How many miles before rebuild?

Hi guys,

I tried the search, but had no idea what search items to use. And so, at the risk of asking a beaten-down topic:

How many miles is a lot on a 400 (i)?

Yes, I know, it depends on how the car was driven. Highway or local roads, cruising or driven hard. But still....

I've now more or less decided to (finally) go ahead with my plans to buy a 400 or 400i (manual) and may be looking at a couple of cars in Germany. The highest mileage car has a reported 115K km (so around 72K miles).

I drive my little 308GT4 around 10K miles per year, and expect to do the same (at least) with the 400. Is 72K miles close to need-a-rebuild, or can they easily do 120K miles??

Thanks!!!

Hans

P.S. In case someone know a nice manual-transmission 365/400(i), I'm interested! (Outside the European Union, it should be at least 30 years old or I end up paying taxes big time....)

 

Hans:

I would expect you to do a moderate top end rebuild (valve guides and seals) before 100k miles. It would not surprise me to see the bottom end (i.e. the expen$ive stuff) go 200k miles or more without a rebuild. That said, most of these cars fail catastrophically long before this mileage due to lack of maintenance (failure to perform valve adjusts, timing chain tension, etc. on schedule).

A

 

Hans,

I generally agree with Alex regarding rebuilds, the problems you will encounter will have to do with previous owners abuse or lack of maintenance.

On another note, if you need to import, you will have to find a very early carburetted car, none of the 400i cars are 30 years old yet.

Regards,

Art S.

 

Hans
Apparently overheating the motor is the best way to ruin it. Avoid a car that may have overheated. Besides the usual issues most motors suffer from overheating, add valve seats falling out to the list for this motor. I have no experience but this is based on reading these pages.
Ken

 

Hi, on www.mobile.de, a 412 is for sale. Its mileage is 110.000 miles. There is no mention of a rebuild engine. Olivier.

 

alot of 400i going for 25-35 euros on that site. Isnt the 400, 412 series less expensive out in europe rather than the u.s.??

 

Nope.

Ferraris are MUCH cheaper in the US than in Europe.

Keep in mind that the current exchange rate is $1.48 per euro. So that 25K-35K Euros equals $ 37K - $ 52K!

Hans

 

That's true, while Europas can be had in excellent condition for the mid teens in the US and sell for double that in Europe. Go figure.

Ken

 

How can you tell if one has been over-heated?

 

I'm a little more conservative and use 90K miles for the top end lifetime and 150K miles for the bottom end lifetime for pricing -- JMO.

 

European cars ads stay for months, like if there were overpriced.

 

I've got the feeling that it has got more to do with the fuel consumption on these beasts. With fuel at $9 per gallon, who in their right mind will drive a car that does 10 mpg? That's nearly a dollar per mile!!!! Add to that the fact that the wealth in Europe is more evenly distributed among the population than in the US by means of higher taxes and more social security, and the market for a 400 is preciously small....

(And yet I'm looking for one!!! )

Hans

 

Hans
It depends on how good an owner is at concealing overheating ills or how long ago it may have happened. A hose leak or rupture is not uncommon (based on this chat page). Such an event leaves rust like stains all around where the leak occurred. Similarly, rust-like stains anywhere around the heads will indicate a blown head gasket which could mean worse ills. All of these things can be cleaned up with a lot of work and time. However, a recent overheating event should be easy to detect.
Ken