Looking for my first 355...

I emailed them on the car. They are looking to get 57.5 for it. It also has had an accident and was repaired.

Good luck. I hope to find the car for me some time!

 

PorscheGuy, do a search for a post by SandyEggo titled "355 University" from this past fall. You'll see detailed 30K Major costs from his car and a summary of mine, done at the same shop. Next, review the service records of any 355 that you are interested in purchasing. Compare against SandyEggo's list and mine for cost of major items such as replacement manifolds, hoses, tensioners, belts, etc. Allocate a reserve fund for any of these items not attended to in the last 4-5 years on the car and make sure you've got that extra money available on the day of purchase because you never know when a mechanical mishaps can occur. Then get a PPI done, buy it, drive it every week, and enjoy it knowing that you're prepared for whatever goes wrong.

Good luck on your hunt!

 

This black/tan GTS has been available for some time now. I know nothing about it but remembered it from when I was searching for my car.

http://www.goautosinc.com/vehicle.asp?v=841453

 

I have been following this site and picking all intelligent advises Ferrari lovers give out. I personally appreciate the input. I have been rebuilding 355s for the last four years. Mostly accident vehicles that have been totaled.
If you are buying a 355 with prior accident, might as well get a salvage title one. This is my personal opinion. The only difference is the title description. Why pay 25K more? You can get a salvage one in the range of 32-35K. Finding out the service history on these cars can take some time if you are lucky to backtrack the owners.
I just took apart a 95 spider. In most of the cars that I have had, specially with high mileage, the problems include cracked manifolds, cat issues due to cracked manifolds, make sure under tray air diffusers are present since they do get damaged relatively easy, make sure if buying a spider that the top is syncronized on the left and right pistons so you won't have to pay someone for two hours of labor to get it fixed. Be vigilant of shady sellers who eliminate warning bulbs in the cluster panel. It cost me big one time when the check engine light was removed.
If anything else comes to mind I will post and if you have other questions, feel free to let me know.
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I you take cars apart, where do you most often find rust? It is interesting to know if the places you see and those you normally read in buying guides are the same!

 

Only in small cased in the back area specially when the wheel arches are missing. I am in California and the cars down here are pretty solid. Neglect from leaking water/coolant causes rust spots on the engine cradle. I have not seen body rust on these cars other than the tube frame in the engine compartment area. And even those are just surface rust that can also be found on suspension pieces, bottom rails of the vehicle w/damaged under panel acoustics where moisture gets trapped.

 

355s are the best

 

Porsche Guy............I have contacted the seller of this car and they emailed me the service records. The engine out/belt service was done 5 years ago so it seems that it is due for another service just about now.

btw....I also own a 993 and was about to purchase this GTS, but they are not willing to reduce their price to compensate for the expense of the engine out service.

Good luck in your search

 

To sum up:

Last Porsche Road Trip (993TT). Drove 5+hours. Made it to Heartland Park in good time. Thrashed around track for two straight days. Drove home. Problems. None. Wear and Tear: New set of brakes every two years.

Last Ferrari Road Trip (355 spider). Drove 5+ hours. Made it to Eureka Missouri. Drove around back roads with other Ferraris for two days. Drove Home. Problems: Check Engine light (cats), slow down light (cats), top leaked, speedometer failed and mysteriously fixed itself, dash lights went out for an hour and then fixed themselves.
Now the two warnign lights were from a set of hyperflow cats that I can't get to work cleanly with the exhaust. The rest of the stuff is typical annoyance of living with a Ferrari.

I love them both equally and can't imagine ever trading.

I've had the Porsche for 5 years and the Ferrari for 2. Every Cliche about Germans v Italians is exeplified by the ownership experience here.

Bill

 

PG,

You are correct to search for the GTS. As you know, the GTS is limited in production and in my view, is the best looking car of this series. Owned my 99 F-1 GTS since June of 2002 and have had zero problems with it and is now showing over 40K+ miles with just as many smiles.
Also sounds like you have done your due diligence but always do more when it comes time to plunk down your hard earned cash.
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Thanks for putting "355 Univeristy" in your post, it was a great read and really helps one understand what it would cost to catch a 355 up on maintenace. I would hope that a really well maintained 355 would need much less work for a normal major. I am happy to pay a premium for a car with fresh maintenance if I am not looking at $17k soon after I buy it...Steve

 

otherwise when you get yours, we can go for a ride! 355s rule.

 

"I just read the entire post. I'm now very afraid."

Don't be. Just slow down and take more time to be comfortable about what you want to purchase. I first registered on Fchat in 2008 and did not buy my car until 2010. I spent 2 years learning everything I could about the F355 and the resale market. One of the most important things I gained from other members was about keeping extra money aside for routine or unexpected maintenance. One of my Ferrari owner friends told me, "If you have just enough money set aside for a 360, buy a 355 instead and then drive it without fear of breaking your budget. If you have just enough money set aside for a 355, buy a 348 instead and drive it without fear." Etc, etc.

It was great advice, and instead of blowing every penny of my budget on a 360, I focused on the F355 model instead. You might consider a nice 348 or just wait a little longer for the right car to come on the market. It appears that Cyclisto has his silver 1995 F355 listed again in the Classified section. You might want to talk to him if you are still interested in the 355. Last time he had it for sale, he was entertaining offers in the low $40s.

 

For the record.

My car was very well maintained and I have $10s of thousands in receipts from prior owners (all 15 years worth) to show for it. The car was never denied anything. I could have easily got in/out of my major for under $10k but I'm a bit fanatical and decided to do a lot of preventative items and stuff which only hinted at being suspect. When it came to parts, I upgraded at every opportunity. No expense spared, I don't F-around.

I'll sell it to ya for $3m.

 

Good point Rick. It was my car that needed to catch up on the maintenance in a big way, not Rick's. They are both discussed in the same thread which may be confusing to people who don't realize that they are two separate red F355s that just by chance had their 30K majors done at the same time and at the same shop.

Rick's car is the cleaner, better looking one . That's how you can tell them apart!

 

I truly meant no disrespect and appologize if I came off in a bad way. I should have stated that for all intents and purposes (with out tearing down the engine) You rebuilt it in every way that makes sense once it is out of the car.

I would not want to have to drop the engine again until the next major and understand why you did what you did.

But what this is telling me is that the F355 is getting old and if you want to have your best shot at reliability, then you need to refresh the drive train, which you did all at one time. So yes the cost looks daunting but needs to be considered part of the purchase price.......But I fully agree you did the right thing the first time and did not cheap out.

I really like the F355, but it does sound like if I am smart when I buy mine, I should be willing to do what you did even on a car with a great and complete service record.

As mentioned above if you can just afford a 360, then get the 355 and have money to make it fresh. Now if I buy an F430, I would expect normal mainenance would suffice (no guarantee), but that reconditioning/rebuild would be 6-8 years down the road.

Again thanks so much for sharing your experience it is very valuable and much appreciated.....Steve

 

Hi Steve. No big deal...mostly I just didn't want others who stumbled across this thread to think "Wow, a normal major will cost me $17k". I wasn't offended - but I do admit I felt a tinge of having to "defend her honor".

 

Black Horse has an excellant reputation around these parts. If they say it was minor, i'm confident thety can back that up. I'd also say if they repaired it, its better than new. Problem remains with resale and the carfax blemish when your done with it 5 years from now.

Im an hour and change away but have no plans to travel in that direction on my forseeable schedule. Have you seen it yet? Do you need someone to see it before you travel out?

 

Porsche Guy,

I was willing to offer them $52K until I found out about the major service issue. Unfortunately the deal never went thru and I will have to continue looking for another GTS.

I do not plan on selling my 993.....just want to have the F355 as another toy. I know that the F355 will not be as reliable as the 993 but that I can live with that.

To me to have the last of the air cooled 911s along with the best looking Ferrari is a dream come thru.

Good luck in your search.