WTB: F355 Berlinetta/GTS 6 speed

They are everywhere!!!!!!!

 

I'm traveling to your neck of the woods the end of August to look for a 355. I currently have an ad running in the LA Times looking to buy one. I've had a couple of calls. The ad runs for 14 days so we'll see how many cars I get information on to go out and see while I'm in So. Cal. I've been hearing that by Winter, the price will be coming down on the 360s by 10%-15% becuase so many are for sale. This may impact the 355 market a bit.

 

Under $65,000? Good luck with that. If you do find a car for under that price it will need work. Be sure to do your homework and make sure you know what has and has not been done on the car. Valve guides, cats, services, etc. can add up quickly. Ask me how I know.

- Bill

 

Dear sir,

Your car is overpriced. And its all black. Ferraris are supposed to be red w/tan interior.

Good luck with your sale.

 

How bout a Red/Tan 348 Spider w/ 22 on the clock? Ill make a deal at $65,000.

Cant get a hardtop Ferrari, man. Convertible is the ONLY way to fly.

 

Overpriced for the amount of work it has in it? Keep trolling.......

F1- WIll PM you if I run across anything.

 

Its an excellent place to start, but my guess is it is still for sale. It does look like a nice car and I do wish him luck but sellers giving buyers advice on what a good price is not always in the buyers best interest wouldn't you agree?

 

I don't sell cars, so not exactly sure what you're implying. F355's don't sell overnight, I was patient while my Maserati was being consigned and waited nearly half a year, but I got much more than anyone said "it was worth" when I listed as a private party. If F355 sticks it out I think he will get his asking price, otherwise it'll get consigned to an authorized dealer who will eventually sell it for $75k+.

I deal with F355 owners on a daily basis typically the cheaply bought cars end up needing much more work than the average buyer realizes.

 

Generally I agree, but personally I would take less now v. a few % more and six months later. It is time consuming and there is opportunity cost while you wait for mr. right. It isn't worth my time to hold out for top dollar or pay a commission or have to worry about the car or the transaction but I do appreciate and respect there are some people who either need top dollar or don't mind the effort it takes to get it.

 

F1VTEC -

That is the best advice anyone can give to a buyer. Get a car with 100% of the records, recent service, proof of all the issues resolved, or adjust the pricing.

Since I'm selling my 355, I have done a lot of research on pricing. I'll give you my 2 cents, but you should talk to guys like MVP, they know more than I do. I can only address the F355 Berlinetta market since that's what I researched.

A perfect 355B with all records, services, updates, etc will sell for $70,000 to $85,000. When I say perfect, you have to understand that all 355's will probably have an A/C control panel with bubbles, leather shrinking on the dash, and sticky parts through out the dash/gauges. If you find a car that has been "restored" in all of these areas, you might have to pay any extra $2,500-$3,000.

The high end being at a well respected dealer. So, let's use $75,000 as the base line of a nice 355B with 20,000 miles. Of course these prices assume the car has no other issues which could be found during a PPI. My pricing is not what you will find 100% of the time, but it's what I decided would be my criteria. You should make your own list and figure out what is important to you.

Deduct $6,500 if it needs a service.
Deduct $4,500 if it needs a service in a year.
Deduct $2,500 if it needs a service in two years.

Deduct $2,000 if the manifolds are original.
Add $1,000 if they have after-market headers or rebuilt originals.

Add $5,000 for under 10,000 miles.
Deduct $5,000 for over 30,000 and no more than 40,000.

Add $1,000 for an after-market exhaust by one of the big companies.
Deduct $1,000 for the stock cats, unless they check out and won't need replacing for 5,000 to 10,000 miles.
Add $500 for having after market cats or straight pipes (1995 only).

Deduct for any car that has been wrecked. The amount will depend on the history.

Deduct $2,000 for not having 90-100% of the records or having records, but not doing the services as required. The records should show regular oil changes, even if the car has low miles. The reason to deduct is because when you sell the car, people want these.

Deduct $1,000 for tires if needed. You would be surprised how many 355's are running around with the stock 8 to 12 year old tires. No thanks, but they need to be changed even if the tread is in good shape.

Valves guides are tricky. The cost is about $15,000 to fix, but if the car doesn't have some miles on it, the PPI may not find a problem. So low mile cars are a gamble unless they have had the new guides installed. I would stay away from any 1995 to mid-year 1998 without proof that the valve guides were changed by an authorized dealer.

OK, so let's use some examples.

EXAMPLE 1:
1997 355B with 20,000 miles. Had its last 30K service in 2001. Has the stock cats, original manifolds, passes leak down test (assumes no valve guide issues), needs tires, cats look fine, has all the records since new.

$75,000 base price from an individual ($80,000-$85,000 from a dealer)
-$6,500 because it needs a service
-$2,000 because it has the stock manifolds
-$1,000 because it needs tires
--------
$65,500 is the max a private sale should bring, and $70,000-$75,000 at a dealer.


EXAMPLE 2:
1996 355B with 38,000 miles. Had a 30K service this year. Has rebuilt manifolds, high-flow cats, Tubi exhaust, proof of new valve guides, tires are fine, has most of the records since new.

$75,000 base price from an indiviual ($80,000-$85,000 from a dealer)
-$5,000 for miles
+$1,000 for having rebuilt headers
+$1,000 for Tubi
+ 500 for after market cats
--------
$72,500 is the max a private sales should bring, and $77,000 to $82,000 at a dealer.


EXAMPLE 3:
1995 355B with 4,000 miles. No services since new. Has all records. Original tires. Original manifolds and cats. Tubi exhaust. No records of valve guides being fixed, but passes leak down test.

$75,000 base price from an individual ($80,000-$85,000 from a dealer)
+$5,000 for miles
-$3,000 for stock manifolds and cats
+$1,000 for Tubi
-$6,500 because it needs a service... badly.
--------
$71,500 is the max a private sales should bring, and $76,000 to $81,000 at a dealer.


Personally, I would not want EXAMPLE 3 because the services have been missed so I'm sure a lot of things will need to be done. I would pick 1 or 2 over 3, even with the lower miles.

NSX's are great cars by the way. I met my wife at NSXPO 98 in Ohio. At the time she had a 94 green/tan and I had a 91 red/black. Her dad currently has a 2000 silver/black targa.

Have you ever been to an NSXPO? Maybe we know each other? I'm well known the NSX community because I was once of founding members of the NSXCA. My wife an I have owned 5 NSX's between us and her dad is on his 3rd. I can tell you this much; once you get a 355, you'll never look back. They are sooooo much fun. Especially under bridges and going through tunnels.

A Ferrari 355 is a great car, so take your time and get the best car you can afford to buy. Get help from experts, but also listen to your heart. If you listen to many us, you'll never buy one because you won't ever find the "perfect" example.

Good luck.

Bill

 

Nice post. For fun lets do my 95 355 Fly yellow/black 22k miles,

75,000 base price from an individual ($80,000-$85,000 from a dealer)
-$0 because 30k Major just done in April by authorized Fcar dealer
+$1,500 because it has rebuilt headers/and new manifolds also
-$1,000 because it does need tires
+$1500 becasue it has tubi and test pipes

$77000 = my car value using the COBRA valuation method...cool about what I paid 3.5 years ago..nice

 

Pardon the expression but, "put the crack pipe down". If you can find a no story 355B that has had all the upgrades and is in the condition you are speaking of, call me. Has far has a 355GTS goes, try more like 90K to 100K on up. They made very few of those and they hold a premium over spiders! When shopping for my 348ts, I spent top dollar, and got top car. You get what you pay for, and a 355B, at 65K is not going to be a "top" no story car.
There are alot of them available, from the high 50's to the high 60's and still are not what IMHO consider a no story car, and from what I have read on this forum what most Ferrari enthusiast would consider a no story car. Mind you were not talking about a Garage Queen, just a car with all the updates, no body damage and recent service, with a fair amount of miles, maybe 20 or 25 thousand miles top. I submit this IMHO...

 

the simple fact is if there were plenty of these cars available in nice condition for $65k he would have one by now and not be posting here looking for one hopefully

 

No need to get so touchy, its an expression. Like get a reality check...Thanks for the info on the GTS and YES I will go check it out. Like someone else posted, if you would of found one in that price range you would not be here looking. Look I have found that asking questions is good, getting answers is better, its to you to use that information. But an F car, make that just about any F car, is not an NSX, 65K in a NSX is alot of car and you would get a great car, 65K in a F car, especially a 355, is on the low side, has a matter of fact expect some of those cars to have stories, I will let you know what the 355 gts is like, especially what the interior looks like, they ususally melt. Good luck with your search, this board tends to be brutaly honest, so best not to be so sensitive. And remember the search is half the fun

 

my 95 gtb is perfect according to this rating system....but im never selling it!