1996 F355 Spider

I have been advertising this one locally and decided I might as well post it here as well. The car is in Canada (Ontario), but was originally a US car.

$49,500 Canadian (that is $46,100 US today).

I'll give more details here than in the ad since those into Ferraris will understand it better.

First, the good stuff.
Newish Ferrari yellow paint (no chips or scratches).
Brand new recovered dash (in black leather -- looks fantastic).
Reupholstered seats.
No sticky parts (its all been refinished).
New tires and brakes.
The engine-out major was done last year (early 2013).
Has 3 FOBs with the PIN (as you know, this is very important and getting rare with used cars).

The not-so-good stuff.
Here is the main issue, and the reason for the low price. At one time in the past, when it was still in the States, it had a fire in the engine compartment; it was either the fuel filter or filler hose, something in that area. The car was deemed Salvage by the insurance company at the time. It was later restored. There is absolutely no indication of previous damage. What ever was damaged was obviously replaced and the car totally restored. I had it inspected when I bought it and I have gone over it thoroughly top to bottom and the car is perfect. But the details as to exactly what happened are not well documented. Also, the engine out major last year was done by the previous owner, so it is not well documented either. I was convinced, in talking to him, that he did know what he was doing and it is was properly done. I do my own maintenance, as many of you do, so I didn't have a problem with this.

The convertible top is new, as are the hydraulic lines. The electrical stuff works, but there is still something wrong with the top. I'm still working on it and trying to get it working. It will go up and down with some fiddling and coaxing. The windows and seats move as they are supposed to, so it is down to something minor.

The "check engine" light came on recently; oxygen sensor codes. That is another thing that I will try and sort out if I have time before it sells.

Oh, the title today (in Ontario) is clean; it is not "restored" or "rebuilt" or whatever an ex-salvage car would be. The history of the car in Ontario (in the Used Vehicle Information Package -- the UVIP that we have to get for the car here when selling it) is also clean, no history of salvage.

It passed its DriveClean here in Ontario last year (it is still valid so if someone in Ontario buys it, you don't need another test.

I would put the condition of this car up against any other one for sale for $60K-$65K. If you want a car with a good history, then this is not the one for you. If you want an amazing deal on a car that will stand on its own condition today, then this is the one for you.

Any questions, feel free to ask. As I said this was originally a US car. Importation back to the US should not be an issue, but you would have to do your research on this.

Thank you,

Rick

1996 Ferrari 355 Spider Convertible | cars & trucks | Mississauga / Peel Region | Kijiji

 

Just curious, is it the ex-salvage title that is the real turn-off here? The fact that it is in Canada? Can't be the current condition or price!

thanks,

Rick

 

I'm not trying to hide anything, but the car has a perfectly "normal" title now in Ontario. So the title was Salvage at one point, now it isn't. Doesn't that make it an "ex-Salvage Title"?

 

Thank you very much for the input.

I do agree with you. When I am looking for a car I always skip over any of the ads that say "Salvage", no matter what the current condition or state of the car is. When I saw this one at a very good price I thought "what the heck, might as well check it out". And yes, the car presented itself so well that the salvage became less important. After driving it and checking it out I thought "I could get this car or get one in pretty much the same condition for $15,000 more and the only difference is what a piece of paper says. What is that piece of paper worth to me?"

Funny the way one of my friends put it: "So this car has had hoses, lines, and parts replaced that other Ferraris that haven't had a fire yet haven't had replaced. So yours is actually in better shape that those!". Because it had a fire in part of the engine area at one time it is an undesireable car. I understand that. But for someone who wants to get into a very good Ferrari at a really good price, this might be the way to do it.

Rick

 

I appreciate all the feedback.

Very interesting suggestion here. I never thought of that and my initial reaction was "it's a perfectly good car, what a waste to part it out". But it does come down to money at the end of the day. I'll do some research and see what I think I could get for the major stuff. Still a shame to part out a perfectly good car, but if it doesn't sell, well. It would be fun to take something apart that I don't have to put back together!

Rick

 

The 328 was sold some time ago.

As for parting out the 355, I can't really see that happening but will think about it.

Rick

 

Sorry for the very, very late reply, but it was sold some time ago.
Replaced with a C7 Vette.