97 355 spider with Capristo - Just reduced on Ferrari ads!

You should get that blue smoke issue looked at by MJB Automotive? I still think its valve guides. Definetly not white smoke, all in all I'd be interested if it was corrected...or the price reduced to reflect fixes. To suggest its someting else with 10% leak down is uncivilized . Just kidding, definetly have it looked at and we can discuss further. What I don't want is a 355 that's smoking blue and someone saying thats "Normal" - because its not.

 

wow I surely did not expect this from you. I told you I was interested, especially if the issues are taken care of. The fact is Craig spoke too soon regarding your car. The 10% leak down found wasn't good or bad ..just OK and that he too likes to see numbers in the 5% for such a car. You talked to him, you know this already.

I'm Not sure why your out attacking me when I'm still interested in your car. I would hardly call myself a tire kicker, I'm spending $82K on a used 355 you presumed to be in good condition. Its not my fault your numbers are below what they should be and I should be a concerned, careful buyer- wouldn't you agree?

Gordon, If this is the attitude your going to have in selling your 355 when many are available, you will have an extremely tough time selling it to anyone. Case in point, how many offers did you get on it before me ? How many times did you say I have 4 coming by to look at it. Who is the tire kicker... the 4 that stopped by or the guy talking to you for 1 month getting all the details. I'm not buying a chevy, I'm buying a Ferrari - a delicate machine requiring more attention then my wife!

think it over

 

Gordon, you should try selling a helicopter. I just sold mine about a month ago. Brutal expierence. Same thing, every one, picked it pieces. About the time I was about to give up and keep it. I had a very nice young man show up, looked at it for about 20 minutes, wired me the money, and left with it the very next day. My copter was almost perfect in every way. I just had to find someone that new what it was. I suggest your in the same boat. My advise, be nice to potential buyers, if you identify them as being un-acceptably scrutanizing. Politely explain that buying the car, is no longer an option they posses, in the most un-offending way possible. That is exactly what I literally had to do with 99% of the lookers.

I can really identify with what you went thru. It happened to me twice. With me the people had to understand, I just don't have the time for goose chases.

Pardon the spelling, Best regards Kent

 

Hey Joel, - what a crappy thing to post. To post this publicly was wrong and you know it. In what way have you contributed in any way to this board other than serving your own personal agenda. Your 29 posts over 2 years offers nothing back to the community. Gordon has been a great contributor to this site and clearly has bent over backward to address your buying issues. Why don't you get out your checkbook, stroke a check for the PPI and then offer whatever personal opinion you have on the matter. Until then "shut the F-up." Your cheap to take another man's money to perform an inspection on something you wanted to buy and then form your own opinon on the matter and then post publicly a malicious unfounded and damaging remark.

Am I clear what I think of the likes of you?

 

I agree 100%. Gordon is a straight shooter and you are looking for perfection. Beat it!

 

Priceless

 

Soup Nazi says " No Ferrari for you, NEXT!"

 

10% leakdown is no big deal as long as all the other cylinders are in the same range.

I agree with the little girl in this post called Gershwin (lol!)....that was a bit crappy to come in here and say those things....if you are only 3.5 hours away..I would have made the trip easy!

 

he would have if Gordon had reimbursed him for the mileage,which he probably didn't.....
G,just hang in there,yu just need to find the right buyer...

 

I'm with EarlyCat!!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Wow - I am shocked with JoelP's Post.

I have probably more seat time and ownership of 355's and other older ferrari's than many. I have seen and driven Gordon's 355. I can tell you from day one when he bought it - he is very attentive to how his car runs and who works on it.

I also know the NJB guys better than most - they have cared for 2 of my F-cars.

I can say that his car is as near perfect as any I have seen.

On the wanna be buyer (which I will put JoelP in. Who, that is 3.5 hours away would not take a short weekend roadtrip to look at a car in person. You say that you are a Serious buyer. And it appears that you have not owned a ferrari before. You can actually tell us that you would wire money for your first ferrari - being so close - and not even go look at it in person. What makes this worse is that you had questions about the leak down - which is not bad numbers at all - and yet you still did not go in person to drive it.

Honestly - Gordon called me, showed me the e-mails back and forth - and he asked me for what he should do next steps with you. My comments are thus: You are not serious, you never were, you do not intend on buying a 355 now or in the near future, you want to brag to us on the board and to your friends that you are "looking" for one.

I told him to walk away from you - a month ago. I told him that if you couldn't afford or come down 3.5 hours - you are in no way serious. Then you start sprouting about how your accountant is out of town - and can't get the money. Please - I have financial advisor's, accountants and lawyers - in no way am I ever at their mercy for MY Money... Are they the only ones that have access to YOUR money. If so - I would look to another account firm - try KPMG - I like them.

And for you to come on this board and rip on another's Ferrari - when you have absolutely no experience with F-cars, no seat time, nor have seen it or probably others in person. Give me a break.

Gordon is as upfront, honest and responsive as anyone I know. I also know through NJB the extensive work and detail Gordon had done on this car. There is no problem with it - their is just a problem with you.

Please do us all a favor - stop posting until you find your f-car and can contribute and prove that you are not a wanna be.

As most will know - in the 3 years I have been on this board as a consultant and an early member, I have never been as vocal as I am with you JoelP. Which is a shame, since I personally do not like bash on others... but you struck the wrong cord.

Rich Wallace
F-chat Consultant

 

Exactly the same cord the guy pulled w/ me too, hence my rant - good post Richard, much more articulate.


Adam - nah nah boo boo, lol

 

Agreed.

 

1) Chicago to Ohio is 6 hrs ONE WAY! Or about $500 flight.

2) My e-mails to Gordon is how I acquired information. This is a normal process for me as I don't have time to make a 20 phone calls asking questions. In fact it’s through e-mails we made the discovery that Gordon wasn’t in position to sell his 355 as the Title was NEVER registered under his name. So flying out, driving his car, etc wouldn’t have resulted in a sale.

3) 10% leak down isn't good or bad, just OK as stated above and not the best of numbers as seen in the previous posts. The PPI report also showed that those numbers were just “OK”, not good, not great. You make the assumption that because the leak down is 10% and consistent across all cylinders that this is a good sign. That’s plain Wrong. It’s simply 10% across all cylinders, which means 10% of all cylinders is leaking air. I asked Gordon to look into this and all I get is “Its normal.” So it’s normal to lose 10% across all cylinders while the other 355’s lose 4-5% with 22K miles?

4) Driving a Ferrari and listening to how it sounds doesn’t mean the car is healthy. In other words driving a 355 with 5% leak down v.s. one with 10% doesn’t give you any indications if the engine is good or bad. This is the main reason why we have PPI’s performed by Ferrari mechanics.

5) If Gordon's F355 was as pristine in every which way and priced accordingly, it would have been snagged LONG ago by someone else. I was one of the ONLY ones inquiring and stilled continued to work with Gordon in making the sale happen. I was straight forward with Gordon, I let him know up front the exhaust work, interior, and exterior was good on his 355(without a single visit to Ohio). The only issues I had were his engine compression and leakdown.

Other then what I said above, I personally thanked Gordon for his time and that if the issues were ever worked out, I would definitely look into his 355. Not much else I can do about that at this point.

 

Joel,
It appears you are not making many friends on this board. That is a shame because I have learned more about 355's in 2 months here than l would in a lifetime.Ihave bought my 355 so I'm speaking from experience. Stop making public negative observations about anothers car. Since, as you suggest, there are plenty of cars out there then find the right one quietly. You appear reasonably knowledgable so it is likely you can find one without having the whole 355 community against you. This board is a wonderful resource and can make the ownership of your 355 more enjoyable. Do the right thing and move on and don't jerk the next guy around if you aren't 100% sure about the buy.

 

Let's not have this get out of hand. Gordon is a straightforward honest guy who would never misrepresent his car. NJB's shop is first rate and if Craig says the engine is good, then it's good. It sounds as if JoelP really wants a perfect car and isn't willing to settle for -10% on one cylinder. Then walk away! But don't bad-mouth Gordon; it's not warranted and won't go over well with the people on this Board who know him. A drive down from Chicago is 4.5-5.5 hours. I think that most of us would be willing to do this for an 80k investment. Gordon's price is more than fair and the car is in beautiful shape. Sorry JoelP; you're just not going to get much sympathy from the people on this Board and it's probably time for you to go searching for a different 355 if you're really serious about getting one. But you'll be passing on a solid car that's been meticulously maintained. I know its a little scary getting an F-car but this is as safe a situation as you're going to find on the secondary market and I would reconsider if Gordon is still willing to deal with you.

Just my 2 cents.

 

$500 is nothing if you are serious!

Matt

 

Having 10% consistent across the board shows that there is even wear. If one showed 10% and all others showed 4-5% that would be a different story. You know there are a lot of cars that are brand new that have about 10% leak down which is in OEM's reaonable limits. The car has 22K miles on it and has been driven...just like the above posts says it's a used car hence the discounted price. Obviously this car is not for you.

 

5) If Gordon's F355 was as pristine in every which way and priced accordingly, it would have been snagged LONG ago by someone else.

In case you hadn't realized, there are a flood of F-cars on the market right now, good and bad, so that is no indication that the condition of Gordan's 355 is sub-par or that his price is out of line. There are just more sellers than buyers right now, period. The worst thing that you did here was your negative "attack mode" post stating that he was "uncivilized" (no, you weren't joking just because you put a GD smiley face after your accusation). If you think that it is the valve guides fine, walk away. But unless you have PROOF of such, CLAM UP!

 

Joel, the only advice I can offer is this:

If you are engaging an owner and there are issues that make you feel like the car is not for you, do one of the following:

1) Move on to another car.
2) Work directly with the owner to address the issues, and for goodness sake, don't publically take a crap in the owner's corn flakes.

Saying the things you did, even if you were kidding, is kind of like talking about a guy's wife or girlfriend. "Sure, she's pretty hot, but she's a 'buther' face" -or- "Gee, if I shaved my dog's butt and trained him to walk backwards, he'd look a little bit like your wife."

Some things are just better left unsaid.

Good luck on your search.

 

It looks like Joel P is trying to sabotage your sale to anyone else. BTW, why did you pay for his PPi? It sounds like you will have far fewer headaches in the long run by avoiding this potential buyer. And, I agree with the others that Joel P's remarks here are below the belt.

 

Wow, I just noticed that Joel P's first post on 1/1/2005 (yes, 2005!) states that he finally saved his dimes and nickels to buy a 355 Spider after saving 2 years. Seeing how he is almost 2 years beyond that and still has not purchased a Spider, and considering how many fine examples that are for sale, it would appear that either the price he's looking for would be more appropriate for a car with a salvage title, yet he would prefer it to be be in better than factory condition, or he truely is not serious.

Perhaps I am wrong, perhaps he is on the 5 year plan (save two years, kick tires for 2 years, half seriously shop for 6 months, realize that his expectation for pricing is not realistic, and lower his sites a bit, then buy a car within the next 6 months after that.

Joel, if you're listening, I think I have the solution for your search.

I've found the following vehicle on ebay. The "Buy it Now" Price is reasonable, and quite appropriate for saving nickels and dimes. I've taken the liberty of contacting the owner for a PPI and, although there were some difficulties (the car went flying off the table at 150 psi, well, you'll understand why when you see it). This particular car does not have a challenge grille, however, I'm sure with a little sweat equity, and a sharpie, you could easily fix this issue very economically. The vehicle is located in Los Angeles, CA, and the seller can arrange to ship world wide at very reasonable rates (MUCH LESS than I paid to ship my 348 Spider from Naples, Florida to Ann Arbor, MI in fact!)

This particular car appears to possibly be a Euro spec, although it is Left Hand Drive, it doesn't have the airbags, so I'm not sure how you would feel about this, but it is the color combination you specified (red/tan). This is a 6 speed car, and you should really check out how clean the engine compartment is! Quite spectacular, really!

Check it out here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150060834190

At this price, I'm seriously thinking about picking one up for my self!

Mike