Importing White Bianco Avus 430 from Dubai

Hi all,

New to the forums since I’ve only been a 911 guy until recently (I am in my early 30’s…) I found a white bianco avus 2007 F430 spider for sale in Dubai. I’ve been kindof on the hunt for a white one recently with no luck. There are a couple white scuds available in the US but those are way outside my price point and frankly just a different car.


Now before I mention the below, I’ll openly acknowledge that I could just not get a white one and save myself an incredible amount of trouble. But, I just want one. I don’t care . Everywhere else in my life I’m disciplined and prudent, maybe I don’t have to be with my first Ferrari purchase. It’s all about the fun / what you want anyways at the end of the day. And a white and red Ferrari has always been at the top of my color combo’s for spiders.

I’ve worked with a few respec and import companies to scope out the engagement of importing the car. With the 27.5% import tax, respec fees to bring to US code, shipping, filing fees, etc. I’m looking at $60k all in putting my total cost into the car at $160k.

My guess is that in the US a clean white on red 430 is going to trade for $160-$180k (F1 transmission not manual) just given how rare the bianco avus white is. I’m wondering how buyers would view my car though having had to have gone through the US respec process. Will it significantly impact resale value? I personally think it’s awesome given how rare it is to have original bianco avus paint in the US and the car had to go through a $60k import process. It will be nearly one of a kind given how rare the color combo is here.

I could buy any other color 430 here in the US for ~$120k and do a full repaint for ~$30-$40k but honestly that’s likely in the same price point and it’s not the original paint which will undoubtedly kill resale value.

I don’t really want to take a $60k+ bath on the car so was just looking to gather general feedback on how it might affect the car value. Do you think I can sell it for effectively the same for my total cost? I mean, if there was one imported from Dubai available for $160k and everything was done properly with respective records I’d be all over it. So there must be other buyers, however the Ferrari market is its own niche. I’m just guessing original paint on an imported and reconfigured car would have more resale value than a US repainted car.


Thank you in advance and happy to provide more details / keep folks apprised on the import process if I move forward. I’m sure some of you would be interested.

As a side, there is a world for which I can qualify for show and display model for the import which would not require the reconfig but that’s a long shot.

 

It probably wouldn't go that high, unfortunately. Rare doesn't always mean valuable.
This one sold in March and had an asking price of $149,000:
https://www.reimelmotorcars.com/vehicles/434/2008-ferrari-f430-spider
If you're interested in a coupe, you might try reaching out to @Ahmed_Z who had this one for sale two years ago but then decided to keep it:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/2007-ferrari-f430-bianco-avus-29k-miles.678926/

And of course there's always @Yellow Compass (Mike) who is well known for helping members buy and sell Ferraris. If anyone can locate one in the states for you, he can. There's a many-pages-long thread somewhere on this forum full of people's testimonial's about him.

 

One of my fcars is a grey market car and I looked at another one.

when something’s coming from the gulf, you need to check if it has a speed sensor alarm. I don’t know when this started, but check it. I almost bought a car with this and it’s fixable but you have to get deep into the software to change it.

I would personally look at scuds given where your price point is. I realize you might now want one of those but I feel like I see tons of these in white.

id get a scud with a ding on the carfax circa 180-200 rather than be 160 into a grey market car.

 

Not sure what the fuss is about, as Avus was the standard white shade.....now if you were talking about Fuji I would understand the gyrations as Fuji is the best looking paint color I've ever seen on a Ferrari.....stunning

The value would be a good bit less on an imported car...

 

Unless the price point was a bargain or the car was just otherwise unobtainium, I would not be a buyer for a grey market car.

 

Buy a US car and wrap it white ...

 

If its in your budget and its the car you want....i wouldnt stress over 10k plus or minus. There are a lot of variables to price that we dont know here...so it would be anywhere from 140-160 depending on the spec/history/mileage/condition/etc.... maybe more maybe less. Too many variables to say for sure.

I wouldn't hesitate if it was in my budget and it was the car i wanted.

Way better off with a grey market car with factory paint than something repainted.... or even worse, wrapped.

And that's the best color!

 

There's this one: https://www.madisonchrysler.net/used-Madison-2006-Ferrari-430-Spider-ZFFEW59A260150327?utm_source=cars.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=cars.com_deeplink

There's a coupe in canada too. No red interior, but that's easier to change than paint.

 

This looks like a great comp and appears to be my ceiling unless the market continues to drift up (which it may). Thanks for sending this.

I will look into working with Mike. I may have been actually looking at the Fuji white which is even more rare so believe I’ll need to bring in the professionals!

 

See what you’re saying. My only issue is scuds seem to be $300-$450k based on the market for lower mileage. Pretty big difference in price and I’d start looking at other cars at that level (I.e., paint to sample GT3 tourings or 488’s for F cars).

With a ding on the carfax I feel I just inherit the sellers problem or significantly reduced buyer population but for the wrong reasons. Having a rare color combo from factory reduces buyer population but it’s for a good reason - rarity. I don’t really want to have to sell a Ferrari down the road with an accident history (even if a minor incident).

 

Dang! So close. The interior is not really what I’m looking for but good to see there are whites that pop on the market every few months or so (maybe).

I will need to clarify that my preference was actually Bianco Italian, which I believe is a more pearlescent color and rarer to find.

 

This is kindof what I was thinking. Grey market but factory original vs. full repaint. I’m less concerned about $10k here or there as you’ve pointed out. What I’m most concerned is something that will be incredibly hard to sell at market price and I take a $50-$70k hit on it to move it, if and when needed

 

Yeah, you are correct. I am a bit torn between the two whites. Avus is less attractive but still what I’m looking for. The Fuji I believe you’re referring to is the Bianco Italia correct? More pearlescent? Love it. Incredibly hard to find in F430, would certainly pay up for it if I could find it.

Right now it’s hard enough to find any whites with red interior outside of a scud. Suppose I can continue to sit on it as it seems the imported car will be tough to move. It’s one thing if I didn’t have to drop $60k in configuration and import.

 

That’s too easy and logical my friend!

all jokes aside I don’t want to wrap it. I’ve seen situations where underlying paint does get damaged. I live in Florida where it’s hot and humid which I don’t believe is ideal for a wrap. Plus it won’t be factory. Given that less than 1% were done in white part of it is just having an OEM original white.

Call me nitty I’d have to agree with you!

 

I don’t think a repaint will devalue the car as much as you think. These aren’t collectors, they’re drivers, unless you’re after something low mileage as an investment. There are enough F430 with questionable mods that only lose 10-15k off the going rate. A tasteful repaint, especially if it’s documented properly, will likely keep in line with a standard car. Look how many have Scuderia body kits or other changes that would require resprays AND new parts if someone wanted something stock. Those cars are still selling for good money.

 

Without having absolute numbers the chart published by Ferrari suggests over 3 % might be more accurate (all models 2004-2008) which means there are more likely to be 300 white spiders worldwide than 100

 

Without a doubt a color change will significantly lower the value, at a minimum it significantly lowers your serious buyer pool. On top of the fact that you have the risk of that work happening and being done correctly....and then it's likely you wont have the car for a year.

 

i can't imagine a world where a legit 430 will take a 50-70k hit, unless the economy collapses. But then everything will take a hit equally.

So unless you're paying 50-70k over....you're more than fine.

 

My first 430 was a Dubai import, unbeknownst to me when purchasing at the dealership. PPI didn’t catch it either. I found out at the DMV when the VIN search didn’t work. It had a B vs A in the vin, meaning a UAE car. Fwiw, the uae cars don’t have the battery disconnect in the front boot. You’ll also find lots of fine sand if you removed the engine bay shrouds. I tracked all the service records from the Dubai dealership and never had an issue selling it. Still brought the same money too. I was also not the first US owner.

 

Agreed. Repaints not going to be a good option for me.

 

Wow, that is interesting on several levels. Curious as to how they got the car in without a full US reconfig. Obviously not something I’m going to do. I’d consider your scenario borderline misrepresentation by the dealer.

The new buyer didn’t care about the strange VIN config?

 

I’d be paying over - probably $30k-$40k of so just inherently due to the import duty and fees. Purchase price is $100k but I could possibly sell it here for $145k if US spec (after reviewing the $150k comp that was sent in this thread).

Certainly willing to take a loss but wasn’t sure if the Dubai origin and mechanical reconfiguration work would put a giant asterisk on it comparable to a major accident/salvage title.

 

Bianco Avus (flat white), Bianco Fuji (metallic white) and Bianco Italia (metallic white) are different. I think Bianco Italia may not have been available as an option until late in F430 production but whatever, very hard to find.

 

T

There is hope! I saw a chart somewhere else on this forum suggesting 1% in the US though. Higher representation overseas balances to the 3% worldwide.

 

Depending on the year, and mine was an ‘07, they were already built to North American spec, so nothing further needed to be done. Supposedly it had an upgraded cooling system though for the desert heat, but I don’t if that was actually true? Car was great, and I explained to the next buyer about the origin of the car. It was purchased new at Al Tayer, who were kind enough to send me all service records, plus I had records from here going back to 2011, so all miles/service were accounted for.

Knowing much more when buying our 2nd 430, I performed way more due diligence fwiw. I doubt I’ll ever sell it, but if so, I didn’t want a car with a story.
Btw, we bought another one after selling the first due to serious seller’s remorse. These are fantastic cars!