LOW MILEAGE GARAGE QUEENS PLEASE CHIME IN... PROBLEMS DUE TO INFREQUENT DRIVING?

1. 18,000 smiles...I mean miles....no.....I MEAN SMILES
2. I bought the car exactly 17 months ago
3. The longest period away from her was when she was in the shop for a couple weeks (no issues obviously from not driving it)

I have had my share of problems with the car BUT, Every Ferrari tech who has driven it says "Wow, you must drive car really hard"......Then they go on to tell me that it drives better than almost any 430 they have ever driven. It has way more low end pull and the throttle is perfection. What I hear time and time again is that these cars are meant to be driven hard. I dont mind trips to the shop at all mainly because they go over everything and maintain it to perfection. It's all part of the Ferrari experience to me. Ferrari wants to know every single issue in full detail that happens to their cars. They care deeply about their heritage and they make sure that the dealers worldwide are on their game. Being a certified Ferrari repair shop is no easy task. I am a customer for life. They have gone above and beyond for me and earned my loyalty.
Not to mention that I have test driven every car under the sun and NOTHING gives me the same feel as my car. Now that I have spewed my useless blabbing on what we all know very well already I will end with this.....I intend on being an unofficial guinea pig for Ferrari.
I will attempt to literally put 100,000 miles on my car....lets see what happens!

 

Hi-
It appears that you are contemplating a purchase.

The cost of ownership is higher than a lot of other cars. Higher than Mercedes or Porsche.

A good place to get real answers is the service dept of your local dealer. There you can find out how much you will have to spend. Things are going to break and you need to be prepared for some unexpected service costs. If having to come up with $3,000 is a major problem then you may need to rethink things.

For example I had a clutch sensor fail renedering the car undrivable. The price was about $3,400.

Also check on what insurance will cost you. If you have tickets already be ready for a few more when you get the car. The police will notice you

 

LOL. I guess this means your battery charger will not work properly due to lack of use.

Can't comment on this as I've yet to let more than six days go by without driving my car (out of town on business). I am interested in comments from others. Say you have multiple residences with multiple F cars (lucky stiff) or live in a climate with severe winters. What happens when the car sits for 4 months?

 

I bought my 360M 10 months ago at 5300 miles. Now only at 6350 miles as bad winter here left the car laid up for 5 months without use. NO problems whatsoever, it even started first time without the use of a tender! I intend to use it more this year putting on around 5K miles. Garage queen.....yes a bit, but work commitments last year meant I was away for a lot of the time.

 

++++1000

No offense, but you keep asking a lot of questions that can easily be answered thru a quick search here on the board. You will learn a lot more information from a visit to your local dealer, talk to the service manager. Remember the search function is your friend.

Robert

 

I bought a F1-430 about 1 1/2 years ago and it now has 2500 miles on it, because I am not at that house all that often. I drive it all the time when there and keep it on a Del Tran Intermittant Charge. No problems. My previous Ferrari was a 1999 F1-360 I bought in Jan 2000 and kept until November 2006. It only had 5,000 miles on it and certainly qualified as a "garage queen". I had it on a Del Tran as well and actually changed the (synthetic) oil 4 times (just for the hell of it) and made sure I had everything done based on service bulletins and service requirements. I never had one problem with the car. My only problem was when I went to sell it, nobody believed it was perfect (which the new owner - if he views these threads - can attest). I keep a 1981 Porsche Turbo (grey market) garaged and have only driven it around 45,000 miles since new, mainly on race tracks. It has had a turbo replaced and it otherwise in beautiful condition. I own several other cars that average 2-3,000 miles a year and nothing happens. A 2002 BMW, for example, now has 30,000 miles and has never had a serious problem. This business of needing to drive a car all the time to keep it up is founded less on fact than philosophy but as with many here, these cars are meant to be driven or otherwise they are very expensive decorations. Best

 

Bryan,
I would be more concerned with the lack of service than miles. The brake lines must look like crap and the engine oil, look out!! The problem with storing a car and not making frequent fluid changes would be moisture in the lines as well, not good. I would pass on that one, there are plenty of good 360's out there.

Robert

 

I think so far he's done:

Euro vs US
Red vs Silver
Belt service vs no belt service
CS vs non-CS
Lo-miles vs miles

He hasn't done F1 vs stick yet, though .

 

That'll be a new subject then . Why hasn't anybody else thought of starting that one?

 

garage queens are the worst fcars to buy. BEWARE

 

Not to beat a dead horse but maybe we should define "garage queens". Like I said, I drove mine 5,000 miles in 7 years and it was perfect. I doubt if many here buy a car a never drive it. And also as likely, the less it is driven the more it is pampered.

As long as you have a record from birth to present, this should not be rockets science.I have stored cars for years, driving them very few miles during the year and they are as good as new.

I read this board regularly and fail to find serious problems with a car that is not driven often. I sincerely would appreciate SPECIFIC problems associated with a Ferrari driven a few hundred miles a year.
Who buys a Ferrari and lets it rot? Best

 

+1

I drive mine about as much as you do. Total Perfection every time it comes out!

 

there's nothing wrong with a couple hundred miles a year, its a problem when you have someone who didn't touch the car in years. just ask if it was stored for a year or more. every time the car is taken out, even around the block, to a friends house, grocery store, everything is getting "worked and changed through" . this is most likely why you don't hear to many stories about a garage queen having crazy problems. you have to think that these cars sit for months every winter waiting for the sun too.

what I would worry about more is the supercars, such as a 500 mile f-40, 200 mile enzo ...

 

I would look for a higher mileage car with more service history....

 

"The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves"

 

Respectfully - why? I repeat my original question regarding not driving a car as long as fluids and commone sense are maintained. I had a 360 (post above) and now a F1-430, The car has 2500 miles after 1 1/2 years because I am not at the house where it is garaged much of the time. My only concern about any Ferrari are "records". If you can tell where it has been and what has happened to it, I would love a car with no miles. Like I said in my earlier post - except for discussion of fuel lines - no one has pointed to any good reason to avoid low mileage cars. Best

 

My 360 was driven 4,000 mi in 5 years. In the year I have owned it I have put 3,000 mi on it. It turns out it has an oil leak or seap around the cam shaft seals. Shop says lack of driving the cause.

 

Did the leak start after the 3000 miles or have you been driving it with the leak?

G

 

I think the garage queen syndrome is way overblown. I bought a 94 348 with 1500 miles in 1998. I put 14K on it the next 3 years with no problems whatsoever. My next car was an 89 328 with 7K miles I bought in 2001. It had only been driven 1000 miles in the previous 5 years. 6.5 years and 16K miles later, I've had no issues of any sort. My worst Fcar was an85 QV that had over 30K on it in 1999 when I bought it. It had all kinds of issues but hadn't been driven much in the previous 5 years.

Dave

 

I would add:

4. Year and Make of the Ferrari, No?

The general consensus has been the 360 is more reliable than the 355, etc...

 

I had the same problem and same response from a certified dealership. Had it fixed for $1100.