If you can afford to buy a new Ferrari, you may think it’s a simple case of visiting a dealership, sorting out the paperwork, and driving off with your new supercar. However, obtaining a new Ferrari is not as straightforward as this.
There are several criteria that potential owners will need to meet before a dealership will agree to sell them a new Ferrari. It’s also far more difficult to obtain a limited-edition model, as Ferrari are very particular about who is allowed to own their cars.
Having enough money to buy a Ferrari is just the starting point. Even wealthy individuals who have owned Ferraris before aren’t always guaranteed to be able to purchase new ones.
Buying a standard Ferrari
While it’s understandable that buying a limited-edition Ferrari may be a tricky process, even obtaining a standard new Ferrari isn’t a simple process. In order to purchase a new Ferrari, Ferrari dealerships will often require buyers to provide a history of ownership before they will agree to sell them a new one.
In addition to most purchasers needing to prove they have owned Ferraris before, age can be a factor as well, as many dealers won’t sell to purchasers under the age of 40.
Purchasers will also need to have a large deposit and a suitably high credit score in order to get finance for the car. Not to mention the fact that obtaining insurance for a Ferrari can be even more challenging as only a limited number of insurance providers will cover expensive supercars such as Ferraris.
Purchasers must also agree to only use Ferrari’s approved garages to do any repairs that may be required. If buyers fail to take their car to approved garages and instead get them repaired elsewhere, the Ferrari warranty will become void.
Ferrari owners must also agree not to alter the engine, modify the car with custom bodywork or particular colors such as pink, rose, blush or salmon, or cover the Ferrari badge. Owners who really want a modified Ferrari can have one custom-made by Ferrari but modifications to existing vehicles is forbidden and may result in Ferrari taking the car back from the owner.
Buying a limited-edition Ferrari
While buying a standard new Ferrari can be tricky enough, that difficulty increases tenfold when it comes to getting your hands on a limited-edition Ferrari. While Ferrari are particular about who obtains their standard models, they’re far more so with regards to who gets to purchase limited editions.
Even if you have the required money to pay for it and a history of owning limited-edition Ferraris, this won’t guarantee you get permission to buy a new one. Often the purchaser needs to have built up a relationship with a Ferrari dealer over many years and to have visited the Ferrari factory in Maranello.
Even meeting all these requirements won’t guarantee you access to limited-edition Ferraris. Ferrari itself makes a point of not advertising the criteria required for being allowed to purchase a limited-edition model, though arguably they are slightly easier to obtain if you have a celebrity status (but by no means guaranteed).
Anyone who speaks derogatorily about the brand (celebrity or not) or who behaves in a way deemed negative and that brings unwanted attention to the individual will also result in that person being banned from purchasing limited-edition models.
Ferrari will choose who gets to buy the limited-edition cars and invite them to the Ferrari headquarters to look at the plans for the car. Limited-edition series are generally sold out several months before the general public is aware of them.
Why all the red tape?
Ferraris are exclusive supercars and one of the key ways to maintain that exclusivity is to limit the number of people who can purchase them. With fewer Ferraris on the road, it’s easier to retain their air of exclusivity and desirability.
Not to mention making them hard to obtain keeps demand high, helping Ferrari maximize the profits it can make from its cars.
What about selling a Ferrari?
Ferrari forbids owners from selling new Ferraris within the first year of ownership. Additionally, sellers need to inform Ferrari if they want to sell their vehicles so that Ferrari can decide whether to purchase them or not.
Ferrari will likely also include clauses giving them the right to buy back limited-edition models if owners want to sell them in order to control who owns these limited-edition vehicles.
These sales restrictions are to help prevent people from buying Ferraris simply to sell them on and make a profit, which is particularly feasible if the model is a limited edition car with low mileage. Ferrari will blacklist purchasers from buying any future new Ferraris if they discover they have broken the sales agreement.