09 Ferrari 430 Scuderia in need of usual restoration from the factory

Auto Concierge · 07-11-09, 06:36

Well gents another full court press correction, Ferrari has layed another egg in the fit and finish dept as usual. It is beyond comprehension to me how they can build and charge so much for a car and send it out the door in this condition.

This car is about five months old to the owner, and being Pozzi Blue it shows every flaw like a Jet Black finish.

Wet sand marks

Look at the hologram here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All gone

Me with a look of extreme tiredness at the HURTING RIDS and HOLOS I am dealing with

Interior pic

At the end finally

Sun pics, with the next cars on the schedule

gmblack3a · 07-11-09, 08:11

Excellent work as always Bob. Yes the ferrari factory needs a lesson in polishing paint.

Apollo_Auto · 07-11-09, 09:15

Ha, ha! This face looks very familiar to me!

Awesome save, Bob! Oh and what you said before about writing the Spa a letter... don't waste your time... you've got a better chance at winning the lottery than you of them giving a rat's a$$. I guess my name's becoming a bit (un)popular in Switzerland, because I had a meeting this week with "The Punching Bag" from the Swiss headquarters. Ferrari decided to create a job position for this guy to be the "buffer" between the factory and the dealers that constantly call and b1tch them out about the quality, or lack of, of these cars. When we met I was finishing an F430 and just about to start on the last California I did so I had plenty of polishing and sanding carnage to show him. I explained what all these things were, etc., etc. and he was just shaking his head, agreeing with his mustered "I'm concerned" face. In the end, he told me, "This is how the process goes; it's Ferrari." He also explained to me that the monkeys who polish these cars get an entire 30 MINUTES to polish them before they wrap them up to get shipped out... which explains everything.

Then he asked me how long it takes me to polish one of these disasters and I told him, "1-4 days, depending on how bad it is." His eyes popped out of his head when I told him that and he asked me, "What do you do with it for 4 days???" I simply replied, "I make it look like a Ferrari is supposed to look." Silence. In the end I told him, "Look, I'll still have to polish these cars no matter what, but just tell them to stop fu$%ing polishing them..." I'd much rather spend time removing the damage myself than correcting someone else's disaster. He also mentioned that Ferrari will soon inform all dealers that the cars MUST be polished before delivery and that they will possibly be reimbursed for a percentage of it. Before he left I got a pat on the back, wink, handshake and a "You're doing a great job" all at the same time.

OCKlasse · 07-11-09, 09:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollo_Auto

Ha, ha! This face looks very familiar to me!

Awesome save, Bob! Oh and what you said before about writing the Spa a letter... don't waste your time... you've got a better chance at winning the lottery than you of them giving a rat's a$$. I guess my name's becoming a bit (un)popular in Switzerland, because I had a meeting this week with "The Punching Bag" from the Swiss headquarters. Ferrari decided to create a job position for this guy to be the "buffer" between the factory and the dealers that constantly call and b1tch them out about the quality, or lack of, of these cars. When we met I was finishing an F430 and just about to start on the last California I did so I had plenty of polishing and sanding carnage to show him. I explained what all these things were, etc., etc. and he was just shaking his head, agreeing with his mustered "I'm concerned" face. In the end, he told me, "This is how the process goes; it's Ferrari." He also explained to me that the monkeys who polish these cars get an entire 30 MINUTES to polish them before they wrap them up to get shipped out... which explains everything.

Then he asked me how long it takes me to polish one of these disasters and I told him, "1-4 days, depending on how bad it is." His eyes popped out of his head when I told him that and he asked me, "What do you do with it for 4 days???" I simply replied, "I make it look like a Ferrari is supposed to look." Silence. In the end I told him, "Look, I'll still have to polish these cars no matter what, but just tell them to stop fu$%ing polishing them..." I'd much rather spend time removing the damage myself than correcting someone else's disaster. He also mentioned that Ferrari will soon inform all dealers that the cars MUST be polished before delivery and that they will possibly be reimbursed for a percentage of it. Before he left I got a pat on the back, wink, handshake and a "You're doing a great job" all at the same time.

Ugh. Great. Dealership polishing the paint

Check out what they did to my dad's pride and joy after one wash:

Could Ferrari Dealer Washes Really be as Bad as the Others?

grungy · 07-11-09, 10:19

Bob - it almosts looks like you are trying to scare the RIDS away

Another great job fixing a car that as Jesse put it "should look that way from the factory". If only the owners would get together and gripe to the management at Ferrari

DaGonz · 07-11-09, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by grungy

Bob - it almosts looks like you are trying to scare the RIDS away

Another great job fixing a car that as Jesse put it "should look that way from the factory". If only the owners would get together and gripe to the management at Ferrari

Between that and the polishing.. it seemed to work!

Bob.... excellent work as usual!

dsms · 07-11-09, 10:33

Save at least one Scud for me Bob, I dont wanna do "just" 355's all day long! Again top notch work!

mrclrider · 07-11-09, 10:33

You had your work cut out for you there, good job!

15951 · 07-11-09, 10:41

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why would you want the factory to address the issue? If you guys are getting paid for 1-4 day corrections on these cars, you should be sending fruit baskets to the Ferrari plant.

Just my opinion...

Pats300zx · 07-11-09, 11:41

Great job as always Bob. That color is spectacular. I would be one unhappy customer if I got a Ferrari from the factory in that condition after paying all that money for it.

Deanski · 07-11-09, 12:14

I was trained by one of the best body man at Chinetti Ferrari long ago and yes, they do arrive in poor condition when entering the USA.

Lucky for owners in CT, that shop long ago could make anything look spectacular. He was the most talented craftsman I've known. The painting skills he had were just sick!

Even an Enzo when it arrived was in bad shape and it took me a good long time to resolve the paint defects and the poor "handling" of the finish.

I agree that for this price point for a car, you'd think the quality would be on par with German and Japanese car finishes (on the high-end scale).

If I order an F430, you'd bet I'll take European delivery so I can see it prior to shipping and if it's that bad, I'd ask for a nice quite place in the factory to show how it's done. Then give them the bill!

Deanski

Apollo_Auto · 07-11-09, 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by 15951

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why would you want the factory to address the issue? If you guys are getting paid for 1-4 day corrections on these cars, you should be sending fruit baskets to the Ferrari plant.

Just my opinion...

Well, I don't complain about the work itself because believe me I'm very grateful for it, as all of us that correct these cars are. When I had my meeting with "The Bag" my goal wasn't to try and fix these problems, it was merely a duty that I have to the dealership that commissions me to correct these cars, to justify the work that I do. Trust me, the dealership would rather not pay for 3 days of polishing a new car... I'm their expert so they leave it to me to explain and again, that's my duty. What I did do is suggest that the factory not polish these cars and trust me, that wouldn't take any food off our (the ones who correct these cars) tables, as they're in horrible enough condition to begin with. Also, it's much easier (IMO) to start from scratch with a correction than to correct someone else's correction because you don't know how much paint they've taken off the original... and it's really frustrating letting those "risky" scratches go that tarnish a would-be perfect finish because you're not quite sure how much clear you've got to play with...

I'll boldly say that I can also speak for Bob with this statement, but I love these cars and my job to the customer, whomever they may be (dealer, private), is to take care of these cars, not just to "clean" them. So yes, it angers me to see them in such a state. Furthermore, it's not just the swirls and scratches that we're talking about here. There's also, fish eyes galore, runs in the paint, blisters, HAIR, orange peel, etc. I care not if they scratch them because it's work for me, but I do care if they butcher it before I get it because chances are the new owner will be a long-time customer of mine...