Need help with my first purchase

Many here would try to dissuade from purchasing due to low mileage and all the well-documented problems associated

You need to decide if you will keep it low mileage or not - any premium you pay for a collector car will disappear as you start to use the car and will have gone beyond 5 or 10 thousand miles

 

88 miles a year -- yikes that is ridiculous.
Alan

 

Have a thorough PPI done with a leak down test to determine where the car stands. If it has had maintenance miles yearly, you will be fine. More than likely, you will be fine no matter what. Just know that due to being a 9 year old car, you will have some things that need to be done that are affected by age, e.g., new tires (a must), all fluids (get the car up to date ASAP), perhaps some rubber components that degrade with age and heat, etc... Otherwise, you will love this car. Enjoy her in good health and don't forget to post pics of your new baby! All the best, Robert

 

How much will you drive it? How long are you going to own the car? Will it be more than 3 years? I'm glad you found a car that meets your strict criteria. Despite what many will write here, unless its a red/tan car it's not like buying a Porsche or Ford, esp if you want a 3 pedal car. You can't just go to the next dealership across town and find its twin. As above noted, you're paying for a collector car.. any miles will accellerate its depreciation. If that's not a concern to you, as it shouldn't be IMHO.. then its a moot point.

The big "risk" are parts that will dry out like seals because of not being used. You could very well have absolutely no issue.. or you could have an issue. That and the car simply hasn't been driven to discover any issues that should have been vetted (pun intended) in the first month of ownership in the warranty period. It's going to have issues.. its a used car afterall. Would I pick its twin with higher miles that was $30-40k cheaper? Yes. If this is the only car that meets your criteria, then I don't know if you have many other options except to wait and see if another comes to market....

 

A really low miles car may have issues, but they are likely to minor issues related to gaskets and other materials that age and dry out, as opposed to, say, an engine or transmission that's on it's last leg. So, it may need some work, but at least it will not be major work that will cost major dollars.

As for buying a really low mileage car, I would love it as it would enable me to drive a lot more and still have a "low miles" car. I bought my scud with 7500 miles and in less than a year I'm already approaching 10,000 miles, which will negatively affect its value. If the car would have had only 800 miles when I bought it, I'd be able to put 2000 miles on it a year for 4 years without crossing 10,000.

 

I think the other guys have commented on the low miles situation, so I'll skip that.

As for the procedures of buying the car, you should be able to send it for a PPI without committing to a specific price (I did). Flying out to see the car should be the last step, which would essentially make it a trip out to close the deal. Have as much of the due-diligence completed in advance and by "experts," so that you can review the information before making your "go/ no-go" decision.

Good luck!

 

Everyone else has covered the mechanical issues of the low mileage, so no need to revisit that, however, I have an issue with paying a huge premium for ultra low mileage.

If your going to mothball the car as a future collectible, that's one thing, but with your plans of driving it 2K a year, that's not your intention, so I wouldn't pay such a high price for such a low use vehicle.

 

I don't have any experience with servicing 430s but as long as you are ok with doing a big service ($5-$10k?) to change all rubber bits/ seals/gaskets etc I would think the car should be fine. You should also check when the last major service was done.

I guess my main thought is that I would pay no premium for the low mileage. The low mileage is in fact a liability not an asset. You are planning to drive it which is GREAT - why would you have a 430, one of the best driver's cars of all time and not drive it - duh.

In terms of PPI I would flat bed to nearest Ferrari dealer, they may be able to check service history and if recalls etc have been done.

 

It makes no sense to me at all to pay such a high premium for an ultra low mileage car which you plan to drive and then sell after 5 years or so, especially when it's about as far away from you as you can get and still be in the same country.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time shopping for your dream car, but one quick check of 2004 to 2006 shows plenty of nice cars with less than 15,000 miles at prices thirty, forty, fifty, and in one case sixty thousand dollars less than the asking price of the car you're considering. Many of these cars are MUCH closer to where you live and quite a few are within reasonable driving distance where you can kick the tires yourself before investing anything more than some gas money.

And if you don't have your heart set on a manual, there are more than a hundred choices on just the one site I checked. There are more than 250 to chose from if you include all years. Surely you can find something you will like closer to home, cheaper, and a LOT easier to inspect and buy.

 

If you want this car, offer a deposit, and negotiate the price AFTER the PPI, otherwise you are negotiating on something you don't know the condition of... How could you possibly know what you want to pay until you know more about what you are buying?

just my .03 worth

GL on your purchase.

S

 

Vette2Modena,

Feel free to PM me, as I have that exact car and would POSSIBLY be interested in selling. Red/tan 360, 6 spd. shields, daytonas, red calipers, standard wheels etc.

 

The car has 800 miles? These tests could be passed on if someone knowledgeable checks out and drives the car. If it has always been in the dealership network when serviced or stored that will alleviate a lot of unknowns. A new car will feel and drive new. The trouble is that you won't have the experience to know so you will need some help. Be prepared for the roll of the eyes when you insist on any test like this on a new car.

What will the values mean to you?
Has the car even been broken in yet?
Was it serviced every year or just stored?
If serviced that is a LOT of records to get your hands on.
How many owners? one? zero?
Florida car huh?
I heard it can be humid there
How was it stored the last 9 years?

Here's where I get messed up inside my mind.
The car has only had 4 tanks of gas in it in 9 years. Considering this I need to know EVERYTHING" about the last owner and how he protected the car from breaking down from lack of use.

I am a bit of a hypocrite here because I totally understand wanting a new to me car that was also pretty close to new. I like the idea of the car and being a gated manual it is a smart investment in my mind since it is so rare. Good luck!

HA!! Nice one Curt!

 

Of course, you don't want to buy a car which makes you unhappy, and we all have that "perfect" car in mind when we go shopping. But I wonder if it's time to consider making some reasonable compromises, especially if you plan to own this car for only 5 years. You've been shopping for 15% of that time already.

Like you, I wanted a tan interior and shields. But I found a good car at a good price with black interior and without shields. After owning the car for a while, it doesn't bother me a bit that I didn't find that perfect car and all the time you've been shopping, I've been having a ball in my slightly less then "perfect" car. I know I'd regret not having the classic gated manual; that was a must. But living without some of my wishes doesn't distract a bit from the experience.

The grill and caliper color preferences you want are dead simple (and not too horribly expensive) to change. The seats too, with a bit more money. Even the shields can be retrofitted if they're really important. And, if you can convince yourself that you wouldn't hate an interior other than tan, then all you need is a red manual. If you can save 30 thousand dollars over your current find, that will buy a lot of caliper paint. Anyhow, you get my point.

I wanted a nice Ferrari a lot more than I wanted my "perfect" Ferrari and I'm glad I adjusted my long wish list and stuck with a very short list of "must have" items. It really boiled down to red-manual for me once I had an honest talk with myself.

Tomorrow I'm going for a nice 400km drive up to Lago Maggiore (northern Italy) and back to have lunch with friends. You could be going to Big Bear or Tahoe. In other words, don't let the shopping get in the way of the driving.

 

Ill play the opposite side here...

I waited 1.5 years to find my "right" car... I wanted red/tan 6 spd... with shields, daytonas, etc. and I waited and waited until the right car came up.. and I am damn glad I did.

 

It's well known that garage queens create problems...when I bought my F360 with 9K miles the first thing that the master technician at the Ferrari dealer told me..."please drive her, the worst thing that you can do to a Ferrari is to let it sit ont he garage"...so do a PPI if this is the car you like...and be prepared as they mentioned before to replace gaskets and rubber pieces that dry rot by the lack of use and that you only discover once you start driving it as it should....for mine I needed to replace some gaskets that looked fine during the PPI but started leaking after 1000 miles of spirited driving...after that, I think that my F360 feels better the more I drive her...

It's like two weekends ago at at C&C and I was chatting with an owner of a 2012 F458...I am still in shock when he told me that his car only has 600 miles!!! He was so paranoid on people getting too close to the car....come on! Spending 280K on a car just to say that I have a Ferrari on the garage...I don't thing is worth it...

I don't use mine as a DD but at least I drive her twice a week if the weather is nice...

 

Tim, I'm surprised you're entertaining selling... but I guess to keep life interesting, there are other things to experience.

Vette2Modena, Tim was very particular in his search as well. It might be a good avenue for you to consider...

 

You said you were looking for someone in Naples to check on the car?

I've heard Formula1 are great. But if they are stacked, try Gabe @ Naples MotorSports.
He is Ferrari trained and has the tools. And those guys @ Naples MotorSports are very honest.

Disclaimer - I have no affiliation with NMS - just a satisfied customer.

 

So not a Ferrari authorized dealer then? Maybe poke around in the region section of this place to ask about Formula 1's reputation. That's what is on the line with a PPI. Although in your case they will have a big out on certain things that may go wrong since it could be due to sitting around. I am thinking leaks and dry seals and such.

 

This way works, however, you don't know what the dealer expects for the car before you spend the cash to PPI it.

I personally go the other way, negotiate the car as there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, assuming they are okay with the agreed price at that point, schedule the PPI and then renegotiate depending on what the car needs. I would be up front that this is your intention and make sure they are cool with it. How do you know the dealer is going to bend on the asking if you don't do some back and forth first? Communication is everything. Just my opinion.

 

You're considering a "collector" vehicle with ultra low mileage, the dealer can't produce any maintenance records, yet he expects you to pay a premium of tens of thousands of dollars over market for this special car?

And he is OK having the car inspected by his mechanic but has "personal issues" with the mechanic you prefer for a PPI?

Time to dust off your copy of Pink Floyd's "THE WALL" and play the track entitled "RUN LIKE HELL".

 

For Mozzy!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uf_rTLqj0o&feature=kp]Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell - YouTube[/ame]