Sad Day?

Lots of scary stories on the 355s.

 

I would say the 993 turbo is better then both the 550 and the 355. By a fair margin. And that's A bit tough for me to say because the 550 is my all time favorite car..

 

Interesting but there is not a chance in hell that I would even consider giving up my 550 for a 993 Turbo. In fact, I wouldn't even consider giving up my 348 Challenge for one either so what does that say?

I do like the 993 Turbo though. Awesome car.

 

I would give up the 348 for the 993 in a heart beat, but not the 550.

 

I have read (no direct experience) that the new 918 are pretty nice also.

 

What had you spent the $20k on and what was the $13k that needed doing? Was it routine stuff or had something gone wrong?

BTW You do realize there is going to be a contradicting ownership experience on here in a year or 2 from someone who bought a well maintained 355 that they haven't had to spend a penny on????!!!! argggghhh!!!!

 

Yes, that's too much money. My 360 costs me WAY less than that. However, to put things in perspective, I used to have a 2.5 pack per day cigarette habit, I'm ashamed to say. I stopped that 35 years ago.

But if I still lived in New York, smoking would cost me $1050 per month, all year long. That's more than double the price of the supposedly too-expensive Ferrari addiction.

 

Wow Drew
If your going to bash 355's lets break this 60k down abit .
Can't blame the car because your adding a 13k sound system.. to the total.or what about the 15k new interior that the dealer sold you because they said when you NEED IT you wont be able to buy it.Was it still not in the box"s when you sold the car?Or what about the $9400.00 they charged you for two cats? When you could of bought two high flows in the states for $1200.00.and 3hr to install. What about the 10k the dealer charged you to find a broken wire.Did you have to spend 8k to polish and touch up the car?For that amount you could of painted the whole car.
I don't blame the car...I blame the OWNER.
I will say this Drew who ever bought your car got a good deal. I think you could of got alot more for your car ...but i think your add on Autotrader came across as very rude.
But thats a whole new story.No hard feelings Drew but its nice when people on Fchat are told the whole story.

 

I just sold my ZR1 so I can relate. The car was solid and reliable. In 3 years it cost me some oil changes . Buyer paid top dollar so I let it go. I would really like an f car but cannot get my head around the trouble it takes to keep the car happy.

 

I have a boxer and a 930. 930 is faster.

Both are two of the last great sports cars of all time in my opin.

I have owned a good many cars...I keep coming back to the 930 having own this last one for 12 years.

Sorry to get off topic guys.

 

To say a car needed 60k in service and half was a new interior and a ghetto stereo is why I never believe a soul on this forum when it comes to these supposed BS "nightmare maint. stories". Not to mention were talking Canadian prices here. True money spent = $10,000!

 

This surprises me and makes me glad I didn't persue a Boxer after all.

 

As Paul Harvey used to say "Now you know the rest of the story!" Wow, thanks for providing the context for the rest of us. $13,000 for a sound system when you have the best sounding motor in the world right behind you? $9,400 for inferior replacement cats, Hyperflows fixed for life and 1/4 the costs.

 

I've said for awhile that 355 owners living in denial and becoming very defensive are the cars worst enemy.

 

Surprised really? It was pretty widely understood that the 930 turbo was one of the fastest production cars in tge world from 75 - 89. Certainly the very quickest. Add to that there are precious few that have not had at least bigger turbos, intercoolers, headers, fuel head, etc done...so yes they can be a bit quick.

I have owned my boxer 13 years and it never really bothers me that a 930 is faster. It is also kinda known that the porsche turbo was a bit of a racing legend too...just a touch of pedigree there

 

Or when those cars reach a state where they need to be restored? The Ferrari market in 30 years will be a very interesting one as I am thinking a large number of Ferrari's will be scrapped and a smaller specific margin or era of cars will actually be considered collectible while the rest will fall apart and into obscurity IF parts prices for average human beings don't come down to save them.

 

If the breakdown costs are true in this post, then it does put the OP's post in a balanced perspective of 355s.


For the few posters discussing/comparing the Porsche Turbos versus same period Ferraris, this is a great separate topic for discussion. I personally will always have a soft spot for 70s-90s Porsche Turbos, but I would unilaterally pick same-period NA Ferraris over their contemporary Porsche Turbos in terms of driving experience. For instance, 355 and 550 over 993 TT and 308GTB over early Turbos. Lag and imbalanced handling are the deal killers for me.

 

Plus a million. Early Porsche turbos are great to look at but the lag makes me bananas. I won't buy one ever just because of that fact.

 

Which Boxer are you referring to? There were 3 versions: 365 GT4 BB, 512 BB, and 512 BBi.

The later 2 were about 1,000 lbs heavier than the original. The BBi was the only fuel-injected version and was also the least powerful.

The original was the one to get. Light, most powerful version, and fierce. The only drawback was the overheating at slow-speed, which can be resolved.

 

Exactly Michael. Just a good example of poor decision making and poor money management with the car being blamed in the end. I could see complaining about poor engineering if the car was ill handling, had never ending electrical problems, or suffered major mechanical problems.

 

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You are correct. I had both a new 86 930 and and a new 84 Boxer at the same time and unless the Turbo was on boost the Porsche was very slow in comparison to the Boxer. In the US don't forget Boxers were grey market so it is somewhat difficult o make comparisons of the Ferrari as there were many different tuners that altered these cars after import to the US specifications. I had the privilege to be the importer of my BBi and as such drove it in European trim in Europe, on the US docs,then on US streets in European trim prior to DOT and EPA work and must say my car drove as strong and easy as it did in Europe. It was markedly better than the 930 in speed and usability. I had also the ability to drive friends Boxers on the street and Daytona that had used other DOT and EPA engineers that after testing were not the same car as mine in fit,finish and performance. The fastest of the 930 imported to the States was the 76, but it was squillery on boost contributing to accidents, 86 improved drivability of the beast, but was slower, then worsened with time. I liked both cars, but the Ferrari was more fun to drive. Neither car did I experience any troubles.

 

I can't speak for every 355 owner, but I think most of the owners know what issues the car can potentially have way before the new issue of Forza. I bet if you asked most owners what major problems this model can have they would mention valve guides, headers, and engine out major services. Who is living in denial? How many people would buy a Ferrari and think it is going to cost them the same as it would if they bought a GM, Ford, Honda ....

Valve guides: replace with sintered steel

Headers: Many options.

Major service: 3 years recommended by Ferrari. Real world ? Depends on owner.

Forza :: Beauty & Brawn : Buyer's Guide: F355 : page 4

 

I visited the factory twice, once during the 355 era. The memory that stands out is the final quality control operation. There was a 355 standing there and next to it on a board a list of over 100 defects that they were working through. A lot of them were nits but geez, you would think that by now they would know how to build it right the first time.

 

I think it's more about the complexity/cost of what will fail. The 355 Spider was the most complicated road-going Ferrari when it was launched, and the newer ones haven't exactly been basic machines. My own philosophy is to own something vintage/classic for the manual driving experience, and something modern and under warranty -- for ease of use and performance.

Amazing story. And Ferrari was a pretty automated shop by then.