Ferrari Service: Independent or Franchise?

Often, we find ourselves discussing with our clients the fears when it comes to owning a Ferrari, Maserati or other exotic, with the biggest fear being about service. Who is going to service their exotic?

Often, we find ourselves discussing with our clients the fears when it comes to owning a Ferrari, Maserati or other exotic, with the biggest fear being about service. Who is going to service their exotic? Where can they service it? Do they automatically take their car to the franchise dealership because they assume they will provide them with the best service? Can they find a good independent shop that can provide them with the comprehensive service needed to maintain the value of their investment? These are all very important questions and, with many of our clients residing all across the U.S., we make sure they are armed with the important information they need to find the best Ferrari service shop in their area for their car.  There are a two main areas to investigate when researching a service center: the technician who will be servicing your exotic, and the actual shop itself.

When it comes to servicing your Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce or any other exotic, the level of experience of the technician working on the car is one of the most important things to consider. If you have a factory trained master technician working on your car, the odds are you are in the right spot.  A master technician is someone who has completed many trainings and certifications, meaning they have years of experiences with the quirks of a specific make and models.  That being said, someone does not have to be a master technician to be a great technician. There are many technicians that are highly qualified and talented with less certifications. It is just very important for you to get to know the person who will be working on your car and what kind of training and experience they have had.

In today's world, we have also seen many factory trained technicians with decades of experience not limited to franchise car dealerships anymore, which brings us to our second main point as to whether you should choose a franchise or independent dealership for your Ferrari service.  More and more we are seeing many technicians, who have spent decades with  franchise dealerships, looking for major changes and partnering with independent shops to help provide better services to clients.  It is actually not uncommon for independent shops to have many technicians, with decades of factory training of different makes, all in the same shop.  Examining the technicians of both franchise and independent shops is critical for this reason.

Another perk of the technology driven world today is that you can have a world of knowledge about a dealership before you ever step foot inside their business.  Looking for service for your pre-owned Ferrari or Rolls-Royce, you can look online to determine a dealership’s reputation.  Online reviews are a great source that tell you much about a dealership: Do they have positive reviews from other clients? Do they stand behind their service? Have they invested the hundreds of thousands of dollars in factory diagnostic tools that are required to service your car?  Examine the types of cars they typically sell and service, and make sure the make of your exotic is not a one off for them.

Servicing your Ferrari or exotic shouldn’t be stressful and the good news is that it doesn’t have to be. Consider all of the questions we’ve discussed and you should be able to determine the right Ferrari service shop that will provide the best care for your cherished 308.

Learn about our world-class Service Center and Service Team

Ferrari Car Clubs, Worthwhile or Not?

Ferrari Car Clubs, Worthwhile or Not?

Believe it or not, this is a question we often get asked. The answer really depends on you and what you want your ownership experience to be like.  I, however, always advise joining the owner’s clubs because most of the clubs are relatively inexpensive and the benefits can be big.  First of all,  most of the clubs send out regular publications that always have interesting information about the brand, specific models and interesting news in general. The clubs are also a great way to get to know other people that have similar cars to you and clearly similar interests. The greatest thing about being in the pre-owned Ferrari business is that we really are not in the stereotypical car business; Ferraris are a lifestyle brand and many people enjoy participating in club events and adding to the Ferrari ownership experience.

Further, and especially for new owners, questions often come up that are completely different from any other non exotic they may own.  These answers are usually not too easy to find by simply googling them.  This is probably where one of the biggest benefits of the clubs come into play. Many clubs have a wide variety of members and resources that can almost always help you and/or if not, they will certainly know where to send you for the help. Many members are often fanatics of the brand and have infinite knowledge, and they enjoy being of help to other exotic owners.

There can be numerous clubs for each make, but it is usually pretty easy to sort out the main ones.  Specifically for Ferraris, there is the Ferrari Club of America and a huge online resource Ferrari Chat.  Ferrari Chat is a great resource especially for used Ferraris because there are members who seem to know everything about current to early models.  You will often see questions with numerous answers so you have a wide variety of answers from all over the world.  To sum everything up, I have found the clubs to be of great assistance many times  from both a personal and a business standpoint.

What makes our service world class?  Visit Wade Williams, Ferrari Master Technician with decades of experience servicing and rebuilding Ferraris.

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