Dear Friends and Ferrari Chat Community Over my many years of Ferrari ownership I have never seen so much talent with passion for the Ferrari brand leaving the FNE dealership in 5 year span. Over 175 years combined experience has moved on to enhance their personal careers. Starting with the two oldest and best in the business, from the original team of great technicians, David Angeloni and Steve Oldford. Followed a couple years later by, John Wayne a really good and hard working technician. After that the team was still being held together by Mike Shalhoub service and parts director. Master Technician Tony Fernandes, one of the only factory trained technician in all current models from the 360 to the LaFerrari, who left earlier this year. Sad to say it didnt stop there. I found out yesterday that the only factory trained Ferrari technician remaining of the original team Brian Walsh had left to join the Tesla group. Sadly leaving Nicola Mafeo the only experienced Ferrari Technician on the vintage models. Who ready to retire. Leaving me with a big question why should I bring my Ferrari to a place where there is no real technicians qualified to work on my Ferrari. To my knowledge all those years of experience and passion has been replaced with inexperienced technicians with no factory training or any time with the brand. To their credit its truly not their fault.
I'm sorry to hear that Nic is retiring but he has earned it. A real loss for FONE. Nic, almost exclusively has serviced my car, almost from day one and that brought a lot of confidence in my decision to continue to go to FONE. He is truly an amazing and talented gentalman. I loved having the opportunity to go out into the shop and have him tell me what he thought about the condition of my car and what to watch for in the future. Fortunatey, we live in an area where there are a lot of terrific choices. Steve while at FONE and since he has left, with David have been terrific, and Michael at FONE has also been fantastic. Ultimately, for me, it's about past experiences, relationship and trust. Putting your car in the hands of a service provider can be emotional and unsettling if you aren't comfortable with the provider. I have had personal experiance with Steve and David and Michale and Nic and I trust them completely.
Unfortunately Nick is/was the best at FNE for vintage Ferrari know how. The other techs I'm sure are capable of the newer models but there's a certain type of knowledge gained by Nick's experiences that can't be taught. The good news is you do have some options. Two of the best are either Steve Oldford/Dave Angeloni (Aston Martin NE ) or John Tirrell (IFS).
For those north of Boston Ferrari Service of Bedford, NH(David Feinberg) is very experienced working on older(and newer) Ferraris. David owns a 365, experienced in both older 12s and 8s. I am a satisfied customer!
My personal Technician was always Tony. I never had any problem he couldn't fix and his work is professional and meticulous just like the factory intended. looks like it was never touched! I finally got in touch with him thanks to some friends and found out that he opened his own shop in Milton called EuroAutohaus. I did not have the greatest experience with IFS on one of my cars, no offence to any one. I got quoted one amount and when i left my bill tripled with no explanation and i still had some of the problems i went there for. Which sent me to the dealer in search of tony, leading me to find out everyone is gone now!
IFS was the worst experience of my life. I'm 59 and have been a car guy since my teens. I'm going with Tony from now on.
I don't know who JD355 is and I won't question the intent or motivation for his creating this post, although I do think its suspect . I will tell you that at least one of his comments is factually incorrect. JD355 wrote "Sadly leaving Nicola Mafeo the only experienced Ferrari Technician on the vintage models. Who ready to retire." I can tell you that I had a conversation with a very credible source this afternoon and I was told that Nicola is not retiring from FoNE, in fact he has no intentions of retiring anytime soon. Be careful, remember that anyone with a computer can post anything that he or she wants on a forum like this. I would encourage JD355 to be a bit more factual in future posts if he chooses to participate in this forum.
Hmmmm.... Maybe I will question the original intent for JD355's creation of this thread. I think its clear...... And one last thing.... While I have no personal experience with IFS, I know a lot of people that have their cars serviced there and they speak very highly of John Tirell (SP?). I have also met John and he came across as someone who is well experienced and a gentleman. Again, JD355 wrote: "My personal Technician was always Tony. I never had any problem he couldn't fix and his work is professional and meticulous just like the factory intended. looks like it was never touched! I finally got in touch with him thanks to some friends and found out that he opened his own shop in Milton called EuroAutohaus."
I did not say Mr. Nicola Mafeo was retiring tomorrow what i meant was Nicola is the only technician left from the original team. Keep in mind the man is pushing 70 years of age and is not going to last forever. Sorry if i hurt your feelings. i was just stating my experience. because of this post i found where tony is. I posted this to find another good Ferrari technician with up to date credentials to work on my cars.
Thanks to JD355 for the kinds words... its unfortunate about our local Ferrari dealer but Dave and I are not going anywhere! Ill always be here to take care of the Ferrari community. Best, Steve
One of the 3 LaFerrari's I had the privilege to perform the Pre-Delivery Inspection service while still working for Ferrari of New England. I was fortunate to be the only Ferrari Technician From Ferrari of New England certified and licensed by TUV at the Ferrari Factory to work on the most advanced and, the best Super Car ever built, with Its 789-hp V-12 supplemented by a 161-hp boost from an electric motor. I don't see anybody in my rear view mirror. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Unfortunate the loss of talent. John at IFS is the only person I would let service any of my cars. A great guy and a great friend.
We are fortunate we have few options to choose from. As Ferrari owners, we can choose of where to take our ferrari to be serviced and whom we prefer to perform the work. Personally, for years, Tony met and exceeded my expectations when he worked on my three Ferraris while he was at FONE. I also, had two trouble experiences when Two other shops, one was an exotic car dealer and the other was an Independant shop, worked on my 575. In both occasions, I was Charged too much money for unsolved issues. It's counter productive for me to explain in detail or to name them at this point. The bottom line, everyone can chose who he is comfortable with to perform service on his Ferrari.
I will not get into detail, however this quote reads much like my experience I.e. "Worst experience of my life" in regards to ever dealing with anyone in my professional life. Boston area has a few options, FNE has always been great to me. Steve was always amazing - a true car guy, and best of luck to Tony. Wonderful Ferrari talent and enough cars around to keep everyone busy.
I saw your other thread in the Tech section of Fchat, and am assuming that this is the apparent non-replaced fuel filter that you speak of? I saw that there was no follow-up within the body of the thread. Did you ever bring the issue to the shop and give John and the team an opportunity to respond and address the issue? Though I question if the connection I'm making is correct since a missed fuel filter equating to 'worst experience of my life' seems a touch hyperbolic, if that is indeed the situation you are referring to. A declaration like that, on its face, asks for further context and disclosure especially as we are a small regional corner of this community. I mean no disrespect or question your feelings on the situation if there is indeed significantly more to the story, though that then goes to reinforce the preceding statement. I've had nothing but great experiences with John. A true gentleman and enthusiast doing nationally reknowned work on some benchmark Ferraris by all accounts I've heard and seen/experienced with my own eyes, ears, and checkbook.