FIrst ferrari - California 30

[shabster]

Took delivery of my first Ferrari today - a 2012 Nero Daytona Ferrari California 30.

Will post some pics at weekend - however I had a question for you all

It appears there are a few light scratches to the paintwork - it was bought from an official Ferrari dealership.

Salesman's comments to my wife were that they will easily polish out.

Am I right in assuming that buying from a Ferrari dealership I should expect a showroom finish with no swirls or scratches ?

Thanks in advance for any advice !
Matt

[Nmj]

shabster said:

Took delivery of my first Ferrari today - a 2012 Nero Daytona Ferrari California 30.

Will post some pics at weekend - however I had a question for you all

It appears there are a few light scratches to the paintwork - it was bought from an official Ferrari dealership.

Salesman's comments to my wife were that they will easily polish out.

Am I right in assuming that buying from a Ferrari dealership I should expect a showroom finish with no swirls or scratches ?

Thanks in advance for any advice !
Matt

unfortunately for a lot of dealerships that seems to be their "showroom finish" !!!!

[shabster]

Frustrating !

I've emailed the MD tonight and if all else fails I feel a good detail coming on...!

[shabster]

MD of the dealership called me first thing this morning.

They are taking the car back next week and detailing the car properly. And to boot they sent someone round today to re-affix the front reg as it fell off overnight (its glued on and maybe with it being so hot it came away).

So all good, very happy with the after service so far.

On my way home to drive the car for the first time (post test drive !!)

[Craigwww]

To be honest, unless the car had been freshly machine polished, there will always be some fine swirl marks. It's almost impossible to avoid inflicting these during a normal dealership valet.

If they are going to "detail" the car for you, I would be asking exactly what they are planning to do to remove the swirls. A hand polish probably won't cut it, it's too time consuming for them to spend hours on your car. A machine polish will have the paint looking immaculate but that can take days.

It's my guess they will use a hand 'polish' that's packed with wax fillers, all this will do is fill the swirls. After a few washes, they will reappear.

[rosino]

Lots of dealers use "ferrari approved" dealers if they really want to deliver good results.. like Elite Detail's Gurcharn.. if you are based in the South West I could you could ask them to call Gurcharn to do your car.. then you can trust the result will be worth the effort

That said.. Nero Daytona... good luck with that.. it's going to be a nightmare to keep clean and swirl-free... but the ONE day you will clean it and polish it.. for at least 15minutes before it gets dusty.. it will be the BEST colour in the whole wide universe

For me black paint finish on a car is like a powerful drug... a massive high followed by long suffering until the next one..

[andy355]

I would try to get agreement for an independent detailer to work on it. Wont be cheap my guess would be 500-800 for whole car. As I understand it you can't really do individual panels as them they won't match after

Also with a black car If you have it washed by usual hand car washes they will mess it up again pretty quick

Edited by andy355 on Saturday 14th June 11:49

[johnnyreggae]

Just have them use Topaz who they have used in the past even for cars that come from the factory with paint imperfections

[giggle]

shabster said:

Salesman's comments to my wife were that they will easily polish out.

Am I right in assuming that buying from a Ferrari dealership I should expect a showroom finish with no swirls or scratches ?

Thanks in advance for any advice !
Matt

Unfortunately not.
When I have my car serviced it goes in with 2 A4 sheets, one on the dash and one on the seat, with BIG letters "DO NOT WASH"
I always make sure i tell the service manager too.
The reason is that they cant wash a car sympathetically and do not have the correct materials
or training. This is industry standard nationwide at all levels.
Mention "2 bucket wash" to any main dealer and you will see a blank expression staring back at you.

Now that you are aware of how they can deliver a car just look at both new and used next time you are in the showroom. You will amazed.

So, they do not have the ability to prepare your car to the standard you expected and now they want to prove it by messing it up a second time.
Don't allow this and go for a contribution to a detail by an independent.

[shabster]

Thanks for all the advice guys !

They are not going to detail it, but atleast revalet the car and correct two scratches i pointed out to them

I am thinking of doing a full paintshield later in year anyway, and when I do i will have a full paint correct and detail beforehand. The car looks amazing to be fair, but i just want to maximize what I am getting for the money I've spent.

After a full inspection yesterday I also felt the rear tyres were a little too worn (3mm remaining ) so we came to an agreement there too (I buy one rear tyre, they buy the other and fit them)

Overall pretty happy now with the aftersales, and can just enjoy the car

Spent most if today driving it with various family and friends as passengers - is so much fun, far exceeding my expectations, in looks (vs photos), noise (love the barp and exhuast pops), attention it gets, and driving experience !

Really glad I went for thr Cali

[whoami]

shabster said:

MD of the dealership called me first thing this morning.

Which dealer was it?

[shabster]

Will PM you to be fair on the dealer (happy now but not sure on forum rules etc)

[whoami]

You seem very happy with the dealer now so no "name and shame" issues.

[whoami]

shabster said:

Will PM you to be fair on the dealer (happy now but not sure on forum rules etc)

PM received.