355 prices are going...

65 to 68

 

Did you keep the stock parts? You'd do best by putting the stock parts back on and selling the aftermarket stuff separately.

 

41k miles....less than 65 for sure.

 

I know what your thinking but what we have to remember is the fact that these cars are getting older. 41k was considered high when these cars were on average 10 years old but they are now approaching double that and 41k is no longer the high side but maybe just a little above average. The cars we see for sale on ebay, autotader and craiglist ect. with under 10k are not the norm(plus I know that many have had the ODOs played with). The 355 prices leveled off this past year or two and are now on the way up...slowly but surely. This is where the 355 will separate itself from the 348 once and for all and surpass the 360 eventually. The 355 is one of the most beautifull cars that Ferrari ever made and we all know how hard it is to find a good one. These cars are also one of the most fun cars to drive and we have all heard of many owners that moved up to a 360 or 430 and have come back to the 355 for various reasons. I think its safe to say that if you own a 355, you will one day own a classic sought after car and that day is not that far off.

 

+1

 

Here's a bit of info that I found interesting. A well known pro driver (I told him I would not mention his name to prevent a sure as day s**t storm) that I was talking w/ at the Daytona 24hr race told me that he thought the 355 was a better car than the 360. He said the chassis & suspension & handling were better.

 

That dosnt surprise me. Ive often heard that the 355 lets you know when its kicking out the ass end and its easy to recover whereas the 360 once it starts to go is very hard to get back. That said, the two cars are very different and hard to compare. When Ferrari went to the 360 design, they created a car that was bigger and bulky looking and both the 360 and 430 sit higher off the ground which takes away from the sporty look. I think Ferrari saw this and changed it with the 458. The 458 has gotten back to that race car look....hugging the ground so to speak.

 

Besides the lower RPM power band, the 360 and latter cars developed significantly more down force with a more rigid structure. If I remember correctly, when the 360 was introduced many drivers were unpleasantly surprised (read unprepared) for the change in handling dynamic. None the less, I'm with you, smaller, simpler, sexier...355.

 

Derek Bell was quoted in Classic and Sports Cars magazine back in 2000 that he much preferred the F355's handling over that of the 360. Maybe these guys know something.

 

I find the on going debate about value and market value rather comical. While I don't consider 40k miles very high for a 10+ year old car, I do disagree about the value in the eyes of some.

Prior to landing my car 3 weeks ago, I have watched these for 13 years. Yes, nice cars are not growing on trees but with a little wait they come around at reasonable prices.

I'm not going to disclose what I paid but I landed a pristine late model, sub 10k mike car for a price that supports my opinion here. A 41k mile car as listed in not worth over $65k in the best possible situation. When I say "worth", I mean market value coz worth really comes down to how bad you want it and what you will pay. But, you won't see a long list of 41k mile cars selling for over $65k or even near that number.

 

Dave -- what's your take on the market -- have these cars firmed up a bit from ~1-1.5 years ago?

 

Dan, my take is they are coming down a bit but it's not linear. And, most certainly, pristine cars are becoming harder to find but they do exist. But, it's not like 5-10 are commercial available at any time. Right now it appears that almost none are very public, except that awesome silver GTB that's been on eBay for a while - for $62 OBO, I can't believe it's not sold at 13k miles

 

Just make sure you do a compression test before you put your money down. Read my thread about a pristine 355 that ran perfectly that wasn't all that compression wise.

Sellers who think their cars are all that and asking top of the market numbers should be doing documented compression tests with their listIngs. Anyone buying one of these cars without doing that up front is just rolling the dice. The repair on the car that I passed on was 30k estimated. That sure makes talking about value without knowledge a moot point

 

Spend $65k on a 10k mile F355 and then dump $20k into it to make it right.

Spend $65k on a 41k mile F355 that's already had 10s of thousands poured into it and just drive it without fear of it crapping out and sitting in the shop for weeks on end.

I know it doesn't "smell right" intuitively but it's been demonstrated over and over in the real world. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to buy a low mile car - I'm only making the case that "high" mile F355s can be a better buy in the long run. All depends on your priorities and plans for the car, I suppose.

The allure of a low-mile F355 is strong but these cars need regular exercise to stay in top shape - even 40k miles on a 14-18 year old car is *barely* enough IMHO. That's like 200 miles per month...think about it.

 

Here we go again with the need to dump $20k into these cars to "sort" them as if they are garbage from the factory. I don't buy it and never will. I'd bet only 2% of the 10k 355's ever made have seen this "sort" investment while the other 98% run perfectly well and put smiles on the owners faces years after years. I'm not knocking higher mileage cars but the only ones who will say they are worth so much on the market are guys that own these cars in an effort to raise the value. Flame suit on

 

And you've owned your 355 for how long? How many services have you had to endure? Ever had the motor apart by a reputable shop?

Be prepared my friend.

 

Big difference between on going service and buying a car for $65k and needing to dump $20k in to "sort it".

Sure, if you buy a lemon or poorly kept car I can see it but not if you find a good one and they are out there my friend

 

If I would buy an F355 again, I would go for a manual GTS. (less troubles then the Spider, which I had and actually never gave me any troubles with the soft top, and the true last GTS). I would probably also go for a 2.7 with no aribags as I find the four spoke wheel awful (yes, one can indeed change it for the 550, but for the sake of originality...)

What to pay? How much to pay for a complete overhaul? How much will she cost every year?

Good questions, huh? It's a Ferrari and on average is 15 yrs old. Is the odometer telling the truth? Sure... that's why on the Swiss or Italian markets you seldom see cars with more than 80k km. Are people not using them? Did not they use them? Yes they did and for more than 80k km! And most of them have been serviced by dealers who care not about old Ferraris. They do the minimum required and that's it. You can get away with this if the car was 5-7 years old. But not with a car that is as old as the F355. Engine down for a belt change? It actually means much more.

So, that brings me to choose an F355 with as few miles as possible. Has she been left in a garage for years with very little use? Fine, I will deal with the issues. She is a Ferrari and a 15 years old one (on average). So a lot of things will need attention anyway. But at least, I know I am dealing with a good car who possibly never saw the rain.

The alternative to go for a higher mileage one would be only if my mechanic would recommend me to do so because it is a car he already knows inside out. In this case, I would probably take the option.

And, of course, if I were buying my F355 as a daily driver, I would buy a 360 manual coupè.

 

If you do none of your own work like me and have the money you can spend $20k on a 355 pretty quickly. I'm at $17k since April 2012. My service records show another $11k spent in late 2011 before I bought it. I'm not done yet either. I still need some more interior work done, new headers and I plan on getting a secondary cat bypass.

 

In my view there is no right answer in this debate. Low mileage cars -- higher price, less wear and tear, higher risk of problems associated with it sitting undriven for extended periods. High mileage cars -- lower price, more wear and tear, lower risk of problems associated with it sitting. The huge variable is how well either one was maintained during its life.

In my decision to buy a GTS with almost 36k miles the important factors to me were the history (only a two owner car, well documented), the price and my plans to drive the car. As I put additional mileage on the car the depreciation curve won't be as steep (in my opinion) as it would be with a really low mileage car. Maybe it's just me but I would feel a little guilty driving a really low mileage example. I also don't plan to show it. On the flip side I doubt my car will appreciate dramatically in the years ahead because it won't appeal to a collector.

Of course my fuel pump died 150 miles into my ownership but it's hard to say whether that was caused by mileage or age...

To each his own!

 

Bravo!

I agree with you. Before thinking about the cost of ownership, one should think: am I actually going to drive it and how often?

With my BBi and 328 I do on each around 2,000km on each of them each year. Regular use, but not if raining or salt is on roads.

I would do the same with a F355. So, the more you own, the more you drive enjoy F cars without feeling guilty to overuse them or to spend too much money on them. Well, this is realtive... as I think that if I had a F355 added to the costs I already have for the other two... well, it would probably be as if owned only 1 F-car (F355) and I used it every day...

I know what I am about to say is very debatable, but it is based on personal experience and about what I heard/saw during about 10 years of Ferrari ownership.

Unless you buy with your heart only (I know... who does not??) and you are in the market for a 8 cyl car, not a new one and being the F430 still somewhat expensive and you like to drive your pride and joy without fear if it might rain or if you might have to park it under the sun for more than 10 minutes or the roads might not be too pleasant and so on and so forth... well... buy a 328 GTS. It is a mule and very fun to drive. And... huh... if one of those fancy modern turbodiesels fancy to overtake you, witha a smile looking at that guy with a Magnum PI car (not idiot! that was a 308...) with only few horses under the bonnet... well, a prancing horse will always be a prancing horse and you, turbodiesel driver, will always be driving a joke with a truck engine.

 

Just as a comment...

I asked a very reputable and honest dealer what my car was worth (fully sorted 355 GTS F1 red/tan) and with 41k miles I was told if I could get $40,000 I should take it and run.

 

For your car!?!?! They are crazy.

 

Hi J. - send me your Paypal address - $40K on the way over! J/K

I think that is pretty low.

 

I remember my father low balled a couple selling their house because the market was down and he wanted to see if he could get a good deal. They were insulted and told him they simply would not sell him the house at any price (which was too bad, because he wanted it...)

I kinda had that reaction. No offense to the dealer, as they are simply stating their opinion. But it goes to the "I will never sell this car because there is no way on earth I could buy anything near this much fun at that price."