Ferrari California

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Discussion

NRG1976

985 posts

11 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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Beautiful colour combo and great to read about your experience, I’ve been sorely tempted by a cali and still might pull the trigger!

Dinoboy

2,506 posts

218 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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Fantastic car, congratulations!

ollyh1988

Original Poster:

864 posts

201 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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Collection day!

I booked time off from work and went to collect the car with my wife, who hadn’t seen it yet.

The trip didn’t get off to a great start. Our train to the airport was cancelled, which meant a slight panic as we realised how tight it would be to make our flight. Not that we should have worried as the flight was delayed by 3 hours anyway! This ruined our chance to spend a bit of time in Edinburgh before making the collection, but to be fair, as nice as Edinburgh is it was only about one thing for me!



We finally made it to Edinburgh and grabbed a taxi to the dealership. It was strange but also so exciting to ask to go to ‘the Ferrari showroom please’.

When we arrived the first thing we saw was a beautiful Bentley Continental GT at the dealer next door - my wife’s dream car but not the one we would be collecting today!

Finally we were at the dealers and saw this waiting for us…



Even though I was ready to burst and just wanted to get the car, it was probably the right idea for the salesman to put some late lunch out for us and give me a chance to calm down. Irn Bru never tasted so good as from out of a Ferrari glass!



I barely touched my food as I was just ready to do the big reveal.





My wife loved the car as soon as she saw it, which is important as I’m hoping she will use this a lot more than anything else I’ve had. Luckily she loves cars but never warmed to the TVRs. With just a few bits of paperwork to sign, the car was ours and we were on our way.
As part of the deal, this dealer was paying for flights and a hotel stay if you collected in person. I was never going to miss out on a proper collection, so the flights and hotel were a nice bonus.
I was expecting a Premier Inn or maybe something a bit nicer, but the place they booked us into was amazing - Prestonfield House Hotel - a 5 star hotel right next to Arthur’s seat. It was the icing on the cake of an awesome day and made me feel like a proper Ferrari owner when we pulled up the long drive and we’re checked into the suite of rooms and drank a great bottle of champagne! The dealership and experience of purchase was 10/10 and I’d absolutely recommend them to anyone and I hope I’m able to buy again from them one day!



The wet and grey weather was the only downside, but can’t do anything about that.

A but if a rambling collection story but hopefully just to share some of the excitement of getting this car!

Fonzey

2,062 posts

128 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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What an incredible experience. Makes me feel even worse for not buying from a dealer hehe

Rumdoodle

709 posts

21 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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Now you need to spank it to within an inch of its little blue life, then go back to the dealer and ask if they have anything faster.

Om

1,780 posts

79 months

Monday 14th August 2023
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Wow. I think that is the nicest California I have seen. Interior matches perfectly.

Your collection day sounds like the stuff of dreams - very special.

Hope you carry on enjoying it - and look forward to more pics!

keo

2,066 posts

171 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Looks great and sounds an amazing experience

beambeam1

1,042 posts

44 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Being from Edinburgh these days and knowing exactly how nice Prestonfield is, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your collection experience - it's a great place in a lovely setting. I've even been to a wedding there and it still felt surreal to have a volcano over one shoulder, peacocks over the other and still know you are very close to the city centre!

Lovely car, always refreshing to see something that just works so well. So, Fiat Cinquecento and a hint of TVR's and an R8 to get here... anything else interesting in your car ownership journey up until the Ferrari?

ollyh1988

Original Poster:

864 posts

201 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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beambeam1 said:
Being from Edinburgh these days and knowing exactly how nice Prestonfield is, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your collection experience - it's a great place in a lovely setting. I've even been to a wedding there and it still felt surreal to have a volcano over one shoulder, peacocks over the other and still know you are very close to the city centre!

Lovely car, always refreshing to see something that just works so well. So, Fiat Cinquecento and a hint of TVR's and an R8 to get here... anything else interesting in your car ownership journey up until the Ferrari?
I’ll update my garage list but a bit of a mixture despite owning the same models two or three times:
Fiat Cinquecento
MINI Cooper
MINI Cooper Works
Porsche Boxster 986 2.7
Porsche Boxster 987 3.4
BMW 330i convertible
TVR Chimaera
MINI Cooper S JCW
BMW 325i touring
Aston Martin Vantage
Porsche Boxster 987 2.7
TVR Tuscan 4.0
TVR Tuscan 3.6
Audi R8 V8 manual
Mini Cooper S convertible
Ferrari California

carinaman

21,325 posts

173 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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I really like those. It looks fantastic in that colour, very tasteful. Well done.

Macron

9,894 posts

167 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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+1, what a fab looking car!

lost in espace

6,164 posts

208 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Thanks for such a great post, hope it gives you a lot of pleasure.

ollyh1988

Original Poster:

864 posts

201 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Appreciate all the comments. I will keep updating in that case. A nice day down here so will be taking it for a drive later!

C5_Steve

3,126 posts

104 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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I have to say OP that was a brilliant write-up of the collection process and the dealer sounds amazing, thank you for sharing.

MustangGT

11,641 posts

281 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Absolutely lovely.Excellent colour choice, probably the only modern Ferrari I would consider.

7 5 7

3,186 posts

112 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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It is cool, because it is not red smile

One of my favorite Ferrari's, seem a good daily too, on paper.

Tony_T

743 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Great colour choice! very special.

MDL111

6,973 posts

178 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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That sounds like an awesome day and it is a great looking car

CarlosSainz100

500 posts

121 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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What an amazing writeup for a fabulous car. It sounds like they really treated you great too which is nice to see.

I always find it a bit off that specialist dealers of high end and very expensive cars only usually warranty their cars for a paltry 3 months.

number2

4,320 posts

188 months

Tuesday 15th August 2023
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Lovely car indeed.

I think they are a really good looking car, and a wonderful way to road trip across continents together!