'95 355 GTS @ LEXUS DEALER IN MASS

Very odd. This same Ferrari is currently listed on ebay, #2487594267. At $62k and "reserve not met". Looked like a hell of a buy for 59k!

 

This sounds remarkabley like one I looked at in the beginning of the summer at Patrick Saab. Check for an older post regarding that car. If it is the same car, it has been on the market for sometime. The price has been coming down for good reason. If you want, since I live not far away, I'll check it out for you. PM me.

Tom

 

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15008&highlight=Patrick+Saab

 

Just got back from seeing the car. Sorry to be posting so late, but my wife and I neeed a good dinner and a good bottle of wine to recover.

Yes, this is the same car that I looked at in May. It belongs to the son of the owner of multiple car dealersips in the area. He is the second owner. The car was originally a Palm Beach car but moved, with the original owner, to NYC.

According to the dealership which now has the car, it has had the 15K service. This was not the case when I looked at the car in May. The Lexus dealership says it has the papers for the 15K from Ferrari New England to the tune of 6K. I was told when I saw the car in May that service had been done by:

1. A certified Saab mechanic
2. KTR Performance
3. Ferrrari of New England

At that time, no paper work was forthcoming for any service. I assume the Saab mechanic to be the case as the owner's father owns a Saab dealership. Evidently since that time the 15K was done. When I saw the car originally it had about 17K on it.

I had a much better chance to look at the car tonight. Starting with the interior. It has been in the rain or underwater. The vinyl surrounding the heater controls is severely wrinkled and lifting. The paint is flaking off the ashtray cover and the shift gate is heavily rusted. Although I did not drive it, the gear shift seemed to balk into first gear, Perhaps this is normal in a 355 but my 328 never did this. The leather on the instrument pod shows signs of damp and extreme shrinkage. The entire back portion has pulled away from the dash. The car smells musty. I'm sure there are many reason this could be, I assumed it was from wet, but it could be storage as well.

The seats appear fine and have the wear you would expect with these miles. Over all, the car, and interior, are filthy. The tops of the sun visors are heavily wrinkled and carry the impression of the top clamps. Again, this could be normal.

Exterior: First of all, it's not a true Spider. It has a targa top. The top is damaged on the rear center. There are two large gouges in the top which have removed the vinyl and possibly gouged the fiberglass. The driver's side door, front bumper/spoiler and rear bumper have been repainted. The color is close, but not perfect. The car has been heavily bottomed on the front bumper. All our spoilers have scrapes, it's the nature of the beast, but this one has heavey scrapes and a serious gouge down the center. It doesn't show cosmetically but is very apparent when you get on your back under the car.

The drivers side door, front and rear bumpers have very poor panel alignment. The rear bumper and door are the worst. I would say the drivers side door runs from a front side gap of 1/4 inch at the top to 1/8 at the bottom. It's very obvious. The door sills are showing rust starting around the sill plates which may, or may not, run under the plates. The doors open and close fine.

There are bubbles in the paint on the top of the rear quarters around the windows. There is a moderate amount of road rash covering the lower portion of the car, about what you'd expect. However, there are numerous chips in the paint where you wouldn't expect them. Some have been touched up (poorly) some have not.

There is crazing in the paint on the engine cover around the hinges. This may be normal, but they look like stress cracks in the paint. The engine compartment is nothing to write home about. No one has paid much attention to it as far as cleaning, etc. The headers are original, and I think I remember the owner admitting to a header leak when we spoke in the Spring.

I saw no evidence of leaks, but I was surpised to see the red paint on the heads peeling off. Is this normal? It seemed to be worse on the passenger's side.

Under the front hood, the two small panels which cover the fuse panel etc., don't fit properly. My guess is that the snaps need replacing. The one on the driver's side is better than the other. I saw no tool kit or spare.

My over all impression was that this car was, again, filthy dirty and belonged to some one for whom maintenance was only done as a necessity. The interior is quite rough and the car certainly seems to have had some sort of accident. The Carfax doesn't record one, but remember the owner has access to a dealership and body shop.

The Lexus dealer said "the owner wants 63k for it." I'm really unclear as to what the car is doing there (at the Lexus dealership). Anyway, they want to move it and realize that it is not a great example of the marque. They may be quite negotiable. As a driver, I suppose it would pass, assuming the mechanicals are better than the cosmetics.

Hutch, I'm going to PM you with some oter impressions which may not be suitable for public consumption.

 

If this is the same Ferrari, sold on ebay for $63,495.00. Not a bargain judging form the excellent post detailing issues. "porsch959" will not be a happy camper!

 

Just an example of how badly you can get hosed on eBay if you aren't careful and get a PPI.

Birdman

 

woah. glad I saw this thread.

My father in law put a deposit on the car from the dealer. He found out who the previous owner was and called him. since he knew him and was a fairly good aquaintence, he spilled his guts on the car.

It was in a BAAAAAAAAD accident and the owner fixed it without reporting it to his insurance company. when my Father-in-law had it up on the lift it was over spray city with new underside panels still with the stickers on them.

buy it for a song and drive it till the wheels fall off!

Bill

 

sometimes you get what you pay for.

doody.

 

And sometimes, you pay for what you get. Caveat emptor.