Bob Houghton Specialist

[GCCP]

Hi Everyone

Whilst I have kept my Ferraris in the main dealer network for the past 8 years (430, 458) I am now starting to feel that the relationships are no longer really valued, and its more about being a regular service revenue income. Thus I am starting to look around

Has anyone had any experience with Bob Houghton? I would be really interested to hear all view etc, especially if you have had your 458 looked after by them!

thanks

[johnnyreggae]

I imagine first question should be whether they had the appropriate diagnostic kit for the newer car

[cgt2]

One of the best in the business and in a previous form as MHT was a franchised dealer but as noted the majority of Bob's work has been restoration and maintenance of older cars.

[blueg33]

They are highly rated but from my enquires quote pricey.

I have also found that Ferrari Swindon and Carr’s in Exeter have been pretty good. Meridian also get good reviews.

Depends how far you want to travel.

[jtremlett]

I have seen a 458 there, although it was for sale rather than being serviced. Pretty much all their work is on older stuff. 1960s up to 1990s.

[rat rod]

GCCP said:

Hi Everyone

Whilst I have kept my Ferraris in the main dealer network for the past 8 years (430, 458) I am now starting to feel that the relationships are no longer really valued, and its more about being a regular service revenue income. Thus I am starting to look around

Has anyone had any experience with Bob Houghton? I would be really interested to hear all view etc, especially if you have had your 458 looked after by them!

thanks

Have the same feeling and no doubt we are not the only ones.My 430 is now out of the Ferrari warranty so will now

be taking it to QV of London but they are situated in Windsor, Have been using them for 26 years and only used Maranello's

because of the terms of the warranty.

Have posted similar experiences on a another post so try not to repeat myself. Keeping to the annual services was told the second one

was going to cost £800 more than the previous one as 2 more fluids needed to be changed after only covering less than

400 miles,my fault not theirs i know , got quoted £650 to renew a split ball joint gaiter which wasn't covered under the warranty, then felt i got

talked down to when i told them to leave it.,But the biggest irritation for me was not being able to collect the car for just under a week being

asked if i could pay for the service up front before collection so they can get the money in to meet their bonus target for the month

which i did. The same happened when i bought the car ,left it with them so they could rectify a few odd jobs and mot the car

and after leaving a substantial deposit asked could i pay the balance way earlier than my collection date . Again it was near the end of the

mouth and the salesman wanted to reach his target for his bonus, again i obliged not for the sake of company but for the salesman

who is a nice guy and didn't really make much difference to me, Just goes to prove these large plate glass showrooms are run by the

accountants , At QV although they do have a large reception area you can have a cupper while looking under your car talking to the

technician who is working on it, also they renewed my split gaiter in less than 2 hours so saved me leaving it there for days

and charged me £125 including the part and vat compared to the £650 Maranallos wanted ,

Perhaps i'm a little old skool but i think it's important that on cars like these you should have some sort of rapport with the guys

who you are leaving your pride and joy with and not just a number at the reception desk.

A great example of this is a post made by "Footsoldier" on the Countach thread who is also a Ferrari owner and had his car delivered

to him by trailer after a service i think somewhere in Scotland by Mike Pullen who is in Sussex, The invoice was left on the passenger

seat with no money being asked for before delivery, I know in this modern world this is a exception to the rule but a nice story of trust

which a corporate garage couldn't risk. Don't know where in the country you are but if doable for you i recommend QV 100%.

Apologies for the long winded answer to your short question,

Edited by rat rod on Saturday 10th April 17:43

[blueSL]

I’ve been taking my F355 to Bob Houghton for years. Absolutely excellent.

[Fast Eddie]

Autofficina in Ewell.
Could not recommend highly enough

[LordOfTheManor]

I've heard he's brilliant, he's been around a long time