Just came from owning a "late model Porsche" - great car but hemmorages money in depreciation even though the maintenance is less (definite) and dependability better (depends on the car). For me I would rather budget for expensive scheduled maintanance and keep some in reserve for costly un-scheduled things and have the pride of ownership, rarity and overall soul/personality of a Ferrari as opposed to losing the same or more money on the Porsche. Again - not slamming Porsches - loved mine and was a great car - BUT did not take my breath away like my 355 does. Remember it is cost of ownership - not just cost of maintenance. Good luck!
Have to agree with everyone on here loving their 355's... I researched these cars, watched the trends in pricing, read all the potential maintenance woes, and looked at what people were paying for everything. In the end, I knew what I needed to look for, and it's all about what you want. Happy to say that on this past Saturday I purchased a 1998 335 F1 Spider in Grigio Titanio with great service history. The feeling you get when you know it's yours it's unsurpassable. You can hear all that Ferrari history when you step on the gas pedal. It puts a smile on your face when you see a father in the car next to you point the car out to his son and his son look on wide-eyed. Of course, it was tough to pull the trigger and finally go through with it, but I don't regret my decision for one second. Thanks to all the info I've read on here from all the F-Chatters. You guys helped and definitely know your stuff.
First of all. When all systems are functional it's a ground version of an F-16. But you WILL have problems. I bought a used 1999 F355 Fiorano #19/100. Problems started quickly. With only 9K on I fiqured she was good to go. Here is a laundry list of failures. Keep in mind I drive pretty mellow. Let's get started shall we: 1 Alarm died. Battery melt down. $600 for new unit. 2 Shift lever snapped off in my hand while driving. $800. 3 Both Cats failed. ..Warranty 4 Air pump fuse blew. 5 Left radiator fan fuse blew. 6 Water recirc pump in front O-ring fail. Causing coolant leak. 7. HVAC ECU fail. $800 (used) 8. Recirc air flap inop. 9. Right side speaker (Tweeter) inop. $50 10. Speedometer sensor failed. $150 11. Both the ac and air recirc buttons on HVAC panel fail. 12. HVAC stepper motor Fail. And that's not even including scheduled Maintenance. If you are a DIY person it eases the pain. Be prepared. The headers are known to Fail. Mine are still OK. That's probably next.....Reliable is not in the Italian vocabulary!
I have read the 95 models have crap valve guides which will wear badly.They upgraded them on the later models. Not sure what year that took place. You better really like Ferrari!
The car will not "take care of you". In fact, it wants to destroy you. Or your bank account. Whichever comes first.
Of thist list, I would consider only these to be issues: 1 Alarm died. Battery melt down. $600 for new unit. 2 Shift lever snapped off in my hand while driving. $800. 3 Both Cats failed. ..Warranty 6 Water recirc pump in front O-ring fail. Causing coolant leak. 7. HVAC ECU fail. $800 (used) THe rest is really minor ...
Recently I went through the same decision. I replaced my 06 Porsche C2S with a 98 355 Spider. I'm having the belt service completed now including Hill Engineering bearings (thanks to the wonderful people on this site). I'm not looking back. I'm looking forward. The thrill of finally owning an F-car is mind-blowing.
Ace "Master-baiter" your kidding. Take a look at what your replies entail, you are really making the difference here on F-Chat, what would we do without you. Let's meet in person and "talk about it".
No im not high, you just dont know squat about these cars. If you dont like it, sell it or at least find someone to work on it that knows what hes doing. I see that you have owned some really reliable AMC cars in the past.
