Anyone dealt with Foreign Cars Italia in Greensboro, NC?

My experience only involves a Porsche Cayenne. I would say they are a good, not a great dealership. From my talks with a couple of Ferrari owners, that seems to be their experience as well. Probably the best service I have ever had was from the local Flow BMW. With FCI, I find it difficult to get in touch with the service person, not particularly easy to schedule an appt., and at least 1 loaner car I received was a rental Suzuki (for a Cayenne Turbo!)...don't want to sound elitist, but this would have never happened at the Flow Lexus or Flow BMW. But sometimes it is still best to play ball with the local boys...just remember that the squeaky wheel will get the grease! With great dealerships you don't have to squeak, but with average to good dealerships you sometimes need to make some noise.

 

Although I have not bought a car from Sport Auto, I really like the way they treat their customers. Prior to purchasing my Ford GT, I test drive one of their Lambo Gallardos. Very professional, down-to-earth, stay in touch with you kinda of people. I really wanted to buy a car from them...they just didn't have the car I wanted! But they do deal in a lot of Ferraris and Lambos. And I hear from others on this forum that their service dept. is "choice"!

 

+1

Russell

 

i was treated terribly at the charlotte location and was given ZERO respect or consideration because i was "pre-qualified" at the door. my daily driver was in the shop and i was in a rental car. i asked the salesman for help in service for one of my cars and he simply said we don't service those cars and really walked away.

i said, look you asshat, i am a multi-ferrari and porsche owner. i expected you to provide me some guidance and at least a contact at the greensboro facility where they do work on 512's. i will litterally work hard to see that none of my friends nor i will ever buy a car form fci!

do yourself a favor and work w/ steve barney @ sport auto. he is a gentleman and ferrari blue blood. tom jones is also a true ferrari lover as well as an expert technician. you should see his tool boxes...he may have had the option as a nasa scientist...he is that methodical!

good luck

pcb

 

Yeah I haven't heard to much good about FCI. From all that I hear, they only cater to owners of newer F-cars, other than that they generally shun other people. Although it's hours away from NC, Ferrari of Atlanta seemed like quite a nice dealership. We stopped by there once after Petit Le Mans 2005, and the sales staff in the showroom were extremely friendly. It sounds like the folks at Sport Auto are similar to the FofA guys in that respect.

 

OT: YES!! The team at Flow BMW absolutely gets an A+ in my book. Mrs. JRR and I always recieve fantastic service there. Well priced, great communication, etc. etc. I'll also add Flow MINI into the A+ category too, having recently bought a Cooper to replace the crappy old Ricambi Saturn.

 

do you remember the sales persons name at the charlotte location, I have only had good experiences... sorry to hear that, they seem a bit overpriced imo

 

I have been gooing to FCI for 10 years with my father and have never had a bad experience the guys over there are always friendly. My experience's have only been at the old greensboro sotre and the new greensboro store. ive never had a negative experience. Lawrence is always willing to bend over backwards for a customer to get them whatever they need. i myself love gooing in there jsut stoping buy and talking with the guys. but these are jsut my experiences. Of course i have been to Sport Auto many tiems and they are terrific aswell steve and the guys always great to help you into what u need. They are a no bs dealership and tell u exactly what is up with each car. All around i love both dealerships and find both places terrific establishments.

 

Yeah, I definitely agree here. We bought my mom's old E39 528iAT (our first BMW) from them and I remember a salesmen by the name of Wolfgang Schneeberger driving the car up the mountain to meet us and give us not only the car, but also a couple of BMW shirts and hats. It was just one of those small things, but it showed a level of courtesy that we had not experienced prior to that. Our local BMW dealer (Hendrick BMW/Mercedes in Hickory) is getting ready to go through some major changes, and it sounds like we'll be losing our BMW dealer. So from now on, we'll have to go to Flow BMW for parts, etc. which is perfectly fine by me.

 

Except if they sell the car you just drove 3 hours to buy(knowing you are on the way and didn't want a deposit)..... or selling you a car that was in a previous wreck without acknowledging it. No BS there! Beyond that I've had no issues, and they've never been rude to me.

The consensus seems to be Sport Auto though.

The BMW dealer in Asheville (Fletcher BMW) is the same as Flow. They will literally bend over backwards. Daniel I want to see a picture of your Mini!!

 

no no no FCI.....and nothing on the first and bought it back on the second

I was saying everyone seems to like Sport Auto.

 

Tom Jones at Sport Auto has done service for me for several years on both a 328 and 355. He is wonderful! He's an honest, down-to-earth guy. It's well worth the trip from Charlotte to have him do the work. Prices are competitive, and he gets your car back in a reasonable time frame.
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Only in a Ferrari service area would you see the lead mechanic in a button up shirt and khakis In my brief and rather limited experience in the Ferrari community, Tom Jones is probably the most knowledgeable person that I have had the pleasure of meeting. In addition to that, he is also a genuinely great guy to talk to and I can't see how you can go wrong with Sport Auto, at least on the service side.

 

And thank you, Tom, for referring excess and newer model work to us! <grin>

-Peter

 

Uh oh... Karl, Tom and I... THis thread has just headed downhill fast!

What's that joke about old Ferrari mechanics? <grin>

 

Heh heh.. I'll bet it's not as cool as the one I have:
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Whatever happened to the good ole stethoscope and multimeter?

 

They are in the Smithsonian (just like Karl and Peter will be soon).

 

Tom has returned my irritating calls on a Sunday to help me get my car running. Anybody ever heard of service better than that?