[danbruc]

Ignore that car, but what is this?

This is a brand that permanently banned Paris Hilton for painting her Ferrari pink, Kim Kardashian for modifying her 458, and Justin Bieber for wrapping his in neon blue.

Where does that fall on the line between your product, your rules and I bought the thing, I own it, I paint it blue? My gut reaction was that this should totally not be legal, neither telling people how to paint their car, nor telling them what [not] to do with it, or to which places they can take it, seriously? And also banning people from buying one to enforce this.

[TheChaplain]

You are free to do whatever, but companies are also free to choose who they conduct business with.

In the case of Ferrari, their products are essentially also rolling advertisements, so modifying them goes against what they are trying to sell.

[danbruc]

That line is not that clear. Putting up a sign in your shop selling only to white people or not selling to Jews will get you in trouble in quite a few jurisdictions. On the other end of the spectrum you have things like a bouncer rejecting people at the door because they do not fit in. Also the difference between not allowing to paint your Ferrari blue and not allowing or making it hard to have your John Deere tractor serviced by yourself or a third party is not that obvious.

[TheChaplain]

I am 100% certain, that if you go to a Ferrari dealer and buy one of their cars, they will clearly inform you of their rules.

Of course you can have a friend to buy it for you, but again, it's Ferraris choice who they want to conduct business with as long as they follow the laws to the letter. Their car is their brand and they want to protect it.

[xethos]

Ferrari's done this for... I don't know how long. Hilton bought one, she owned it, and she painted it pink. That's all legal. Then Ferrari fired her as a customer - also legal.

You missed out on the more egregious (IMO) points about having to buy certain "entry" Ferraris to be allowed to buy the rarer ones too.

[danbruc]

What if they reject a customer not because of their wrong Ferrari color but their wrong skin color? I am not saying that they are the same thing, but there are probably acceptable and unacceptable reasons for rejecting a customer. And to me painting a Ferrari pink seems to be pretty far on the unacceptable side.

[xethos]

Legally, "Pink Ferrari owners" are not a protected class, and Ferrari's legally in the clear here.

Morally... I dunno. Telling a customer they're not worth the headache is something I'm generally on the side of, so long as the goods being sold are entirely optional. Once again, Ferrari's in the clear. A Lamborghini may not be exactly the same, but they're wildly different goods they are not.

And as lazy a counter it is: If you disagree, you're more than welcome to start your own luxury car brand. That's even how Lamborghini got their start - to knock Ferrari down a peg