Check out a car for me..

Address?

I'm all about looking at Fcars......

 

It's not far from FoH on the access road before you get to the Fire House, they had a some try to make their showroom a drive thru a couple weeks back, I think an Aston Martin & a couple other cars were injured. Better check to make sure the 355 wasn't a victim.

 

Check the car over VERY well......read into that what you want.

PPI, Leakdown & Compression, full court press would be recommended.

 

You want this car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari-355-Berlinetta-1999-Ferrari-355-F1-Berlinetta-Low-Miles-Clean-LowRsr_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6212QQihZ007QQitemZ170125728065QQrdZ1

 

I think JP os on the money with this one!
H

 

I'm no expert, but with the Houston heat & humidity, & just by the look of the center console, its clearly evident that the console is very sticky.

It also looks to be poorly detailed too.

 

My office is in the Galleria, I am only a few miles from this place. I will go by there some time today and take a look at it for you. I was looking at a 355 before I found my 328 and decided to go old school for my first car. There seems to be something fishy with this one though...I will let you know after I take a look at it.

Have you contacted them for a Carfax report yet?

 

I meant to say my first Ferrari...I wish my first car was a Ferrari.

 

understood, I will go by there in about an hour to take a look at it for you. So it sounds like you are expecting the console to be a wash since you can clearly see in the pictures that it is sticky, you just want to see if the first impression of the car is the same as you see in the pictures?

It is raining here in Houston today so I doubt seriously that I will be able to hear it run or god forbid drive it in the rain. It looks like this place has an indoor showroom so I dont know if they will start it or not...I will try.

I will post my first impressions when I get back...

 

OK...I just got back from the dealership in question. My first impression of the dealership when driving into the parking lot was "man do they have a lot of cars...and there not Toyota's. The dealer works with only high end cars, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Caddilac, Ferrari (3 on the floor), RR, Maserati and a Lambo in the back that I couldnt see up close.

Most of the cars that I was able to see were in great shape...there were about 6 salesmen around the floor and they all seemed busy, it looks like these guys do quite a bit of business. I was introduced to a salesman and I asked him immediately about the "car through the window", he told me about it but I wont go through the details since it was a non event when dicussing this car, the 355 was not involved).

At first glance the car looks clean, no body work that I could find, all panels have a tight fit and the paint looks straight although it could use a good polishing and waxing. The tires look to be in fairly good condition and the brake rotors look straight. Upon opening the door the lower valance on the drivers side has some rust...the black paint is bubbled and lifted in several spots, I would guess about 10-15 square inches...this would most definately have to be fixed although I dont know how bad it would be.

The leather all looks good, nice and soft with very little wear. All of the vents and the center console are sticky, every plastic peice is sticky. Something that struck me as odd was the fact that the paint on the paddle shifters is chipped and worn...I wouldnt expect this for a 12k mile car but I dont have much experience with these.

The engine fired right up and sounded healthy but of course this can be decieving. I asked about records and there are none, but FOH has done some work on it, I would suggest you call them and see what has been done. I was told the right cat had been replaced and the left cat needs replacement soon. The sales guy said Ferrari of Houston looked at it and said they would ball park all of the work to be done somewhere around $15k. I am sure this number would grow substantially if you wanted to replace all of the interior peices and fix the rust on the drivers side.

The engine bay looks clean and has defiantely not been looked after the way I look after my car but it isnt too bad. Just needs some TLC.

In summary it looks like this car has been driven by several owners and then passed on when it was time for service. I would expect that it has been driven pretty hard but it doesnt look like it has been wrecked or anything. I am told that this car has bounced around to several dealerships lately because it hasnt moved. Should you fly to Houston to take a look at it...I dont know for sure? If you are looking for a car that is perfect or near perfect then this isnt the car for you. If you are looking for a driver that will show well but will cost you some money up front to make it straight mechanically and coachwork wise then happy bidding but I wouldnt pay anywhere near $84k for it. I would imagine you would need to put $20k into it to make it straight again...that is to make it damn nice...that is only a WAG (wild axx guess). I was not able to drive it since the rain in Houston today is relentless but after talking to the Manager is said that if you were serious enough and called them he would be willing to let me drive it for you or to let you drive it when you arrived in Houston.

Call him, I wanna drive it!

 

Not to thread-jack this thread... Just trying to continue my learning efforts.
What dose a "sticky dash" represent? Just a lack of detailing the car?
DGP, when you had this "listed" as a item to look for... what did the results (it having a sticky dash) tell you. Correction, sticky console.
Just curious.
Thanks.

 

It's a pretty well known malady of 355's, the plastic on the console and the vents deteriorates when an unknowing detailer applies Armor All and it's allowed to sink in over a period of weeks/months. Or something like that. The plastic plate around the a/c controls is known to bubble also. Replacements are expensive.

 

Thanks Jim. And I thought you were just a "Clutch Expert".

 

Right if you leave them alone they don't get sticky, or as bad..

To original poster you need to heed Johnathan Peck's comments and PM him...he worked in exotic cars in Dallas, TX and may have relevant info..

I doubt FoH will discuss someon else's car, that sounds unlikely......

Not saying anything bad about this dealer, but anyone can wholesale cars, they are just doing upmarket cars...

HTH

 

I'll second the PPI rec's...I purchased my Boxster from them and the PPI showed a few issues. They fixed the problems without me even asking, but had I just bought it off the floor I would have been stuck. Common sense for any car purchase really.

As for the Ferrari, I'm nearly certain it's the same one the Mercedes dealer in North Houston had on consign several years ago. I stopped by several times to look but it never sold. I spoke with a salesman later and he said the owner wanted way too much. If memory serves, it already had 10k on the clock back then, which means it hasn't moved much in the last few years...not good for a Ferrari. Carfax should verify this.