Buying a 348

Spend several hours looking through this section at all the various threads on the 348 - the chances are every question you can think of and many many more besides have been repeatedly answered

 

"ive just been through the same process and now am a happy owner. I looked for about two months and there were definately "scams" out there. Your gut feeings will tell you a lot about which one is right for you. With these cars since the major maintenance is expensive 8-12K it's all about documentation of service that's been done. There was anice one in the sates that needed a major and was priced about 10k less than ones that had the major done recently, so the prices were equivanlent more or less. the "market" prices the cars about right and you will find others that are still priced from a year or two ago (higher) before the stock market fell. For me it's about the learning curve in terms of doing the routine work myself instead of a shop but the majors are way out of reach. having done several maiden runs in the past few days, In my opinion, it's totally worth all that comes with them. As others will tell you here there is an abundance of information and great people here and also check out the technical section on www.club348.com. One thing I learned about the costs was also from looking over copies of service receipts that came along with prospective cars to determine costs for various things. Obviously it has to be in your area and fairly recent. Some shops will give you general quotes while others would not. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat.

 

I was in your shoes 8 short months ago and now am happy and very satisfied owner. I began looking for my first Ferrari in July 2008 and had no clue what to look for and what questions to ask. I didn't know anybody personally who owned a 348 so I didn't know where to start. The first thing I did was call Ferrari of Ontario and got their opinion on the 348 model as well as the yearly maintenance costs and service schedule. Then I called a few private shops who has Ferrari Techs and also asked them several questions. The general consensus was that the 348 is bullet-proof if maintained properly, and the most important thing is the 3 or 4 year major service [you will soon find that the opinion on when to do the major engine out service varies]. Just remember that a car of this magnitude will not be cheap for things that need to be serviced in between the major service, so if you are okay with that then you will be find. When looking at any that you may buy, you will obviously be asking for the service records so look them over carefully to see how well the car was taken care of. It is actually a good idea to call the shop that serviced the one you are considering and ask them about it as well, which is what I did for every one I looked at until I settled on the one I finally purchased. This site is priceless, with all of the experience, knowledge, and expertise of current and past Ferrari owners, not to mention the mannerism and etiquette of the members. I am very proud to be a part of the Ferrari brotherhood as well as a member of this site because of the rest of these very members. You can ask any question at anytime without the fear of being ridiculed - I am by no means a mechanic yet some of the questions I ask may be very simple to 99 percent of the membership and they answer with a friendly and thorough response.

The key is patience - take your time, make sure you are comfortable with the one you think is it, and find out as much as possible about the history of that car. I heard something about title insurance for 50 dollars or so but we do not have that in Canada so somebody in the US will have explain that to you if you do not know what that is. Everything I explained here is precisely what I went through a short time ago, and it is fresh in my mind, so hopefully this helps with your search.

Good luck and I can assure you that if/when you finally get one, you will be very happy. It is a feeling like none other to own and drive one of these

cheers.

 

If you want to drive the car, focus more on the maintenance records, who did the work, and how often. I personally think the large number of 30-35k cars is a scam; it's trivial for someone in near 20 years to roll-back the odometer. A regularly driven and fastidiously maintained Fcar is a much better deal than an irregularly driven and maintained low mile Fcar.

Some say that we're just looking after our Fcar for the next owner, but not me; drive 'em, look after 'em, and drive 'em some more!

I'd also prefer to have my mechanic do the major ; often there's a lot of corners cut by shops with owners wanting just a "resale major" so they can say the belts were changed, and calm down a nervous buyer. There's a lot of other things that may need/want work when everything's out - but may of been skipped. Surprises are expensive.

They're all shiny on the outside, the good ones have lots of steady and frequent maintenance bills to go with them.

Definitely get a PPI by a shop you feel comfortable with: I prefer the smaller independent's who're comfortable telling you what they really think, rather than the corporate policy says just report the thickness of the brake pads and leakdown #. ymmv

 

A few hours before posting this op was buying either a 308 or a 360 - now its a 348 - draw your own conclusions

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240986

 

hey all im thinking of selling my 348 if any1 is interested let me no john

 

Me too!

 

me too

 

forgot the quote

 

OP wising up!
Long live the 348 brotherhood!

 

you have been given some good information, patience is truly the key. I was in that boat two months ago

 

He can have my Spider for $90k LOL