| Author | Message | ||
| arthur chambers (Art355)
Intermediate Member Username: Art355 Post Number: 2224 Registered: 6-2001 |
Just a note; my friend Doug Daniels doesn't drive his car daily, and has had grief with his on the maintenance. Little stuff to be sure, but I bet he'd not had those, if he drove the car daily. Art | ||
| Andy Barre (Abarre)
New member Username: Abarre Post Number: 20 Registered: 7-2003 |
I drive my Ferrari about once a week. Only on sunny days too (never seen a drop in the year I've owned it). Part of the reason is that the Mondial top is so friggin hard to put up and down without breaking the top-latches. And it takes a good five-ten minutes to do properly. For me and the family, every "red car ride" is a treat we look forward to. I have a Benz that I love, but feel completely different about since it's the daily-driver. Sort of take it for granted and while driving it, I'm talking on the phone, thinking about my "to-do's", etc... I enjoy every mile in the Ferrari. There's also the safety factor. I'd rather be in that random fender-bender (or worse) in the Benz and statistically that's the more likely the more you drive. All that said, I have toyed with the idea of getting a GTB or Testarossa or 456 (if they every drop into my $$-range) to use as more of a "driver" where rain, door-dings, etc... don't matter as much. Who knows... | ||
| L. (Testaroja)
Junior Member Username: Testaroja Post Number: 86 Registered: 5-2003 |
I bought a 328 with 5,000 miles and drove it to 28,000 miles in 7 years then sold it to my brother and the car is got now 62,000 miles. My testarossa is my daily driver now and its got 31,450 miles. Both of this cars were far more reliable than the 928s, 944 and 944 turbo that I owned before, and all of this cars I bought in great condition and took good care of them. The nsx and the 3.2 911 carrera were as reliable as the ferraris. The only car I miss its the nsx, not the 328 gts because I still get the keys from my brother when I ask for the car. If you think that you cant drive a ferrari everyday then you dont know what you are talking about. By the way the 328 its still running very strong and looks like brand new. | ||
| Pedro Miguel Teixeira (Ayrton_senna)
New member Username: Ayrton_senna Post Number: 1 Registered: 7-2003 |
Ferraris are ment to be driven. it all dependes on your life style and the way you feel about them. I bought my first ferrari in 1997 and since then i�ve been using them everyday. it was a 1985 308 and covered 17.000 km in one year, then i changed for my actual car, a 348 tb from 1992. This one as covered in the past 5 years 55.000 km with out major problems ( not even engine rebuilt or clutch replacement ). Ferraris are the most reliable cars i�ve ever owned, but they are ment to be driven by people who love and care about them. There are some peole o buy them just to pose and don�t think first if they can suport a super sport car, not even the fuel and that�s when they start to leave them in the garage. It�s here that the problem beguins. Mecanical parts are not ment to be stop for weeks, sometimes months in the garage. So resuming, i use my ferrari whenever i want to, sometimes everyday and i feel sory for the people who think in a diferent way because they don�t imagine the fun they are missing!! | ||
| P. Thomas (Ferrari_fanatic)
Member Username: Ferrari_fanatic Post Number: 466 Registered: 4-2003 |
In the US Ferraris are still rare. I do not see ANY difference with the fact that 10-20 years ago any 911 was considered a high end exotic and was rarely used as a daily driver. Now P cars are a dime a dozen. Their technology has gotten better but they have become far too commonplace. The same holds true for Mercedes Benz. Decades ago they were consider high end luxury cars (and of course still are today). However, with the C class being more affordable, they too have become commonplace in the USA. This auora (rarity) keeps the F-Car appeal alive ! I don't have to have the most exotic, unpratical car. I just do not want to walk outside from a trip to the grocery store, put the key in the door lock just to find out I picked one of my 8 identical twin cars in the same parking lot. Hee hee. Too many P-Cars...No gooood. | ||
| J Haller (Jh355)
New member Username: Jh355 Post Number: 42 Registered: 6-2003 |
I appreciate the folks who drive the heck out of their cars, but find it uninteresting to put EMPTY �drive to work� miles on. I prefer a more entertaining experience. JH | ||
| Jeff (Jeff_m)
Junior Member Username: Jeff_m Post Number: 189 Registered: 9-2002 |
To me,service money aside, I would not even consider driving my 355 spider as a daily.It is too low to pull into many places, it needs to be warmed up before driving or it won't shift properly and parking it is definately an issue sometimes. Now, if I lived in Malibu or somewhere besides congested DC with crappy roads it might be a different story. | ||
| TOM BUCKLEY (Tom_b)
New member Username: Tom_b Post Number: 27 Registered: 6-2003 |
I think we may be losing sight of one important point. That is that the Ferraris most of us can afford are 15-25 years old. It doesn't matter if it's a Toyota or a Ferrari----- It's an old car and more things will go wrong than with a new car. Be that as it may. I'm driving mine 'til I drop or it does ! You only live once. | ||
| JRV (Jrvall)
Intermediate Member Username: Jrvall Post Number: 2076 Registered: 11-2002 |
>>I think it depends on finances mainly and enthusiam secondly. Personally if I was in a position of money not being an object I would drive a Ferrari daily.<< Spot On. A Ferrari will cost X per mile, with X being quite a bit above what a Toyota costs per mile. With that in mind, many choose to reserve that cost outlay for fun things, like taking their girl cruising the country side or the like, instead of expending that cost outlay going to the dry cleaners. Life is full of choices and options. | ||
| Bart Duesler (The_bart)
Junior Member Username: The_bart Post Number: 236 Registered: 1-2003 |
Although I cannot drive my car to work since I live only 3 miles form my office, I put between 750 & 1,000 miles per month on the beast. I did not spend my money to look at the beauty in the garage. It is very drivable. Another way of looking at it is this. Every other car I have ever had, the more mileage it has, the better gas mileage I got and they got quicker with age. In my mind there are three types of owners. 1 - The flippers - the people who buy to sell. 2 - The collectors - the people who buy to own. 3 - Me - the one who wishes to drive it into the ground after 250,000 miles. The more one drives it, the cheaper it gets per mile. Mine is at about $2.47 a mile right now. Yipes! Of course it is worth every cent. | ||
| sindo rodil (308qv_miami)
Junior Member Username: 308qv_miami Post Number: 67 Registered: 5-2003 |
I agrre with Bill V. the more I drive my '84 308 the better she's been running.I bought it May of 2002 and to date have put 11,000 miles.Other than the 30k servive at first,no major problems.Even in 90+ degrees, the a/c is fine,doesn't overheat and starts right up in the mornings.I drive it every weekend even if it's to the corner for milk. Some Fridays i'll take it to work, but not usually, my route has too many trucks & gravel all over the place. | ||
| KCCK (Kenneth)
Member Username: Kenneth Post Number: 486 Registered: 10-2002 |
Dav, If you get a Diablo, buy a fire extinguisher as well, just in case.  | ||
| arthur chambers (Art355)
Intermediate Member Username: Art355 Post Number: 2187 Registered: 6-2001 |
I drive at least 2xs per week. It's a great car to drive, no major problems, other than the service. It costs a little more than the daily driver, but so what? Art | ||
| Dav Lee (Leedcc)
New member Username: Leedcc Post Number: 25 Registered: 9-2002 |
Fully agreed with those who voiced, the more you drive it, the better it gets. I put in about 26000km over a 15 months period, driving to work everyday..about 70km, and driving an extra 100-200km over the weekend with my kids. I just couldnt get enough. Everytime I see the car, my adrenalin starts to flow. After 15 months, I did not even get tired looking at it. I used to drive 911 but i just didnt get the same feeling. Mine was a 91 348, I sold it this month only after listing it with the dealer for 3 weeks. It was worth every penny that I spend on the car. Guess what, I actually missed the car...the 348 that i had was a great car. I am looking to either a 355 conv, 456 or a Diablo. May be a Diablo just to see if Lambo matches up? Regards | ||
| Bill V (Doc)
Member Username: Doc Post Number: 405 Registered: 9-2001 |
A lot of people have a lot of fantasies about Ferraris--good and bad. My experience with my first Ferrari 308 QV, which was obtained one year ago, has been very good. Excluding the 4 months off-road due to the severe Winter we had this year,I've averaged 1,000 miles per month and I find that the more I drive it, the better it runs. Aside from a break down during the first month of ownership due to old ignition wires and a faulty pick-up sensor, it has not required any major parts or remedial service in the past year. I find it very reliable. | ||
| gary green (Minuke)
Junior Member Username: Minuke Post Number: 90 Registered: 7-2003 |
VZ, What is the P.O.S. | ||
| V.Z. (Ama328)
Junior Member Username: Ama328 Post Number: 203 Registered: 11-2002 |
as far as cars go, Ferraris get my interest level up like no other, so my non-$$ approach is to use the P.O.S. for grocery-gettin' and the 328 for any other time i wanna rev things up a bit. Many yrs ago, when i had my first Fcar(79 308GTB), i swapped drives with a friend who had an 83 Porsche 911. Nice car, but just didn't do a damn thing for me...so, why spend $$ on sumpin' i didn't car about when i can use those same bucks as a starting point in saving up a stash for a REAL car. Don't have to drive much, so can have really cheap garbage for the POS, which is nice... Since Ferrari started getting their act together in the 1980s, some of those cars appear to me to be a good combo of price, performance, pizzaz and reliability. | ||
| Darryl - TR&328 (Tr328)
New member Username: Tr328 Post Number: 17 Registered: 6-2003 |
I put over 100,000 miles on my first Ferrari, a 1979 308 Gts. I drove it everyday. I sold a slant nose 911 to buy the Ferrari. It was an everyday car, nothing major to repair, a sound car. Be aware, some Ferraris may show low mileage, but the odometer is very easy to disconnect thereby keeping the mileage low. | ||
| Michael Stanton (Pentastar)
New member Username: Pentastar Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2003 |
Tom, the self-fulfilling prophecy thoughts are profound. I would agree that the car needs to be driven to stay in good health. Thanks | ||
| David R. (Rodsky)
Junior Member Username: Rodsky Post Number: 165 Registered: 3-2003 |
Good for you Tom - 100% agree | ||
| TOM BUCKLEY (Tom_b)
New member Username: Tom_b Post Number: 26 Registered: 6-2003 |
I drive my Ferrari every day. At one time I was putting 20,000 miles a year on it and just broke 68,000 miles this week. I am not rich but am able to do most of the maintenance and repair myself, of which there is surprisingly little , considering it is 15 years old. I have to admit that driving it so often does take some of the excitement away----but not much. Even on the hottest days I tend to keep the windows rolled down just to hear the engine and be more "in tune" with my surroundings. I guess that kind of qualifies me as a tifosi. Or out-of-my-mind ! You decide. As for retaining value ---- forget it ! I know i'll never be able to sell it with that kind of mileage. I'm prepared to keep it forever. Even when I can afford a 550 It's sad,really, that so many people would rather buy a low mileage "garage queen" rather than a well maintained , sorted vehicle. I would not hesitate to drive the car cross country and back with no more preparation than an oil change. I truly feel that to be considered "well maintained" a car should be driven --- a lot. The belief that Ferraris are unreliable is a bit of a self-fullfiling prophecy. You believe it's unreliable so you don't drive it. When you do take it out dried out seals leak, belts break, electrical contacts that are corroded don't conduct well --- and there you have your proof that it's unreliable. So you pay big bucks to have it all fixed and then put the unreliable beast back in the garage to begin the whole cycle again. Thanks for reading this. Sorry it was so long. Tom | ||
| Tillman Strahan (Tillman)
Member Username: Tillman Post Number: 820 Registered: 11-2001 |
Well, I've got over 6000 miles in 6 months on a 328. While I post frequently to the tech group, the car is actually very reliable; I'm just trying to learn how to care for it myself. I do think that people who run up the mileage either have larger bank accounts or the willingness to maintain the car themselves. The high mileage is going to kill me come resale time in a few years; most likely, I'll just end up keeping the 328 and adding to the stable. I figure the 355 GTS ought to be pretty affordable in 2008 | ||
| Henryk (Henryk)
Member Username: Henryk Post Number: 968 Registered: 8-2001 |
I used to drive a Ferrari daily to work. After about 3 weeks I started to take the car for granted.......the excitement was lost, and the car just didn't feel like a "treat" anymore. Like with Larry, it was the same route, and I was thinking what I would have to do in the office for the day.......really didn't appreciate the Ferrari. Driving one, to me, should be a treat, not a boring drive. I now drive my Ferraris all weekend, just cruising around, with NO place to go, just getting lost.....now THAT is what a Ferrari is made for. I take it to the office, when I work half days........only 3 hours, and nice drive back home.......round trip of about 70 miles. Just finished putting in a new clutch on my Boxer yesterday evening.......took it for a 80 mile drive today, in the country......had it laid up for a month. I really DO agree with Robert, though. Outside of the fear of loosing money with miles, I can't think of another reason why there are SO many owners that only put 500 miles a year on their cars. I feel sorry for them. | ||
| larrybard (Larrybard)
New member Username: Larrybard Post Number: 14 Registered: 6-2003 |
Lots of other factors besides money and dependability come into play in many cases -- e.g., which (Ferrari or Porsche) would you really wind up driving daily if you lived only 5 miles from your office (and there weren't any worthwhile longer alternative routes that made sense)? And/or your colleagues at work would likely misunderstand your Ferrari ownership (e.g., think you were incredibly $$ wealthy and less worthy of more compensation, etc.)? Anyway, those are the main reasons I drive my Porsche to work, not my Ferrari. | ||
| Henryk (Henryk)
Member Username: Henryk Post Number: 967 Registered: 8-2001 |
I agree with Robert. That is why I put only 10,000 miles a year on my Ferraris.......of course, this includes 5 months of lay-up for the Winter. | ||
| Robert McNair (Rrm)
Member Username: Rrm Post Number: 550 Registered: 5-2002 |
I think it depends on finances mainly and enthusiam secondly. Personally if I was in a position of money not being an object I would drive a Ferrari daily. If money was something I had to consider I would choose a P-car as a daily driver and hopefully would be able to eventually move to a Ferrari. | ||
| 911 Fan (911fan)
New member Username: 911fan Post Number: 14 Registered: 5-2003 |
Judging by the pathetically low mileage on most Ferraris (miles per year), it's evident that most Ferrari owners feel this way. Sad, really. | ||
| gary green (Minuke)
Junior Member Username: Minuke Post Number: 85 Registered: 7-2003 |
I was visiting a friend who sell's pre-owned Porsche's. One of his clients was looking at a 996 Turbo. I asked him if he had ever entertained the thought of a F-car. He said " those are not cars you can drive everyday" Do you think most owners of sport or luxury cars feel that way. |