If you’ve ever tried to buy a Rolex, you’ll know that you can buy any Rolex except the one you actually want. No matter how nicely you ask, your spot on the waiting list is unlikely to ever come up if you haven’t bought a Rolex previously through the authorised dealer.
It’s a similar story over at Ferrari. If you want a limited-edition Ferrari, or even a 12-cylinder Ferrari, you’re unlikely to get your hands on one until you’ve owned some of the less sought-after models from Italy’s famous prancing horse brand.
But, there’s a hack a lot of buyers are now using to have their Maranello sponge cake and eat it too.
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The Ferrari Approved program effectively restores a Ferrari to its original factory condition after a 201-point inspection at a Ferrari dealer, before it’s then sold as a Ferrari Approved vehicle through the brand’s dealer network.
Speaking to CarExpert at a recent event in Maranello, Ferrari’s head of pre-owned vehicles, Andreas Scioletti, said that some of the brand’s best supercar customers commenced their journey through Ferrari Approved.
“We are considering pre-owned at the same level [as buying a new Ferrari],” he said.
“It’s a complex algorithm. It takes into consideration several aspects. If you own, if you buy pre-owned, of course you have relevance in the algorithm. We consider the overall picture, because you can even buy new and then sell immediately, so yes there are several different behaviours we consider.”
“Some of our best customers started a journey with pre-owned. Sure, if you consider the fact that most of our cars have already been sold, the only way you have to buy the car is if you want to buy a car that is already out of production or that is a limited series that you cannot buy.
“The only way you can have access is pre-owned. So we take into consideration, but in different way, according to the history of the customer,” said Mr Scioletti.
Effectively, instead of needing to own a Roma or two, then a 296 GTB and then an SF90 to buy a 12 Cilindri, you could in theory buy a Ferrari Approved SF90, then a Ferrari Approved 812 Competizione to open the door to a more exclusive brand-new Ferrari down the track.
Yes, it’s certainly a first-world problem, but it’s also a great alternative to cycling through cars you may not necessarily want to get the one that you truly desire.
MORE: Everything Ferrari