Ferrari FF

[George29]

Just picked this up at the weekend. It’s a 2012 FF. Bit of a change from my previous M2 competition, but they seem such good value for a V12 Ferrari you can use every day! This will be my daily car, and will be doing 15-20k miles per year in it. Not looking forward to the fuel bills but love everything else about it.

It’s Rosso Maranello with tan leather interior.

[George29]

Thanks all I’ll post some more pics up at some point, haven’t really taken any yet!

Jeenyus161 said:

That is spot on.

Hope you have many happy miles with it. Got any grand tours planned?

Thanks. Think I’ll be going to Norway with it at some point

interstellar said:

Was that the centurion car?

No, same colour but that one was black interior. I went to view it but the car was a bit rough around the edges. The bit that put me off was the front bumper had been repainted yet the wing wasn’t so it didn’t match at all

[George29]

RC1807 said:

BIG brave pill, for daily use on fuel and servicing?

Lovely car, OP.

What's its history so far?

Servicing isn't that bad actually, and I have a years Ferrari power warranty on it too. Fuel is pretty atrocious. Averaging around 14mpg so far but worth it as it's such a nice place to be.

With regards to the history, it was actually first registered to Ferrari North Europe. The funny thing is the Harry's garage video on the FF is what convinced me to go for it, but I'm 99% certain that I've ended up with the actual car as was in the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93LgcXjh6k

Tin Hat said:

That is highly desirable.

I drove one a few years ago, I recall that it had cameras in the front bumper to look up and down the road at tight junctions?

Yep, it's handy. Especially as I didn't realise how huge the car is! It's basically the same footprint as my XLWB Vito!

[George29]

Few more pics



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Oh and a size comparison to aforementioned XLWB van!

[George29]

Thanks for all the nice comments. I’ll keep this thread updated with how I find the car. I’ve done 500 miles in it so far, furthest journey was to Brands Hatch and back for BSB (managed to fit a full set of carbon bike fairings in the boot!) The one thing that astounds me is just how quiet and comfortable it is! If anything in sport mode it’s a bit too quiet at low revs so I am going to add a Capirosto valve controller at some point soon. Also the sat nav is a bit st but I can forgive that! The bumpy road setting is mega, in the Chris Harris review he was bang on, sport mode with bumpy road setting on is the way forward! Haven’t driven it in the wet yet but will be interested to see what the wet and snow modes are like

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yeah it’s got a gearbox at both sides of the crank, except the front one doesn’t really apply that much power to the front wheels, also I think it disengages above 5th gear.

Olivergt said:

The chassis number from the one on Harry's Garage is 184587, you can see it 14:01 in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93LgcXjh6k

OP, it does look stunning and I hope you enjoy it to the max. It's a lovely looking car, great colour combination and that engine...

Yep that’s the exact car! Thanks

[George29]

I’ve done approx 1500 miles in the car so far, used it every day. It just gets better and better!

It’s the split personality that it has that amazes me the most. It’s so quiet/comfortable on the motorway, but flick it into sport mode and start using the paddles and it’s an animal. Something this big shouldn’t be that fast! Oh and the noise is incredible. Never was a fan of modern Ferrari’s but this has changed my mind.

I think it looks better all dirty too.



Used it in the icy conditions this morning in snow mode. Worked perfectly. But I think some winter tyres are needed soon.

[George29]

TurbosandTwelves said:

Glad you're enjoying it, I've ran mine for a year and they're fantastic cars. Country lanes are interesting due to the width but otherwise nothing bad to report.

Yeah the size is a bit of a pain down the roads where I live. That’s why I had an M2 over an M4 beforehand, didn’t actually check the size of the Ferrari until after I bought it though. But I’ll make do!

idealstandard said:

Loving this thread. I put some sottozeros on my 599 last winter, cost a packet and took ages to arrive. Recommend Oponeo for them

How did you find them? I’m not sure if it’s just the standard pirellis that are poor (I’ll be replacing with Michelin’s when they’re worn out!) or if it’s due to the temps. I drove a Vanquish with winters on once and I found that the tyres moved around a lot due to them being so soft, so on dry but cold tarmac it felt like I had less grip!

[George29]

PurpleTurtle said:

The 'Megafactories' show about the FF was on National Geographic in the UK a few days ago. I recorded and watched it last night, great to see how they go together. There a bit of annoying chat from the American version of Chris Harris, but it's an otherwise interesting programme showing all the build steps. Personally I loved watching the casting of the engine, fabulous stuff. Never knew Ferrari cast their own engine components. Very interesting program

Someone has chucked it up on YouTube too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFoF4vsZaX0&li...

Well worth 45 mins of your life with a large glass of Chianti!

As every Friday, another Euromillions ticket bought in my dream to own an FF!

Cheers for that, just watched it with a large G&T instead of a chianti!

[George29]

W00DY said:

I love these and the spec and colours on yours are just perfect.

Definitely looks best dirty. I hadn't realised they were quite so big though!

Cheers. It will be getting horrendously dirty now the gritters are out. Will see if I can top last years effort in the M2! It’s booked in for a full detail in January so won’t be getting cleaned until then.

Biker's Nemesis said:

Nice that George.

Giz a go.

Cheers mate

[George29]

irfan1712 said:

stunning car OP.

one of the very few cars i have my eyes on to replace my E63s within the next 12 months.

how do you find the rear leg room? only pitfall for me is the obvious 2 door thing. But still, its the only 2 door car i'd really consider especially for daily duties with a toddler and her car seat! That v12 must be epic.

Edited by irfan1712 on Thursday 12th November 21:59

Cheers. To be honest I’ve never had anyone sit in the back, I don’t have kids! I’d prefer it if it was slightly smaller and didn’t have them. I’m pretty tall and have the seat as far back as it will go, and there’s still a bit of a gap to the seat, which isn’t the case with stuff like a Vanquish etc. The seats themselves are good, they’re like bucket seats. I’ll get some pictures later. There’s TV/DVDs in the back too with wireless headphones. And yeah the V12 is ace!!

[George29]

Bit of an update on the car! Done nearly 6k miles in it so far.

Had one burst tyre thanks to a pothole. Car got recovered via the Ferrari recovery thing which is part of the warranty to Ferrari Leeds who thankfully sorted it straight away.

It’s got to go in to get some new front brake pads as they found that the backing plate is separating from the material which is irritating as there’s loads of life left in them. Also the handbrake is squealing a bit which drives me insane so getting that sorted.

Had the car detailed and picked it up today from Logic VPC. They managed to remove all the swirl marks etc from the paint and it looks incredible! Really brought the triple layer paint to life. Really recommend them too, their service was spot on and prices very reasonable.

[George29]

Krikkit said:

Wow that looks amazing. Glad to hear the car is still doing well, I had a look for this thread the other day and couldn't see it, which is usually a good thing!

Any plans for it in the future or just keep enjoying it as-is? I know you said you fancied a Capristo exhaust controller for a bit more noise, still the case?

Thanks. Yeah it's been fairly good to live with so far! Will be better once a couple of little niggles are taken care of when it goes in to Ferrari in the next week or so.

I still fancy ordering one but i'm not 100% convinced it will cure the problem. Basically it sounds amazing from outside but there's so much noise insulation, coupled with double glazed windows etc that it's too quiet inside unless you have the windows down. So not so sure a valve controller will help that!

RJH777 said:

Great work OP, loving seeing this being used as a daily - more proper cars should be used more often!

I'm still working out how I'll persuade the other half that one of these can be our sensible family car in a couple of years time when we have kids.

Cheers. They can definitely be a sensible family car! I managed to fit in the back the pre-lockdown when my mrs drove us back from the pub, plenty of room. I've used it in light snow/ice etc and it's fine, and it's still on summer tyres.

[George29]

Another update, not quite as positive

So when I bought the car from a certain dealer i'm not allowed to name (based in Swadlincote), it was sold as just been serviced at Ferrari, wanting for nothing etc.

When I popped the tyre by hitting a pothole that didn't quite turn out to be the case. It was almost fortunate I did pop the tyre as when it got recovered to Ferrari Leeds (who have been excellent, highly recommended!), they found a fair few issues.

Front brake pads delaminating from the backing plate; oil cooler hoses and nuts split on both sides; slight radiator leak; track rod threads completely stripped; auxiliary drive belt was worn through on 4 of the 6 ribs; a broken parking sensor and a fair few other bits and pieces. All in around £7k worth of work to get it 100% sorted.

As the car was supplied with the Ferrari power warranty it went to a Ferrari dealership to have a pre-warranty inspection. The aforementioned car dealer however refuses to send me that report, and is now ignoring all emails and phone calls regarding it.

Obviously not very happy about it all, am getting solicitors and finance company involved.

Still love the car, just not the service I received!

[George29]

Jonmx said:

That's not great news. If you can drop Chris Harris a message via twitter or whatever social media presence he has, he had an issue with a Ferrari Dealership and a vehicle history issue a couple of years ago. Given the car's history it might help.

This issue isn’t with a Ferrari dealer. It’s with an egotistical old bloke and his self named dealership (which I’m not allowed to mention the name of!). He has a pond which the cars are often photoed on.

The Ferrari dealers have been really helpful except for GDPR reasons they can’t send me the history of it before I owned it

[George29]

jeff666 said:

@ George,

Would the Ferrari dealer who did the pre sale report / inspection not give you a copy ?

Lovely car by the way and as others have said please keep the updates coming.

Sadly not, tried those and although the guy was very helpful he said they're not allowed under GDPR rules. Very frustrating!

Cheers, will do!

[George29]

GSP said:

Probably my favourite Ferrari.

After spending all that money on a detail and having that special paint perfect are you not tempted to PPF the car with the way you admirably daily drive it?

It's got the spray on PPF from LogicVPC on the sills, when it goes in again to get the bonnet and front bumper touched up it will have that applied on there too. I think it looks way better than the film as there are no edges visible, which is something that normally puts me off PPF

samoht said:

Looking on https://www.cardealerreviews.co.uk/ it appears that unfortunately you aren't alone in suffering similar issues with that particular dealer :-( Not that this is likely to help much now though.

Interesting! I just naturally assumed with cars like they have in stock that they'd be decent, how wrong I was, and seemingly not alone!

hermes said:

Car dealers do seem to excel at being scummy.

Have you considered a clearplex film for the windscreen if you're using as a daily? Replacement windscreens never seem to go in the same.

I have the film on my Exige, and it's already saved me from a replacement.

Not heard of that, will probably just leave it for now but it looks a decent product

cornershop said:

Lovely, lovely car. I’ve been looking at 612s as a 4 seater alternative to my V12 Vantage but have noted your comment re a lack of engine noise inside the cabin. I wonder it’s a v12 thing as my vantage is the same. You hear exhaust but no engine/intake, and the main reason for likely selling it.

Dealers are scum aren’t they? I see you’ve them an appropriate review

Thanks! I think the noise thing is more on the GT style cars having a lot of noise insulation. It's got double glazed windows for example. Although on a V12 Vantage you'd expect that to be a bit louder!

Yep, if I can stop just one person making the same mistake I did, and giving him any business then it will be a good thing!

[George29]

OverSteery said:

printed out and then any personal details blacked out with a sharpie. I would have thought that would pass GDPR?

I've asked for that but they just keep saying they can't send it due to GDPR. Really frustrating as in reality it has no impact who owns the car at the time, I just want the service history of it!

HHZ said:

What terrible reviews for the dealer. Are you getting anywhere with the Ferrari warranty?

Pretty much everything that has gone wrong on it isn't covered by the warranty unfortunately. I think there should be a case for the brake pads delaminating but nothing on brakes is covered.

MrC986 said:

OP, I hope you had the supplying specialist car dealer confirm in an email the point about the recent claimed service? I’m not surprised at the dealer as they’re very pushy when they want your car for stock (a friend once sold a Lamborghini Gallardo to them)...their fancy showroom is a bit too convincing for some & the younger son does like the publicity on SCD with appearances in various episodes

Sadly not. He clearly has been in the game long enough to realise not to put everything in email form - most of his emails just say "please can you give me a ring" and he gives you all the bks over the phone. Fortunately I do have an email where he tells me the car wants for nothing, and he reminds me over and over again how long hes been selling cars for and that he doesn't sell bangers...

R33FAL said:

Out of interest which finance companies are buyers of FF's using. Given they are now quite old (c. 8 years), is it a Magnitude/Oracle or does it need someone more specialist?

I used Charles and Dean as a broker, they were excellent and I'd highly recommend them!

[George29]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes the car is at Ferrari Leeds being sorted, all the work is done however there is an independent inspector coming to look at it and all the parts that have been removed, then he can try and determine if the car was like that previously.

Clearly the supplying dealer knows that without the pre warranty inspection report it’s harder to prove, hence why he won’t part with it

[George29]

bolidemichael said:

The energy wasted chasing an arch-evasion-expert, or pay the 'relatively manageable' sum and enjoy your life and car?

I have paid and I will enjoy the car. It won’t stop me going after him to recover the costs though, if I just pay and leave it then there’s no comeuppance for him. I’d pay double to ensure he gets shafted

[George29]

Muzzer79 said:

The 'truth' can be a subjective thing.

One man's hooky dealership can be another man's buyer's remorse.

How many times have we seen entitled folk wanting to reject their car because the cupholder has a scratch on it and flinging e-mud at the dealer because they won't play ball?

Are you accusing me of making all this up then? If so why would the dealer in question refuse to respond to any emails and blank phone calls? Why would they not send over the pre warranty inspection report if there was nothing to hide?