[JST]

Read this Edmund's long-term review of their Ferrari 550 Maranello. It's safe to say that no matter how slick the Ferrari is to drive, if I had their service experience after buying a $250K car, I would be taking my future business elsewhere.

Long Term Ferrari

 

[DaveN323i]

Sorry for the slight off topic hijack, but Edmunds mentions that Ferrari requires their dealers to sell at MSRP and that the dealers require customers to sign a contract allowing them for a right of first refusal if the customer tries to sell the car.

How come NA cannot do so for their lower production cars, such as the M3, M5, Z8. Specially the Z8. I think a lot of enthusiasts screaming that the dealers are gouging them would be silenced by such a contract.

 

[CD-55]

I do think I see more on flat-bed tow truck on there way to and from service than I see driving around town.

 

[The HACK]

Long term reliability is inversely proportional to how much you pay for a car...The optimal point of the curve maxes out at ~$24,000 today. Price breaking in either directions will results in exponentially worse reliability and service.

Lexus is the only exception to this rule.

 

[The HACK]

Sorry for the slight off topic hijack, but Edmunds mentions that Ferrari requires their dealers to sell at MSRP and that the dealers require customers to sign a contract allowing them for a right of first refusal if the customer tries to sell the car.

How come NA cannot do so for their lower production cars, such as the M3, M5, Z8. Specially the Z8. I think a lot of enthusiasts screaming that the dealers are gouging them would be silenced by such a contract.

I think it is a lot easier to manage said MSRP rule when there's only a handful of dealerships in the country. When you have a few thousand dealerships, it's harder to manage than we can possibly fathom.

And don't give me the "oh, Mercedes also forced MSRP" stuff...On the VERY popular SLK roadsters, they'll charge WHATEVER mark-up they like. My uncle's shopping for a SLK 500 and he's not having any luck finding one remotely near MSRP. Merc. dealers get around the MSRP rule by selling the car to themselves, in essense you're buying a "used" new car at $$$ over MSRP.

 

[cenotaph]

I do think I see more on flat-bed tow truck on there way to and from service than I see driving around town.

This may be a service of the dealership. Instead of driving your car to the dealer for service, they come and pick it up on a flat bed and then bring it back when it's done.

 

[Dan]

Long term reliability is inversely proportional to how much you pay for a car...The optimal point of the curve maxes out at ~$24,000 today. Price breaking in either directions will results in exponentially worse reliability and service.

Lexus is the only exception to this rule.

Sorry Hack, but my experience as an insider in the industry does not prove you correct. Long term reliability has nothing to do with how much you pay for a car. The determining factor is the manufacturer - Honda and Toyota blow everyone else away in long term reliability. A $12,000 Civic or Corolla will be far more reliable than virtually every other vehicle sold in this country, with the exception of other Honda and Toyota products.

 

[Mystikal]

Long term reliability is inversely proportional to how much you pay for a car...The optimal point of the curve maxes out at ~$24,000 today. Price breaking in either directions will results in exponentially worse reliability and service.

Lexus is the only exception to this rule.

Very true. Did you come up with this yourself?

 

[Bruce]

Sorry for the slight off topic hijack, but Edmunds mentions that Ferrari requires their dealers to sell at MSRP and that the dealers require customers to sign a contract allowing them for a right of first refusal if the customer tries to sell the car.

How come NA cannot do so for their lower production cars, such as the M3, M5, Z8. Specially the Z8. I think a lot of enthusiasts screaming that the dealers are gouging them would be silenced by such a contract.

Ferrari can't require the dealers to do anything. Edmunds said "Ferrari North America actively discourages its dealers from selling cars above sticker." If they "required" the dealer to sell at a certain price they would be sued for collusion.