comments/info on dealership

I have talked to him on the phone a few times about his cars. He seemed very nice and cordial. The cars all seem alot cheaper than others. Not saying anything bad because I don't know., but me personally I didn't feel right buying the car from him..
I called him about a 99 355F1 he had. he wanted like 79k for it. Well below a normal selling price for that year. Just got a weird vibe about him..

 

I bought my 355 from him and had a pretty good experience. I think he just likes to turn over a lot of cars with a small margin. I bought mine without ever seeing the car, and it only had a few issues. If you don't mind a car that has not been detailed to look perfect, you can save some extra dealer fees. Small things like interior pieces and detailing the engine bay are things most dealers will do to cars sitting around on the floor. So I had to do all that to mine, but then I bought it from him because I really wanted the Blue/Tan color combination on a well serviced car, and figured I would just deal with whatever it needed. Lucky for me it was in great shape, with all the books/tools/records.
He probably has a lot of tire kickers calling him, so he is very direct.
Oh, but don't let him ship it, arrange for your own transportation. His truck guy managed to let a wheel strap rub the paint a bit on the bottom of the spoiler.

 

I think he "wholesales" the cars, thats why they are cheaper...

 

He bills himself as the nation's largest wholesale dealer.

What I know is I have purchased from Jim and he is an upstanding guy who has been in the business for over 20 years.

I had a good experience as a few others here. Haven't heard any negatives...but, people tend not to go there unless REALLY obvious.

Give him a call.

 

But dosent like to answer many questions, I asked if the plastic was sticky on the console, and he told me "Ferrari of San Diego" gave the car a pass with flying colors...

 

WOW!, never seen that sort of response from him... he was more than helpful to me on ANY item.

hmmmm.

 

just bought a Range Rover from Him (VERY NCIE) and it was cheap. flew to sandiego and got a ride to la jolla- It was exactly as they said, I DO NOT KNOW HIM but VERY nice guy and a sweet heart of a wife.(pretty to) not that it matters.

Ill buy my next car from him..

 

Dont know anything about him, but I supect that he is just a middle man.
The 512bb on his site actually belongs to Fantasy Junction, (www.fantasyjunction.com) here in the Bay Area.
I highly recomend Fantasy Junction, they are very professional and usually have an absolutely fantastic selection of cars!

 

I could be wrong but I recall him working with Bobileffs in San Diego.
He may market some cars for them.............spoke to him a while back...........seemed like a straight shooter to me.

 

That really answered your question....But the sticky console is no reason not to buy a car--EASY fix...

 

Could it be that you maybe gave a certain (negative) vibe or a "know-it-all" tone when asking him the question hence the "direct" response!? Most my clients (that calls prior to visits) often come on "too strong". I guess they somehow feel that trying to be "on top" of the deal will (I guess) actually get them a better deal. When I do get that kind of calls (during a busy hour or after stressing out on something) I tend to be a bit testy. I either back them down to their place or be sarcastic when dealing with them. Maybe you just caught the guy during one of his bad times? I say, its always better to see a particular vehicle prior to actual negotiatins anyways. Why not stop by his showroom and see if you could chat with him and ask the questions about the F-Car that you feel and/or see fit. Just my $.02!

 

I got the same answer when I was going to buy a 355 from him a couple years ago . .. so I went down to Ferrari of San Diego in person and was told by THE GUY that people have said great things about that they had just done a PPI for someone else to the tune of $800 and "it's one of the nicest 355's around" . .. I looked at if for 5 minutes and saw it had paint work . .. it was obvious and they hadn't caught it or deliberately didn't mention it . . . overspray all over the inner fender . . . the right rear quarter had been resprayed and the blend line was in the middle of the license plate . .. I called him out of his office to look at it and he said something like "this car's one of the nicest around . .. what have I seen?". I told him I'd looked at a few that were completely original paint which he relayed to Jim that I'd looked at 100 and I'm too picky . .. made me fall in luv with my 308 even more that day and fattened my wallet by $80k to boot (edit . .. actually $89k!)

That being said I think his prices are good . .. just PPI PPI PPI!!!


Sean

 

Lyons and Bobileff have an association. They will sell cars for one another depending on who has the space. I have been told that Jim gets his cars from dealers who don't have the time or facility to sell these trades. He works on a modest margin, so he is knid of like a wholesaler, but it is more accurate to describe him as a low-margin reseller. I would have no problem dealing with him, but yes, take the advice of a proper PPI on anything you are serious about.

As for his behavior described above, we don't know all the circumstances. I would really not like someone nit-picking my car either, but remember you are not buying a garage queen. These are used cars. Oh, and he is supposed to have the service history on his cars. If not, he doesn't sell them - allegedly. I know Bobileff is really hesitant to sell a car he doesn't know well.

 

Sorry that was a stupid post . .. Jim was real nice and helpful and probably didn't know anything about the paint work . . . I think he moves a lot of cars and thought it was totally pristine (1998 with 13k miles).

I think the dealer should have pointed out the paint work but it could have just been an honest mistake. There were other minor issues which I would consider nit-picking . .. I honestly thought original paint would be pretty important on a car like that (I wanted a garage queen at the time) but I am definitely over that now .

Sean

 

Is cool. Not a stupid post, it was your experience and how it made you feel. Jim is not the source I would recommend to buy a garage queen. If you want an honest driver, I'd go there. Sometimes I regret not looking at the yellow 355 F1 he had for sale in late 2006, but I did not want an F1. They invited me down, but I thought I wanted a 1995 6-speed Berlinetta. For 355's I would require a service history. I'm not so picky with 348's since I am more comfortable with what to look for. Both necessitate the PPI.