sletti
New member
Part 1 - Finding A Car.
Costs this month:
£1000 Challenge Rear Grille
£585 Becker Cascade Head Unit
£40 Becker iPod Remote Kit
When I made the decision to replace my daily driver with a Ferrari I was originally going to buy an F430. I work pretty much none stop so my car shopping tends to consist of researching a car, doing a deal in principle over the phone and then if the car is as promised when I go to see it then I do the deal. During the early stages of looking for an F430 a quasi-friend-acquaintance was able to pull a few strings regarding getting me another car, so paying the deposit on that reduced my budget and I decided that I would still replace my daily with a Ferrari but it would have to be a cheaper car. I am not keen on old cars so going back too far wasn't really an option as although some older cars look great I am not really a fan of the 'raw' driving experience that some seem to love and even less so of being sat on the hard shoulder with oil on my hands and steam all around me.
Having looked at all options it seemed to me that the choice was between a 360 or a 550/575. Being quite a superficial soul I opted for the 360 as I believe that it wears it's years better than the V12 and looks less like something my father should drive. I probably prefer the interior styling of the 575 but it's exterior doesn't do a great deal for me.
I initially looked at a few cars at specialists and enquired at Walkersport with a mind to having them inspect a car that was for sale fairly locally, but it quickly sold so that was that. For whatever reason I am more comfortable buying from main dealers, so this is where my search 'proper' began. I gather that my attitude to these cars is different to many other owners in that I see them quite simply as 'used cars' and when buying from a main dealer, as long as the car comes with a FSH and a warranty I don't feel the need to get on my hands and knees and inspect it from every angle.
I wasn't too bothered about colours or transmission, although I wasn't keen on TDF and I'd prefer F1. Challenge grilles would be a bonus but are easily added so not essential. I saw a Grigio/Scuro car with about 20'000 miles for what seemed a fair price at Dick Lovetts in Cardiff. I rang and enquired about the car and over the course of a few days and phone calls back and forth found out about the car, history, clutch health etc and talked with the salesman about the numbers. On a Saturday afternoon I made an appointment to see and drive the car at 9am on the following Monday morning. As per my usual method I had already decided that if the car was what i had been told it was then I would buy it - I'm not one for shopping around. Not being at all interested in golf I had forgotten that the Ryder Cup was taking place in Cardiff that week and so was in for a treat as I sat in the massive traffic jams it caused. I eventually arrived at Dick Lovetts and was
glad to be getting out of the car to stretch my legs and unfold my aching back. The Grigio 360 was parked outside so I had a quick look at it before going inside to find the salesman that I had been speaking to. I had spoken at length to the salesman about both the car and the fact that I wouldn't be buying Porsche again in the future as I had had a horrendous experience in terms of customer service and he had seemed shocked that I had received anything other than fantastic service. This made what happened next seem all the more annoying. The chap on reception went to find the salesman that I had been dealing with, who, five minutes later, came striding towards me, hand outstretched to introduce himself. "You're here about the 360..." he said. I confirmed that I was. "Yeah, sold it on Saturday" he said. And it seemed that was that. I am not sure of my exact retort but i obviously expressed my thoughts regarding his not having called me to cancel our appointment and save me the 340 mile round trip for nothing quite frankly, as I was quickly ushered into a little office and the door was closed behind me. We had a little chat which left me with the impression that I was glad that the car was sold as this was not going to be a dealership which offered the level of customer service that I thought was appropriate. The salesman asked me once again if I would be interested in another Porsche, I reiterated that under no circumstances did I want another Porsche to which came the reply "I've got a lovely 993 for sale....." shortly after this I was back in the car on my way home.
I started browsing again to see what was around. As I have said I prefer to buy from main dealers, but as they are quite often bloody awful and Walkersport is pretty close by and has an excellent reputation I made a few enquiries with Tim about a car they had there (now sold). At the same time a few people on Club Scuderia had recommended that Carrs Ferrari in Exeter were mire likely to be the kind of dealership that I was looking for, Adz in particular even recommended a specific salesman. They had a car that was due in shortly which seemed to fit the bill so I started to sort out the details in preparation to going to see the car.
The car in question was a Rosso/Beige 360 Modena with 19'000 miles. I like to communicate by email so that details can be checked and backed up if needed and so a combination of phone calls and emails were made over the course of a week in which I became happy that the car was going to be worth having, FSH, recent belt change, new clutch, tyres, service etc and I made an appointment to go and see the car. It would be mid way through preparation so the bumper would still have stone chips etc but that isn't really too important as long as it ended up being done should I buy the car and I was able to squeeze in a rare free morning so I decided to see the car as was.
The salesman was friendly in a very none car salesman way and had just bought a 328 which was sat in the showroom awaiting a bit of a going over. I'm not one for older cars but it looked absolutely great and he was so enthusiastic about it that it was hard not to love it. We had a quick chat and then went for a spin. I was a passenger initially as the car warmed up and we had a bit of a talk about it, then after a few miles we swapped places and I had a drive. I was slightly taken aback by how 'old school' the 360 felt to drive. The sound was great and the ride was as expected somewhere between my Cayman S and GT3. Having listened for any unwanted rattles and discussed the replacement of discs, pads, clutch etc I was more or less happy with the car.
As mentioned I already have a Cayman S and a 997 GT3 and so I am used to people shouting a particular word at me when I am out in either car and also making the hand gesture which amounts to the same thing. I had always thought that this word was being shouted blindly at the 'Porsche driver' than specifically at me. Unfortunately whilst test driving the 360 it became clear that I am in fact a complete w****r. Whilst concentrating on driving an alien transmission and keeping up a conversation about my business I lost all sense of the highway code and went straight through a red light. The word was shouted, the hand gesture was directed in my direction, I went red and the salesman who was a passenger at this point probably pooped himself! Whoops!
We made it back to the dealership with no more near death experiences and I basically said I do want the car, what is the best deal you can offer me? The salesman said that he needed to sit down and have a look at a few things and he would get back to me. Around lunchtime the following day we had a quick chat on the phone, I bought the car and gave up my card details for the deposit. It is now being prepped etc and I will get the car later this month.
Costs this month:
£1000 Challenge Rear Grille
£585 Becker Cascade Head Unit
£40 Becker iPod Remote Kit
When I made the decision to replace my daily driver with a Ferrari I was originally going to buy an F430. I work pretty much none stop so my car shopping tends to consist of researching a car, doing a deal in principle over the phone and then if the car is as promised when I go to see it then I do the deal. During the early stages of looking for an F430 a quasi-friend-acquaintance was able to pull a few strings regarding getting me another car, so paying the deposit on that reduced my budget and I decided that I would still replace my daily with a Ferrari but it would have to be a cheaper car. I am not keen on old cars so going back too far wasn't really an option as although some older cars look great I am not really a fan of the 'raw' driving experience that some seem to love and even less so of being sat on the hard shoulder with oil on my hands and steam all around me.
Having looked at all options it seemed to me that the choice was between a 360 or a 550/575. Being quite a superficial soul I opted for the 360 as I believe that it wears it's years better than the V12 and looks less like something my father should drive. I probably prefer the interior styling of the 575 but it's exterior doesn't do a great deal for me.
I initially looked at a few cars at specialists and enquired at Walkersport with a mind to having them inspect a car that was for sale fairly locally, but it quickly sold so that was that. For whatever reason I am more comfortable buying from main dealers, so this is where my search 'proper' began. I gather that my attitude to these cars is different to many other owners in that I see them quite simply as 'used cars' and when buying from a main dealer, as long as the car comes with a FSH and a warranty I don't feel the need to get on my hands and knees and inspect it from every angle.
I wasn't too bothered about colours or transmission, although I wasn't keen on TDF and I'd prefer F1. Challenge grilles would be a bonus but are easily added so not essential. I saw a Grigio/Scuro car with about 20'000 miles for what seemed a fair price at Dick Lovetts in Cardiff. I rang and enquired about the car and over the course of a few days and phone calls back and forth found out about the car, history, clutch health etc and talked with the salesman about the numbers. On a Saturday afternoon I made an appointment to see and drive the car at 9am on the following Monday morning. As per my usual method I had already decided that if the car was what i had been told it was then I would buy it - I'm not one for shopping around. Not being at all interested in golf I had forgotten that the Ryder Cup was taking place in Cardiff that week and so was in for a treat as I sat in the massive traffic jams it caused. I eventually arrived at Dick Lovetts and was
glad to be getting out of the car to stretch my legs and unfold my aching back. The Grigio 360 was parked outside so I had a quick look at it before going inside to find the salesman that I had been speaking to. I had spoken at length to the salesman about both the car and the fact that I wouldn't be buying Porsche again in the future as I had had a horrendous experience in terms of customer service and he had seemed shocked that I had received anything other than fantastic service. This made what happened next seem all the more annoying. The chap on reception went to find the salesman that I had been dealing with, who, five minutes later, came striding towards me, hand outstretched to introduce himself. "You're here about the 360..." he said. I confirmed that I was. "Yeah, sold it on Saturday" he said. And it seemed that was that. I am not sure of my exact retort but i obviously expressed my thoughts regarding his not having called me to cancel our appointment and save me the 340 mile round trip for nothing quite frankly, as I was quickly ushered into a little office and the door was closed behind me. We had a little chat which left me with the impression that I was glad that the car was sold as this was not going to be a dealership which offered the level of customer service that I thought was appropriate. The salesman asked me once again if I would be interested in another Porsche, I reiterated that under no circumstances did I want another Porsche to which came the reply "I've got a lovely 993 for sale....." shortly after this I was back in the car on my way home.
I started browsing again to see what was around. As I have said I prefer to buy from main dealers, but as they are quite often bloody awful and Walkersport is pretty close by and has an excellent reputation I made a few enquiries with Tim about a car they had there (now sold). At the same time a few people on Club Scuderia had recommended that Carrs Ferrari in Exeter were mire likely to be the kind of dealership that I was looking for, Adz in particular even recommended a specific salesman. They had a car that was due in shortly which seemed to fit the bill so I started to sort out the details in preparation to going to see the car.
The car in question was a Rosso/Beige 360 Modena with 19'000 miles. I like to communicate by email so that details can be checked and backed up if needed and so a combination of phone calls and emails were made over the course of a week in which I became happy that the car was going to be worth having, FSH, recent belt change, new clutch, tyres, service etc and I made an appointment to go and see the car. It would be mid way through preparation so the bumper would still have stone chips etc but that isn't really too important as long as it ended up being done should I buy the car and I was able to squeeze in a rare free morning so I decided to see the car as was.
The salesman was friendly in a very none car salesman way and had just bought a 328 which was sat in the showroom awaiting a bit of a going over. I'm not one for older cars but it looked absolutely great and he was so enthusiastic about it that it was hard not to love it. We had a quick chat and then went for a spin. I was a passenger initially as the car warmed up and we had a bit of a talk about it, then after a few miles we swapped places and I had a drive. I was slightly taken aback by how 'old school' the 360 felt to drive. The sound was great and the ride was as expected somewhere between my Cayman S and GT3. Having listened for any unwanted rattles and discussed the replacement of discs, pads, clutch etc I was more or less happy with the car.
As mentioned I already have a Cayman S and a 997 GT3 and so I am used to people shouting a particular word at me when I am out in either car and also making the hand gesture which amounts to the same thing. I had always thought that this word was being shouted blindly at the 'Porsche driver' than specifically at me. Unfortunately whilst test driving the 360 it became clear that I am in fact a complete w****r. Whilst concentrating on driving an alien transmission and keeping up a conversation about my business I lost all sense of the highway code and went straight through a red light. The word was shouted, the hand gesture was directed in my direction, I went red and the salesman who was a passenger at this point probably pooped himself! Whoops!
We made it back to the dealership with no more near death experiences and I basically said I do want the car, what is the best deal you can offer me? The salesman said that he needed to sit down and have a look at a few things and he would get back to me. Around lunchtime the following day we had a quick chat on the phone, I bought the car and gave up my card details for the deposit. It is now being prepped etc and I will get the car later this month.