Would you use a FA that drove a Ferrari?

I wouldn't, but it probably attracts business from the easily impressed.

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I wouldn't,

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Why? Would you not trust his decision making, or does the flashy things turn you off. Would a high end luxury sedan be suitable or does a FA need to drive sub $100,000 to earn your respect?

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I just can't take someone serious that drives a Ferrari. It seems childish.

I have no issue with an expensive car

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It sounds like you have an issue with it.

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I just can't take someone serious that drives a Ferrari.

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If you knew how hard it was to get a Ferrari, you would take him serious. He could be driving some older one, that are more easy to buy, but newer ones require some strict rules to follow.

I would not judge.

Sounds like a Curb your Enthusiasm episode

I know he would be on my side when I want a new sports car or boat!

Ferraris can be had for a couple hundred grand. Is that really all that big of a deal?

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This has my curiosity…

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Manufacturers have found out that you can just double or triple the price and sell to half the people and make more money.

Not all that long ago, the mid-tier Ferrari was in the low 200s msrp. Now it's like 550k before options.

Base 911s are approaching 150k after being under 100k just a few years ago.

And if you want anything beyond the entry level base spec sports car, you have to build a relationship ($$$$$) with the brand first before they will grant your the privilege of spending half a mil on one of their higher level cars.



Obviously none of this applies to the used market, but if you see someone in a new upper level ferrari or GT Porsche, they are probably several hundreds of thousands into the brand BEFORE buying the car you saw them in.

I probably wouldn't. I'd first ask this question of him...

Are you a fiduciary financial advisor? If not, I'd walk. If yes, then I ask him how he's swinging a Ferrari and how much it costs? I'm not kidding either.

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If you knew how hard it was to get a Ferrari, you would take him serious. He could be driving some older one, that are more easy to buy, but newer ones require some strict rules to follow.

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What JohnnyKilroy said was more accurate. Anyone can walk into a Ferrari dealership and buy something like a 296 GTS/GTB, if they have them in stock (Ferrari only produces/sells a total of about 12,000 cars per year). It’s the low production numbers that makes many of their models hard to acquire. So it’s typically having a relationship with the dealer that makes a difference, not having a special relationship with Ferrari itself. Aside from the limiteds, special editions and one-offs, no special relationship is necessary. You can, however, get yourself “black listed” if Ferrari determines that you’ve done something objectionable that (they feel) harms the brand. That can and has happened to both customers and dealers.

But anyway, would the simple fact that a financial advisor owned a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls or any other type of luxury car give me pause before doing business with him? No, not in and of itself. I’d run a deep background check on anyone, if it involved them handling a large portion of my money or assets.