True cost to own?

Welcome to Ferrarichat !!!

Please take some time to fill in your profile, people like to know who they are talking to.

As for cost of ownership, it can vary depending on many things, car condition, level of use, DIY servicing........

There has been a figure of $1 per mile mentioned many times. That can vary greatly but is probably not a bad place to start.

 

Depends how long do you plan on keeping it. If you buy a car with good compression/valves and no deferred work, then you pay nothing(unless you sell it two years after service then you have to drop another 8-10k in service again). At 30k it may need cats and headers(oem4-2) and dealer cost thats $10k(after market 4-1 $6-7k) not including major service another $8k, not including shrinking leather, sticky stuff on console, suspension, tires, brakes like any car that sits and slowly passes with time.

 

I have calculated that the cost of ownership in Australia for an F355 spider will be approximately $34,775 per year based on the following:

Car is paid for upfront (no borrowing costs or interest on loan)
min. 3 years owner ship
Depreciation of 8% P/A
Major service done at end of year 3
1 set of tyre change
2 Annual services
Petrol for 5,000 kms
Registration fee
Insurance
Storage cost ($3900 per year)

The original purchase price of the car is the cost of getting into the Ferrari lifestyle. The long term cost every year is the true cost of ownership.

By the way, $34,775 per year equals 7 cents every 1 second!

 

Thank god I don't live over there...

 

Lol! That's a little like asking how much it costs to stay married to a 5' 11" blonde supermodel.


The answer, of course, is a lot. Purchase price + insurance + fuel/oil + routine maintenance + tires + brakes/pads/rotors + major maintenance + unexpected maintenance + storage + cleaning + annual tags/license/plate/taxes + track fees, etc.


Ferraris aren't budget-minded cars. Lots of fun, though!

 

Soup to nuts, if you can keep the depreciation and repair bills under $3 bucks a mile, life is good.

Dale

 

or from another angle...plan on a major service every 5 yrs. for $5k minimum. Dealer says 3 yrs., anything longer is your personal gamble. Buy a late '98 or '99, you'll save some headaches and surprises. Valve guides should be good, you may just need headers (one time $3k DIY fix). Sticky interior is $5 plus your time to clean and spray with plasti-dip (do a search, easy fix). Clutch is fairly easy to replace and lasts a long time in a 3 pedal 6-spd (but go for the F1 for real FUN!)

Depreciation was leveling off until the recent crash, who knows now. For me insurance is the same as my Subaru STi daily driver, about $1200 per year IIRC.

As they say, many people can afford to buy a Ferrari but not many can afford to own one It all depends on how crazy you are about cars and especially Ferrari's. Clearly this thread needs motivational pics
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355s in australia generally cost around $150K-$180K. Alot of owners try to sell their car privately because of the low trade-in prices. If you buy one from a dealer at around $180K and sell it back the next day, you would be lucky to get $120K.

Depreciation accounts for well over 1/2 the true total running costs.

I set up a spread sheet and factored in all of the relevant cost. The cost would be even more if I took into consideration the lost opportunity cost of investing the initial capital sum (which is used to acquire the Ferrari).

 

Sorry guys the bottom line should read 7 cents every 1 minute.

Also the petrol allow is per year (about $1000 for 5000 kms)

 

So just drive it lots and put on tons of miles to justify spending that thousands on it OR F355 may not be the right car for you... it's that simple.

Edit: For others, going for a sunny sunday afternoon drive or a nice dinner date in an F355 with that glorious 5 valve-per-cylinder Ferrari engine upshifting @ 8000RPM and hearing that near F1 exhaust note coming through a Tubi/Capristo/X-ost is just PRICELESS!!!

2nd Edit: Didn't realize it's my 328th post. Cheers to all 328 owners and their cars.

 

dude, if you actually race cars seriously, upkeep on a 355 won't be too much. just get a good car and drive it. when it breaks, fix it (as someone older and wiser on this forum said once).
my car has cost me a bit , but i've put 7,000 miles on my car in a year, and given the fact it's a very exclusive race car for the road, maintenance ain't too bad. I'm not a rich guy, but it's worth it.

cheers, and again, DO IT

here are some oldies but goodies of my car to inspire you...

p.s. Jay, your car looks amazing
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Man! I LOVE your 355!! They are some of the best 355's pics I have seen man and it makes me want to buy a black 355!!

I dont think there are too many in Australia, but I will find one!

 

Got one for sale over here Pap, the last owner is a good guy too

I'm not sure how $34k per year works out, but my car has cost no where near that, not even close. I don't care how much deprecation though, its not for sale. If it drops 8% PA over the next 10 years how much will it be worth? I think it might just be a little on the harsh side at 8% PA. Good cars sell for good money.

 

Yeah, that $34K was a little hard to understand.

Your old 355?? Nero/nero yes? How much are they selling that for now mate?

 

Rule of 72 says that at 8% depreciation, the car's trade in value will be half the purchase (retail) after 9 years (72/8=9). My figure of $34,775 was based on buying a 10 year old F355 at the market (dealer) price, and then trading in on a 360 (say) after 3 years.

Of course, the running costs are no where near 34K, its more like about 8.6K ave per year over a 3 year period (if you need to store the car somewhere other than home, add 3.9K/year for a seperate, secure garage with 24hr access).

Now if you hold on to your car forever, than you won't be hit with the depreciation, but sooner or later, you may be hit with a 30K engine rebuild!

 

One would normally think (hope) that most 355 owners have their own secure garage to park their cars.

I certainly wouldnt have bought my Ferrari if I didnt have anywhere to park it securely.

$8.6K to cover ALL costs is probably about right, perhaps a little excessive if anything. Give or take your insurance quote and costs of services etc.....

 

paid cash in Oct of 2007
major service + valves and valve guides at time of major
cost 12k

my insurance is about $30 a month

other than that I havent spent a penny on my 355 other than things I wanted to do to personalize it to my taste level.

I added a challenge grill, X-OST + test pipes, rear wheel spacers, 360 CS steering wheel, new stereo, hood struts etc etc
Did the car need all of these things..........no, but thats how I roll.

 

I think you would be surprised at how many people have to pay for storage. Particularly those that live inner city where real estate is expensive and double garages are rear.

Also here are the costs I have bugeted for over the next 3 years:

Annual service - 2 x $1500
Major service $7000
4 new tyres $3000
Miscellaneous repairs $2000
Insurance 3 x $2100 (includes 10% discount for ferrari club member)
Petrol 3 x $1000
Rego 3 x $600
Storage 3 x $3900

Total = $26,100 or $8700/yr (without storage).

Note the above does not allow for any 'surprise repairs' such as Cat ECUs, exhaust manifolds, exhaust bypass valves, etc. I have already replaced one ECU ($400) and need to replace my rattling bypass valve ($2000 AUD).

In my case, I have to allow extra for storage. I figured storage was cheaper than building a garage.

 

A LOT of money man!

I guess I am VERY lucky owning a 348 and being able to do ALL the work on it myself.

My 348 budget consists of....
(not that I budget for it)

Annual service- 2x $200
Major service- $1500
4 new tyres- $1000
Misc repairs.......$2200 for a new clutch back in 2005.
Insurance- 3x $1500
Petrol- 3x $1000
Rego- 3x $800
Storage- FREE

Total- $14,998 or $4999/yr.

IF I ever owned a 355, the budget would look similar, if not identical

 

yeah, a lot of money. But at least the figures are realistic and I am fully aware of the costs. That way, I don't ***** about the cost of repairs.

355's are very maintenance hungry. A lot of parts deteriorates prematurely because of the extreme heat from the engine. I suspect good, well maintained 355s will become hard to find in the future because of the maintenance costs.

However, all costs aside, the 355 is an awesome car to look at, to drive and to listen to.
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Agree with you there mate!! I better get one soon!

They most certainly are! One of the BEST Ferraris ever made!!

You have a beautiful Spider Darren! Enjoy mate.

 

I disagree with you about the "maintenance hungry" statement: I own my F355 Spider for 9 years now aside from changing headers and doing the 30k service everything else was regular service for my car. Regular service was oil change.

 

They most certainly are! One of the BEST Ferraris ever made!!


how can his be true WHEN maintainence can be high...I am also considering this model but maintainence scares me...ie valve guides/headers. apart from that, the major is to be expected...its hard for guys coming from less maintanence hungry cars to understand or except...ie Porsche which does not require a major every 30k