Who has bought a 308 without all the service records???

bought my 85 off ebay sight unseen. no service records, no ppi, no info at all. i did a belt service after we drove it 200 miles home. guess i'm just lucky.

 

Mine had minimal records and an owner-performed major. 6 years and 55,000 miles later, all is well.

EDIT: I did pay a discount vs fully-documented cars, and I expect to take a similar hit should I ever sell it. Sounds crazy, but some people really do care about oil change receipts from 1992. Those type of people are not my people

 

I would suggest taking the car out for a good run and see how tight the car feels in your hands. This should reasonably show you the level of care because if the car feels too loose and sloppy this might indicate that the previous owner let things slide. A well maintained 308 should handle like a go-kart. Additionally, a trustworthy PPI will point out other mechanical items such a leaks (according to a Ferrari service manager all 308's have them...) brakes, compression and fluid maintenance. These little items if overlooked will tend to show the maintenance habits of previous owners. Low compression could be an indication of a worn engine or one that needs the valves adjusted.

Personally, I picked up my '82 308 after having the seller fax all service records to me. I then arranged for a European sports car enthusiast in the seller's city to drive the car for me and offer up an in-person inspection which he gave a very good and detailed review of the car. Based on these confirmed items I loaded up my trailer and drove 1200 miles to see the car in person and finalize the deal. If the car would not have turned out as represented, I would have turned around and driven home with my trailer empty.

I have put 6500 trouble free miles on the car since early May

A little caution and homework can save you a lot of headaches down the road. $30K for an '85 QV sounds like a very decent price but the proof is in the pudding (driving and inspection.)

Good luck - Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

 

I bought a 1982 308 GTSi without service records. My car has had some problems, but the worst part is not knowing the cars history. I wouldn't ever buy another Ferrari without service records.

 

I bought my 328 without records but with a ppi. The car had 3k on the odometer and the Ferrari dealer who did the ppi said they thought the mileage was correct. I contacted the 2 previous owners to try to get the window sticker and service records without success. I have owned the car over 10 years with no regrets, however I would still like to have the paperwork.

 

Check out the car in person!!
Listen to it run, get down on your hands and knees and listen to the bottom end. If there is even the slightest knocking down there you do not want that car.
3-3.2L cars are great cars, but you still need a full ppi and/or complete records.
3.2 cars are at best 20 years old and 3.0 cars are at "worst" 33 years old.

Best regards,
Simon

 

I bought mine with 32K on the clock and only had a copy of the 30K service. I did a belt change after I got the car and have done this after I put 15K miles on it. I took a test drive before I bought the car and after looking it over I bought it. I was not worried about any previous service. It's a used car and you buy it , you own it. I never looked back and I am enjoying it.

 

I bought my '78 GTS with no service records. I checked the car out carefully, planned on doing a belt service on it anyway, so lack of records didn't bother me. I've been over, around, up, down and through the car since, and I'm quite satisfied that not having the service records did not end up being a problem. Sure, I had to fix a few things, but I expected that, buying an old car.

 

got my 85 308qv last oct.,with only last 12 years of services,it's last belt was at three years when bought it,made a deal of 5k less took about 2 months to make the deal but we did,just did the maj in may with the 5k I saved and put it aside just for that reason,I'm keeping every little thing as a reciept for the next owner

 

a few of the 5 i have had had no records. i buy them at a discount, and do a major service when it arrives off the truck, then work out the small issues and get it sorted. its nice to have records, but unless there was a major engine / transaxle rebuild, or a clutch job, i really could care less about fluids, hoses and sparky plugs, as those are done as they have to be. this Qv is the first one we replaced the water pump on when it arrived. it was as new looking from its last major 10 years ago, but spending most of its time sitting did not do it any good. my car just needs to be driven and "woken up" again.


drive it and see what the temps and pressures are, your seat of the pants dyno will tell you if she still has compression or not, if in doubt, have a compression test done. then make sure you drive the car and enjoy it!

 

I bought my 1997 GTB two years ago with no service records and no PPI. I did drive a few before settling on this one. It was probably a silly thing to do, and I've been lucky I guess as nothing major seems to have been wrong with it. I made sure that belts, tensioners, and all fluids were replaced before doing the deal.

My car also needed all of the 'regular' stuff like new fuel lines, suspension rebuild etc. etc., but I'm happier that I did all of this myself rather than trusting the jobs to a previous owner who might not have performed the work correctly.

I think I was lucky. I did drive a few, and the one I settled on appeared to 'honest' if you know what I mean. In hindsight, I think I should have paid for a PPI too. As carreaper says, keep an eye on the pressures and temps too when you drive a candidate vehicle.

Be certain that you get the tool kit, the jack kit, and the owner manuals (and jacket to put them in). These things are expensive if not included with the car.

 

The ony relevent records are for the past 5 years. Even then they would need careful scrutiny, it is easy to print anything out nowadays, better to start ground zero and do the service work from day one of your ownership. Not too many 30 year old cars without some kind of past problem body or mechanical, if it's been fixed properly then it is of no issue.

 

I see all of us guilty ones are coming out of the woodwork now!

 

I purchased my 1985 308 Euro QV 2 years ago without any records with 36,000 on the odo. Had a PPI done and nothing negative that would have been a deal breaker. I've had no problems and I had the major service performed a few months ago. I did avert a problem with the electrical / fuel pump fuse by changing out to the Birdman's fuse box upgrade. (Best money spent so far on my car)

My Bella:
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Mine came with all records, including from the local Exxon replacing the battery with the wrong model.
I also know it went back to the same dealer multiple times for the same problems.

The records made interesting reading at the start, but have sat in a file folder for the last 6 years.

 

I think it would be a rare car indeed that had all the service records from new. Many seem to have a some, and some have no records at all. I don't think its necessary to have them all, but having the records at least back to the last major service are desirable as that will tell you where the maintenance stands now. If the car has more records than that, it just tells you the previous owner/owners cared about the car, which is always a good thing. For me the car had the original window sticker and records for warrenty work done during the first year, Then there was a gap in years untill the last owner, who had records dating back 2 1/2 years for oil changes, tires, ect and a major service. With those recent records I could judge the current mechanical condition of the car and also check to see how the milage numbers added up. I am the 4th owner and the car had 19,500 miles when I bought her in November 2005, she now has almost 37,000 miles. Lost of miles and lots of smiles.

 

Even if you think you have all the records, you don't really KNOW, do you? The receipts from the body shop fixing the fender bender, the rebuilt head from blowing a head gasket, you know stuff that might affect the value even though it is over. It is too easy to pull those before a sale. Having a folder full of oil and belt changes makes you feel good, but it is perhaps only the fairy tale version of the story.

It is a used car. Except for major work like engine and tranny rebuilds, I don't care if the oil was changed in 1976.

 

I recently bought my 308 GTBi with absolutely no records. The seller held it for 5 years without putting more than 200 miles on it. He recommended a major service before driving and priced it accordingly. He told me what he thought it needed, including a new alternator because it was making noise, (He pointed to the air pump when describing this) and a transmission rebuild which turned out to just be a bad shift bushing. The point is, I bought it knowing that I would have to check or replace every wear or service item on it. That's half the fun, right?
Just pulled the engine cover last night in anticipation of the 30k kit arriving from Ricambi. So far, so good!

Mike in Denver

 

I dont have any real records on either car, but I have some worthless ones that came with the second car. Unless your buying a low mileage car and using the records to confirm mileage, records are generally meaningless. A brake job or a set of tires 18 years ago mean nothing today, and neither does a major service in 1989. The only thing that really matters is what condition its in today.

My hat is off to the guys who bought sight unseen without records or a PPI, your faith in our fellow man is refreshing. Unfortunatly the guy I bought my second car from did the same (he bought it sight unseen off of pictures and a promise) and the car was not as described. Not by a long shot.

I guess if I didnt want to drive a long ways or jump on a plane, I would at least ask someone locally from this forum to look at the car for me and offer some reasonable compensation. As important as a compression test or leakdown is, just knowing it runs without filling the yard full of smoke, that its not rusted up to the door handles, or that its not sitting in a lake of oil or antifreeze would be worth something. Certainly it would be better than seeing it roll off the delivery truck in that condition.

 

This is the point I have tried to make many times in regards to those people who want to slide on the belt service. I would like to see one single car anywhere with a reciept for a blown timing belt or a welded up cylinder head. The reciepts that show repaired engine damage or defered maintainance issues always seem to be missing for some odd reason, while the ones for all the pretty new tires are in stacks.

 

Came with all of the records, but they were sitting at the bottom of a box with the leaky Koni's on top.

 

Bought mine 8 years ago with no records.

Got it for a discount. Went through the car myself, I know that things are or aren't up to date...no guess work.

There have been more than a few stroies here over the years that someone paid a premium for a car with records, only to find they were incorrect and had to put a lot of additional $ into the car to know it's right.

I'll do it the same when i'm in the market for another one.

 

I don't have all records but do have a few important ones.

My car had an engine out major at Ron Tonkin GT to the tune of $7500 including two syncros replaced. Also a new steering rack ($1500) record and an alternator and clutch replacement ($2500) within the last four years.

These records and the super clean and new looking cosmetics inside and out were enough to convince me.

Car started right up with no smoke and idled great with no overheating..still does.

So far so good.

 

I bought my car 5 years ago, with one service record showing the last major service being ten years ago. I had a major done when I bought it, and now a second one this summer. The car has been reliable.

Jim