Is 40k miles too high on a 355?

I have always said that proper maintenance always trumps mileage...but to answer your question, IMO 40k is not too high.

 

I would not hesitate to buy it if the sheer fact that the odometer says 40,xxx on it is your only concern. If everything else checks out then no worries. Putting the same amount of miles on 10,xxx miles ferrari over your ownership will kill the resale value more than putting them on the 40,xxx miles ferrari. You are just talking about different price points with each to start and end with.

 

If it includes a 30k engine out in the past month then they are not far off. If the engine out has not been done in 3 years or more they are $10k off.

Don't overpay for the car. Be patient and look everywhere. Leave an offer on the table for them for what it is worth and keep looking.

 

Not when everything else is the same except that the the mileage is lower. I would buy a lower miles car.

 

If the maintenance is up to date and everything looks ok, mileage is pretty much irrelevant IMO. I would never pay extra for a low mileage car. You'll probably end up shelling out even more money to cover all of the maintenance items that have already been done on a car that's actually been used (headers, hoses, clutch, shocks, etc). As for resale, I think if someone is worried about how much they'll get when they sell something before they've even bought it, the only safe bet is to not buy it at all. This car sounds like a good deal. Full up to date maintenance with records is worth more than any amount of mileage on the odometer.

 

Have the PPI guy do a leakdown test on the motor. If this passes (everything less than 5%) and the transmission shifts smootly and quickly after being warmed up, the milage (20K, 40K, 60K,...) is pretty much inconsequential.

 

Good thinking...now go get one..lol

 

A 355 with 70k miles will be essentially unsellable. Financially, you'd be far better off parting it out... sad but a simple reality of high mileage production Ferrari's.

 

I always think the big mileage hit is at 30K miles. I don't give it much thought and kind of blew right thru that barrier. I'm now at 37K miles and rapidly closing in on 40K. I personally think the cars seem to do better when they're driven. The only times I've had recurring issues with my car is when it sat for extended periods. Even then the issues were minor. The key is maintenance. The best advice I ever got was to maintain the car like an airplane. I've always done that and it's been a pretty darn good car.

If this car has been well maintained and priced fairly then I wouldn't worry especially since you intend to drive it.

 

I bought a f355 with 37k+ on it. Did the PPI and drove it home from Vegas to Tucson. Like others have said. as long as it is up to date you should be good to go!

Car currently has 40,700 on her now.

 

Sorry but that's just ridiculous. It will easily do two, three, four times that mileage and you can wait for years to get your money back if you part it out. Just don't sell and wait for the right buyer and price for the car, and have a bit of fun instead of a pile of parts!
You only shouldn't expect to get the same price as a 7000 mile one.
Besides, just the idea of parting out a car for parts just to get financially slightly better off... :s

Not all prospect Ferrari owners are obsessed with automotive virginity, I think not too long ago there was a 200k mile 456 on Ebay, and I've seen owners of other types mention such mileages too. Drive them with respect, but please do drive them.

 

I find that these threads are always very encouraging because the folks who *honestly* believe mileage is no big deal come out and make a case.

But check out *for sale* threads where someone with high miles is selling... The picture looks a bit different.

Unless they price *well* below market they are told they're crazy, dreaming, etc.

So the fact is, no one is claiming that a Ferrari with above the "accepted" miles is bad, useless or whatever.

The initial question was *purely* about selling price and market value and, come on, there is a *big* difference in Ferrari selling price between 10k, 20k and 40k miles. When the time comes to sell, the folks who plan to keep and drive the car forever, dont mind high miles, etc... arent going to be there to buy it. You'll need to wait forever. OR... price well below market. It is just simply the nature of how the Ferrari market works. The folks who *honestly* don't care about mileage tend to already have a car and plan to be buried in it Finding another such person when the time comes to sell is certainly not easy.

It doesnt even need to be a debate really. One simply needs to take a look at market trends over a period of time to see what cars are selling for in order to quantify the difference in value.

I want to see someone prove that they happily paid 20k car value for a 40k car and then I will say there is at least *one* buyer who put their money where their mouth was $55k, IMO, is too high to get into that car for by about $10k even with all maintenance. I'd say $55k with all maintenance up to date and a great PPI is a 20k car (and by definition, there are no "gotchas" waiting there b/c the mileage is "too low" - the $55k assumes the car is *all sorted*).

The hit is only going to get harder down the line IMO, so you need to minimize your entry point. Also, be careful about taking advice from folks who currently own high mileage Ferraris (no offense! but I know it becomes an emotional issue... it is what it is)

 

People buy new cars every day, drive them a few years, and sell them for half what they paid originally for them and don't think anything about it. I bought mine because I wanted it, drive it whenever I can, and if I have to someday dump it for 20k, oh well, I had fun and lived my dream.

 

+1 on that. I bought mine with 39K miles on the odometer and a good PPI. Did the 30K major right away and have driven it 5K miles in the last year without a single problem.

 

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I basically agree with you and if I went to sell my car I would likely need to discount it for the mileage. I think the issue is selling. I sense that a lot of people with the cars that are racking up miles really don't have any intention to sell anytime soon hence the lack of worry about the sale price.

 

We're not discussing whether the car is capable of doing more than 70K miles,... just that in the US, high mileage cars take a huge price hit,... largely due to there being a disproportionate quantity of low mileage cars for sale. That's the market here...

Exactly.

Agree.

The good news is, buying a high mileage car, and putting a lot of miles on it, makes the cost per mile less.

 

I think it all depends on your goal with the purchase. As a mechanic, I intentionally bought a 355 with over $35k miles that would pass a PPI with flying colors. The reason is simple -- if a 355 has over 35k miles, the hardest parts of ownership are in the past. My car has the headers, valve guides, etc, etc. All the expensive crap that could have happened on the car did and it has been well sorted. It is the first car I've owned that I did not have to do a bunch of work to. All I do is drive the **** out of it and clean the crap out of it.

For the most part, if you have 2 355's and one has 10k miles and the other has 35k miles, expect that the lower mileage car is gonna cost you a lot more provided that the major issues haven't been addressed. You'll pay more for the car, and potentially a whole lot more in service during your time of ownership.

If you want to drive it like I do (about 3-4k hard miles a year), best to get a car that has had the shake down miles put on it already. If you want a garage queen that you wipe with a diaper, then the lower the better on the odometer.

 

Couldn't agree more. I bought mine with 36,000 miles less than 2 years ago and now has 43,000 miles. The bad days are all behind it and I swear it gets stronger all the time - especially since I added the Gold Kit 10 months ago.

 

No just broken in ...

 

What do you call a huge price hit? Is that percentage-wise or absolute? If I was to rack up my 456 from the 35k miles it has now to 100k miles and sell it, I don't think I will have to wait more than a week for it to sell if I was to advertise it for 20-25kEUR. There simply are no drivable 456's to be had below 35kEUR asking anywhere in Europe today. But if I would put it up for sale for 40-45kEUR right now at 35k miles, it is my impression I will have to wait quite a bit longer. Perhaps the US is different. Prices of parts may have something to do with that.

Many cars see 20k depreciation in their first two years yet people buy them all the time, and I see few worry about their resale value.
I don't get the obsession with low mile Ferrari's, I just don't. I understand that 'time capsule cars' are different, but I consider cars well past that point at about 10k miles.
After that I consider it a driver and condition begins to count more than mileage. A 30k mile car can be worse than 100k car.

That is not necessarily true, really depends on how it's been driven and maintained .

 

This about this...we use only synthetic oil, majors usually every 5k miles because no drives them...that is 4x the maintainence of any other car just they go 100k-200k miles without much thought.


I sold my 1990 348 with 57k and now have 60k on my 360

 

Absolutely true, but the point is: is this justified? My opinion is that no, lower miles does not mean the car should automatically be worth more. Given two equally optioned cars that have been completely updated and maintained, sure the lower mileage one will be worth a bit more. What I find ridiculous is this notion that "high" mileage cars are unsellable or not worth anything at all. I'm also amazed by what qualifies as high mileage among Ferrari people. For example, I just passed 50k miles on my '99, which is less than 4000 miles a year. Does anyone REALLY think that 4000 miles per year qualifies as 'high mileage'?? IMO anyone who does is absolutely nuts.