Finally Shopping for 430 coupe

Hi guys, first of all I want to apologize if any of my questions come across naive or dumb. I have finally reached a point where I am looking for the car I always wanted - F430 Coupe. So I did some research in the past few months and finally stumbled across this site where I read some great articles. So I hope you guys can help me steer in the right direction.

Questions I have in my mind:
1. I have been reading a lot about how bad the F1 transmission is and how the clutch goes bad and all that? How much of that is true? I mean it obviously depends on your driving habits and how much you put wear and tear on the car. So logically if someone drives like how this car should be driven, what is the lifespan of a general F1 clutch?

2. Also, I read where you can look how much clutch life is left (in %) somewhere. How much of that reading is true?

I am looking for a used 2005-2007 because I read that they changed the brakes to ceramic standard in 2008 and as I won't be taking this car to track, I really don't need ceramic brakes.

So the most important question - what should I exactly look for when shopping for one? Please help me here. Things which come to my mind?

1. Full service history? Can someone actually provide correct information about the services to be done on F430. I am reading diff information everywhere. Is 10K major service and then another at 30K? And in between you can change Oils and stuff yearly or depending on mileage?

2. Number of owners? Again it's kind of illogical to ask because there could be 3 owners who kept it like a baby and one owner beat the **** out of it. But ideas?

3. How many existing miles is a good ball park to aim for? I read the more the miles the better because a lot of glitches would be fixed by now. True?

4. F1 clutch life remaining? Or may be new clutch recently? Ideas?

5. How about brake pads? When do the car ideally need replacement? Also if changed recently, the better.

6. How about tires? How often you got to change all 4?

I am really sorry for all these qs's but if I am getting the car I have always wanted, I want to get it as close to perfection as possible.

And I am really not bothered about regular maintenance and all that. Every car has got it so no arguments there. I would definitely be driving this car as my normal car and not buying to put it in my garage. I enjoy driving and it will definitely won't be a show piece.

Thanks again guys in advance for any info I can get and if you know any dealer or someone who is selling around Houston. My target is to get it as soon as I get the one I am looking for. I am willing to wait because I want the correct car not just because I want one.

 

Can someone please help me with the above questions?

 

You've answered most of them yourself. Modern Ferraris are not different than any other performance cars, buy the best you can afford, do a PPI, stay on top of the maintenance.

 

+1
And use the search feature

 

Thanks guys. I did try the search feature but just couldn't find anything specific. The information is all over the place and it's different.

So I was just thinking may be someone here can just tell me in nutshell what to look for.

 

OK Abe, I've owned my '05 since new but it is a stick. I can answer most of your questions.

Service by the book calls fluid and filter changes plus inspections annually. At 30K or 10 years, a big service is called for which includes more stuff such as spark plugs, accessory belts, etc. This is not very expensive for a Ferrari.

I would be more interested in condition and history than mileage and # of owners. This model is pretty bullet proof.

I have tracked mine, so I have replaced brakes. A set of pads installed was about 1000. last time I had them done. If a car is not tracked, I would expect the steel brakes to last a very long time.

I still have the original clutch at 27K. Since it is a manual, I can't get a readout. My understanding is that readouts are "ballpark" at best. F1 clutch life varies greatly depending on the driver and use. Low speed crawling up hill driveways is supposed to wear them pretty quick. Normal or even spirited driving shouldn't cause much wear.

I can't speak about the paddle car operations. Most people like them.

Dave

 

OK it is simply not sensible to suggest that these questions have not been asked before- do you think you are the first person to try to buy a 430 ?

Different people have different opinions so one answer may suggest a different clutch life to another

Similarly one man's tire life will be very different to another's and vary with brand and you will wear out rears more often than fronts

Some folk insist on no mileage and others know it can take 50 000 miles for a Ferrari engine to be fully run in - I'd try to see 2000 miles a year

Voicey may be English (!) but the information on his site is very useful https://aldousvoice.com/

And a tip for using search here is to make it as simple as possible - often just one word is best and restricting to thread title can help

 

I think number of owners, etc. doesn't really matter too much. It's all about the maintenance history of the vehicle.

Dan's video is a good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEUlZ2-zrBA

Things I would look for:
ball joints/tie rods especially on an older car
which headers (manifolds) are on the car - aftermarket or original mk1/mk2
sticky buttons

if you do manage to test drive, you get a feel for the F1 gears by seeing how easily it drops into gear or if there's any slippage when setting off.

I tend to aim for the 20K mile mark in terms of used Ferraris from the 2000 era - used just enough to keep parts ticking over.

 

Not realistic, because a lot of what you'll find is opinion, not hard science.
For example, if you are looking for the definitive answer to your first question "how bad is the F1 trans...? You won't find it. There ar many very different experiences with these cars.
You have to do your own due diligence from reading lots of different opinions and decide what makes sense to you.

 

Thanks all. Sorry for naive questions as I mentioned before. This all helps.

So I have found a car - but the only issue I see is it is driven almost 17000 miles in the last 17 months. 15k service was done by independent shop and it has almost all the service paperwork. 4 owners. He serviced it since 2015 end till now with oil and filter changes and all that with paperwork from the same shop which did 15k. It has been serviced at the same place since 2015. Condition look fine in pictures at least. The mileage now is 28k and clutch wear is 50% left. Still on the first clutch which is kind of hard to believe. He is asking for 115k which is obviously high considering the mileage and the 30K full maintenance coming up.

I have seen cars as low as 95k which have around 30k miles and some even have maintenance service done. But again, not all are perfect. If one is missing Bluetooth then the other is missing a service record.

Thoughts on the 115k one? Any advice will be very helpful. Thanks.

 

what year is the car? I paid $116 for a 9k mile 2007 optioned to the hilt with over 60% clutch and new tires

 

Price seems high in my opinion as well. Not sure what happened to the F430 market...maybe the 488 being turbo is driving the prices of the NA cars to hold / go up.

50% clutch if driven right throughout it's life doesn't seem too farfetched to me.

 

Hope this helps

 

I paid 98k for my 05' CCB coupe with 19k miles and 65% clutch.
Records were missing on mine, which dropped the price. PPI came back that it needed some items.. I had the money to fix them, so it wasnt a big deal.

 

Clutch job is only $5k? Are you sure? If so not too bad then.

 

Hope this helps

 

Closer to 6k, but it will usually be more because there's always small stuff here and there that you will want to take care of while the car is apart to that degree.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not something to prevent one from buying a F1.

 

Clutch kits from Ricambi is $3200 USD
https://www.ricambiamerica.com/f430ckit-f430-f1-clutch-combo.html
I cant imagine that its more than 10 hours labor to swap. Even at 150/ hour its under 5k.

 

The lowest # of hours I've been quoted for a clutch change is 16, usually the ranges are in the 24hr +

 

Wow... that is crazy... 12 hours to take it out and 12 hours to put it back....
What are these guys union? You should be able to rebuild 1/2 the car with that kinda time... LOL

 

I think you are right. My car had a rear main seal replaced under warranty which required R&R on the clutch. It was done in less than a day.

Dave