328 vs. 355 Engine Service Cost

Depends on quite a few things, but my 328 majors have always been about $4K including water pump rebuild. A 355 requires an engine-out service, which I think is inherently more expensive.

 

Belt service on 355 is engine out vs engine in for 3-8 series, 355 electronics are much more complex, engine has 5 valves per cyl vs 4. much faster, and a more modern driving experience, but no way is it cheaper to keep on the road than a 328/308.

 

My mechanic was always trying together me to trade in a 328 for a 355. He said he had kids to put through college.

 

I would say that statement is absolute rubbish. First, the 328 major is completed engine-in versus the engine-out for the 355...that's labor hours just to get the engine in and out. Second, I doubt anyone would argue the 308/328 engine & gearbox are far more bullet-proof than the 355. Third, speak with Daniel Pass (Ricambi America) about calls from which Ferrari owners (328 or 355) tend to supplement Luca's college education the most...my guess will be the 355. I've spoken with the Raleigh mechanic I believe you are speaking of and anytime there's a 355 in the shop for service, the $$ make me dizzy.

 

I call bs! No way in hell is a 355 the same maintenance $$$ as a 328.

Not to mention that the 328 is a more beautiful car. The sound of the 355 is insane though...



PDG

 

Mtns on a 355 is WAY more than on 328.

Headers, Valves, belts, etc... you are talking north of $10K... unless you can do it your self. not to mention the finiky check engine light that always seems to be coming on...

I think the 355 is one of the most pretty Ferrari's ever made, and i would buy one tomorrow if i thought the cost of mtns would be the same as my 328... but sadly the truth is much, much more $$$. All Ferrari's are mtns whores... the 355 one of the biggest. A friend i know had a major service done + cats -$17K. check engine light is still on!

 

If you do the service yourself, then I can testify that the costs of the tune up parts are exactly the same. Your labor is free.

It is true that the 355 tends to have more expensive problems to fix than the 328.

 

Figure costs on a 355 are about 1/3 to 1/2 again more expensive than a 328. Then add in the $$ to fix the valve guide and exhaust header issues that will need to be done on every 355 at some point, if it hasn't been done already, and you are looking a big $$. Buy the 328 and have money left over.

 

I love 355s, but I would not wish their servicing cost on my worst enemy. They are EONS more to maintain than a 328.

The 328 is quite possibly the most reliable and bulletproof Ferrari ever made, while the 355 is pretty much the exact opposite.

355 service is about 4x more to maintain. Engine must come out, stock headers need to be replaced ($3k+ just for the headers), and the valve guides head south after 20k-ish miles no matter what. A regular belt job and nothing else on a 355 is minimum $10k. Add in other stuff that goes wrong with them and you're at $15k, which is not uncommon.

Stick with the 328 as there is good reason they are going up in value and 355s continue to decline.

 

355s are great cars, good looking, fast and terrific handling. Everyone likes their looks and road manners. So why are they so cheap? Simple answer: cost of ownership.

Dave

 

I've owned my '85 308 GTB since new. I've spent a total of approx $6500 on two majors at 15 and 27k miles. All other maintenance, amounting mostly to fluids changes and filters, I have done myself. I was looking into getting a 355 as a second Ferrari. Looked at at least 5. I have the service records for three. They were well cared for cars. F355 No 1; major in 2009 @ $11k. F355 No 2; major in 2008 @ $9.5k with at 13% courtesy discount of parts (owner was an owner of a different make dealership), F355 No 3; major service in 2010 @ $14k, with the owner refusing correction of a couple of problems (oil pressure gage not reading correctly - owner refused replacement of gage unit).

And has been pointed out there is the issue of headers cracking, valve guide failing on some cars, sticky controls, shrinking leather on dash etc, top failures on spiders, OBD II codes popping on requiring service for emissions testing.....and let's not forget clutch issues with early F1 cars.

So yea, an F355 cost the same to maintain as a 3-8, in your dreams.

At the same time I would also suggest that you would be better off with a well cared for higher mileage F355 (20 k t0 30k) since many of the issues with valve guides and hearders were probable already dealt with.

 

I highly suspect that in the next few years 328s and 355s will be the same price due to these very reasons. I only hope we don't see thousands of 355s with seriously neglected maintenance due to owners getting in way way over their heads............which I am 100% sure will happen. My heart is already breaking.

 

Utter rubbish - engine in vs engine out - doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure out which would cost more. And 328s don't tend to suffer from bad valve guides, blown headers & cracked buttresses either)

Love 355s though

 

I cry foul!

I just did a major on my 355 and there is no way that I could have bought a 328 or even a 308 for the price of the service.




Wait.... did I misunderstand the question???

 

Does somebody tell you these things or do you and others dream them up all on your own? The 355 is not 4X more than a 328 to maintain but I can tell you that the 355 is 4x more fun to drive than a 328. 355 prices by the way are not heading down infact they have bottomed out and are turning up slightly. The service that has to be done with the engine out on a 355 every 5 years is not a minimum of 10gs. If you take care of your 355 and do the regular service every 5 years, the cost is 27 hours plus parts which equals about 5gs. Yes the heads will have to eventually be re/re for a cost of about 6gs and the headers will go and the cost again about 6gs for real header replacement (TUBI) and thats it. Remember that the 355 is the first windtunnel designed Ferrari and the power, handling and speed blows away any previous 8 cyl. Ferrari. The 355 also carries F1 technology and exudes sounds that have yet to be found on any other Ferrari past or present unless you own a Formula one car. The 355 is an amazing car. The problem is that many have been buying those sub 50gs 355 out there that have been driven and never maintained. The new buyers scream when they find out that they have to spend a fortune to fix 15 years worth of neglect. If anyone here is on the hunt for a 355, look long and hard for a couple of years to find the right one and when you do you will never look at a 3x8 again. The best 355 to buy is a 95 with the 2.7 motronic and in a Berlinetta.

 

Well, as I have said before - I love the look of the 328 but when I decided to buy a Ferrari in '08, It was between the 328/348/355. I dropped the 348 almost immediately because it didn't have the looks of the 328 and it's performance increase over the 328 wasn't near enough to overcome the look. It ended up being between the 328/355 and I elected to go with the 328 because a decent 355 was just a bit over my total budget. But if I could have afforded it, I would have bought the 355.

If I had it to do over NOW and I had the same money available that I had then, I'd be looking at a 355 or a TR.

 

Well, from my perspective I have heard from Friend owner and one dealership owner who confirm that the 355 is just a maintenance "sensitive" car. Everyone of them will require big $$ at some point to keep them on the road.

I agree with all that you say, they are heart breakingly pretty, sound great and handle fantastic... but for those who are currently in the market those things seldom hold up to the cost of mtns.

If you are looking at a 355 at $50K with 15- 20 k of mtns, why not go and buy a 360 with all that done... and the guys that buy north of $120K are in 430 / 458 territory... they just dont want the 355 anymore (or they have one already and mtns cost is not an issues on any cars...) the 95 B is the car... but no getting way from guides and headers & codes...

if you are thowing a code, sometimes you cant get it to pass state emmissions.... that is a whole other problem.

And if you want to be really crazy...get an early 328, put on supercharger and do it up for 350 - 400 HP... by my math you would still come out better financially.

 

I'll start off by saying I love my 328 and will not willingly part with it. Ever.

But, I am currently shopping for a garage mate for it. I absolutely live the look and the sound and the feel of the 355, and have been out to look at a few recently. There may be one in my garage before year end... Maybe.

I do know going in, though, that maintenance costs are NOT the same between the 328 and the 355. Not by a factor of 4x as was posted earlier, but there is a distinct gap. The 328 was once described by my mechanic as "the closest thing to a Toyota that Ferrari ever made.". He also once told me that "if all of my customers drove 328's I'd be starving."

At a recent track day, I chatted with a well known independent mechanic about my next car; how I would really love a 355 in the garage, but was also thinking a 360 would be a great track day car. He described the 355 as a "pain in the ass" to maintain. He described the usual well known issues, how those issues were mostly sorted by the time the 360 rolled out, and noted a few significant differences. One he specifically pointed out was that the 360 engine can be accessed through a panel in the back of the passenger compartment. That was significant because the belts and tensioners can be accessed without removing the engine. As he put it, "a belt change on a 360 is a $1500 job. It's $7000 on a 355. That alone should make you think about which one you want."

OK, very long answer, but I wanted you to know what a couple of respected independent Ferrari mechanics have to say about these two models. My situation is a little different because I already have one and am looking at adding the other, instead of trying to decide which one to buy.

But, any mechanic that tells you the maintenance / running costs are the same for a 328 and a 355... That mechanic is full of 'fertilizer'.

 

Like I said before, If you buy a 355 now that has not had all the things done to it the the 355 inherently runs into and that car is now due for a 30k service then you will be screaming because the guides + headers + the 30k service will now run you 17K and thats a big one time hit...BUT thats where it ends as you now will be spending 5K every 5 years for the belts, tensioners and water pump. If you happen to have bought a 95 then you now have the perfect 355. I was at my shop yesterday and again another 308 owner whats to by my 355. He knows the car well and knows that it has been maintained properly.
One thing you have to realize is that the engine being out is a great thing as you now can inspect the whole thing and do preventative maintanence. BTW the access door you talk about on the 360 was designed by my mechanic who is now here in Toronto. His brother in Italy is the 3x8 specialist and can tell you simply by listining on the phone whats wrong with your car. Also the 360 is not all its cracked up to be. If your going to upgrade past the 355, then go 430 and you will never regret it. BTW the headers are cracking on the 360 as well as the 430. The 430 also has the pipes after the can cracking now and they arnt cheap. One piece of advice for anyone buying a Ferrari, Make sure you have a mechanic that knows his chit and works on these cars every day otherwise you will be spending a fortune simply because the problems are never rectifyed properly and when it come to the 30k service....whooooa if you dont have the right guy. We here in Toronto are blessed to have the guy we have. Even the dealer is pissed he dosnt have him.

Remember that when you get to the 355 and up, these cars are high performance and it costs money to keep them running the way they should but man what great cars if you take care of them.

 

I am not saying for a moment that the 355 is not a great car, else I wouldn't be looking to add one to my garage. And I do not disagree that many of the issues and complaints about them come from deferred maintenance. Treat them well and they will treat you well.

What I am saying is that anyone who tries to tell you that the normal operating and maintenance costs are the same for a 328 and a 355 is uninformed at best; incompetent to advise definitely; and perhaps harboring a hidden agenda. Do not accept advice from someone who espouses such a position.

 

Ask Rifledriver what his opinion of 355s are, especially compared to a 328. He won't sugarcoat it.

That being said, I have driven 355s (Regs 355 before he sold it) and they are brilliant. The last of the real beautiful Ferrari's IMO. I would like to get into one, but I can't stomach the potential costs. I would love it if someone found me a dealer or independant invoice for a major they got away with for only $5k. That and I think you are a bit high regarding the valve guides. Doing 100% of the work yourself, the headwork alone at the machine shop is about $5k, but here's another problem: much of the time the bottom end of the motor is also shot as well causing the entire motor to be done, not just the guides and valves. Although I have not laid eyes on them, I hear Fabspeed's headers are not bad at less than $3k a whack. Still, it's nuts that a $130k car can't come with good headers/guides to begin with.

 

Ferrari of LI and Ft. lauderdale has just begun a promotion for vintage Ferrari cars. I saw it on the 348/355 model site. Fixed price service for all out of warrantee cars. The major for a 308/328 including pats etc is 5300. The same major belt service for the 348/355 is 5800. Oil change and brake service is the same. 99$ promotion oil chg with parts. Too bad I has mine done in the fall. I Could be pissed that I paid more in oct but I'm thrilled for the future. For this difference in costs as they now provide them, your crazy if you don't get the 355. Before anyone argues about it read the ad and the fine print. I use them for service and paid more for my major in oct 10, but they were great and the service was impeccable. These prices for service are a no brainer. Dealer service at less than the price of most independents. I think they recognize how much vintage business they lose as the cars age. More on point if they equalize the service cost, the 355 is a better looking and performing car. IMO.

 

As some have mentioned 30k prices can be pretty close between 328 and 355's. However beyond that 355's have many more, and common faults that cost real money to fix.

328's are regarded as one of the most reliable modern Ferrari's. 355's well.......