348 is better than 355

The rule is....buy the newest Ferrari you can afford.

There are nightmare 348's and nightmare 355's. There are also great 348's and great 355's. I've had owners swear each way about each car...almost seems like personal experience and luck of the draw.

Cats go bad over time, they get awfully hot and a performance car will go through them faster. Cats burn-up, deal with it.

The valave issue is way over-blown. Here again, lots of varying opinions....some will say it's inevitable in anything older then 98.5, while others suggest it's rather rare.

What I can tell you is that despite some stories I've heard...every single 355 owner I've met has been delighted and happy with their 355. Hate to say it...but I sense some people wanna spend less and not feel like they're cheaping-out? And maybe some of us want to feel good about having spent more..

All I know is that my 355 is quick...but not nearly as quick as I'd like to have in a car: last thing I'd want to do is surrender nearly 90 horsepower!!!!

 

Interestingly my brother has just bought a 348tb, and owning a 308gtbi for a year or so.

I've driven all model up to the 360 and find that each incarnation becomes less exciting to drive.

The 348 retains great feel from the steering and is mechanically sound. To me this is the most important aspect of woning a Ferrari.

I don't care for electrics or luxuries, I enjoy driving.

So the 348 is a bargain. Good power, which can be upped. Superb feedback and drive. Suspension is easy to work on. Engine is strong and reliable.

If you cannot afford a really good 355 then then a 348 is the answer because you will not be disapointed.

 

Very well said.

 

SteveR,
You have it in a "nutshell" right here...I have to completely agree!

Dave

 

Trying to run either a 348 or 355 on a shoe string budget becomes a massive gamble in my opinion. Costs could run from $0 - $25+++ over several years. Of course you can enhance your odds with a PPI and checking out history.

I think this debate can be simplified. Buy which ever you like (with great care & PPI) and keep around $25K back for repairs/upgrades over the course of 20-30,000 miles or 3-4 years of ownership.

I've replaced the valve guides, headers, CATs on my 355 all with better components, but once its done, its done, you take the hit, but problem solved.

 

Let me chime in here. Although I am not a F-car owner, I have been floating around this board for 4 years now. I have always wanted an F355 but am concerned with certain issues ie:valve guides,manifolds etc.

As time goes by, not only will the price adjust on the F355's but we will find out exactly what cars will need ;valve guide jobs etc.

There are nice examples out there, unfortunately I havent seen them or I would own one. Its not an easy car to buy. If you want a new car with performance buy an M3 Brand NEW. If you want a Ferrari you'll have to look for the right one. Thats why I'm still lurking the board.

-Leo

 

You've got a good safe approach, but every day goes by and you haven't bought your dream car yet. My advice would be take the plunge and the small risk. OK so I've spent around $20,000 on repairs on my 355 (inc Valve guides), but I've also had 2 AMAZING years driving it, plus I've now got a 'keeper' with all conviecable problems addressed. Thats the way I think people should analyse these things (Just IMHO ) , I dont think its realistic to expect to run it for just servicing money.

 

I had my F355 for 8 months and I drove 8k miles. ZERO problem. and I know some ppl dropped 25k on repair. Its all luck, you just gotta hit the right ca.

 

Leo makes very good points at the end. I have always been a "private party" guy and don't like to pay a retail mark up, but, in the end, i just bought my 1994 348 Spider from Algar -- the only factory authorized Ferrari dealer in the area. Though I spend a few grand more than I could have, I am building a relationship with the people that will service the car, I have the piece of mind that comes with knowing it was checked out properly (and saved myself the trouble and expense of a PPI as well), and I got a 60-day, no-mileage limit warranty on all major components of the car -- you can't get any of this with private or non-factory-dealer sales. A used Ferrari can be a very scary purchase, and I felt much better getting it from Algar.

In terms of performance and the M3 mentioned, Leo is right about this too. In truth, I have a 2005 Mercedes C55 with a V8, 362 hp, 378 lb-ft of torgue, and a 3,600 curb weight. It will kick my 1994 Ferrari's ass, cost a few grand less, is brand new, has a full new car warranty, is super reliable, etc. etc.

HOWEVER, I loooooooooooove my Spider. It is absolutely beautiful, and most importantly, it makes me happy.

At the end of the day, life is all about experiences. The C55 is hoot to drive and is beautiful in its own right, but it is no Ferrari.

-Frank

(The R1 blows 'em both away anyhow...)
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I have a 97 355B.. I have changed the belts and when they had the engine
pulled I made sure they checked everything out and replaced stuff.. cost
me an extra 3k.. Other than that.. I have changed all the fluids regularly and
I now have 32k miles on it. The car has not had any valve problems and
is driven regularly.. I think most of the folks that drive their 355s regularly
enjoy them and have no problems.. it is the garage queens.. that turn their
cars on every so often and wonder why it won't start!

So just make sure to get the records from the owner before purchase
and see what they have done.. Talk with the owner about what
problems they have experienced..

These are great cars!! When reading ferrari chat you will find that
we can come up with tons of problems on all models of these cars!!
Though the majority of owners have probably never experienced these problems!

I know when I researched my 456.. There were a ton of things to look for..
So I looked for them.. but in reality I knew I would get the car hand it over
to a ferrari mechanic and let them clean it up!! So I figured that in the price!

I love the 456 and have done cross country trips of over a 1000 miles each
way and never had a problem!! Okay.. I had to fill up with gas and slow down
in a ferrari that is a problem!!

 

WOODeAR & Dave Handa...thank you for your kind remarks on my post!

I can honestly and entirely relate to any prospective buyer standing on the brink of making his/her first Ferrari purchase....these things aren't Toyota's and you're wondering "just what am I getting myself into???"

In any model there are some problems & potential costly repairs, but it's not like they hit you on a regular basis. Consider this: if every member of this board started a thread called "Another week and zero problems", then you'd see a seemingly endless flood of disinteresting threads that ask no question and serve no purpose. You only hear from owners who DO have problems.

Let's consider the only problem I've had. I posted last week about my Air Bag Indicator not going off after system boot. Yeah, we heard all sorts of stuff about possibly needing a new ECU (?) and the cost running upwards of $1,400, etc, etc. So you, the general public, hear "problem, problem, problem".

Well, let me tell ya: I took it to the local Ferrari Dealership, they plugged it in and simply found a trip that needed to be cleared. If you don't run your car often enough the battery voltage can drop a bit when cranking the engine and that can potentially trip the sensor. They reset it. Total cost FREE!!!!

That's what I get for not driving the car for a rainy 2-week period, now I leave the battery-tender on to maintain voltage.

OH, btw everybody...my Air Bag thing turned out to be nothing!!

So...at the risk of making yet another long post....let me finish by saying 2 things:

1) The safest thing to do is NOT buy a Ferrari. Don't buy fancy shoes that you may trip on. Don't buy nice watches that may lure someone to mug you. Don't invest in the stock market. Don't eat meat. Buy your gal a cubic zarconia in case it gets lost. Avoid eating-out cause you may get food poisoning. Don't travel, it only exposes you to risk. Play it safe, save all your money and avoid all risk. Buy a car that nobody would admire, steal or tamper with...a no-frills econo-box that's low-profile, and be sure to get one with an already beat paint-job...that way you get a discount going in AND won't be annoyed if it gets scratched. I'd suggest a bood book club too!

2) Despite all science...you only live ONCE. Money is the storage-unit of your work & productivity, it has potential...that potential is wasted if not used: you can't take it with you. My own thought is this: once you have your house, food, retirement well on the way and your financial accumulation allows for the comfortable dispersion of funds that can be allocated for "fun", I highly suggest you indulge in the luxury of owning what is argueably one of the finest automotive sports cars ever made.....but since they only made limited numbers of Karman Ghia's...I'd suggest a FERRARI.

There is something here that you can not understand until you not only drive a Ferrari, but own your own. I have NEVER met a Ferrari owner who regretted their purchase nor have I met one who didn't agree it was/is one of the best purchases they've ever made.

Not buying a Ferrari for fear or repairs is like not living because you're afraid of getting chicken-pox. The F-car may set you back a few bones, but in the end the smiles FAR outweight the frowns.

- and that's all I have to say about that RUN FERRARI RUN!!!!!!

 

.....and wasn't that an immensly helpful reply?

 

Actually it IS....interpretation? "No".

 

I think a lot of people have said it very well. If you've got $75K and want a convertible, go for the 348 spider - you'll never regret it. But be careful in selecting the car to make sure that you have minimum problems. These cars are a blast to drive. If you prefer a hardtop or the looks of a 355B, get one of those instead. Just be careful on which car you select, just like with the 348.

Here's a question for you: why not BOTH? My opinion is that each car has some great attributes. It's kind of fun to work your way up the food chain, so to speak. If you can only afford a 348 now, go for it because every day you debate is one more day without a Ferrari. After a couple of years, you can trade it on a 355 Spider and so on. It's really not a bad way to go!

 

Money aside, the 348 is a much funner ride. They screwed up the 355 with power steering. You just should'nt be able to use your pinky to turn corners in a high performance car. Just not right!

 

Uh....no. The power-steering on the 355 is just enough to make it easier, nicer and up-to-date with modern sports car technology. It's more like power-ASSIST: the 355 entirely maintains an excellent sense of raw contact-feel with the ground. A 348 owner has to get used to it a bit...but all the feedback and road-sense is still there.

The kind of isolation you're referring to is more like what the 360 is criticized for lacking.

 

i have owned both a 355 and 360 spider and my brother has had a 348 spider..i have driven all three extensively...the 360 has the best road feel and handling and performance and steering of the three...not to mention a much much better interior, much better body structure, suspension, etc...no question there...the 355 is far away superior to the 348 in every aspect ...only if you prefer the manual steering of the 348 would that be an advantage with the 348....there are obvious , significant cost differences btn the three cars and each person has to decide which is the best for them and there budget....but to say the 348 is more fun to drive than the 355 only means you dont enjoy superior performance....

 

Actually, the headers and the exhaust manifolds are the same thing -- the fact that you've made this error twice now suggests that perhaps your other assertions are invalid (or at least biased). I bought a 355 after thorough research on this board, and I think you've made a bigger issue of the valve guides than is warranted. It's true that there are valve guide issues with some cars, but it isn't as prevalent as you suggest. If the guides fail at 40K-50K miles, for example, that's not such a big issue -- if I had the replace the guides after 10-12 years of use, I'd consider it a regular maintenance item amortized over the 10-12 year period. And, like the manifolds (if you replace with Tubi or QV), it's a one-time issue.

One thing I did learn from this board, is that there is a lot of loose, semi-unsubstantiated "information" that floats around, and for some reason people start to think it becomes "fact" after a while.

 

Yes, headers and exhaust manifolds are the same thing. I've been mis-typing; I actually should have put a slash "/" instead of a comma. Some people don't know that they are the same thing and you are right to point that out.

Think what you want about my assertions and my knowledge. If you can disprove anything I have said, I welcome you to try. I have stated only FACTS about the 355 and no opinions. I like the car very much and actually just returned home from doing a (failed) PPI on one. I have convinced my brother to get a 355 because I think it would be perfect for him -- but I've learned that finding a "good" 355 is very difficult.

I'm not biased against the 355 -- I am actively looking for a Berlinetta 6-speed for my brother. But I'm only looking for a '98 (past a certain serial #) or a '99 because I don't want to have to worry about the valve guides problem or the other little problems that were ironed out by the time the later years came around. That's MY preference based on the facts; other people might have a different preference. To ME the valves ARE a big deal, and I think the '98 or the '99 will be worth the extra money.