Hi all, after dreaming for years( wanted a 328 but i am 6'4) , i finally did it; bought me a 1989 348 Challenge from a person in Scottsdale ,AZ. It is red with a black interior and 25600 miles on it and has interesting wheels on it. I am guessing this was flogged at a track ( did not know they made 89 challenge models) since the owner lists; "This is a street ready racing car so it has numerous racing components installed including gearing, exhaust, clutch, etc. Tommy Hilfiger Carbon Fiber Leather Seats, MOMO Steering Wheel' ,Ferrari Racing exhaust, Ferrari Racing breaks, Ferrari Racing clutch" My questions are : 1. Also has nice wheels, are they worth it? "Wheels shown will be sold for $1000 extra otherwise car will have original 348 Ferrari wheels with brand new tires." 2. Any advice on Northern California Smog Check ( states has racing catalytic and will need standard ones-1500?) 3. General advice, what should i do next? Any help would be very much appreciated, i did spend all night going thru almost all the forum posts on the 348/355 topic but ready to listen any pearls of wisdom from fellow owners/fans. Tall_duc ( based in SF) p.s I already own a Ducati Monster s4 so used to silly costs and extreme waits for parts but expect this will be an order of magnitude higher ;> p.p.s sorry if these images slow down your browser. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The wheels look like Highlines - around $2,500 new for rims, tires and tax if that is what they are. If you like them, an extra set of wheels and tires for $1,000 is pretty inexpensive. I don't like rims painted to match vehicle color, but it doesn't matter what I like - if you like 'em, get them included with the car. Also make sure to get the originals for down the road. It sounds like he has test pipes (no cats) - I'm not sure what OEM's cost, but site sponser Ricambi has Hyperflows (~$1,500) and they are CARB approved and claim a flow rate of 96% of a test pipe. It will need cats to be properly smogged in CA, and the cats have to be OEM or CARB approved. Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the Brotherhood!
Congrats. 328 owner here, so I'll defer to the 348 Brotherhood, but my two lira: 1. I would get the original Challenge wheels. You can always pick out other wheels later. If you like these, you can buy them as well. 2. Obviously you'll need cats in place for CA smog. Hyperflow cats are often recommended here, and you probably don't want to price out OEM Ferrari cats. 3. Hopefully the car has service records. You'll want to know when the last major service (timing belt, tensioner bearings, water pump rebuild, valve adjustment, etc.) was done. This is an engine-out service. I assume you know, after surfing this site, that the 348 engine is an interference engine -- meaning you really don't want a failure in the timing belt/related bits. Ferrari recommends every 3 years for this service, but a lot of people say 5 years. Regardless, you don't want to drive it without knowing it was done competently and fairly recently.
You can check out No Doubt's primer on the 348 (link here) Also, do you have receipts for past work performed? Very important that there has been a belt service to the car since (by the mileage and age) it may be due if it hasn't been done recently. What else should you do next? More pics of course!
I think we all saw your car on ebay a couple weeks ago... it had been listed and sold before, but popped back up, I guess the 1st auction winner fell out. The wheels are made by a company called Highline Wheels in Miami, aka ''Modular Performance Wheels Inc.'' the absolute bung-hole of the aftermarket wheel industry. They sell those wheels for $995 without tires, but they also violently rape you for shipping. Yep, you'll need to put functioning cats on it. what you should do next... actually DRIVE it, and enjoy it!! Congrats & welcome to the brotherhood!
Welcome to the Brotherhood! You'll be glad you bought a 348, the last of the real man's Ferraris. Take the stock wheels. Drive it like ya stole it!
Nice car. Always like to see challenge cars on the road. Any 348 could be converted to challenge race car. '89-'93. All were updated and should have all the suspension and engine upgrades. In '94 there were 45 "factory" challenge cars made, but basically the same as any converted car just numbered. Also the 348 CH ran stock 348 brakes with racing pads. If you get the challenge muffler and it's in good shape keep it, because they are no longer available new or used. You may want a regular muffler for the street. As far a the cats, the pictures look like stock cats. The original series all 348 CH's ran with stock cats. So you may be ok. The wheels are ok. Don't really like the red paint, but if you do take them. Depends on what the original wheels are. If they are 17 in. star 348 wheels go with the highlines. If you can get the original 18 in. speedline challenge wheels at no cost jump on them. If you are going to track the car, dump the Hilfinger seats and get some real racing seats with harness. You should have eye hools for easy clip in harness.
hmm , the guy who serviced the car ( real nice guy), indicated that the car has the following issues and approx fixing costs; 1. been in accidents ( track) 2. transmission housing bent- broken gear tooth ( dropped gear ?) -fixing will cost- 7K-8K 3. aftermarket wheels hits body 4. leaky front shock- need to be rebuilt - 1.2K 5. bad boot steering rack/seal- 1K 6. bent control arm- 600 for used. 7. exhaust/cat won't pass emission ( knew about this)- 2k for used parts. 8. Interior is not so great. good news is that the 30k service was done and the engine is in good shape. should i just lose my deposit( 2k) and my flight to AZ and chalk this up to lesson learned for not doing a PPI? The car is priced at 36100 with the wheels, is it worth sinking in 10 to 12k for this or should i look for my dream 348 TS instead?
"Tommy Hilfiger Carbon Fiber Leather Seats" I have never heard of these?!? The highline wheels are good quality for the price. I have them on my car and at 140+ there is no wobble or control issues. My wheels are painted to match my car, yellow, which I am sick of. Currently I am in process of changing the wheels. The red matched would wear on me; I think that silver rims with a polished lip look the best. The Highline wheels can be had for $790 on e-bay, including shipping. (No tires)
Yikes is right. Depends on how bad you want/need a challenge car. Most of the challenge cars have been wrecked at some point. If fixed right they should be good, but.... Flywheel and clutch will set you back another $4K. The challenge cars are great cars and generally faster than a stock 348 if properly taken car of. You are looking at $36K + 10-12. That would get you to $48, probably more like $50K. You could get a nice low mile 348 ts for that with service and no race history or no accidents. If you are going to primarily track the car go for the challenge car. If not, pass. Unless you have already bought it, use the above info to get out of the deal and get you deposit back or possibly renegotiate for some of the cost of the above items.
stay away. these cars are money pits, unless you have lotsa cash to waste, and in that case, you wont buy a 348. Try and find the mintest, most untouched 348 around !
Original poster: You can live the dream without buying this particular car. There is a great number of nice 348s out there for you to consider and to wait for. Consult the advice of the various experts and enthusiasts on this forum, and do a little more homework by using the web site's search tool. Continue to read past threads and to really familiarize yourself with the 348 model and all its pitfalls. Good job on spending a night doing it, but there is more information out there for you to sift through than there are hours in one night! Regards, David
Yep ... the old adage of "condition ... condition ... condition" is a good rule to follow. I suspect that it will cost you more than 10k and a lot more in headaches. Tatty and used is one thing ... bent and broken components is another. Plenty of nice 348s out there from what I can see.
I would argue that the gear repair would be reason to get back the deposit. I would not buy that car, but that's me. Go for a nice street 348ts. I've had mine almost three years and have spent about $6500 or so for repairs and maintenance including a major service. BT
If the owner didn't mention extensive damage like this, YOU need to stop payment or dispute the charges. I can only assume you inquired on the general condition of the car. Multiple accidents......yep, just the car I'm looking for.
i was actually working on a deal with this guy outside of the auction and i started doing my research and called the mechanic and that 1k service he said he had was only about half of that i have the reciept the mechanic sent me also i found out there was bondo in the quarter panel and when i confronted him on it he got an attitude and cut off communication with me just a little fyi if you want the reciept i got from the mechanic sent me pm me
Absolutely. Unfortunately, this is a case study in why a PPI is essential when buying from private sellers. But based on that list the seller may have materially misrepresented the car. I would dispute the charge, in small claims court if possible. I hate to recommend you walk away (probably) from $2K, but you'll bury yourself permanently in this car if you dump $10K into it. The bent tranny housing is the dealbreaker, and ill-fitting wheels tell you the owner might have used poor judgement a few times. And if the cosmetics are just so-so... FYI, you can count on $5K+ for a proper/complete interior redo.
A better 348 will come along. Because of the age of these cars, most will need at least some minor sorting out - but you want to avoid a "project" car which this one sounds like it is. I understand the urge to jump in and get your first Ferrari - be patient and the right car for you will turn up. In addition to the other comments, I would recommend getting a 348 with the Motronic 2.7 ECU (as opposed to the 2.5 on the earlier 348's) as the 2.7 stores error codes and makes diagnosing problems a lot easier.
+1 I looked at a similar Challenge car in Salt Lake City, but decided that the purchase price + costs of known items + probable cost of unknown items that would appear inside of a year = money pit far exceeding the car's value anytime soon. Use this equation in the future. I am sorry for the loss of your deposit. If you only lose $2K on this car, it's a blessing. Next time, well, you should know what to do next time by now, eh? Good luck and stayed tuned here for any advice on a potential purchase.
If they didn't disclose some of this stuff then demand your 2K back. You can either sue them or take them to small cliams, much easier and you can do all this online.
