Sad Day?

Sounded like a little bitter experience. I love the 355 spyder design but could not afford the maintenance.

 

I would be in the same place if I'd had those kinds of bills.

One thing to keep in mind is that Ferraris when new are generally built for money-no-object playboys. That makes them both great and disappointing. A 355 Spider is one of the more expensive modern-ish ones to maintain, but you pay for the privilege of owning a relatively low volume production car. (You could have bought a Cayman for what you spent fixing/maintaining the 355... and in most ways the Porsche is a better car.)

I don't miss the major service bills, but I do miss the Ferrari experience and hope to be back in one in the near future.

 

Funny you should say that Drew. The TR is supposed to be so expensive to operate and in the same period and same miles we would have spent about $15,000, maybe $20,000 if I was paying for it to be done. Actually in our case it has been a few years longer and a few thousand more miles. And I am not currently in need of 13g's more.

 

Hope this is true, you and Bob have been good posters over the years but mostly MIA these days.

I chose the dark side, but stay here because of the people.

 

Buy a Porsche...an older 911. I have two Porsches and a Ferrari. I just spent $27,000 on my BBi - I will not need to spend that on my 930 and 356 combined for ahh say 5 years. btw, they are all manual...the 930 is faster than the BBi too.

 

Do us all a favor. Post this in the 348/355 section if you haven't yet. Apparently expenses like you've experienced aren't supposed to happen, or are overblown. The 355, once sorted is a reliable car they say...

I'm sure you'll be in another FCar in the near future its very very hard to get the same driving experience in other cars. I'm sorry that you've had the experience that you've had.

 

That's disappointing. I had a 1988 930 Turbo for a while and that thought that it was an absolute turd unless it was on boost. I couldn't even cross in front of oncoming traffic without feeling like I was taking my life into my hands every time.

 

You need to get into a newer model, like a 997 TT (600 Hp if you want it). The power is intoxicating. If you want the Ferrari experience with the lower Porsche maintenance, check out a 997 GT3. The TT's can be tuned to create life threatening horsepower. Want to save money, get into the 996 TT's and GT3's. Forget those old 930's unless you like the vintage experience. I actually do, but the modern versions are truly amazing. Those Germans are really pretty clever.

Now, the Ferrari experience is just too much for me to give up, although with those bills, I might have thought about throwing in the towel. Too bad you're not in Stooge Country because I am sure we could have preserved your ownership experience.

Good luck with whatever comes next.

 

Basic math time 60.000$ total/11 years of ownership = ~5400$ per year... If you live in a place with the winter season, you'll drive it about six months, which means the car cost you ~1000$ per month. I completely understand that you're fed up!

 

I just wonder what will happen (and when) the modern $300K cars start to be picked up by those of our kind who can only realistically reach for a $100K version?

 

I am not sure what you're talking about. I'm quite happy with what I have, especially all of my Ferraris. I was referring to Bikerider's experience that his 930 Turbo was faster than his BBi. I have no interest in any of those newer 911's. They're german made Toyota's compared to what I have. I don't care how fast they are.

 

355....the crazy hot chick of Ferrari's

 

I bought a nice new boat once... and shortly thereafter relocated to an area where I couldn't use it as much. Then I sold it, during the economy slump, nearly gave it away actually. Turns out that it cost us about $1000 per hour overall.

 

Umm..no. The new Porsche product is quite spectacular. Infact I just drove a 2013, and was blown away. I could not believe how simply amazing in all aspects this car was. Makes Ferrari seems like a waste of money to be honest. And I love Ferrari.

You really should drive one. I think your eyes will be opened. Old school has it's charm for sure, but the new stuff is simply mind blowing. Cars have come along way in just 5 years. I can't believe it, and I work on cars for a living!!

 

Lol!!

 

Drew, are your $ numbers in CDN dollars?

Just curious, because you say KMs/miles...

 

I disagree about your statement, they're German made Toyota's compared to what I have. I have a 997.2 Porsche Twin Turbo 6 speed manual. I also had a 99 355 GTS 6speed manual with ceramic headers, Tubi exhaust Gruppe M Carbon Fiber Air Intake, performance edu, and many more options. There is no comparison. My Porsche does everything 10 times better, and is more fun to drive. Although I did lower the car with PSS 10 coil over suspension, and exhaust. This is just my opinion. I sold my Ferrari because I felt my 2012 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Coupe had more torque, and was almost as fun to drive. The Ferrari 355 always had something breaking down. I put the car into immaculate shape and thought it was a good time to sell. I am sure the new owner will enjoy the car more than I did.

 

I have. PCNA invites me to the track every year (2x a year) and I drive the whole model line back to back. They're quite competent. On top of that, I had a newish c4 a few years back. Very competent. But more of an appliance to me than anything else.

Back to the subject, my only comment initially was that someone said their 930 turbo was faster than their 512bbi who I said was disappointing because I find the 930 to be totally snail like off boost.

 

You mean to say that a top of the line 911 turbo that's a couple of years old is a better car than a 15 year old Ferrari? Wow. Absolutely shocking.

I would never compare a car built a couple of years ago to one built 15 years ago. And on top of that, not a flagship model to one that was mid level, as the 355s were.

How about comparing apples to apples.

And they are German made Toyotas compared to what I have. They're completely mass produced, over assisted, robotized appliances. Nowhere in there do I say they're not fast or competent. Just mostly soul-less. I need a good amount of speed and power in my sports cars but even more character and feel. I don't like when it feels like the car is driving me.

The only newer Porsches that I am considering are the GT3s and a Carrera GT.

 

I agree. Off boost they are a snail. On boost..look out. They don't call them the "widow maker" for nothing!!

But I disagree with the appliance comparison. Ferrari indeed had a "feel" to them in the past, but it's fading fast. I think the 355 was the last Ferrari with a soul. 360 has the steering feel of a Buick IMHO. 430 much better, 458 good but nothing really special.

Porsche has always done it right. May have a bit less "feel" lately but it's much better then you describe.

 

Ok..993 turbo vs 355.. What say you?

 

I agree on all counts with the exception that I don't think that Porsche is on point any more than Ferrari is these days. Maybe I have not driven the right models?? The only ones I haven't driven lately are the GT3s.

 

I would do 964 turbo vs 355. 355 is better. That 993 turbo is more for the 550 maranello. It's better than the 355 but not the 550. The 550 torque and overall feel are just magnificent.

But aren't the Turbos more competition for the 12's anyway? The Challenge cars and the Carrera cup cars were the "entry level" sports cars.