TESTAROSSA

HELLO TO ALL,
I'm new to the chat, and am looking for advice, suggestions etc.
regarding he purchase of a Testarossa. I am considering 1988, as I
understand that that year had a number of significant upgrades.
What years would you guys suggest, and what are the various pitfalls?
Is it a necessity that the cam belts be changed every 5 years?
Up to now I have had British sportscars, but am ready to make the plunge.
Also, any thoughts rergarding values.
Thanks to all,
Danny B

 

Welcome! I think that mechanically 85-91 are pretty much the same.

85-6 had the single high mirror. 87 had the dual low mirrors and knock offs (which I love). 88-91 had 5 bolt wheels.

What ever you get make sure that the car has a complete history and has been taken care of. There are alot of 'cheap' cars out there. But there really is no such thing as a cheap Ferrari. A cheap car that hasn't been cared for can cost you a bunch to make correct.

I have TR for sale....email me if you want more info

Ciao... Dino

 

ACTUALLY I HAVE AN 88.5 TESTAROOSSA...THEY HAVE THE 5 BOLTS FOR THE WHEEL...ANY TR BELOW 88.5 HAVE THE ONE LUG

BRUCE

 

With all Ferrari's, or all cars really, the most important things are current condition and past history. Don't worry about number of owners, mileage, age etc.

Stretch yourself to get the best example of the chosen car you can find. It rarely pays to get a cheapy and tart it up, unless you have mountains of spare time and bottomless resources at your disposal.

Get at least two opinions from independant knowledgable specialists/dealers before buying.

Good luck...have you considered a Boxer.......similar performance, superior interior quality, infinitely more exclusive (rarer) and timeless design......I've got my 512BB carb car for sale at www.theferraricentre.co.uk

 

Grant as with any car its important to have a mechanic check the car before you buy. Especially with an Italian exotic as you do NOT want to pay to restore it!!! I think the weakest kink in the TRs is the trans cus theres a lot of power going through there & it has to make a 180 turn which put a lot of stress on it

 

I have a 1986 Testarossa and love it. It has the high mounted mirror on the driver's side and the single lug wheels and the third stop light integrated into the engine lid. The high mounted mirror really makes the car look exotic but it is kind of hard to see around when you want to make a left turn. The single lug wheels are unique but they limit your choices for wheel upgrades. But, I gotta tell you, when you get in and start up that boxer 12 engine with fuel injection and 48 valves the wheels and mirrors just don't seem that important.

Make sure that you get a car that has had the 30,000 mile service performed by a dealer and have it documented and make sure that it was done recently. This is the most expensive part of ownership. The previous owner of my car drove it about 10 miles to work each Friday. I drive the car about 4 times per week and put about 800 miles per month on it. The more I drive the car the better it runs. Get a car that has been driven.

Good luck and have fun with your search. Searching is addictive. I'm already thinking about my next Ferrari. Perhaps an F355 in yellow?
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Dino,
Thanks for your welcome.
Could you please email info regarding your TR.
Email address is
[email protected]
Thanks, and regards,
Danny B

 

I too have a 1986 TR and I love it. I have not done the 30,000 mile service yet...as I only have driven the car some 10,000 miles since I bought it. I strongly recommend it. Make sure the car you buy has been well cared for. It is a unique design and some love it and some love to hate it. I LOVE it. Good luck

 

Welcome Danny, I have a 90 TR and love it! I’d possibly disagree with one point which is often made; that you should buy a car with the 25k/30k major service done.

I’m very wary of majors done pre-sale. Just put yourself in a seller’s position… you’re having the work done and the service shop calls up (as they always do!) and says we’ve noticed x, y and z, what do you want us to do? Of course you say forget it, just get the service done and the stamp the record thanks.

Personally I’d rather negotiate a discount for the lack of major and have the work done myself. That way I get to make the decisions on what needs doing.

Steve.

 

Welcome also. I used the information from this chat group and FOUND the car I wanted. 1988, 5 lugs, 7700 miles, all records, all service including the 30K. Got it for under $70. The market for a lot of cars is a buyers market still. A lot of High Doller toys are coming up due to the losses in the IRA's. We just passed on a very nice XKE that was in the 30-40 range last year for 22k. the Old EBAY route can work BUT WATCH OUT. Keep asking the questions even if you think they are dumb, I did and it saved me a lot of time and Money!
Good luck and hope you find one.
Ps picture of the cars as we unloaded it.

 

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all your help!!
Does the 30k service include a belt change?
Also, anyone familiar with the 88 at Cooper Classic Cars,
it is currently on Ebay.

 

Just remember to be patient. The right car will come along, and the search is always a blast. The TR is a good choice though.
Erik

 

I have been eyeing the Testarossa lines, too.
Yes, a major service (30K) should include belt change.
I'd get the 5-lug version (88.5-91); I have read comments that the single lug wheels can come off.

 

the 30,000 major includes the belt change and some people advise to change the water pump at this moment since the engine is already out of the car, the only way to replace is by dropping the motor down. Also I bought my 88.5 testarossa and the car was still a single lug wheel model, and no they will never come off, you could actually place it in place and tighten with you hands and go, they will tighten with the rotation of the wheels as you drive, it is more of a problem to get them loose, this is what my old retired ferrari mechanic told me when he saw my car. Also of major importance is this, a cheap testarossa is a "no buy" car, also a low miles testarossa is a major "stay away" car, I bought mine with 8,000 miles in 1999 and with the 15,000 service done 2 days before purchase by a Ferrari dealer, my experience was that the car was visiting the dealer service shop almost every two months and sometimes more often than that for small things, the dealer was nice and many things they fixed for free, later on they did discounts for me. In november of 2002 they did the 30,000 major when the car had close to 29,000 miles and the bill was over 12,000 dollars, thats including new tires that of course are not part of the service but I did save big on the air compressor which is a 1,800 dollars from the dealership, I found a brand new one for $220, and if any of you need one I can find them for you at $1000. Also I had my air compressor rebuild so I saved there also big money, the reason fro this expensive major is that the car was seating for too long, so be careful that when you buy a low mileage testarossa with a 30,000 major done , maybe they are doing only what the 30,000 service is but maybe they aren't doing all that the car really needs at that time, then you buy but you will need to invest time and more money, this is even more important for those buying a car with low miles and the dealer or seller says that the car has the 15,000 service just done or will do when you buy and it will be included in the purchase price, the 15,000 service is nothing when compared to the 30,000 that the car will need. If the car is any testarossa with less than 15,000 miles then insist that you want the 30,000 major included and if the car is got less than 15,000 miles then it is a must have it done before you buy. If not you will pay a lot much more later on and you will feel terrible about it.

 

also I wanted to say that I bought my car from a ferrari dealer and it was inspected there and serviced there, even when the car had another 15,000 serviced done a few years earlier by another ferrari dealer, the surprise was when they dropped my engine down for the 30,000 major, the car had only three screws with nuts holding the engine in place!

 

Thanks for your insight.
12K!! wow, is that typical?

 

Hi,

i have my 87 Tr since 1998. have got 2 engine out services in the meantime but never cost me 12k Usd. Have to say i am not living in the States, but Switzerland is definitely not the cheapest place on hearth.

Incidentally have checked cost of engine out service with Ferrari dealer Motor s.r.l. in Modena (5 hrs drive from my Home) and the price was basically the same as in Switzerland.

I do enjoy every single moment in my TR.

Plip

 

The dealer says that a 30,000 major should be around 5,000 to 65,000 dollars, but I know of 2 other owners paying something over 10,000 dollars, my guess is that this high $ majors are due to low mileage cars that when they are sold with 15,000 or 30,000 majors they are not "completely done" or they do a real major service but the car will need more than just that to be the way its supposed to be. It might be better to buy without the service included or done and lower the purchase price by 10,000 dollars and have the service done after purchase and keep an eye on top of it while its in the shop. I think that my next major will be in about 2 years and maybe then I will only have to spend 6,000 dollars. Also my major took 81 hours of labor. The good thing is that my major was done by a F1 mechanic who was in the Ferrari team this past 6 years, so I feel a special thing towards the car now.

 

that was $6,500

 

Testacojones (et Al.) -- If you click the "edit" icon in the lower right corner of your post (within 60 minutes of the original post) you can correct the typos/mistakes without adding another post -- I do it all the time ...

On the TR major service cost, I have no doubt that my local (US) authorized F dealer could easily manage to exceed $10K; however, I went with an Independent @ $4.5K (which included front main seal, real main seal, clutch slave cylinder rebuild, and shift shaft seal). An interesting note is that he pulled the engine out the top by first removing the clutch housing.