verdi ferrari..
Discussion
i went to this garage in hayes i think a couple of years ago and met a guy called carl who owned it. i went there to look at a couple of 355's. anyone else met him? i spent a fair bit of time with him that day and he took me into about 3 hangers full of amazing cars. black enzo was my favourite, if only i could afford one. he struck me as a very down to earth chap, i think he told me that he used to be a ferrari engineer at marinello's>. what seemed nice about him was that he was very unasuming and typified a real grafter or a boy done good.
I went when I was looking at F355 earlier this year. Was shocked when I saw the premises, not what I was expecting. Met both Karl and his son, who proceeded to talk more about other cars than what I wanted. Went to see a few F355s in the various units that he had, but he kept on wanting to talk me into a rosso/black 355 instead of a rosso/crema that I wanted. I didn't know if I wanted a manual or F1 so he offered to take me out in an F1. At no time did I feel that I was going to be given an opportunity to drive the car, and it actually put me off not just buying from them but from buying a Ferrari full stop.
They certainly know what they're talking about, but from my little experience their customer service needs looking at. Don't bother emailing them by the way - they won't reply!
They certainly know what they're talking about, but from my little experience their customer service needs looking at. Don't bother emailing them by the way - they won't reply!
[quote=pjmobile] At no time did I feel that I was going to be given an opportunity to drive the car, and it actually put me off not just buying from them but from buying a Ferrari full stop.quote]
Did you actually ask to drive a car? Did they refuse? They have always been more than happy to let me have a go in cars that I have considered...
Did you actually ask to drive a car? Did they refuse? They have always been more than happy to let me have a go in cars that I have considered...
I made it clear that I wasn't going to make any decision without trying both the manual and the F1 first, as I hadn't driven either before. I don't expect to have to beg for a test drive as I had made it clear that I would put a deposit down that day on a car if I liked it. When I phoned up beforehand I was told that I could take out any car I wanted but if I pranged it I would have to pay for it. Fair enough.
I guess they have plenty of dreamers turn up and they are probably sick of people just going to try it on. However, I wasn't one.
ETA: This was discussed on another forum at the time and following it I had Karl ring me to apologise and offer to arrange something. Unfortunately by that stage I had paid a deposit at my OPC.
I guess they have plenty of dreamers turn up and they are probably sick of people just going to try it on. However, I wasn't one.
ETA: This was discussed on another forum at the time and following it I had Karl ring me to apologise and offer to arrange something. Unfortunately by that stage I had paid a deposit at my OPC.
Edited by pjmobile on Saturday 8th November 16:39
baptist said:
Karl is sound as a pound. Not your usual smarm that you get at alot of places. You have to tell him what you want, and he'll sort it for you.
If you dont ask for a test drive, you wont get one, too many dreamers around out there.
I've only tried to sell to him, not buy from him but I'd echo that he's a very pragmatic chap and won't sugar coat anything. I like this atitude but I can see why a lot of people don't.If you dont ask for a test drive, you wont get one, too many dreamers around out there.
911 Virgin (just up the road) are the same and have a little warning on their website to that effect
I cant recommend Verdi's highly ernough.
The best thing to do is to talk to Karl about what you want - spend some time going through the options - what you'd like - what your think you might like - and what you don't like - and let Karl talk you through the good, the bad and the ugly.
When you spend time at his garage, you'll bump into lots of his customers - who'll tell you why they use Karl - and let's be clear - there's no better way of finding out other than the horses mouth, as it were.
You'll also see his phone ringing off the hook as people ask his advice - or ringing about a car. And you'll also see that all kinds of cars go there for fettling - Enzo's, F40's, MacLaren F1, Daytona's, as well as all of the others. You wouldn't take your pride and joy down if you didn't trust them - and I certainly do - they did an excellent job of my 550 WSR.
Anjum
The best thing to do is to talk to Karl about what you want - spend some time going through the options - what you'd like - what your think you might like - and what you don't like - and let Karl talk you through the good, the bad and the ugly.
When you spend time at his garage, you'll bump into lots of his customers - who'll tell you why they use Karl - and let's be clear - there's no better way of finding out other than the horses mouth, as it were.
You'll also see his phone ringing off the hook as people ask his advice - or ringing about a car. And you'll also see that all kinds of cars go there for fettling - Enzo's, F40's, MacLaren F1, Daytona's, as well as all of the others. You wouldn't take your pride and joy down if you didn't trust them - and I certainly do - they did an excellent job of my 550 WSR.
Anjum
Anjum said:
I cant recommend Verdi's highly ernough.
The best thing to do is to talk to Karl about what you want - spend some time going through the options - what you'd like - what your think you might like - and what you don't like - and let Karl talk you through the good, the bad and the ugly.
When you spend time at his garage, you'll bump into lots of his customers - who'll tell you why they use Karl - and let's be clear - there's no better way of finding out other than the horses mouth, as it were.
You'll also see his phone ringing off the hook as people ask his advice - or ringing about a car. And you'll also see that all kinds of cars go there for fettling - Enzo's, F40's, MacLaren F1, Daytona's, as well as all of the others. You wouldn't take your pride and joy down if you didn't trust them - and I certainly do - they did an excellent job of my 550 WSR.
Anjum
The best thing to do is to talk to Karl about what you want - spend some time going through the options - what you'd like - what your think you might like - and what you don't like - and let Karl talk you through the good, the bad and the ugly.
When you spend time at his garage, you'll bump into lots of his customers - who'll tell you why they use Karl - and let's be clear - there's no better way of finding out other than the horses mouth, as it were.
You'll also see his phone ringing off the hook as people ask his advice - or ringing about a car. And you'll also see that all kinds of cars go there for fettling - Enzo's, F40's, MacLaren F1, Daytona's, as well as all of the others. You wouldn't take your pride and joy down if you didn't trust them - and I certainly do - they did an excellent job of my 550 WSR.
Anjum
For past 6 years Carl has looked after my 360 (now on 80,000 miles)
I will not even consider anyone else. As many have said, he knows the cars. I had a problem once I was abroad on a trip. Called Carl explaining the problem.. Oh yeah don't worry, he said. Its just one of the coils that has gone - I'll DHL one over to you tomorrow. It duly arrived.. and his diagnostic was spot on
Try getting a main dealer to do that 
I know all too well that their customer service is less than adequate (phone calls & emails etc), but tbh, I'll put up with that given their prices and quality of work.
for Carl & VerdiBebs recommended them to me and I subsequently bought my 355 from them. They let me drive a few to get a feel of the different cars and also took the time to answer any questions I had and said that if anything went wrong with the car they would sort it out. So far, no complaints at all.
They are v busy and I expect get a lot of muppets calling so are generally a bit ordinary about returning phone calls / emails but thats understandable.
I've not dealt with any other indie's so can't compare but I am happy so far.
They are v busy and I expect get a lot of muppets calling so are generally a bit ordinary about returning phone calls / emails but thats understandable.
I've not dealt with any other indie's so can't compare but I am happy so far.
pjmobile said:
I don't expect to have to beg for a test drive
I'd put in another vote of confidence for Verdis.On the subject of test drives, the very first time I went to Karl's garage, he simply handed me the keys to a Ferrari and said, "go, take it for a spin". He didn't come with me - just left me to take the car!
And it's not like I turned up in an expensive car either. I had taken an old diesel Mondeo estate if I recollect correctly.
I've never experienced such trusting and excellent customer treatment at any car dealer. Top bloke!
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