360 cost of ownership

You are going to hear allot of differing opinions on service cost. Here is my experience.

I have had the CS for 6 years. It has been very reliable. As with any car, there can be problems, but mine have been few.

As for maintenance costs, if you go to the dealer, bend over and grab your ankles. Using an independent can save a considerable amount. If you are good with a wrench, the servicing costs are minimal.

I do my own work. Yearly fluid changes are a cake walk. The belt service was straight forward, as were plugs and coils. I have not had to change a clutch, or brakes. I did have to do a clutch position sensor, which was a chore. I've been chasing a hot start problem, which has been a bit of a puzzle, as were some 'slow down' lights.

There will be a new alternator and wire harness this weekend.

In 6 years, lots of track time and lots of smiles, it has been reliable and very cost effective to run.
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Seevice costs are minimal. When i bought my car, I had no records because they took them at auction. As a precaution I did the major service plus pads,A bunch of busing and mounts for a total of 4,500 at a good indie shop near me. Imho a well bought car will pay for driving costs on the resale end. Even after 10-15,000 miles(or 3 years for you) ,id be surprised if you lost 10k(assuming price trends continue)

 

It might well repay you to look at the buying sticky at the top and look read and learn from the many similar threads over the years

 

I wouldn't worry about 30k miles at all. It's ok to drive these things. That's what they were made for. Just remember they are 15 years old. You will have some problems. If a 3k-5k repair bill is out of the question I would move on. Take care of them and they run.

 

Can't speak for the F1 aspect, but regarding all the other systems.. they're great cars. Mine has been at least as reliable as my 02' Boxster.
There's alot of BS on the web about their reliability. Mirror's shaking off, etc. (see main board) If anyone believes that.. I've got a bridge to sell. If someone lets a vibration get that bad that it affects a mirror.. that alone will tell you they're an inattentive owner. Experience with rental cars driven daily by people that beat the crap out of them vs. an owner that loves it are two different things.

30k miles isn't bad. I bought mine with 50k and having a car that has been driven has revealed issues to the past owner. Lo and behold actually using a car makes it run better!

The advice I'll give is: 1) find a mechanic that knows Ferrari's, does good work, and is fair with their pricing. Talk to him about your plans and get their feedback. There will be something that will pop up on a 13 year old hand built car. Expect it. As above, if $3-5k is not in the cards, move on.

 

Your doing exactly what I did. My son and I are enjoying the Ferrari expierience to it's fullest. So far it's been more reliable than any of my other cars of a 1/10th of the price. When there isn't any snow, it's a daily driver. Track days are so much fun, I even let my son (16) now almost 18 take it out with instruction. As long as you or he is not pushing your limits it can be very safe.

Driving a 360 looks like this every time!!

Good Luck!
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Wow. My son and i also enjoy driving together. Whenever we are together he drives. Our local Spring Drive is this weekend.
If you buy a car with unknown service history could cost you an extra $10k. In my case it was a major+fluids+heat exchanger. Now ball joints need replacing. Brakes are also in my future. You get the point.

Good luck.

 

30K is not a lot of miles, that's less than 2,500 miles per year. $10K bills can happen, I'd budget for that every year because I'm very conservative and I'd rather have piece of mind.

Annual service is about $1K
Belt service every 3 years is about $8K
I get new pads and rotors every year because I track mine. About $2K
I also get new tires every year for the same reason. About $1K

These are at my dealer and from memory so I could be a bit off.

 

That seem a bit high, should be about half that, if that:
360 Buyer's Guide : page 4 | Issue 117 | Forza

$1400.00 in parts:
http://www.ricambiamerica.com/360-30k-service-kit-performance.html

 

I bought mine from the local dealer with full service records - completed at the same dealer since it was new & always in accord with Ferrari recommendations. However, I still had > $12K in maint/repairs since my purchase 2 yrs ago (belt service + heat exchanger, $7K, F1 pump, $4K, etc.). As a frame of reference, it's a 2000 with 29996 miles; it had 25500 miles when I purchased it. It's now reliable & always a treat to drive, but costs can add up fast!! A clutch job alone can run $7K...

 

They are reliable and annual service needs are affordable. But that's not really what gets you.

At certain times, you are going to pay some pretty big bills for normal operating things.

Maybe not every year, but things like a belts, clutch, brakes, F1 pumps (I recommend the MT), stickies, bushings, a top adjustment or problem, etc...these all normal things.

If you catch yourself needing two or three of these items any one time, you can run up a $5-$10K bill real fast. Then, you will be good for another period of time before paying for another larger item expense or two.

Could be a year or two....or it could be a month later.

Buy a car that has good history. Pay for a detailed PPI with someone who really knows 360s. Find a trusted indie mechanic who lives and breathes F cars. And be prepared to write a few big checks from time to time.

Welcome to F car ownership. Its all worth it!

 

The 360 is a great car and I would not hesitate buying one even with 50K miles on the odo. On the 360 Spider, you'll have to contend with the top mechanism and that is a potential big maintenance cost so shop with care.

 

Hi,

Everyone over here's comment are very true. Ever single car comes with price for maintenance if you are no longer covered by the warranty. If unexpected bill will hit you hard, which it does to most of people, then you really should consider others. Ferrari's are expensive to maintain with no doubt. However, you will have an experience that you will never forget. Italian Super Models don't come cheap...

On the other hand, I decided to keep my MB SL after the warranty expired. This one cost me more to maintain than my Ferrari. ABC (Active Body Control) suspension keeps breaking down and I am up to about 9K to fix that one specific issue. It is in the shop as I am speaking as the warning signal came on. When you google it, you see it is an epidemic issue for MB and I am being hammered.

I have a set of Fabspeed Sports headers on hand ($600 Installation Fee), Change front tires ($650+?), Rear Brake Pads ($400+ Labor) waiting and scheduled to get it done next week and "BOOM" I got hit my SL's ABC problem again which doesn't seem to go away. I should have sold it when the warranty expired but decided to keep it. Since I have put so much into that particular car, I can'e even sell it whithout getting it fixed first.

OK. Going back to Ferraris. My Ferrari on the other hand has been super reliable besides i screwed up trying to put engine oil by myself and totally messed up. It cost me a lot to clean the engine, replace spark plugs and etc. I know I will be due soon for a new clutch, too.

As experienced F-Chatter's recommendation, Ferrari 101 is
- Get PPI done before making a purchase
- Find a great mechanic in your area that knows Ferrari's
- Expect an issue here and there as a normal car without warraty
- Some things, parts (or Most??) are more expensive than others so
you should be always prepared. But not to be scared....

It is a car and you shouldn't be afraid of driving. Do not make it a garage queen.
Enjoy the car as it will give you an instant smile on your face everytime you get in it.

I hope you find a nice car and enjoy it with your son and family. You are not adding a car when you get a Ferrari, you are adding a family member. IMHO.

Good Luck

 

Obviously anything can happy but as a rule of thumb based on mine and many others experience you are looking at about 3k a year in service provided you are starting with a car that is well sorted. and thats to do things the right way every time with a good indy mechanic.

In SoCal we are lucky to have lots of them. I was told 3k a year when i got mine two years ago and i'm right about there now and that includes replacing the clutch which is why i am at $7200 so far vs the 6k at 3 per year. I also replaced the brake pads on all 4 wheels. My car is currently fully sorted, in need of nothing and has a new clutch and brakes so i am hoping to just be looking at the belt change due this fall and a annual service next fall. If something else pops up so be it

If you cant swing the car, gas, insurance and then $3k a year for maintenance easily without a car note then i'd advise waiting, if you can, jump right in, the waters warm and the 360 is a beauty. I'm popping home at lunch to pick mine up for the afternoon

 

Hi Robert,

I am also in Orange County. Where do you get your car serviced at? RMT or Raging Bulls? Or somewhere I do not know yet? I am getting my headers, tires done probably next week. How much was changing the clutch? I have 430.

Thank you

 

I wish their was a reputable 3rd party warranty company that Ferrari owners could use for peace of mind. It's ashame that the existing warranty companies all seem shady and do not come through. I wouldn't mind paying more if I knew they would cover me when all hell breaks lose.

 

I always budget the same number for 15 year old exotics, $5k per year. Sometimes you spend it sometimes not but if you cannot set that amount aside on a yearly basis I would have second thoughts about this.

And to put it another way, $5k would be less than depreciation alone on a C7 Corvette per year

 

I agree with this. After a couple of years you may start taking on more and more of the maintenance burden and end up where I find myself now. With F-Chat and a few tech skills you can avoid being one of those people who just rolls in to the dealer and says "fix it", then waits for the bill. I have saved myself a lot of bucks by doing my own trouble shooting and asking questions on here.

I think I am a pretty good mechanic too but certain times of our lives may find us with less free time than we might need to dedicate ourselves to these fine machines. If you like to learn and also have some mechanical aptitude the 3K a year rule should be all you will ever need.

I just added oil changes to my bag of tricks and soon I am going to add hydraulic fluid flushing to the mix. I have always worked on my own brakes so when that time comes I am good there. I am not sure but I may never be set up to flush coolant so paying the dealer for this is going to persist into the foreseeable future.

I think my reality is pretty good and good for the car. Truth is no one cares more about my car than me so something like doing my own ball joints (did this recently) gives me a chance to freshen and detail parts of the car that would be ignored by a someone scrambling to maintain a profit.

I am in the process of my first oil change, brought on by a failing oil temp sensor. Nothing too tough there once you are set up to get the car oriented properly so you can work under it safely. Time is on my side though and I can afford to make progress one day only to find that I need to mail order something that I wont see for a week or so. it helps that I have a ton of other hobbies to keep me occupied.

My last major from the dealer still bothers me a bit. $6,400 bucks because in addition to all the regular stuff (a real major) I elected to replace the cam seals and had to fix a fried alternator cable that was discovered. I don't think this will be happening again though when I can get a garage lift for a couple grand and am getting more comfy working on the car all the time.

So even with that nasty major and a couple years of just fluid changes at the dealer I am still at that 3K/year figure! Even with all my free labor and F-Chat trouble shooting.

I have...
-Replaced Ball Joints (very simple),
-Fixed engine bay insulation that was coming unglued.
-Oil change (in process),
-Airbox Adjustment (previous owner had installed the GruppeM airbox heat shield wrong and was making contact with the muffler when hot. A lot of parts removal to get down to the issue and I had to modify the aftermarket heat shield to get it to work right.
-Replaced oil temp sensor
-Replaced oil pressure sensor.
-Fixed some sticky coatings in cabin of car
-I am sure I am missing some stuff

If this is a problem for you forget all about the Ferrari car and get something else. If you view this kind of approach as getting immersed into a hobby and can cover a big one time cost (clutch, catch up major service, F-1 failure, etc) you are ready to purchase. Even in my scenario, if I needed a clutch tomorrow I would up to 5K/year for three year average so this is the reality.

The car with the fewest potential systems to go wrong is a three pedal coupe with no after market mods like hacked in stereos and security stuff. A 1999 model might be the best choice of the 5 year run although many would argue that I bet.

 

I use Randy at RMT for the Ferrari as well as the Wifes GL Mercedes and My Ghibli, hes the most honest I have come across.

Clutch with Tax and all was $5100 - he does not cut corners though, TO bearing, F1 Sensor, assorted other things that he replaced along with it. Come to think of it, that price included upgrading the tranny mount to the 430 one also. He is ALWAYS doing headers, every time i am over there

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDdgiLc_1vs

 

Man I am glad I don't have a convertible! This isn't a great video IMO. The guy sort of ran right over all the torque values for the various bolts, he missed the pipe union to oil cooler work and the R/R of the oil mesh filter assembly. I think the undertray must be removed to get to all of this stuff. What kind of Molycoat grease did he lube up the orings with on the oil mesh filter re-assembly? LOL The manual says Molykote dude! So that sort of narrows it down to about 4 dozen or so Dow Chem Corp products! LOL I should watch again but won't...how did he achieve the torque for the oil filter? I use the Hill Engineering adapter that accepts my torque wrench with a straight extension. How do you rag top guys do it with that reservoir in the way?

 

I felt the same way until I took a drive with the top down. Coupled with a 3-pedal and tubi is the ultimate experience. Recently I have been greasing as many movable joints as I can find just as a pre pre-emptive against a future binding event.

But I know what you mean.