Prices on the rise big time

Wow. What a shame.

Give it a few years and that will be reversed.

In our market (yes I know you don't care about it) 458s, 430s and the like are a dime a dozen.

It won't be long and the dealers will be begging for TOP QUALITY 355s.

 

Hagerty operates the same way. I had my GT5-S appraised and for my 73 L I set the value. Would put my 993 S and 355 with them as well but I can't due to state insurance regulations(both of these cars are to new).

 

I think it depends on the dealer and the individual seller. Some might hold until they get what they are asking while others might take what they can get and move on.

 

@Robb: the 355 doesn't rise with the 933.....the 933 in Europe is stabilising (45-50K $), the 964 however is a huge rising star (just sold mine after 7 years). The 355 in Europe is not rising at all (due to the economics?). In Holland however, sellers believe they are selling 'golden' cars: average price 55K (70K dollar), and those are really bad cars! None of them have had the valveguides done yet! They are for sale now more than a year, so I guess people are fed up with those prizes!
I just missed a 20K mile GTB at the official dealer: $ 65....
I believe this was the last decent 355 for sale in Holland......so I bought a 996 GT3 mk2....and those are also rising stars in Europe, especially the mk1, but the mk2 is technically the better car! 355 can't compete with a 996 GT3 (I hope )

 

I guess that depends on what you call a dealer. Most BMW dealers are not interests is 1995-99 BMWs either.

Currently there are 46 355 for sale on Cars.com; 38 are offered by dealers. 7 car individual sellers. Of those 7, 5 are under $60k.

27 cars are offered for over $60k. Of those, 2 are from private sellers.

Of the 38 dealer cars, 5 are Ferrari dealers.

The highest priced and lowest mileage cars are from dealers.

Honestly I don't know what this has to do with anything except wasting time until the last 30 laps of the NASCAR race. It's like I said. A couple of months go by and a new what's my car worth thread starts up that proves nothing more that we are bored and have nothing better to do at the moment. It's an argument without a purpose.

 

Dudes! Cool it!

Your ( I'm) driving used sports cars. Run them, enjoy them, fix them. Love them.

STFU!!!!!

 

Let me try to add - dare I say it - an intelligent take on the current market....

If you were a Big Swinging Dick back in 1995 and you wanted to drive the "king of the jungle" sports car, your choice was essentially a 993 Twin Turbo or an F355. For purposes of this discussion, I am leaving out 288GTO's, McLaren F1's, etc. I'm talking top-tier, mainline production supercars of the day.

The 993TT was not quite as expensive back in the day and indeed it depreciated more early on. However, with the extraordinary rise in 911 prices over the last 2-3 years, a very nice 993TT will now set you back $140-150K. A time-capsule, "prom night virgin" will cost you $180-200K.

Both cars are similar in that the cars that succeeded them (996TT and 360) were arguably better on paper, but they don't seem to instill the same passion and excitement among enthusiasts.

Fast forward to 2014 and collectors and enthusiasts don't want 996TT's or 360's (for the most part - flak jacket on!), they want 993TT's and F355's. In my opinion, this makes the F355 very undervalued. How can it's contemporary of back in the day that cost less originally now be worth twice as much? If a 1989 Porsche Speedster is now worth $200K on a slow day and a 1994 Speedster is $225-250K, how can a creampuff F355 be worth a penny less than a hundy?

If you want to stay within the marque for comparisons, I just sold a 365GTC/4 that was a very boring car to drive. I got what I thought was a king's ransom for the car, and then it promptly went up another $75K in the 8 months since I sold it.

My take is that the F355 (and 550M) are both "crossover" cars. Not quite vintage, as they have the modern build qualities, performance and amenities. But they aren't new by any means - in fact, they are just getting old enough that they are quickly becoming cool and also quickly becoming very, very hard to find.

As a datapoint, I bought a 4K mile 1999 F355B with an F1 tranny in early September, and I have already had one major collector scratching at my door to buy the car at a substantial premium to what I just paid for it. This guy has 50+ cars in his collection and has a pretty good sense for market trends btw.

I agree that prices are rising - in fact I just bought a nice 1997 gated F355B yesterday, so I put my money where my mouth is.

That's it for now guys..... just some feedback from in the trenches. Happy Sunday to all!!

 

+1

Thank you Rob for being able to elaborate on what I was thinking when I started the post.

I was merely trying to encourage those that dream of owning a 355 to move swiftly or forever hold your peace. I'm for driving them, and being a good steward for the model and marque, taking road trips and enjoying the "experience" of life.

I'm not an investor or looking at this as a way to sell later for a profit. I'm in for the long haul. I love the car. I would hate to see the dreamers and other enthusiasts get priced out. That's all.

The 993 c2s and 993 turbo are my favorite air cooled cars and I see many similarities in why people are drawn to them and the 355.

Robb

 

I have been thinking about possibly selling my 1998 355 F1 GTS, but I am going to wait for the prices to rise.

Yes my car is an 8,000 mile car stuck in a cocoon with a red nightgown on.

Come 2018 she will be a classic. I bought her new and I am in for about $180K with tax and service. It is a well sorted no story car. Time will tell I guess.

Cars like my first Ferrari, a 1989 328 GTS are selling for a lot more than the lower end of the current 355 market.
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I agree that the 993's and the 355's are similar. Both are beautiful cars and seem to evoke more passion than their improved successors. However, the 993's do not have the perceived maintenance expense that the 355's are tagged with which can ward off potential buyers.

Congratulations on your 355 purchases by the way. I don't know if the market as a whole can be predicted by the collector offering you a substantial premium on a super low mileage 355. Cars that are in great condition with low mileage usually tend to bring a premium especially in the Ferrari world. Ford GT's are another story.

 

I have the same car (year & model) and the sticker was $146k.

With 8k miles, how much could you have in service unless you do a major every 3 years which I doubt

 

Just noticed that Joe finally sold his 98 spider F1. Last listed ask was $60k. Assuming that is what he got it's pretty close to the FML data. Note that he originally listed his car back in April of 2013. So 1 1/2 years to sell it. Anyway, list that as a current private sale data point.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/ferraris/406153-1998-355-f1-spider.html

 

John, Joe's car was far off the curve. Don't know why....I could never understand why that car was not selling except it was a spider

 

How much a car cost new has little to nothing to do with its value as a collectible.

(Ask anyone who "invested" in a McLaren 12C or any production Aston Martin built during or after the Ford ownership... or who didn't order the big-engined muscle car back when they cost about the same as station wagon.)

If the window sticker is the rationale for 355s going up, I think we need to come up with something else.

 

Saw that as well. Interesting to confirm that Spiders carry a premium over GTS, with Berlinettas coming last. Also interesting to see that prices couldn't care less about transmission type

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

The widow sticker doesn't matter to me. The rarity of a particular car, and it's condition, and use determine the value of any collectible car.

The best 355s will demand a higher price over time.

As the owner of a 2000 Porsche 996 my personal view is the drastic changes in styling from the 993 platform turned a lot of people off. The 993 4S was a much rawer, more connected car than my 996.

 

No. Mostly because it was an F1 which is the only reason it isn't in my garage.

 

Doubtful but what ever makes you sleep well at night...

 

Supply and demand?

 

Exactly. That is why when Porsche went to the 997 they went back to the 993 styling.

I usually try to buy cars with low mileage for some of the above reasons.

 

Sell now and cash in because tomorrow the bottom will fall and reality will set in once again.

 

No..its because it was a spider and f1!..yeah sure nobody wants a spider or f1..spiders and f1 both suck..thats just you too!!

 

I am not sure why this is even a topic. If anyone buys a 355 or 550 (as mentioned) because they are "good investments" shouldn't be buying one. Who cares if prices go up. Here's a clue: if you have a car you love and the price goes up, you have to sell it to realize that appreciation and then you longer have that car you love.

Buy them, drive them, maintain them, love them. Don't care what they're worth. None of these are cars you buy for investment. If you buy a car for investment, it's a daytona or 275 GTB, etc. not these.

 

Well.....I DID want a spider and I DID want a F1. So, I bought one 😃

 

i agree with you completely and dont feel at all prices are on the rise much, let alone big time.People should be buying a car because of the love of the car and to be analyzing all this why somebody thinks a car was on the market for a long time because of this or that..maybe its because of all issues colors, body style, trans.. i feel it just took time to find someone who was looking for all these..Too each his own!!..All you guys can think you have the only option thats right?..Come on now!!..Thank god everybody does not have the same taste or wants..That would be very boring!!..I would never buy a coupe.. Thats just me..To somebody else that could be exactly what they want..The least color combo I would want is red with tan, but thats just me!!..To somebody else that could be exactly what they are looking for..I realize this, but perhaps others dont.They think their configuration is the one and only!