Quick hello and a question for you all.

Hi, I am Arty.

I am a 27 year old interior design consultant. I know all these long hello's get boring so I will get straight to the good stuff in just two ticks.

At the moment I drive a standard 1996 318Is, purely because I had other things which were priorities before I purchased a "decent" car.

I found your guys while searching for ferrari info as I am now in a position to buy one.

Over the years I have scrimped and saved every single penny! I have always loved the F cars.
I have done a few calculations and I have around £32,000 to drop on a car out of my own pocket without any finance. Rather than follow in the clans and just buy a M3 or CLK or even god forbid a boxster.

I want to be different, I see alot of ferraris every day working in central london and in an area where there is alot of highly paid people.
I always sit and admire what ever prancing horse comes past or near me with great passion. I have been looking around a little bit and see my budget can fit a VERY early F355 or a 348....

Would you guys suggest it is a good idea to buy an F car with my cash budget or would you suggest getting a small amount of finance (maximum of £10k.) Or would you suggest waiting a few years.

I know with a car like these that age will bring up problems (as I have found out to my dismay with my BMW) which can prove costly.

Many thanks for your opinions in advance.

Mr A.

 

Would you be using the car as a daily commuter or just fun for the weekends?

...and welcome to Fchat by the way

 

most definately not a daily, it would be used sometimes to "show off" at work.

I would be doing no more than a maximum of 6k a year. I have had my BMW since new and I have only got 73.2k on the clock.

I will be keeping the BMW and I have use of a company car should i need it.

 

I don't think I'd try & buy a 355 with that money. With any car you should expect to need to spend a bit on it in the first year to make it the way you want it/it should be. Early 355s are also more prone to valve guide issues etc - read up on that (and exhaust headers). If you can find an early one that has been through the problems already then that would be better than one that hasn't, obviously.

That said, if you are prepared to consider LHD then you will definitly pay less.

If you want RHD then you are in 348 (or very good 328) country IMHO.

Also look at maintenance and insurance costs - big, big difference between 308/328 and 348/355.

If you go down the 348/355 route then I'd say budget for your insurance (which is likely to be £800+) plus £1500 in servicing within the first 12-18 months and another £2K in incidentals (be it paintwork, tyres, cambelt change or some combination thereof - something will always need to be put right when you buy a car). OTOH I've just renewed my insurance on my 328 at under £300.

If that all has to come out your £32K then I'd say you really don't have enough for a 355 without some finance. Don't buy a Ferrari and try & short change the maintainance - it doesn't work. Needless to say there are plenty of cars out there where this has happened so look carefully and make sure you get a PPI done complete with a propper (warm engine) compression test.

Lastly 348/355 is not really a "daily driver"/supermarket shopping type car so keep the Beemer! Insurance will be cheaper if you keep it as a second car as well.

I.

 

The world is your oyster then !

have you considered a 328? You will get a pretty well sorted one for that budget, and they are lovely cars

 

Thank you very much for that.

I have been driving since I was 18 and have had no crashes / insurance claims for anything.

My insurance at the moment is below £300 fully comp for the BMW, I will be keeping that also.

I definately wouldnt drive ANY F car as a daily

Many thanks for the info!!

Mr A.

 

I dont like them much... I love all F cars but It would have the be 348 or a 355

Mr A.

 

Hi Arty,

I'd recomend you do a search for the 355 vs 348 comparisons as I've commented on quite a few threads now.

To sum it up, try to find a bit of extra cash, i.e. 35k - 40k and get a very clean 355. It's in a different league to the 348 IMHO.

I also know of a good car for sale but it will be closer to the 40k mark as it's a 98 model.

 

Brilliant advice Iain

 

I can understand your preference for a 348/355 over a 308/328 but as Iain said the difference in maintenance & insurance will be substantial. Plus the residuals on the 328 are excellent.
Classics & Sportscar showcased a RHD 328GTB for £23,000 in the August edition. Private Sale. It looked like a good example but relatively high mileage (61k) and the colour (Blue) bringing it in at the price. If the write up was accurate it would seem that the downside was pretty limited...

 

Prices are better in the winter so save some more and push the budget to 38K and you will have a nice RHD (or very nice LHD) 355 this winter. Spend your time between now and then reading up and looking at as many 355's as you can see. Visit all the dealers nationally and check all the cars out - get some knowledge and see as many cars as you can, then one day you will come across the one for you and you will know it almost instantly.

p.s. If you want an excellent 98 LHD that took me 2 years to find then PM me