Postimees · Luxurious Estonia (Luksuslik Eesti) · 2026
When buying a luxury car, money is the easiest part
English translation of the original Estonian article. Original headline: Luksusauto ostmisel on rahal kõige lihtsam osa
See the original design in the magazineA Ferrari Purosangue is currently on sale in Tallinn for 589,000 euros, plus a registration fee of 13,665 euros. Depending on the luxury car, the waiting time can be anything from four months to two years. And whether a client gets to buy one of the most exclusive models is not decided by the car dealer at all, but by the factory, based on the buyer's suitability. If the amount of money is not the question, what else does it take to get such a car at all?
From a distance, buying a luxury car seems like the simplest transaction in the world. The money is there, the details are chosen, the signature is on the paper and the car is yours. The answers from Estonian showrooms, however, paint a somewhat different picture. Money is rather secondary; what takes time is choosing the details and the factory waiting list, and things only get truly interesting when, for special models, the buyer has proven their dedication on top of their ability to pay.
Buying a luxury car in Estonia was discussed by Auto 100 Premium OÜ, which represents Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley; Ferrari's representative Scuderia Tallinn OÜ; Inchcape Motors Estonia OÜ, which imports Land Rover; and Veho Eesti AS, which sells Mercedes-Maybach.
The purchase decision is made even without a test drive
According to Torsten Kihlman, partner and sales director at Scuderia Tallinn, people don't come to the showroom to start choosing a Ferrari; the inner desire is already there. "The final decision does usually take time. Clients often visit the showroom or our events several times before making the decision, because it is an expensive and purely emotional purchase," Kihlman explains. With some clients, he says, the final decision has taken more than a year.
Kihlman adds that most buyers have dreamt of the car for a long time and discussed it with their friends before they reach the showroom. For them, the purchase often marks a personal level of achievement, not simply a new means of transport. According to Kihlman, a test drive is not a means of persuasion at all. It is rarely requested, and only once everything else has been agreed.
At Auto 100 Premium OÜ the picture is more varied, as no typical buyer profile has emerged. "Some clients know exactly which model and configuration they want when they come in; others want to try different models, engines and equipment options before deciding," explains board member Maario Orgla.
At the Land Rover showroom, by contrast, the journey begins behind the wheel, according to the company's representative. The client wants to try the car first, and only then, together with a sales consultant, puts together a car that matches their wishes exactly. With Ferrari the test drive comes last; with Land Rover, first.
Putting the car together, or configuring it, can take half an hour or several days. Sometimes a client arrives with their choices already made, only to find that something has to be redone to get the best solution. At other times it turns out that some important choice was left unmade simply because the client didn't know what a particular piece of equipment would add in everyday use. That is exactly where the sales consultant's experience helps.
One car is ready in four months, another in two years
Waiting times differ surprisingly between brands. According to Inchcape Motors Estonia OÜ, the waiting time for a personally ordered Land Rover is four to six months. For Porsche it depends on the availability of the factory quota and is around five months. According to Kristjan Lember, head of passenger cars at Veho Eesti AS, the delivery time for a Mercedes-Maybach is six to nine months. For Bentley and Lamborghini much depends on the configuration, leaving the wait between eight and twenty-four months. Several showrooms also stress that there are always cars in stock that the client can have immediately, or that one can be sourced from neighbouring countries.
Why the difference is so great is explained using Bentley as an example. At the factory in Crewe, Great Britain, much of the leather, stitching, wood and finishing work is done by hand, and the final assembly of the car also involves a lot of handwork. "Leatherwork takes a great deal of time, and processing the veneer is also time-consuming," Orgla points out. Achieving the right shape and finish for the wood can take years for some treatments.
According to the factory, it takes around 110 working hours to make a Bentley Continental GT, and as many as 130 for the Flying Spur and Bentayga. The most special cars are made through the Bentley Mulliner programme, where the client can choose personal paint shades, leathers, stitching and custom embroidery. The showroom says very personally configured cars are ordered in Estonia too, and choices have long gone beyond body and interior colour. Different leather tones, contrast stitching and Mulliner details are combined.
The delivery time of a Mercedes-Maybach also depends on the specific car's configuration and the chosen extras. "Since most cars are ordered with very rich equipment and often with individual solutions, the usual wait from order to delivery is about six to nine months," Lember confirms.
A car put together so precisely is usually one the owner wants to drive themselves. Although around the world the Mercedes-Maybach is a car whose owner often sits in the back seat, in Estonia this is not the case. According to Lember, the culture of using a chauffeur is not very widespread here, and so he sees most owners at the wheel themselves. In this way, months of choices end up most directly in the driver's own hands.
Money can't buy everything
The world of luxury cars behaves a little differently from almost everything else money can buy. On the ordinary market the logic is generally simple: the more you are willing to pay, the faster and more surely you are likely to get the thing. At the top, this logic is turned on its head.
With Lamborghini, a client can order a car according to production volumes and the quota available for a particular market. For very limited special models, however, ordering does not work like that. "Since these cars are produced in small numbers, the factory decides which clients are offered the chance to buy them," Orgla explains. On the Estonian side, Lamborghini Tallinn presents the client's interest to the factory, but the final decision on allocating quotas and choosing the buyer is made by Lamborghini itself.
With Ferrari the conditions are even more specific. Kihlman confirms that anyone can buy the regular models, new or used, but limited series are a world of their own. "To be able to buy a limited-series Ferrari, you already have to own a collection of Ferrari cars, from five to six, and take part in many Ferrari factory events," Kihlman says.
In other words, such a car is not bought with money alone, but with activity and personal history. The buyer must have proven their loyalty to the brand and that the car will not be resold straight away. It is a kind of club that you join over years, not with a single bank transfer. For an Estonian buyer this also means the decision is not made in Tallinn alone. The local showroom is an intermediary that takes the client's wish to the Ferrari factory, and does not make the final decision itself.
Good service continues after the purchase
After-sales service also plays its part when buying a car. Each brand has its own offers both before and after the purchase. A new Porsche owner, for example, can take part in the showroom's track days with their car, getting to know it better in a safe environment. Driving experiences, golf tournaments, the Star Drive for classic Porsche owners and large Porsche Festivals are also organised. Driving and lifestyle trips to different places in the Porsche world are offered as well. "Owning a Porsche opens the door to our community and to experiences that reach far beyond the car itself," says Orgla.
At the Land Rover showroom, the yardstick is the client's time. The car is taken to service and brought back as a separate service, a free replacement car is available during the warranty period, and a small gift awaits in the car after servicing. Those who prefer to wait on site can sit in a comfortable lounge with coffee and soft drinks. "Going to a service shouldn't be an extra effort for the client. We value the most precious asset, which is time," explains the representative of Inchcape Motors Estonia OÜ.
Scuderia Tallinn offers a particularly convenient service: a phone number clients can call at any hour in case of a serious problem. "We are always available to our clients, around the clock," Kihlman confirms.
The myth and reality of running costs
When it comes to after-sales service, prejudices may clash most with reality. Take Ferrari, whose servicing is free for the first seven years. According to Kihlman, this is what surprises new owners most. He adds that another unexpected fact may be that well over a hundred new Ferraris have been bought from the Tallinn showroom over the past six years.
According to the company, annual comprehensive insurance for a new Ferrari is between 5,000 and 10,000 euros, and a set of tyres costs around 1,500 euros. After the warranty ends, servicing models from 2010 onwards is, in Kihlman's estimation, not significantly more expensive than for premium German cars. The exception is older Ferraris, as on several models the engine has to be removed during servicing, which is time-consuming and therefore more costly. Land Rover also gives owners peace of mind, with the importer providing a five-year warranty.
Heading to the showroom
If Ferrari admirers have a strong wish to see the new Ferrari Purosangue with their own eyes, it is worth heading to the Scuderia Tallinn showroom. "The car has modern suspension, technology and gearbox, but under the bonnet an old-school 6.5-litre naturally aspirated engine," Kihlman points out, stressing that no other car manufacturer currently offers such a thing.
On the Land Rover side, one notable change is expected soon: according to the importer, the fully electric Range Rover is promised to go on sale by the end of this year.
With the new model year, Porsche is expanding the personalisation and optional equipment choices for the Cayenne Electric. According to the importer, these include electrically powered doors that open and close automatically, wireless charging, new massage functions and a wider range of body colours – 105 shades in total.
The world of luxury cars never stops surprising
It can be said that with the most exclusive limited-series luxury cars, having money only opens the possibility of a purchase but does not decide it. For the most special models, the factory decides, and the decision rests on a relationship built over years, not on a bank transfer.
Nor does a wait of four months or two years depend on how quickly the buyer can pay, but on how long it takes the factory to assemble a masterpiece. Running costs, on the other hand, surprise in the opposite direction for some brands and may turn out lower than expected.
So the next time a low car with a loud engine rumbles at the traffic lights, it is worth knowing that its owner did not simply buy a car. Perhaps they dreamt of it for quite a long time, talked through the details with friends, visited the showroom again and again and proved to the factory that they deserved it before they could even begin waiting for the car to be built. Paradoxically, money was the easiest part of the whole story. What was bought was a pure experience.