| Author |
Message |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 122
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 4:57 pm: | |
I've just got 21K miles now. The service at 20.5K was just all finished last week.
Maybe some of these things will be improved on the 575. Not sure. I know the service guys told me they are checking motor mounts at 15K miles on all 550's now.
I did get a new "siren" (alarm) installed for free on a service bulletin. Woopeee!!!! Oh, and new aluminum wheels last year. They had a recall on the Magnesium ones due to a cracking problem. |
Dan (Bobafett)
Junior Member
Username: Bobafett
Post Number: 134
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 4:19 pm: | |
Mark,
Interesting. So if you don't mind my asking, what mileage is the car at now? I wonder if the same problem will exist on the 575...
--Dan |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 121
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 3:25 pm: | |
Doody:
I'm the third owner. I bought the car 14 months ago and the service records from previous owners show regular mantenance as being normal. I would say that I drive the car pretty hard but certainly not abusively. The service guys at FoLG told me about another 550 with about 40K miles where the guy is really hard on his car and he paid about $18K for his 30K service.
1) Ferrari service and parts are expensive.
2) 550's have some deficiencies on items that enough miles are just ferreting out. (i.e. Motor mounts should not be failing). |
Mr. Doody (Doody)
Member
Username: Doody
Post Number: 641
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 3:12 pm: | |
Mark:
Can you please educate us further about the history of this car? How it possibly came to have these problems? Has it always gotten its annual service? Are you the first owner or did the former own beat the bejeezus out of it? Did you beat the bejeezus out of it :-) ?.
Your experience appears to be an outlier experience. I'm sure we'd all be interested to know some more history.
Thanks,
Doody. |
wm hart (Whart)
Member
Username: Whart
Post Number: 636
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 11:51 am: | |
Yep, there is a black "aura" (for lack of a better word, i'm sure there is a more correct technical term) that forms a masked edge around the window, that is part of the window itself, not the surround. This thing looks chipped, like paint peeling away on the edges. I was told, when i bought the 97, that this happened alot with the rear window on the car, and that it occurred even with replacement windows. Don't know if it was caused by temperature variations, defroster filaments, or what.Not a "recall" item as far as i know, and not that big a deal unless you are anal about aesthetics. |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 118
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 11:00 am: | |
Dan:
I've put almost $20K into my car in the last 14 months.
At 14K miles:
Replace Clutch
Replace Hoses under manifold
Full 15K service
At 20.5K miles:
Replace motor mounts
Replace brake pads and rotors
Replace valve cover gaskets
Replace timing belts, idler bearings, etc.
Rebuild water pump.
Re-install air horn. |
Mr. Doody (Doody)
Member
Username: Doody
Post Number: 640
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 6:54 am: | |
wm - can you explain further the "rear window delaminating" issue?
thanks,
doody. |
wm hart (Whart)
Member
Username: Whart
Post Number: 634
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:06 pm: | |
Have owned 2 550's thus far; a 97 Maranello and an 01 barchetta. The roadster seems to drive better; it shifts more smoothly (odd, since the gear box is newer, and you would think it would be stiffer), the engine seems to have more low down torque at modest revs, from a standing start and, for some reason, the interior fit and finish is a little, not alot better. Granted i bought the 97 used, with about 6k miles on it, in 2000, but it had hose leaks, a major ecu problem (a minor problem with the ecu in the driver's seat), and a host of little nits, like the back window delaminating, there were wheel upgrades on all the older Maranellos, and a few other factory "bring it back and we'll fix it for free"things. The 97 was not the most reliable ferrari i've had, but it clearly wasn't fully fettled before i bought it. (Among the other F-cars i have had, including a 328, 348, 355, and 512 BBi, i have had nary a real problem, so i'm not bitching:- had more grievances with a Volvo and an MB than with any of Italy's finest). I must assume that there have been running changes to the car over time, and would also assume that a later Maranello would be better than an earlier one, but, like i say, that's an assumption based on my particular experience since arguably, the barchetta is no different mechanically than the Maranello i had, at least on paper. |
Frank Richard Noodleman (R_noodle)
New member
Username: R_noodle
Post Number: 8
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 6:09 pm: | |
I have a 199 Euro 1999 550 with ~13,500 miles and have had it for 6 months. No problems. It is all day comfortable, fast as a bat out of hell and everything works reliably. The Tubi makes it sound great! I service it a local independent that does exotics and the bills are not much worse than my 92 Mercedes 500E. There was a recall on the cooling hoses that I did. Some have had recalls on the wheels and you can check this with the VIN number.
The car is fragile in terms of the body. It's easy to nail the front spoiler and the underbody pan is vulnerable to high spots in the road - you need to just be aware and careful. Body work is expensive because of the aluminum. I would recommend the 3M Stonguard product to protect the front clip. |
Dan (Bobafett)
Junior Member
Username: Bobafett
Post Number: 132
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 5:17 pm: | |
Very reassuring. It seems to be one of the better built cars all around. I have no track intentions, just every-other-day driving, and it seems perfectly suited as such. Very competent and understated, which is what I love so much about it.
The waiting is the hard part...
--Dan |
Dave (Maranelloman)
Member
Username: Maranelloman
Post Number: 601
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 4:55 pm: | |
GREAT car. VERY reliable. Only persistent problem seems to be the carpet covering the rear luggage shelf behind the seats (I didn't order the 250GT leather treatment there) seems to periodically come up from its backing at very high speeds (with the windows open) on the track. All in all, a very minor annoyance, at most.
But routine maintenance, while relatively infrequent, is very expensive...but proportional relative to the cost of the car & its high mechanical complexity. Also agree with John's post. I bought mine new in July 2000, and now have ~~13,500 miles. GREAT highway car/track car/cruising car. |
John K (Foc355b)
New member
Username: Foc355b
Post Number: 14
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 4:32 pm: | |
Dan-
I have had my 550 Maranello for two years, and loved every mile of the 6400 that I have put on it. The car has not failed once, and the only maintence that has been done to it is the 5000 mile service, which was a little north of a grand. The only complaint I have about it is that the exhaust note is to civilized. Due to this, I had a Tubi installed, and it screams like hell. My golf clubs fit in the car, and I take it to the course every Saturday and Sunday morning. It's just a blast to put the power down and pass almost any car at will. It also has very capable handling for a rather heavy machine. High speed stability is world class. The 550 is not as vicious or brutal as my F40, but it's very fast in it's own right. |
Dan (Bobafett)
Junior Member
Username: Bobafett
Post Number: 131
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 7:23 am: | |
Jeffrey,
I can certainly appreciate that maintenance costs are going to be significant - and full expect it. I was wondering is the cars are particularly faulty (like the 456, which earlier on had myriad problems).
--Dan |
Jeffrey Robbins (Teachdna)
Junior Member
Username: Teachdna
Post Number: 80
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 5:29 am: | |
As with any exotic, reliable is a relative term. In my (limited) experience-I've only owned one-you can expect to average 1-2k/yr. But the car has always started, never broken down and left me stranded and I do think of it as "dependable."
If I were considering one, reliability would not be a concern to me. But you can expect significant maintenance costs every year, just to keep the car up to snuff. |
Dan (Bobafett)
Junior Member
Username: Bobafett
Post Number: 130
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 2:55 am: | |
To the 550 owners in particular:
I am assuming that the changes from 550 -> 575 are moot enough to consider both similar in terms of reliability. As such, I was wondering what sort of costs you folks have had to bear and how reliable your cars have been based on use. Not much info seems to be out there regarding the Maranellos in general, so any help would be most appreciated.
--Dan |