Will I be punished on a brand new '04 360 spider for $205k (excluding options) if the 420 is launched in '05? Should I wait for the 420 model and can anyone guess at what it might cost?
Not on the spider. i believe that the coupes will take a much bigger hit than the spiders since the first 420 model will only be available in coupe. the spiders usualy keep their values much better than coupes. my 04 spider will be up for sale in January if interested.
My feeling is that the 420 will be so hard to get for those not on the list, that people who want one will buy a 360 and get on the waiting list. So I would think that the fist model year of the 420 should boost the 360 just a bit. This would be true for the coupe and the spider.
Topdown Buy the 2004 spider. You won't get hurt. The only reason not to buy the 2004 spider would be because you are a "preferred customer" and the dealer would sell you one of the first 420's. As for the 420 price, looking back at the 348 to 355 then 355 to 360, the price increase was around 5-7%. Not much of an increase. Here's something to think about. My local dealer started a "list" a couple of years ago for the 420. The dealer already has deposits from 82 buyers!!!!
Whenever Ferrari introduces a replacement model the value of the previous model goes up for a year or two. This was true when the 355 replaced the 348 and when the 360 replaced the 355.