Owning A Ferrari

This is the second of two posts. The first is "Buying A Ferrari" - I suggest reading it before this.
First of all, I must state I never have or likely ever will own a Ferrari. What follows are comments based on observation and deduction. I do own however, a nice low mileage 1972 Datsun 510 two door that, while not extremely valuable, is very precious to me. In a lot of ways, I think a new Ferrari should be treated as I do that car. It is never left unattended in a shopping mall parking lot or taken through an automatic car wash. If there's a chance of rain, the car stays in the garage, under its dust cover. Most outings are for simple driving pleasure, to a car show or other motoring event. I would never dream of using the car to collect groceries or materials for a home project. You must have another "real" car for those day to day purposes.
Servicing and maintaining your Ferrari
Walmart and Canadian Tire aren't going to be any help. Neither is your Mercedes or Ford dealer. During the warranty period you might have to resort to having the car shipped to the closest dealership. An alternative would be to contact me, I'd be happy to drive it from your home to the dealership and back, free of charge! You just pay the gas and the tickets. The cost of the standard service (oil and filter plus regular scheduled maintenance) will be about $2,000.00 per visit. Once the car is past the warranty period, if you're lucky, you'll be able to find a classically trained and Ferrari certified private mechanic, near you. He or she will tell you when and what your car needs for service. Trust them and just pay the bill. I'd suggest you put aside about $5,000 - $10,000 a year for service, maintenance, tires, etc. By the way, I've read that most Ferrari owners figure that a full wash and detail of the car should run about $600.00 (If I hurry I can do my little Smartie at the old Sutherland Avenue hand wash for two toonies!)
It is imperative every bit of service and maintenance ever done on the car is thoroughly documented. In addition, safeguard all the original sales documentation for the car. A detailed history of the car will add thousands to the resale price.
Buy Ferrari's cover for your car
It won't be cheap, but over the years you own your Ferrari, it will pay for itself tenfold! About the only time the cover should be off the car is when you're in it. In the garage, the cover will keep the dust off it. If you have to park the car on the street, a cover will keep the sun, tree sap and other droppings off the glass and paintwork, plus it lessens the chance some moron will decide they need to vandalize it.
Insuring your Ferrari
Let's assume you're married, over 25 years old, have a clean driving record. Your new Ferrari 458 Italia is going to cost $3,000.00 to $5,000.00 a year for insurance. I've seen mention of policies with the deductible ranging from $1,000 to $16,000. Shop around.
Driving Your Ferrari
Let's be realistic, there's no way you'll ever be able to explore the full potential of your car on the street. I recently watched a short video on youtube where they were testing an Italia Speciale, which is the top of the line Italia. The performance is shall we say scintillating... check it out for yourself at http://youtu.be/TmCkdbdCOog  While it's likely you've had other high performance cars before the Ferrari, the jump up to this car is probably a big one. I'd suggest you partake in a Ferrari sponsored "track day" early on in your ownership. It will be a lot of fun and will also give you the skill needed to keep your car shiny side up and out of the weeds.
Be prepared to be treated like a celebrity when you're in your Ferrari. Nearly every time you stop, it will draw a crowd. The questions most often asked are, "How fast is it? What's it cost?" and "Is it good for picking up girls?" Your answers should be... "Plenty," "A Lot!" and "Yup." Remember also to be humble, nobody likes an arrogant celebrity.
Lastly, from what I've read on several Ferrari chat sites, it's reasonable to put about 4,000 kilometres a year on your Ferrari, any more and its resale value will suffer. What they're saying is driving a Ferrari is like drinking fine wine, every glass is to be savoured, never guzzled.