Ferrari California, quite a fiasco...

**Apollo_Auto** · 07-05-2009, 01:31 PM

Hi all! Here`s another California that I finished on Friday. This is the 2nd 2-seater California ever produced. This poor car has been going through hell since the day it rolled of the production line. It`s got 141 km on it and of course the paint looked like poo. The first big mistake with this one that we found was that the stitching in the leather was the wrong color in the back... this was the first time I`ve seen a mistake from the leather department (they`re usually spot on). The customer ordered the car with white stitching and he got yellow stitching in the back... oops. The new belts were ordered ASAP. While the new belts were on the way, the customer requested that the car be taken to Switzerland to be registered. These poor delivery guys had to jump through hoops to get the car into Switzerland. The border patrol wouldn`t let them pay the taxes on the car because they weren`t the original owners... in the end the owner had to drive to the border and pay in person... pfft. Then the car got stuck in Switzerland again because the VIN number was an EU VIN and couldn`t be registered in Switzerland and this and that... long story short the car arrived to me 2 weeks late. I had to stay late 2 nights in a row just to get it finished because the clear bra guy also needed to do his job... This car was a huge PITA from start to finish, but I`m very pleased with the results and the customer was of course thrilled... good for me because this is a VERY important client, as he`s soon to be the president of the Ferrari Owner`s Club of Hungary and because I`m doing his Maranello next

.

Anyway, the car came with Luigi`s signature (buffer trails) and lots of RDS. I didn`t try to catch them on camera because like I said, I was pressed for time... again

. I still haven`t received my big order of InstaFinish yet so I had to tackle this one with Scholl S17. I started by hunting the larger scratches down and sorting them out with S17 and a wool pad. Then I analyzed and accessed each panel as I went along sometimes being able to tackle it with S17 and a polishing pad and sometimes with InstaFinish Swirl Away and a finishing pad, sometimes this combo or that. I really change pad and polish combos a lot when I do these cars because my main goal is to save as much paint as possible. So on to the show!

The stitching problem...

Some odd etching on the roof...

Some of the RDS that the car was riddled with...

A line in the paint near the back tail lamp where it was taped off to be repainted...

and the crappy respray...

**Apollo_Auto** · 07-05-2009, 01:32 PM

The whole back of the car had to be taken apart to replace the belts...

All lubed up with Migliore Primo

Enjoy the afters!

Wicked color this is...

Some final outside shots that I took with my phone as the customer was leaving...

UP NEXT:

Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!

- Jesse

**grungy** · 07-05-2009, 01:48 PM

Jesse - another great save! I`m starting to think they might be using floor buffers on the paint:bat

**757motoring** · 07-05-2009, 03:29 PM

Looks good nice turn around thats crazy they let the stitchng get out the factory like that.

**Barry Theal** · 07-05-2009, 07:21 PM

wow jesse that think looks wet!

**Thomas Dekany** · 07-06-2009, 12:20 AM

Looks great! Doesn`t ferrari get some feedback about their quality control from the dealers? :think::think::think:

Another perfect job!!:xyxthumbs

**Thats Fresh** · 07-06-2009, 01:55 AM

yes, definitely a great save

**porta** · 07-06-2009, 09:41 AM

Looks great - as always

Did you notice any filling with Insta cut #15?

**Phillyz** · 07-06-2009, 11:37 AM

Great work on a great car man, I`m always so impressed looking at your work.

Keep it up!

**Apollo_Auto** · 07-06-2009, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by grungy

Jesse - another great save! I`m starting to think they might be using floor buffers on the paint:bat

Thanks Grungy! Yeah, sort of makes you wonder what the hell they`re doing...

Originally Posted by 757motoring

Looks good nice turn around thats crazy they let the stitchng get out the factory like that.

Thanks 757! This is the first problem I`ve seen from the leather dept., but you should check out some of my other threads... they`ll make you wanna :bawling:

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

wow jesse that think looks wet!

Thanks Barry! Tried the Migliore yet??

Originally Posted by tdekany

Looks great! Doesn`t ferrari get some feedback about their quality control from the dealers? :think::think::think:

Another perfect job!!:xyxthumbs

Thanks TamÃ¡s! Yeah, we send them lots of nice pictures with captions on them and I fill out all the damage reports (very thoroughly), but still... "...it`s a Ferrari."

Originally Posted by Thats Fresh

yes, definitely a great save

Thanks mate!

Originally Posted by porta

Looks great - as always

Did you notice any filling with Insta cut #15?

Thanks Porta! No I haven`t noticed any filling yet (only oils)... have you??!!

Originally Posted by Phillyz

Great work on a great car man, I`m always so impressed looking at your work.

Keep it up!

Thank you kindly, Phillyz!

**autoconcierge** · 07-07-2009, 07:22 AM

Jesse,

I will be doing my first 16MM(giallo) and even I was shocked at bad it is, the customer was going to make the dealership buy the car back but I convinced him that I would correct the issues(to the tune of 35 hours billed@75.00$)thats how bad this car is wet sand marks over the entire car, the right rear quarter was not even sanded at the factory I will have to do it and match texture to the passenger side door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

What the hell is going on @ Ferrari the fit and finish is at a all time low(however look @ Bada Bings posts on the Aston`s, same thing). BTW another great save by Apollo.

**SuperBee364** · 07-07-2009, 09:54 AM

Jesse, another phenomenal job. Love the humor you always through in to your write ups.

**Apollo_Auto** · 07-07-2009, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Auto Concierge

Jesse,

I will be doing my first 16MM(giallo) and even I was shocked at bad it is, the customer was going to make the dealership buy the car back but I convinced him that I would correct the issues(to the tune of 35 hours billed@75.00$)thats how bad this car is wet sand marks over the entire car, the right rear quarter was not even sanded at the factory I will have to do it and match texture to the passenger side door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

What the hell is going on @ Ferrari the fit and finish is at a all time low(however look @ Bada Bings posts on the Aston`s, same thing). BTW another great save by Apollo.

Thanks Bob! Well you`ve had enough 430`s under your buffer to know what`s in store for you, so enjoy! Yeah, the first Ferrari I did for this dealership was a 16M and it was trashed!!!! I`m 100% sure that the German guy (BIG collector) would have sent it back to the factory with a "spanks but no spanks" note attached to it. 35 hours @ $75????!!!!! Holy sh1t I`m SEVERELY underpaid... Then again, despite the value of these cars, the HU market in this profession is still primitive, so those prices will still be unheard of for years to come

.

Yes, I`ve seen a few Astons come out of the factory looking like a 10 year old automatic car wash queen also... I`d have turned down my Fiat Punto if it`d came to me like that... Quantity, not quality... though it should be the other way around.

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

Jesse, another phenomenal job. Love the humor you always through in to your write ups.

Thanks SuperBee! I try to keep it as real as possible

!