How Many Fucking Times Is This Going to Fucking Happen

"notsomethingstructural" (notsomethingstructural) 08/17/2020 at 21:35 • Filed to: None

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fuck

Took an arduous 7 hour round-trip yesterday up to the lovely Berkshires to look at a lovely car. It was priced well, but had some red flags, namely that it had been in storage for 4 years and was rolled on its lumpy-ass tire-rocks onto the lot without as much as an oil change. Which, fortunately, I knew about. And a clear bra which had aged so poorly it looked more like a thin veneer of cat piss, which, fortunately, I knew about. But there was no A/C, and aluminum craters on all 4 wheels so deep you’d think you were looking at a full moon through a telescope, which, unfortunately I did not know about.

I decided, begrudgingly, to think about it on the ride back and “sleep on it,” at least, in whatever sense you can really “sleep on” buying a Ferrari V8 on 5 hours of sleep after a s-e-v-e-n hour round trip. But I totaled up the work it needed, called the mechanic I was planning to have service it for a sanity check, took a few breaths into a paper bag, and decided to take the plunge. Called the dealer credit card in hand, and was told the car sold a couple hours earlier.

You’re probably thinking like “wow, that really fucking sucks,” or if you’re a Zillenial, just “oof.” It actually does not suck. Let me tell you what sucks.

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Back in June, I caught a rare 4200 manual coupe right as it came on the market, and reached out pretty quickly. Naturally as soon as the ad went up, a fuel pump sprung a leak - during COVID times. So some guy probably named Giuseppe boxed one up in Turin, threw it on a cargo boat, let it toot-toot its way across the Atlantic, arriving just in the nick of time for it to sit parked in customs for a month. But it eventually found its way down to North Carolina where it was needed... all while I was waiting patiently, knowing the ad had been pulled, and had a local friend on standby (met through the Kinja network!) ready to go out as soon as the call came in. Eventually it did. I booked my friend at the seller’s first availability.

fuck

He showed up on time, said it drove great, was as beautiful as it looked, ready to go. I told the seller I was interested and set up a time for us to discuss moving forward some... mmmm... 20 hours later, at his first availability. So I pull my wire instructions and credit card and run the CARFAX and watch the last minutes on the clock tick by before our scheduled call, but he beats me to it with a text. Car is sold.

(This would probably be the part where I go into how the car subsequently ends up on BaT, at which point I go absolutely off the rails at the seller for selling it out from under me to a dealer after making me wait 6 weeks for the fuel pump, then proceed to catch the new-seller outright lying about the condition of the car on BaT in several ways (which again my friend has seen firsthand) and who is actually straw bidding on it, and then getting into an argument with BaT after I send them the inarguable receipts on the straw bidding, and subsequently getting banned from commenting on BaT... but that’s a story for another day)  

You’re probably thinking like “wow, that really fucking sucks,” or if you’re a Zillenial, just “oof” (or: “this guy is a total asshole”) . It actually does not suck. Let me tell you what sucks.

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A good year ago, I made the unfortunate and extremely regrettable decision of seeing what I was missing. From time to time I’d flip through Hemmings to see what I could afford if I squinted and smeared vasoline over the first few numbers of the price. And I always saw the same picture: this lonely Maserati, rolled out on a never-changing, summer-green lawn. Even as the months rolled by and the rest of us were digging out of winter’s spoils, it was perched on that little grassy knoll, mocking me for being too chicken shit to go look at it. But when I was around the corner for the holidays, 5 minutes away, and it was somehow still available, I told the dealer I wanted to test drive the car I couldn’t afford. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and gave me the seller’s rock-bottom, unbeatable price.

fuck

Things got out of control from there. Weeks passed. I lost sleep. I checked my 401(k) terms for a loan. I applied for an equity line on my house (no I am not kidding). And finally, I decided I can, sort of, with the equity line, and enough prayer, afford it, and proceeded to go frantically through every forum that ever mentioned PPI’s in Connecticut even once. I finally find an off-duty Ferrari Master Tech, we make an appointment for Friday, and I scoot to my local Bank of America branch to take out [redacted] grand in cash.

Friday comes, and it’s a mess. A foot-plus of snow. No way to test drive a Maserati. I call the dealer and we agree to touch base the next day, which is supposed to be all warm and melt-y. He knows I’m getting antsy, and as he puts it, “if you’re not taking it out in a blizzard, then no one else is either.” I feel better.

Saturday comes and I call to confirm the new timing. A voice answers, “I hate to tell you, but the car sold over the phone this morning to a buyer in Maryland. They’re sending a flatbed to pick it up Wednesday.”

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I’m thinking I should check out Aston Martins.

CB > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 21:43

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I bet a V8 Vantage would somehow not be as big a nightmare as this.

ranwhenparked > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 21:46

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On the plus side, the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge does a mean eggs Benedict

just-a-scratch > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 21:46

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Oof. Ouch. Sorry.

Chariotoflove > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 21:47

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Maybe somebody up there is really looking out for you. You should probably take the hint.

Aston Martins are great too.

AestheticsInMotion > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 21:47

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Big oof

notsomethingstructural > Chariotoflove 08/17/2020 at 21:51

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There is a huge part of me that’s thinking I’m being tested, like one is gonna just fall out of the sky and I’m gonna rush so fast to be the first one in and get like 3000 miles out of it. I’m trying to remember this. 

notsomethingstructural > ranwhenparked 08/17/2020 at 21:58

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There are some incredible restaurants in the Lee / Stockbridge area but sadly it was too late when I was passing through on a Sunday. 

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > CB 08/17/2020 at 22:00

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Last I looked they were twice as much though...

CB > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 08/17/2020 at 22:01

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In initial cost, sure. But I imagine the least expensive Ferrari V8 is going to become very expensive very fast.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:03

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Oof. 

Tripper > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:11

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Bummer. Do you have  something against deposits?  Totally get It if you’re leaving it all to fate but even some of the cars that have “fallen into my lap” I’ve thrown a deposit on just to make sure no one can snag it before I have a look.

notsomethingstructural > Tripper 08/17/2020 at 22:26

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I was calling to leave a deposit on the red one he just stood me up.

The latest / top one same thing I was gonna leave a deposit until we had a contract in place. Just wasn’t fast enough. It needed $3500 in work I wasn’t expecting on top of the $3500 in work I was expecting or I’d have done it yesterday.

The last one I wasn’t prepared to commit to their asking price because I couldn’t afford to fix very much at the time, so PPI had to come first on that.

At least over here, deposits are non-refundable, and usually are only left after you agree to a price. Anything else you risk walking away from it. Like, “I’ll throw a deposit on it to hold it” is understood to be a commitment to buy the car, not to show up and look. 

smobgirl > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:30

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This sounds like trying to buy a house. No thanks.

jminer > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:41

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Man that is a rough bout of luck trying to buy a car.

I hope you finally end up with what you’re after, but it does seem like the universe is telling you something...

Tripper > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:41

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Where are you? I always go deposit before PPI, most dealers and sellers require it. Sure the intent behind a deposit is to buy the car but there’s nothing iron clad. I’ve done it a bunch and only ever had a problem once from a Subaru dealer.

Put a deposit on a new Sti in 08 and scheduled a drive. They wouldn’t let me drive it unless I bought it so I said no thanks. When they said I couldn’t have the deposit back, I told the sales guy I’d call my attorney   and drag them through shit on the internet all over $500. He had to go “talk to the manager”annnnnd they coughed  it right up, I burned those clowns on the internet anyway;)

Tripper > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 22:57

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Anyway, it’ll happen for you. I know it.

notsomethingstructural > Tripper 08/17/2020 at 23:02

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I’m in the northeast. NYC and New England. The STI thing is ridiculous and yeah I bet they coughed it up. You can use a deposit to hold the car but that’s usually it and you’re paying an agreed price or walking out on the deposit unless there’s something in the PPI that materially affects the value you couldn’t have known with the car on the ground. E.g. frame damage that wasn’t on the Carfax. Maybe a leaking steering rack. But if you want brakes / rotors / suspension stuff / bushings they’ll tell you to pound sand if you had a deposit / agreed price unless it’s like $10k in repairs. Really expensive cars are different, $20k maseratis don’t qualify.

ETA: It’s also Important to remember we’re talking about consignment cars and not dealer stock. Totally different ballgame because it’s not the dealers car to lend out. 

Tripper > notsomethingstructural 08/17/2020 at 23:14

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Yeah you’re not wrong. I’ve balked at 2 997s one needed an ENGINE. So no problem there. The second needed every part that wears except a clutch..and who knows prob that too. I said “look, I know I’m on the hook for the deposit, but this is a lot of work on this car. If you’re going to keep a couple hundred buck...... he cut me off” and was like “not worth it for us to fix it and sell it to you at the agreed upon price  and not worth losing a potential future sale over $500”. This was at a mom and pop type dealer. Good luck, you’ll get one. I’ll wish for it the next time I go through a tunnel.

notsomethingstructural > Tripper 08/17/2020 at 23:26

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Yeah, the maintenance stuff on a 4200 can easily exceed what you’re paying for the car itself, especially if a clutch or struts are involved. This latest one had maybe $6k in maintenance  work that I could see. Usually they’ll cooperate within reason but consignment it’s a little different. It gets inspected here or it doesn’t get inspected sort of thing.

Appreciate your well-wishes. I had changed gears after getting burned out looking for this and was gonna prioritize my daily driver. Probably will go back to that and keep saving for an R8. 

onlytwowheels > notsomethingstructural 08/18/2020 at 00:22

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You’ll get your car, it’s only a matter of time. Don’t try to force it and accept something less than ideal. The right one will come along.

I have had some similar experiences, so I can relate completely. I had a car I went to see with a friend, arrived less than 30 minutes after calling seller, telling him I would be right over. I arrive, he’s not there, daughter says he went to get lunch. My buddy and I do the same. Thirty minutes la ter we are back, seller says “car is sold”.

Go to look at another car month or so later, have arranged time with seller. I arrive to see 15 other buyers (no exaggeration) all there at the same time. It turns into a bidding war, price is already 50% over asking..... I walk away.

I go to a BMW motorcycle dealer, have seen a bike listed on their website that I want. Turns out it is at another location in NY. Salesman says he can have their in a week. I leave a deposit and head home. I get home home and their is a message from dealer saying “I’m sorry it sold today”.

I could go on..... but you understand it’s not just you that this happens to.

notsomethingstructural > CB 08/18/2020 at 09:20

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They’re about the same, to Astons are slightly more to maintain. The 4200 has pretty low operating costs for an exotic because its the chain-driven V8 in the F430 and the clutches are as good as you’ll get in a car of this caliber. The AMV8 is pretty good too but as I recall  the clutch is a bit flimsy. The expensive thing in the 4200’s is the skyhook suspension, which can be close to like $10k in parts and labor to replace. Fortunately they can be converted back to a conventional setup without much ado.

notsomethingstructural > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 08/18/2020 at 09:22

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Yeah, they’re at least $10k more. I want to drive one as they’re supposed to be bodied more like a sports car and not a GT, and the 4200 is already a somewhat  tight fit

notsomethingstructural > onlytwowheels 08/18/2020 at 09:24

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Yeah, just sucks that it’s 3 in a row and we’re going on 8-9 months now. 

Vicente Esteve > notsomethingstructural 08/19/2020 at 09:03

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Great writeup!

What a rotten bit of luck with those sellers, but a car will arrive and the “Ah, that was worth the wait” moment too. From the looks of things you aren’t scared by the cambiocorsas, any insight in what it takes to keep these cars going? Im mildly interested in one, as they pop up usually in unbelievable condition where I live (Mexico, so don’t worry). 

notsomethingstructural > Vicente Esteve 08/19/2020 at 10:11

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I am very scared by the cambiocorsa. These were all true manuals (which is why it’s been an 8 month process) . The maintenance costs are generally on-par with any other Italian exotic, just people are less meticulous because they’re not worth as much (e.g. something like an 18 month / 12k service most people will just do at 12k regardless of how many months). They’re also more likely to use independent shops.

Oil changes are a couple hundred because it takes like 8 quarts of top spec redline. Full fluid change is $1500-2000 . Set of tires usually pilot super sports runs $1500 mounted and high-speed road force balanced and tested. I want to say pads and rotors are $1500-3000 depending if you use OEM or top-shelf aftermarket (no one is putting centric rotors on this car). Maybe 15k service interval on the pads and 30k on the rotors? Not sure. No belt service (chain drive). Suspension is pricey, it’s like $4-6k installed for a regular strut set up, and $6-10k for skyhook struts. Replace when failed. Strut failure is not abundant in these. The manuals do not have a history of failure with the hydraulic master / slave or the friction disc.

The CC it escalates quickly because it needs a clutch as frequently as every 25k for a good $4000 and a F1 pump every 40k for about $2500. As I recall at least. There’s good evidence that keeping the CC in sport mode, using the paddles, letting off the gas during gear changes - basically treating it like a manual - CONSIDERABLY extends clutch life. But if you are buying one, you can’t assume the previous owner did that, so   the reason CC’s are $4k-5k less than GT’s is they have a clutch replacement baked into the purchase price.

The advice I’ve seen is figure $1.00 per mile for the GT; $1.25 a mile for the CC; if you’re planning to buy, have $5k in a rainy day jar just for the car; and if a $10k repair bill would force you to sell it, then just skip the process entirely.

Hope this helps, let me know what you think!

Vicente Esteve > notsomethingstructural 08/19/2020 at 11:12

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What a great post, thanks for taking the time! I must have misinterpreted the CambioCorsa fear, which I do share with you.

Prices of service costs are about what I estimated in the US.

Thing is, where I live I have a couple benefits:

- Easy access to an American PO Box and delivery to the city where I live (Near the US) , which means availability of aftermarket/OEM parts without high shipping costs.

- Wildly inexpensive, quality labor. Just insane the difference a mechanic will charge me for the same jobs, which in turn permits some nice tips for him so he’s happy to work on my cars in the future.

I’ll keep an eye out for a stick. 

notsomethingstructural > Vicente Esteve 08/19/2020 at 12:37

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If your hoping to be spared from Maserati service costs because of access to cheap labor I have some bad news... their parts prices are very high. For all those jobs I quoted you aside from fluids and annual service at least 2/3 or 3/4 is eaten up in parts costs. Front pad kit is like $900 from Maserati for JUST pads and shims.  And they all ship from Italy aside from like oil filters. I might consider looking into this further if I were you. A good affordable mechanic obviously doesn’t hurt but stuff like the skyhook suspension requires access to the computer to register the struts or calibrate them or something. These are fairly simple cars but I don’t think it’s safe to assume that lower labor costs will make it much easier to own one. 

Vicente Esteve > notsomethingstructural 08/19/2020 at 15:11

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It’s an added bonus, but for sure those are things to keep in mind. I am more in line with German cars and know that OE parts have the same quality with reasonable pricing. I guess that isn’t the case with the more premium Italian brands!