The good oil: Ferrari offer enhanced buying experience

Ferrari dealers are following the lead of some other brands by enhancing the buying experience with an approved certification programme on all of its cars less than 10 years old. Photo / Supplied

All Ferraris are pre-owned. With the cost and mana that surround the prancing horse brand, there's just no such thing as a common "used" one. Well, that's what they like you to think, and now New Zealand and Aussie Ferrari dealers are following the lead of some other brands by enhancing the buying experience with an approved certification programme on all of its cars less than 10 years old. This comprises a series of controls and warranties, a including verification certificate of provenance and service history, and a full 12-month warranty.

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Ford has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Broadmeadows factory near Melbourne. When it opened in August 1959, Broadmeadows was the largest post-war factory in Victoria. The first XK Falcon rolled off its line in June 1960, launching the longest continuous model line in Australian motoring history. These days, it builds Falcon sedan, Ute and Territory.

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There'll have been a few orange juices and lemonades hoisted at Subaru New Zealand's offices now that the company has maintained a five-star safety rating across its range. The new Legacy and Outback join Impreza, Forester and Tribeca as five-star performers. All versions of the Legacy and Outback were recently awarded 34.8 out of a possible 37 points funder the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) testing regime. Subaru will be hoping that its diesels, just going on sale, maintain the record.

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Suzuki's also congratulating itself after going through the registration data and figuring out it has the lowest average level of emissions of the top dozen bands sold in New Zealand. It boasts average CO2 emissions of 172 grams per kilometre compared with 181 for its main two rivals.

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Grant Smith, the "face" of Porsche in New Zealand for the past 10 years, is being made redundant. From October 2 his responsibilities will be taken over by Richard Giltrap and other members of the Porsche team at European Motor Distributors. "While this is personally a sad and difficult time for me, I can reflect on 10 amazing years," Smith said. "From just 50 cars back in 1999, we managed to achieve seven record sales years and grow the business to 250 cars a year, achieving one of the highest market shares in the world."

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Could this be a key to preventing Super City gridlock? The interesting local blog AucklandTrains.co.nz suggests that Auckland's shortage of rolling stock for an expanding suburban rail system could be eased by pressing the Kingston Flyer into service. The train, affectionately known by tourists from around the world, has been sidelined until ownership issues have been sorted out. " ... as it slowly chugs into your local suburban station, you could pretend it's really one of those electric trains that increasingly you wonder if we will ever see on our tracks," steams AucklandTrains.

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Good Oil loves being right. From first sight the high quality oil in our veins ran hot for Kia's quirky Soul and now, from America, comes word that the practical cutie has made the Most Exciting Cars of 2010 list produced by the online edition of Time magazine. This follows being named a Top Safety Pick by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and - wait for it folks - making the Top 10 Back-to-School Cars by widely-consulted Kelley Blue Book.