up the 10K+  
miles per year I was tending to drive as recently as about five years  
ago.

I floated the "let's go to the selection of used cars you have or know  
you can acquire and pick out something" but it just didn't seem to  
matter in the grand scheme.  This particular dealer is much more  
concerned about selling the new cars and the only "sweetener" might be  
a Maserati or the California (both of which I'm prepared to mix into  
the deal, but again, it's only a sweetener, it doesn't help me get any  
closer to car like a Scuderia, where the number of "deserving"  
customers far outnumbers the available production.)  I hope this first  
F430 takes me towards the "next" Scuderia -- that's about all I can  
expect at this point.  No complaints there.

> I would add that given the size of the investment, why not just  
> consider a
> trip to the factory before the due date for bespoking (bespeaking?)  
> the car and
> examine things from a close-up perspective? I think that the trip  
> may be the
> best investment you can make in terms of getting exactly what you  
> want, and
> seeing what is available. I don't know how the Ferrari dealers feel  
> about
> this,  but colleague (who married into far more wealth than I shall  
> ever see) is
> in the  process of ordering a new Phantom and was encouraged to make  
> a trip to
> Greenwood  before finalizing the bespoke order on that car. This way  
> you can
> see exactly  how each of the options look and feel, and can get the  
> answer as
> to whether you  exact requests can be fulfilled or if a compromise  
> that also
> makes you happy can  be had.

This is a great idea -- visiting the factory ahead of the order.  I  
tried to get into one of the driving schools, but that's strictly for  
owners and I was told the factory visits are also restricted, but with  
an order in the system and my deposit on the books, a factory visit  
might not be out of the question.  Thanks for the idea -- I don't know  
why I didn't think of it, but I'll pursue this with the dealer this  
week and see what's possible.


Cheers,