Shopping in Europe - do your homework...

[Slickhillsy]

So...

Looking for a 360 CS, spot one for sale in Belgium (DCT Maldegem / Dirk Groosman)(throw in a night in Bruges with the Mrs - nice) almost looked like the perfect weekend. Drove the car (loved the whole CS thing), everything seemed as expected and thought I'd found 'the one' - the dream car. However! Something didn’t seem right, front bumper didn’t line up quite right and they explained it had a stone chip re-spray and just needed realignment - I insisted in a Ferrari inspection before parting with my 100K euro's...

Week passed, phone never rang and the dealer kept coming up with crass excuses why they couldn’t get it to Ferrari for me. Even offering their 'mate locally who is a Ferrari dealer' to take a look for me. Errrr no - Main Dealer I kept saying.

Then the deal fell through as he had suddenly sold it to some guy from Germany who didn’t insist on a Ferrari inspection...

Whilst I was cautious over the unknown extent of the issues, initially I was gutted as the car was perfect spec. Until I found this! Thanks god for internet forums (there was no way I'd have bought the car without an inspection though).

http://www.challenge-stradale.com/137781.html

Just a heads up to all - do your homework as it can be all too easy to wave good bye to hard earned cash to dodgy dealers in Europe!

The search continues... :-)

Edited by Slickhillsy on Tuesday 2nd September 10:39

[f1ten]

yes thats the downside of some overseas cars, its a lot harder with the language barrier.
I looked at a couple of cars in germany, main dealer... i couldnt believe the paintwork on 2 of the cars, it was like orange peel.

[Car Mad Dave]

Wise counsel from the OP. I purchased my CS earlier this year and found the CS register linked by OP as useful. ended up buying from Forza Service in Netherlands - run by Alex, very straight guy who mainly focuses on servicing with some sales. Also helped that he sources cars for one of my colleagues so had a reputation to keep.

[911Thrasher]

ahahah quite a famous CS this one - has been for sale for over 3years with different dealers in Belgium!

I remember seeing it back then when I was looking for my first Stradale. It was sold at a Belgium dealer, who actually did mentionned it had been crashed, their business model was in fact based upon buying/selling written off cars.

[roygarth]

Wise words indeed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Belgiums are very dodgy, the French a close second....I've not mentioned the Italians for obvious reasons (they voted Berlusconi in..more than once!)

Stick to the Dutch and the Germans.

But be careful!

[Ferruccio]

Like that doesn't happen in the UK any more or less!?
I remember years ago talking to a we'll know independent dealer who "forgot" to mention that the car had been a hire car!
The concessionaire told me fortunately.

[roygarth]

Ferruccio said:

Like that doesn't happen in the UK any more or less!?
I remember years ago talking to a we'll know independent dealer who "forgot" to mention that the car had been a hire car!
The concessionaire told me fortunately.

Agree, car dealers are car dealers are car dealers! But I'd stick my neck out and say that Dutch and German dealers are on average straighter than those in the UK.

I think my point is that when you are dealing with foreign countries from a distance, you may as well narrow it down country wise as there are so many cars to choose from in Europe.

I'm not saying all French and Italian dealers are dodge, but in my experience (I've imported 15+ cars over the years) is that German and Dutch are the straightest to deal with.

[gt500nick]

that car was in some kind of crash/accident, i went and saw it and the dealer was honest enough to say it had a small repair at the front (after i pointed out it was refitted badly). something wasn't right though and i used my paint gauge all over the car and got numbers high and low inch by inch. there had used filler in a lot of the body and it was all coming together in my head to just walk away quickly. so i did without a single regret as clearly it has a sketchy past and maybe the dealers don't know exactly and can't say or just keeping it played down

I have meet a few who saw that car and walked away, becoming a famous car now on the internet. it is a shame too as it was a lovely spec car and had the race windows like my black one i previously owned. the market in Europe has disappeared for now with the cs. 12 months ago you could take your pick at over 50 advertised and now its the same few that have not sold for obvious reasons in the case of this car. I will find another but just have to keep my eyes open and remain patient.

well done for not having the 'mate down the road' take a look at it, buy with your eyes open and you will hopefully avoid a lemon.