GOD DAMNIT!!! I swear this 355 is a ****ing LEMON!!!! <--end rant. I buy this car for an even 10,000,000 yen which equals to about 86,459.802 USD. So, I was told that the car just finnished a service and that all the proper steps have been done. 1 week after buying the damn car, studing on this site and working on it on my own, I start to see parts missing, screws here and there, rear brake light fasteners, a cracked left headlight, cracked center counsul. ( You getting all this Daniel? lol ) Tires worn to the belts almost, AND now i hear something clinking around in the left bank. I get Check Engine 1-4 and the car starts to sputter. O2 sensor I think. Muffler bounts broken and defuser screws missing. Oh, and I found out the last timing belt change was in 99. I am so luck that Daniel at Ricambi was nice enough to send me parts to Japan to help fix my problems. NOW!!! I know what you are going to say. "DID YOU NOT CHECK THE CAR BEFORE YOU BOUGHT IT YOU IDIOT?!?!?!" Unfortunatly i could not see the car till the day I got it. Even then it was very nice. The shop promised that they did a full inspection of the car and it was 100% sound and fit. After discussing with them about these problems, they told me I could give it back to them to give to the repair shop but I would have to pay for everything myself. I was very pissed. Just trying to get a sale. Thats it. I am very anti-Cornes, but I am starting to feel these guys are not so bad. A little more expensive but at least they really take care of the car. I was lucky enough to meet the President of Cat Speed Japan and Keissieg Japan and they cam over to the house for dinner and we discussed alot of things. I have made my mind up that I am pulling the car from the people who sold it to me and handing it over to Cats Speed/Kreissieg/Cornes. I will end up with prolly a 40K$ bill for all the repais that need to be done but at least when I sell it to the next person, they will not have to go through what I did. But at the end of the day, i love Ferrari.... it is the idiots who take it for granted here in japan who pisses me off. Ie, So Called pro athletes, Movie star wannabes and singers. **End Formal Rant**
Xavior, Hope everything will work out for you at the end. (I remember just a couple of weeks ago you were so excited about getting this car....) Story like this sure makes us who is about to take the plunge check twice before we jump. At this point I feel like my life is hanging entirely on the outcome of my PPI scheduled for early part of this week. Keeping my fingers crossed here....It'll be the longest week of my life. Good luck to you. Just look at it this way...after all the repairs your car will come out much better than ever before.
Sorry about your luck -- I sure hope and can't imagine it will end up costing that much to fix it.. You have a ton of great sources here to hopefully save you quite a bit of money...
Thanks guys, I am really trying to fix what I can on my own, but I know the timing belt issue will require an engine drop. This is expensive here. Pap I would love to fly you over but I have no lift or anything for you to do this. Ideas?
As ND just mentioned. The 2 jack method is the best way to do the job if you do not have a hoist. Jack the car up, place on stands ect.....then drop the engine out with 2 jacks. ND has a link to it somewhere.
You probably could have the engine in and out in a day. But you wouldnt want to rush it. Plus, it would pay to replace waterpump, cam seals ect.... That all takes time. Plus maybe a nice clean/tidy up. So I would allow a few days to do the job properly mate.
Very sorry to hear about your misfortune dude As i was saying on another thread, buying a 355 is like rolling dice. No matter how careful you think you are. Though i am as suprised as hell that you being a established forum member, would not do proper checks befor parting with 100K Especialy after reading all our 355 bantering on here. Hope you strick a deal that makes you happy dude
Sorry to hear about your troubles Not all the type of people you commented above take ferrari's for granted. You dont know who on this forum fits into one of those categories.
I REALLY want to feel bad for you, but can't. You went on the dealers word that the car was in great shape Vs spending extra time on a PPI. It looks like the excitement of getting the car took place of some common sense for your purchase. Good luck getting things straightened out!
Did you mean a cookie I did the 2 jack method works great! For what its worth, I'm not sure where the car came from but alot of people from this site will inspect a car for someone else who isnt local. If the car came from the states someone from this site could of checked it out for you
I ment only in Japan. And yes they do here. Watch some of the shows here. I know lots of Ferrari owners here wo get sick when they see the Smap dudes or whatever buy a car then run it into the ground like it was dirt then go buy another and repeat the proccess. I guess if you have that kind of money it is ok?
I lived in Japan for 2 1/2 years and I'm surprised how this could have happened. My experience while living there is the Japanese people could not lie to somebody. There is the whole thing about loosing face. I did visit Cornes Motors from time to time just to see the cars. I never got any negative vibes from them. Of course, I didn't buy a car either! Sorry to hear about this!
I was raised here and been here this time around for 5 years. Trust me, all that stuff you hear and see in the movies about loosing face and all that only work BETWEEN Japanese. Period. If you are Gaijin here, life is tough. We could get very deep into this if you like but I am a senior executive for a Japanese bank. Life is tough...lol. Don’t get me wrong, I make good money and quality of life is great, but I was also ripped off 300K by someone trying to create a company with me and he took off with the accounts. This happens often to gaijin here. I have it better then most due to 3 very important reasons. 1) I am married to a Japanese national 2) I am very high up in a "Japanese" bank 3) I am not a billionaire, but I look the part. You would be surprised how well people treat you if you look like money in this country. I have actually walked into places in Ginza with shorts and a t-shirt and received NO help. But that same store in a well kept suit and a Japanese model for a wife <-- Pap can confirm that ;-) The Champagne falls from the ceilings... I am very happy you had a nice experience here. And don’t get me wrong; the good outweighs the bad here. But when it is bad, IT IS REALLY BAD. If you’re ever around in Tokyo again, let me know and I will show you what I mean.
