Blown away by ebay.....

Good luck. Buyer beware.

MB

 

Agree! There was a '95 355B sold around KC recently, black/tan, mid 20's in miles, with Challenge grill for $45k. The catch was it needed $20k in service before you would want to drive it. Cheap cars usually become the most expensive cars once purchased, rarely hear of an exception.

 

I agree

paid 65k for my 355
10 k on major and valve guides
1200 on challenge grill
3k on cs steering wheel
3k on xost + test pipes
2k on respraying front clip
1k new stereo,amp
400 on top service
all int stickynomored
and on and on

I know I have a close to perfect car......if I decide to sell the buyer will be purchasing an almost if not perfect car.
I will not settle for less and I wold expect the buyer to appreciate that.

Yes market is bad and economy is bad.........obviously if your looking to purchase a Ferrari now the economy isnt that bad for you.

Just my 0.02 worth

 

Sounds like Daniel might have to be buying a new Ferrari soon!
I can attest to his meticulous nature, and I would not have any worries about the mechanical (or other) condition of his car after seeing the pics of the major service done recently.

BT

 

There is a salvage one here for $30k, and it's nero

 

After spending time talking to many of the experienced here, it has become painfully obvious that the right car could be right around the corner or it could be years away. Research and trust have become the norm here and this is coming from a guy who has wife approval to join the "brotherhood". I have come to understand that one needs to be able to pull the trigger when the right car comes along, the question is " which is the right car"?.. This becomes more and more difficult as the quest goes on. No one wants to have a car that was once a dream to become the nightmare. Good or bad, we have the ability to read the positives and the negatives of each model here and thank god for that, but it also has the tendency to scare the hell out of potential owners, me being one of those guys. I fully understand the requirements maintenance wise and think this is part of the "pride of ownership". " I maintained the car and know the history" ETC ETC. That being said, looking at E-Bay which I do constantly, provides a forum in which to be able to find a car. Is this the end and all to purchase a car--NO, But looking at an E-Bay car at least gives a guy a place to start, if nothing more than to see what out there and to ask questions here on F-CHAT regarding a particular car. The experience here has been , at least to this potential owner, invaluable. I missed a car not more than a month ago that I should have pulled the trigger on....And where did I see it EBAY. As MB Ferrari says--Buyer beware but remember use this forum to your advantage and it just may save a "Dream"......

JOHN

 

After spending time talking to many of the experienced here, it has become painfully obvious that the right car could be right around the corner or it could be years away. Research and trust have become the norm here and this is coming from a guy who has wife approval to join the "brotherhood". I have come to understand that one needs to be able to pull the trigger when the right car comes along, the question is " which is the right car"?.. This becomes more and more difficult as the quest goes on. No one wants to have a car that was once a dream to become the nightmare. Good or bad, we have the ability to read the positives and the negatives of each model here and thank god for that, but it also has the tendency to scare the hell out of potential owners, me being one of those guys. I fully understand the requirements maintenance wise and think this is part of the "pride of ownership". " I maintained the car and know the history" ETC ETC. That being said, looking at E-Bay which I do constantly, provides a forum in which to be able to find a car. Is this the end and all to purchase a car--NO, But looking at an E-Bay car at least gives a guy a place to start, if nothing more than to see what out there and to ask questions here on F-CHAT regarding a particular car. The experience here has been , at least to this potential owner, invaluable. I missed a car not more than a month ago that I should have pulled the trigger on....And where did I see it EBAY. As MB Ferrari says--Buyer beware but remember use this forum to your advantage and it just may save a "Dream"......

JOHN

 

Here,here retired. Good to know that there is someone out there in the same boat. I am nowhere close to being educated on what I believe to be the best design ferrari of my time. But one thing I do know, I am a hell of a lot more educated now than I was a month ago before joining this site. I use ebay as a good reference for me. Would I buy one off of there, who knows, but it is nice to see what is out there. Granted what you see on there is only a small microcosm of what is actually out there but at least it is something. Is it the true price barometer of the 355 market, probably not; even if it is the low end, it is a start. As much as I wish I could, I would love to hang out at Ferrari of Atlanta and sip my coffee while I walked around and salivated over the 355's, 360's, and 430's up there. Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to devote to that. So this site and ebay were my first stops. And both have been helpful. One day there is going to come a time that I will look at a 355 and everything on my checklist will be checked off, at which time I will truly have to, as they say, poop or get off the pot. I just want to be educated enough for when that time comes.

 

I am truly pissed off that gas is so cheap right now and my car needs a valve job. GGGGGGRRRRRRrrrrrr.

 

Dreamer and Almost Retired,
Not trying to crush the dream here, I am now living it; was just told by many of those more experienced than I during the process to be very careful before pulling the trigger lest your first Ferrari experience becomes a nightmare and ultimately your last. Retired missed one, but hey as I was told a million times, another one will come up. You just have to be ready to pull the trigger when it does. Clearly define what you want, what you are willing to spend POST Purchase, and go grab the right one when it pops up!
I would assume anyone buying an exotic or even something like a classic British Sporscar like an E-type would be getting the same advice. The key is finding the balance from all of the people telling you not to buy without a life history, PPI, personal drive and the sellers first son, and the one with the shrinking leather, no history, no PPI and someone who tries to sell you a "special version" of a car that really isn't one.
Good luck and enjoy the quest.
MB

 

Dreamer and Retired:

When I got my first Ferrari, a 348 Spider, I looked all over the west coast for one. I looked at several and passed on them all due to questions that could not be answered. In the end, I found a car in my own back yard and bought from the original owner and even though the services weren't up to date, I knew what I was getting into fully. This took me about 4 months.

The next time, I was looking for a good 1995 355 GTB and I looked everywhere. During this process, I got sucked in by a 348 Serie Speciale, but it took me 6 months to finally get the car at the right price. The most important lessons are:

Be patient!
Check in here regularly - I cannot stress how invaluable the people on these boards are and will be during your ownership. Nearly everyone here has had a positive impact on my ownership experience.
Be patient!
Make sure you go in to a deal fully aware of your risks. You can choose to accept the lack of service records or not.
Trust in your PPI. Always get one unless you are a mechanic.
Do your research beforehand and be as educated as you can be.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Every car is flawed; it's what you are willing to accept that matters.
BE PATIENT!

Your car is out there.

 

In case you don't know... VV has one of the BEST cars around... top notch...

Great advice....

Mike in Kuwait

 

Please, I really don't. There are more beautiful cars out there. I can't concours my car. But, it is pretty and is playful. The real story with my car is that it was an sorry-azzed eBay DOG and now it is a firey b.itch.

 

^ ^ ^ What he said

 

Well, I stopped by the local Fcar dealer in Denver and was SHOCKED. First off, any of you thinking you are going to get 80k for a fullly serviced 15-20k mile 355 right now is INSANE!

The dealer had a PERFECT red/tan 355 with 20k miles fully serviced for $69,900. They had another yellow/black 1998 for $69,900. You should see the 360 prices (a few in the 90s range!) These prices are from a dealer!!

The market is the worst they have ever seen and I believe them. While I was there they were telling me of other cars that sold and the prices were SO low on some 911 TT (2002 911 TT for around 40K) and other cars that I wished I wasnt broke in real estate right now.

No flame suit needed, just reporting the facts. deal with it. hehe

 

355 values will go up in the next 5 years. Mark my words. 360s are ugly by comparison and they made too many of them. I think I am going to keep mine forever. Right color, right year, right model. Good cars will continue to cost 60k + and more.

 

I agree, take a look at Porsche 993 911's and 996 911's prices. Same scenario, 993 was the last of the beautiful, somewhat rare, old school classic Porsche design, and other things equal (mileage, cond, amenities) the 993's are quite a bit more expensive.

 

They have a 2000 red/tan 360 for $79,900, I think you may see 360s dropping below good 355s within a year, just way too many on the market and you do not see very many 355 Berlinettas or GTS on the market. F430s offer considerably more performance with a similar style to the 360 and they are already dropping below $150,000. Time will tell.

 

+348!!

I bought a 90 348 just a year and a month ago, and I sure wished I would have known that the market was going to nose dive. I definitely would have waited. I ended up with a 90 348ts with 42K and a fresh major in March of 2008 including new guides ($14,000), 19" 360 wheels and a full X-ost exhaust. It's very nice car, don't get me wrong, but I would much rather have had an F355. I ended up $51K total in the car.

Now, I see 355 Spiders selling around $50K. Yes, I realize that they need a $8 - $10K major, but I would gladly spend another $8K to be in a 355 Spider. Unfortunately I couldn't give my 348 away today so that's not going to happen.

 

Bite your tongue///Respectfully request he be suspended from the 348 Brotherhood until he apologizes for wanting to sell his 348 to buy a hairgel machine until he is reinstated by the Stooges at such a time that is deemed appropriate by majority vote

MB

 

^^^ It get's worse! I really want a 360!

Oh well, if I wait around til February I'll be able to trade my Camry for one.

 

Bwahahahahaha. That is awesome. I almost had milk come through my nose. Then I realized, "hey, he is probably right" LMAO.
MB

 

It's a wonderful time to buy a Ferrari. For those of you who bought a year ago and paid too much, just give it some time and the market will come back. Spring is just around the corner!

 

Thanks for the reassurance. Seriously, I needed that, especially with a big service coming up.

 

Dan, you look like the Tin Man in yer cab.

Must be a reflection.

# 42?

Here's # 23 @ Laguna
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