Ferrari wants to attract younger buyers in North America

Here's my Ferrari buying experience a few years ago.

Me: I'd like to put a deposit down on a 430.
Dealer: You haven't purchased from us before, so I'm afraid there's a 4 year wait, and since we can't be sure that we can get the car for you, we can't take your deposit. But, if you would be willing to buy one of these used Ferrari's, we can move you up on the list and you'll only wait 2 years. And by the way, you have to sign an agreement that you will sell your car back to us if you decide to sell it within the first year of ownership. Now if you want a car quickly, may I show you these Maserati's over here.
Me: F.U. Ferrari, and I bought a Porsche turbo

Ferrari cars are wonderful - The Ferrari organization and dealer network disgust me.

Younger buyers need lower prices.

I agree with all of you here:
@eldard: If they want younger buyers, make more affordable cars.
@pcar4evr: Nice choice on your 911 Turbo. Definitely not a showcase like Ferrari, but a car meant to be driven hard, sure you are enjoying it.
@upwards: As I said to eldard, if they want to attract younger buyers, make cheaper cars. (i.e. Boxster, Cayman, etc.)
@blazinboy: Definitely you rock!!!!!
Ferrari is a company who built amazing cars, but this is not Enzo Ferrari days, since auto industry is very competitive and specially in the sports cars segment. Some ppl criticize Porsche for making a lot of different trims out of their lineup, but they are simply giving more alternatives to its potential customers. Automakers need to realize that this is thought times, so Montezemolo, stop your bureaucracy and star producing cheap Ferraris.

In the mean time, Porsche “There’s no substitute”

well.. ferrari is ferrari, ferrari salesmen are jerks until you drive one off their lot.. then they treat you like a very special family member. i just got a used 458 at late last month.. that is the way how they operate. i was there for like 3 hours, saw like 10 groups/family there just to browse around. those guys seen so many types of people going in and out of their dealer on a daily basis. i would do the same too if i were them.. imo, to them if you are serious you would buy a used one first and feel what a ferrari is all about. until you have driven one.. you cant imagine how it feels owning one. you can buy a used 458 now and order one exact specs without losing much on the used one that you pickup when you sell it back to them..

I'm sure your 458 is great and glad your enjoying it, but I'm not going to let some guy tell me "the rules" on how I can spend MY money.
Guess I'm not cool enough to "grovel at Ferrari's feet."

P.S. - the only way you get your money back on a Ferrari is if you don't drive it. 1500 miles a year tops. That's the Ferrari shtick - buy it, don't drive it, sell it back to us so that we can sell it again at near list price. But, if you drive it, watch out on resale!

My experience was different. I called to make an appointment two months in advance as the dealership was out of town. Told him what I was interested in and salesman told what was due in, two Spiders. He offered to come pick my girfriend at the time at the hotel.

He picked us up at our hotel in a peacock blue Bentley Arnage. Drove us to the dealership, which was closed as it was Memorial Day weekend. He went out on a drive with me and we drove back and my girlfriend got a ride as well while we talked about it. She loved the sound which I didn't think she would. They were nothing but professional and complete gentlemen to us.

I think morgan_chan has a very valid point. So many people come in and ask the same questions and they have to weed out the dreamers from the real prospective buyers. And a lot of highline sales people have to do that, but pcar4evr I see your point as well as there are prick sales people that sell everything and Ferrari's also. I had an excellent experience myself. My client wants a 2012 Porsche Turbo S, he can't get one here and there are two dealers here because they are both owned by the same people so he gets the runaround from both dealers. I found a 2012 Turbo S which was the first 2012 Turbo S on the ground but he didn't pull the trigger on it. So he ordered a 2012 Turbo S from the next state over because the owner is very friendly and will take care of him and even deliver it on a trailer free of charge.

1BadMan - Are you saying that they sold you a new spider and you were not a previous customer? Wow. Spiders are even harder to get then the coupes. I have been told that the experience that MercBasher and I had is very typical for U.S. dealers, but in Europe, the cars are easier to get and you don't need to go through the dealer nonsense. Have no idea if this is true or not.

But, I discovered something about myself that eliminates me as a Ferrari owner. I was given the keys to an R8 v10 and allowed to spend a few hours with one. What a great car! But I hated the experience. I discovered I can't stand to be looked at, pointed at and have every young kid in a Honda trying to get me to race. That's why I continue to drive Porsches - great driving, great reliability and pretty much anonymity on the road.

My experience with Florida dealers has not been good. It matches that of contributor "pcar4evr" above. Basically the dealers tell me I can't have a new Ferrari, and I can't order one even with a hefty deposit. They tell me I have to buy one that is a year or two old and pay over list price. Only by buying used Ferraris several times from the same authorised dealer will I even be considered as a potential customer for a new Ferrari some years down the road.

Wish someone would start a class-action suit against authorized Ferrari dealers, I'd jump on board but wouldn't lead the action. If any of the readers of AutoSpies is aware of suit against a single or group of authorized dealers than please let us all know. In a sense the dealers appear to be discriminating against me by refusing to take my deposit and to put me on the wait list. Is anyone keeping track of the demographics of the people whose deposits they are taking . . . I'd love to show systematic bias.

Meanwhile my brother succumbed and purchased a fairly recent red Ferrari Spyder and he love's it. Personally I prefer new cars.

MercBasher- I would be surprised if the demographics of potential purchasers would come into play. I never think about that and it may possibly come into play. I have been profiled and worse in a retail setting, but when I went to go to look at the Spider I was treated like a potential client and nothing less.

Now I don't know what the man was thinking when I walked out of the hotel and he could actually put a face with a voice after we spoke for months prior to our visit. That is a very good question about demographics though!

If someone in the auto sales business (specially in the luxury and sports cars segment) does not have enough patience to deal with "dreamers" and real "prospects" you are in the wrong business. Is true that some ppl walk into a showroom just to jerk around. I'm sure that in the case of Ferrari, they have lost lots of sales to potential customer because of the way they have treat them in the showroom!!