Is the 355 at the bottom of its depreciation?

Thats me! I am also interested in the "Has the 355 value bottomed out?"

 

It is IMO the best looking and sounding Ferrari.
All this talk about Valve guides and headers and shrinkage (of the interior )
scare many people away which could result in the depreciation.
the well sorted clean examples will hold their value. The serious buyer looking for a sorted car will pay more than the avg selling price.

The clean cars will hold their values
The beat up ones will lower the avg price of the 355.
How much cheaper can the 355 or 348 get?
They are already a steal of a deal

 

Mbutner, to answer your question if the 355 is at the bottom of its depreciation, no. It will go down much further.

I believe the 348 is around or about that point right now, but not the 355. I can still see the 348 loosing another $5 average in the next few years maybe but I have seen the 355 steadily loosing average market value much faster, specially since the F430 was introduced. I think the 355 still has a few more years of depreciation before the "mystique" kicks-in and prices stabilize. It will be a long time before they start appreciating in value. At least another solid 5 to 10 years I think. Just my opinion of course. No matter how much of a great car the 355 is, and, its an a*m*a*z*i*n*g landmark car, I believe its still too early for too much "adoration". The world is still totally blind about the 360 with a ton of new owners flooding the market with 355s, and the F430 just came out, forcing an increasingly larger used car market to be available.

And tough I also believe that the 355 will ever not drop to 348 prices, there were a lot of 355s made, and there are a lot of them continuously still available. Till people start keeping them again, some get junked, crashed or otherwise taken out of the streets, prices will not go up, only down.

I personally think that the 355 is one of the greatest sports cars of all times, despite, one of the least "aggressively designed" Ferraris. Though behind the hood its all a different story, both the 348 and 360 are much more a purebred Ferrari as far as design goes than the 355, which is a cross-hybrid of the 348 with less fins and more rounded corners, and with hints of new features that were taken to full blown breakthroughs on the 360.

I think the same of the F430... a much, much better car than the 360 under the hood in just about all aspects, but in no way a radical design departure from it... side-by-side the cars are almost identical.

The 355 is an remarkable car, that puts to shame the drivability and fun of all smaller Ferraris before it. But, its not the hottest thing on the market anymore nor too old to be re-appreciated all over again. That's were we are in time right now.

But, then again, markets are volatile. It only takes world-economy changes or for Ferrari not to be world for a few years in a row for example for prices on used cars to plunge down. At the same time, a sudden "glory" can be glamoured earlier than usual around a particular car, and have it go up in value very quickly. There are generally no guides in high-end sports cars market, specially in the exotics arena. Its all about perception of value and how much people are willing to pay. I think the 355 today, tomorrow and forever, will always be worth what they cost at a give time. They are a true "Ferrari", one of the best sports cars ever produced, and a timeless classic design that will stand the test of time with a beauty that will indeed always grow, forever

 

i think they are too new to have bottomed out. it takes 10-15 years for depreciation to level out. so 1995 models are getting close, and are probably your best bet if you don't want to lose dollars that way.

john

 

I agree. A low miles, mint condition earlier 355 bought today for fair market value will be a solid investment for anyone planning to keep it.

 

While I would like to think the only place to go is up from here, I don't think that is a sure thing.

I think the best case right now would be for this model to hold flat for a year or two, then who knows?

Buy for the long term and everything will work out

 

Statistically looking at the values of older Ferraris none have been valued less than 50% of MSRP unless in serious disrepair, many then appreciate with inflation close to their original MSRP price over time, the 355 had a MSRP of around $130-$145k.

The 355 is regarded as one of the greatest Ferraris of the 20th century by FNA and others and is still highly sought after, concerning getting to 348 values for similar condition cars it will never happen, the 355 is a quantum leap over the 348 with 25% more power with instant throttle response due to individual throttle bodys, a water/oil cooled gear pump driven transmission in 6 speed or F1 well suited to the power range of the car, sophisticated electronic shock damping controlling pitch and yaw of the car, combined with negative lift ground effects with underbody diffusers and a rear spoiler making the car extremely stable at speed, not to mention 355s are highly regarded concening their appearance.

Comments like Jeremy Clarkson referring them to a scaled down version of God also help, so IMO they will hold their values well and always be sought after and in demand, the early cars are already fully depreciated especially when you compare the performance, looks and value to a 360.

 

Agreed. Don't buy the car for an "investment." Buy the car because you like it and you'll be fine!

-Peter (I'll be buying abarthracer's car, soon... <grin>)

 

Sports cars usually take 15 to 20 years to bottom out in price, and the convertible models often bottom out first, then lead the rebound.

Cars in poor condition are only forgiven by the Market if the car in question is in extreme demand, so condition really matters.

Frankly, life's too short to worry about it much. Buy what you like and drive the wheels off of it. Enjoy!

If you spend too much time obsessing about how to make an irrational purchase "rational" (e.g. "won't depreciate") then you'll miss out on the fun of the whole experience.

 

While 355 values will likely not dip to 348 levels, I suspect that they will get within $5K +/- eventually. History will look back at the 355 as an updated 348, much like the 328 was to the 308.

 

Agree thats really the point if you are buying it to flip it in a couple of years you will loose on most cars you buy a car like this to own drive and keep it I have upgraded my TR and could never get back what I have invested into the car I did it to improve it make it better to enjoy driving and keep it in great shape if you want an investment then get a CD

 

Can someone explain to me why this particular 355 is priced so high?

http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=1445&sort=1&cat=11&page=1

While this one of the same year and also low miles is priced much lower?
http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=1434&sort=1&cat=11&page=1

Am I missing something?

 

one might be in canadian dollars. Plus the first one has a tubi and such.

 

The other one has Capristo. 105K Canadian = 93,500 USD. The other one must be in *mint* condition.

 

I think the prices are being propped up by the 328 prices - which are surprisingly solid. Without the 328 prices, 348s would be significantly lower and therefore 355s would also be lower.

For a car as old as a 355, the concept of a single representative "price" is flawed because the range is so wide. I contend that used-Ferrari prices start to diverge immediately off the lot, with well maintained/documented low-miles cars following quite a separate trajectory than standard/beater cars. 355s in the former category are increasingly rare and have/merit much higher prices than the standard eBay offering.

 

They have not bottomed out yet, but the 95's are close. I think over time the newer 355 cars will trend towards the prices of the early 355 cars, so there is very little spread over the range (maybe 8-10k) as opposed to today (the spread is $40k).
BT

 

This is very very true. In Australia and some parts of EU the 328 is a very very solid price. The 348s droped down but the 328s are holding it up, cause there are many 328s which cost more then 348s. Its like a Law in way that the newer model cant go below the older one! If the 328s guy wont go lower(and there not!) then the 348s are starting to depreciate less. I see in Australia, almost the same thing happening with the 348's and the 355's.

 

Whats important it seems in the Ferrari world as cars age and performance lags behind newer vehicles is the looks, after all Ferraris are works of art and the 355 is recognized as one of the beautiful cars from Ferrari, that alone will keep prices up. Thats the main reason 328s hold their values so well as it is not their performance numbers.

 

The looks of the f355 will also in my opinion help it to slow the depreciation trend in a way that the 360 will not so enjoy.

In a vain similar to the 993 porsche and the 996. Many 993s have held there value much better in comparison to the early 996. Simply because it was felt to be a better looking car and was also the last of the air cooled engines. As the f355 will be the last of the pop up light ferraris.

 

Until the next one.

 

In my opinion, there is no better Ferrari "buy" out there than the F355's right now. I believe that $75,000 is about the bottom for a well-maintained car, with up to date major service. By the way, here is a fine example:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=1569&sort=1&cat=11&page=2

Personally, I would not want to shell out another $50,000 for a 360.

For a well-maintained used Ferrari:

308......$40,000
328.......$49,000
348........$57,000
F355.......$75,000
360.........$125,000
F430........$225,000

What do you think is the best value????

 

I BOUGHT MY 98 355 SPIDER IN OCTOBER OF 05 AT THAT TIME LOW END CARS WERE HIGH 80 AND EXCELLENT CARS WERE 104K ACCORDING TO NADA. THE LOW END CARS ARE NOW LOW 80'S BUT THE EXCELLENT ONES ARE UP TO 120K. TAKE IT FOR WHAT ITS WORTH. IMO THEY WILL GO DOWN IN PRICE BUT NOT TO THE LEVELS OF THE 348