Nervously considering 599 ownership.

[Soleith]

Hi guys!

New around here, thought I'd join up as thinking about a Ferrari for the first time next year but slightly nervous about it. Thought I'd check in with you guys so I don't just fall for dealer sales spiel.

1. Dealer (non-ferrari but high end) seemed relatively confident that 599's have increased in value and will continue to do so, or at the very least, wouldn't depreciate as fast as a PCP plan would predict and therefore build up some equity if it comes to trading it in. Increasing value in cars just feels wrong to me. I'm not looking at a GTO, probably not even looking for an HGTE if I'm honest, just a nice standard UK car.

2. Dealer told me I can easily get one serviced at a good specialist Ferrari place (apparently they prep Ferrari's for racing) for about £1500-£2k/year which also seems surprising to me and that they're much easier cars to work on these days than older Ferrari's.

3. Some of the cars I've seen for sale don't seem to be having annual services and look like they've been worked on every 2 years rather than every year. If the above is true, this sounds like a cheap previous owner(s) that I should probably avoid? Particularly if the above is true and servicing isn't ridiculously expensive. Example here.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...

4. I also discovered that some HGTE's are dealer fitted rather than done at the factory. From what I've read, I'm not sure how confident I'd be in a dealer retrofitting something like this to a car. Anyone here know anything about this? Is it genuinely the identical thing (barring the seats) to what came out of the factory? I'd guess that a dealer fitted HGTE may not hold its value as well as a factory version or am I wrong on that?

5. Unsure whether to go with an approved used or not. 2 year warranty but I understand it has to be serviced at a main dealer to maintain that. Are the main dealers that much more expensive to service than specialists? My nearest ones would probably be Maranello in Egham, H.R. Owen in London, would consider stretching to Meridien in Lyndhurst.

6. Anything else I should be on the lookout for in considering my first Ferrari?? Not sure what sort of mileage levels are considered good.

Many thanks for any advice on ownership you guys can give!

Edited by Soleith on Tuesday 1st November 09:13

[Soleith]

F355GTS said:

3. I would be nervous of cars that don't have a full history

5. I wouldn't run one without a quality warranty, as for dealer this is a low volume car and dealers are widely spread, you need to rethink your view of buying from a local dealer as the perfect car maybe in Scotland

6. My 7 Year old car had 28.5k so only 4k miles per year and felt great, If you intend to drive it I'd avoid garage queens, get the clutch and brake wear levels checked before purchase, important spec items are Shields, Carbon LED wheel,PDC, Sat Nav (although it's useless).

Have you driven one? if not then I'd suggest you should, they're an absolute beast, total drivers car, when pressing on you need to be 100% focused

Get it fully inspected, dampers are prone to fail and they're a heavy car so suspension components do tend to wear out.

Edited by F355GTS on Tuesday 1st November 09:45

3. Yeah seemed odd that particular example hadn't been serviced annually if the costs are not prohibitive like it sounds like they aren't.

5. Yeah, I'm sure I'll have to travel to buy the car, just wasn't sure about getting an approved used one if the dealers are massively overpriced for servicing, sounds like they aren't so I'd be likely to go approved used in that case to get 2 year warranty and get it serviced at one of my nearby main dealers.

6. I'll definitely be driving it regularly, probably aim to use it a couple of times/week. Thanks for the other things to look out for. I've not driven one yet, don't particularly want to yet as I'm sure when I do I'll probably just be itching to pull the trigger and buy one and I need to sort a few other things first, hence looking to get next year and researching now.

Many thanks for the feedback!

[Soleith]

MDL111 said:

one addition - you can have brake discs refurbished, which is a lot less than new discs (from memory replacement price per disc c 5k)

I personally would want an approved car / a car that I can have a Ferrari warranty on for at least the first couple of years for peace of mind

Electronics on Ferraris are notoriously fickle (my FF throws engine warning lights on a regular basis, one of the displays went blank at some point) and gearboxes take a lot of punishment given the V12 torque. I usually get rid of messages by disconnecting the battery, but still this might not be a permanent solution ....

Ah interesting, I didn't know that you could refurb discs. £5k/disc is indeed pricey. After seeing the responses here, I'm certainly leaning towards going approved used. Was mainly concerned with if the dealers are gougers on servicing costs. Local non-ferrari high end place said to use a specialist (not them) instead of a franchised dealer.

I'm sort of resigned to the electronics throwing a mediterranean wobbly every so often, as long as it's nothing too serious, I'll live with it, from what I've read its best to keep them on a trickle charger.

[Soleith]

SL550M said:

No need to be nervous OP. They're epic cars and if you get the key items checked out prior to purchase you shouldn't worry unduly. I'm almost one year into 599 ownership, 5000 miles travelled, and have found it to be a robust car. Bought mine from a main dealer (Dick Lovett Swindon, superb all round) so it has 2-year warranty, but haven't needed it. As previous poster said, the electrics occasionally throw a hands-in-the-air, Italian-style tantrum, but nothing you'd call a show-stopper. Warning lights often seem to disappear as quickly as they appeared. Odd. Anyway, it's a great car, mega V12 and very quick. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Thanks! I should probably have explained my nervousness. This'll be the first car I've ever had that I'd classify as a "supercar". Everything else has been pretty standard mid to high end so I'm just cautious about how difficult a Ferrari may be in terms of reliability, dealer servicing etc. I'm certainly looking forward to getting one!

[Soleith]

johnnyreggae said:

1 - if you are suggesting buying on finance and then relying on increase in value to cover it then you cannot afford the car

5 - service - in the area you describe Autoficcina have considerable 599 experience - alternatively for main dealers Carrs in Exeter are often recommended and will send a truck and still yield a saving over others

Thanks for the feedback. I can afford the car, am simply somewhat incredulous at the prospect of a car that appreciates in value. They're obviously not cheap, but at the same time we're not in 250 GTO territory here so surprised that a car like this may potentially go up in value. Obviously they've depreciated from new.

Exeter is pretty far, round trip would be over 300 miles to me but if they're reasonable may try them out, Autoficcina is much closer, will also check them but if I go the approved used route, main dealer will be needed to keep the warranty alive.

[Soleith]

bordseye said:

Read your opening post and it read much as if I had written it albeit about an 8 cylinder car. So my advice isnt about the car but your mentality and peace of mind. To put it bluntly, your level of concern and the sort of issues that are concerning you will make ownership an uncomfortable experience. There are only two routes to a happy Ferrari ownership - either you have the sort of happy go lucky mentality that doesnt worry about things or you are rich enough that ownership losses dont matter too much.

I have a 430. Its a beautiful car and not a fault with it. And I could afford to write it off and not blink. But I am a worrier and I am not enjoying the ownership experience for that reason. So the car will be sold next year.

Analyse yourself. Are you pushing things too far?

Heh, it's an interesting comment and to be fair it's probably not far from the mark. I am a worrier, I've also always wanted a Ferrari so somehow I need to reconcile these two things and be happy with my decision one way or the other. Another part of me just says forget it and go buy a new 570S with full warranty for peace of mind rather than an older Ferrari for similar money.

Hoping to get something fun in time for next summer, got a good few months of squirming my way to a decision! Thanks for that though, definitely makes sense. I suspect at some point in time (maybe not the first superish car) I will still get a Ferrari just to have done it, but as I think about it, I may be a bit like you and not particularly enjoy the experience.

[Soleith]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Made a massive turnaround and decided to go with the original car I was considering, just got a new Maserati GranTurismo Sport. Not really comparable I know but practicality and nervousness won the day, I love it and very happy. Will likely get a Fezza when the kids are a bit older/off and buy one new instead of used.

[Soleith]

simonr100 said:

That looks lovely!
Just remember that that will depreciate very very quickly......Enjoy it, they sound amazing.

Thanks, yeah I know they depreciate a lot more than Ferrari's :/

Even so, couldn't resist, yeah I love the sound and tbh was a bit intimidated by the 599 for my first "serious" car with that V12 plus as this thread shows, I had a lot of worries about getting a used Ferrari XD

The soundtrack is epic, very glad I got it. Would still like to own a Ferrari one day, will see what the future holds!