Future Mondial owner

To be clear, I'm very happy to be a Mondial owner. I would never steer anyone away from purchasing one. I just think it's best to budget a hefty buffer in the purchase budget. Also, I don't think you always need to have $10k waiting in a repair fund. That's just for whatever pops up initially, IMO. Maybe budget $3-4K per year for good quality preventative maintenance through a shop. If you do your own work, maybe less.

 

I read somewhere that Porsche makes as many cars in a week as Ferrari makes in a year. So I deduce from that fact that the cars are more reliable and parts easier to come by at more reasonable prices. I have never owned a Porsche but I don't think they have rubber bands for timing belts. When one of those breaks on an F car, you will be lucky to get away with $10K repair bill.

I also read someplace that F car parts are much cheaper in the UK than in the USA.

And another consideration, if you live in a major city you will find it much easier to find a mechanic (other than the F dealer who will most surely charge you $1000 for a water pump) to work on your car. If you live in a rural area, servicing is going to be a headache. Porsche, not so bad.

But hey, if you want to pay $5 per mile driven, knock yourself out. For the money, I expect a bit more performance than you get from a Mondial.

 

Do people continue to propagate this culture of fear to purposefully to keep people out of the game or to make themselves somehow feel better about the fact that they are in the game? Either way this whole notion is getting old

Certainly $10k bills happen. Blow your diff in a TR and you easily have one, but by in large they are not common place. A prospective owner does need to know that this can happen, but should not live in fear of it. If someone pays $1k to have the water pump replaced in a Mondial, they deserve it

 

+1. And if something "catastrophic" happens then consider it as depreciation (as with any other car). Otherwise, if good times roll, then the cost of ownership stays even to say the least.

 

Dean:

Drop me a line. I am putting my 1987 Mondial coupe up for sale this month. It is not a project car. Just came out of a $5,900 major last month. Red/Black, very good condition outside and inside.

Only problem for you is that you are on the east coast and I am on the west coast.

Reason for sale. We have bought a 360, and the wife wants her spot back in the garage, so the Mondial has to go.

Drop me a line at

[email protected]

Chuck

 

or at least breakeven and in the worse case scenario you have had a blasting time

 

As the season winds down you'll see more cars with winter pricing/motivated sellers, if that helps

 

Always easier to get forgiveness than permission!!!
My post above was just meant to give an honest and unfiltered picture of how much parts cost and how things can add up. Also, while my car had been somewhat neglected when I bought it and did need some immediate attention, I also chose to fix a lot of things at the same time that could probably have gone awhile longer. That certainly ran the bill up.

I would never steer anyone away from buying a Mondial. They're awesome cars. When your wife sees the smile on your face she'll hopefully soften a bit. Abstractly buying a Ferrari doesn't make sense to people.

 

My spouse thinks its too noisy...but she gets the need for a hobby!

 

This is true. You might as well be telling her you are going to go join a monastery. Makes no sense, no upside, nothing for her in the deal.

I bet if you told her you were buying a Honda Accord for the same money, she would not have a problem with it.

If you really want one and have the means, buy it! There will never come a time, unless you win the lottery, when your wife is going to say it is OK. She will soften after a few months of seeing you enjoy it though.

If not, keep the car and get new wife, lol!
Alden

 

Yes, my Wife thinks it is too noisy and smelly while driving with the top down because she can smell the exhaust of other cars. And it messes up her hair, lol!

I had a long conversation with her when I found the right car and it was never 100% OK, but she has done two car shows with me now and "gets" the appeal of the car. She even has her own "elevator speech" that she gives to people who ask about it.

Don't get me wrong, I have a great Wife, but having that "red car" in the garage makes no sense to most women. I tried explaining it like a woman's need for shoes and got some traction if that helps, lol!
Alden

 

Wahahahahah !

 

Fixed for you!
Regards,
Jerry

 

Yup. Ditto ... ooh my hair ooooh my nails .... does my ass look fat in this? Yup it does oooh

hahaha

 

Recurring expenses too!

I am really getting some belly laughs out of this now!

How about horses? Even when you don't drive them, you still have to feed them and shovel manure! If my F car sits in the garage for a month, it costs nothing other than insurance.
Alden

 

My wife is also an awesome lady, but she's pretty frugal and just didn't get spending lots of money on cars and other things I like to collect. I solved the "wife not getting it issue" by deciding a few years into our marriage that anything I bought that was over $500, I had to give my wife the equivalent in cash to spend on whatever she wants. So when I got my Mondial, she got the equivalent of the purchase price to do with what she wanted. Fair is fair and that's hard to argue with. She still doesn't entirely get my obsession with cars, but she does like that it makes me happy and she actually is coming around to digging the cars a bit.

 

I have an 85 QV coupe with sunroof (which works most of the time). I like having the cabin which on long drives at high speed reduces the wind buffeting that I get from being in convertibles and the noise too.

If you have to find reasons to justify having a Mondial, there really are none other than...looking at and appreciating its very clean lines, sitting in the leather lined cabin, listening to the engine fire up just behind you, hearing the exhaust as you go up through the gears, driving on a wonderful curvy road, feeling the way it holds its line through curves and never varies on a straight, the solid motor that revs high and strong at speed, the confidence you have in the brakes bringing you to a smooth quick stop, the fun you have returning the smiles and thumbs up of everyone who sees you in the car, the knowledge you gain learning about the wonderful engineering and thought that went into its design and manufacture, the pure pleasure of just thinking about it being there and available to take out on a drive, any drive.

So there are no good reasons to take on a mondial that will cost money (increasingly) and require costly maintenance and is loud and attracts attention, and is barely practical for daily driving. There are no good reasons... other than you will love it!

 

And a drive, such as you describe, is a great way to put your worries behind you.

Enjoy, my friend.

 

Like you, I had been wanting a Ferrari for a long, long time. When I finally settled on a Mondial, it took me about a year to find the one that was just right for me.

My wife was very supportive. Years ago, she viewed the car hobby as a "guy thing". However, since we've successfully launched our kids, she has become much more enthusiastic - to the point that she has a vintage car of her own (1985 Mercedes 300D - yeah, I know, weird choice).

As for my Mondial, I was specifically looking for a Coupe. My requirements were:

1. Fairly long service history (mine was complete back to 1993).
2. Consistent History of Usage - No garage queens for me.
3. Preferably Not a red car. I have nothing against red, I just like other colors better.

I ended up finding a 1985 Mondial QV Coupe with 65K miles. It had a decent service history with all receipts back to the early/mid 90's. It also showed a consistent 2000 to 3000 miles per year of usage in the last 15 years. Mechanically, it was pretty well sorted with the following issues:

1. A/C Non functional
2. Sunroof non-functional
3. Passenger Window non-functional.

Sunroof and Windows are known issues, and were not a deal breaker for me. Fortunately for me, my 28YO son is a certified mechanic, and assurred me that we could fix/repair the a/c - turns out we only had to recharge it.

Cosmetically, the car is a 10footer. not perfect, but not bad. The biggest issue is lots of rock chips on the nose.

I purchased the car in Jan of 2015. Now for the part that will be of most interest to you. What has this first year cost me?

There were only 2 unexpected issues. The alternator died and one of the fuel lines started weeping. We pulled the alternator ourselves and a local generator/alternator shop rebuilt it for $113. The fuel lines we replaced for about $50 with Autozone lines.

Other than that, I've fixed/replaced numerous items, none of them critical. Oil, trans fluid, wipers, power antenna (replaced with $60 Autozone exact fit replacement), air filter, oil filter, and lift struts for all three hoods. Including tax and shipping, I estimate that I have spent less than $1000 so far this year. However, keep in mind that we (me and my 28YO son) do most of our own work.

I'm also refurbishing/re-dying my leather. The leather finish (lacquer based) was in bad shape. The underlying leather is in good shape. The cost of the refurb kit was $230 with custom color matching dye. I have a thread running here in the forum on my progress (I'm about 30% complete, and estimate about another month to finish). http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/502419-so-begins-leather-restoration.html


I still have a couple of big items on my to-do list in the next year. These are fairly costly and are something you will probably have to also do:

1. Replacing timing belts - the kit is about $1200. My belts were last changed in 2012, so I plan on doing the belts by 2017.
2. Replace/refurb the A/C compressor. It's making chattering noises at 3000 RPM. I expect this will cost me about $500
3. New Tires - Fortunately, I have standard size wheels. So probably about $600 for new rubber. If you purchase a car that only has the TRX metric wheels, count on about $500 per tire to replace. I do have the original metric wheels, but they reside in a storage room.

If you purchase a mechanically good car, and can do some work yourself, then you should have a good experience. These cars are fairly easy to work on. Parts are fairly easy to come by - many of the mechanicals are shared with Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo and other European cars of the same era.

There's nothing like the feeling of going out to your garage, and seeing your own Ferrari! Especially one that has a gorgeous and timeless design like the Mondial.

Good luck with your search!

Sid

 

Chattering noises can be a worn out A/C compressor belt. Wipe down the belt with WD 40 and it might go away, or give you a clue that it needs replacement

 

Lucky you. At least you've spares for it. DMC parts are plentiful

 

Congrats!!!
Pics? Where did you find it?