Ok, Im curious to know from the 348/355 owners who follows to the letter Ferraris required 3 year or 30k mile service interval. Wade
If you have a lot of money do the factory prescribed 3-year intervals. If you are like the rest of us do 5-7 years.
I think it's a waste to do it every 3 years unless you're putting 40-50k miles during that time. I've seen cars with majors done more than 10 years ago with belts in perfect shape, no cracks, nothing! (Of course, they were garage queens) but still....3 years seems excessive
The dealers I spoke with (off record) state that 3 years is BS. They recommend 4-5 years. I too will do mine in 4-5, probably the winter of year 4 (so 4.5)
I bought mine 3 months ago with 39500 miles. I have service paper work for a major that was done at 30k in 2004. So, I am starting fresh with a major next week. ($6k). CAreful when reading some of the stories on here. They will scare you half to death. Follow your servcie advisors advice if you trust him and..... ENJOY YOUR CAR!
Same here. My car had the 30k major and belt service done in 2004 with about 12k miles on it. Purchased November of last year. No major issues, the car now has about 15,800 miles on it. I'll be doing a major this year, but does it desperately need one? Probably not since it has been at a Ferrari dealer and inspected with no real red flags. But, better to be safe than sorry. I'll probably do a major every 7 or 8 years.
Yeah. That is my thought as far as time intervals. I don't get on my car like alot of others who have the know how and money to fix them when something happens. Don't get me wrong. I know how she likes to be played with...:>) My guy will take pics of the major I will post. So, look for them a week from friday.
Lookin forward to those pics! I agree, this has been my dream car for 14 years, and although I drive it to have fun and know how to use the power band and all that, I'm not out to set any track records. Luckily, my car was a two owner prior to me and it was also the previous owner's dream car for the exact same reasons as mine. A well cared for 355 will give you years of smiles between service intervals without worry. To each there own, but every 3 years is overkill and so is 5 IMHO, unless you're putting 20k miles of hard driving on the car. But when you're done with that major, I'd love to hear driving impressions and how smooth she runs!
That's a good point. For those of us about to embark upon our first major, what can we expect from our newly baptized cars? I realize that every servicing is unique to that specific car, but does one notice any general difference from before to after? My car is running exceptionally well right now (jinx) so it seems counter-intuitive to send it in for servicing, but I understand the process. So what am I gettin' for my seven grand besides the old peace-of-mind? Henry
The service tech that will be performing my major (Home) and who also has my particular car in his personal toy inventory has drivin my car says that the car sounds good but, that it is "tired" right now. He says that I will notice an incredible diffrence in the car when he is done. Now not only is he well respected. This is "his bag". But, I agree. Piece of mind and assurance that the unthinkable thats always lurking in the back of our minds about these cars does not happen.
One way for me to rationalize 6 to 8 grand for a service my car probably doesn't need is the hope that it'll pull harder and drive smoother. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to make it feel worthwhile! Looking forward to that report!
I will post an honest opinion of the cars performance and pics after for sure. If no diff. I will say that. I am betting piece of mind will play a bigger role here though.
ok So, we are all so proud when we have our majors done. Just like I am right now. YEAH! I have been saving for awhile now. Taking my 97 355 Spider in the morning for the major. So, I will have pics up soon! I will def. report about the performance after. As we have been discussing. Maybe more piece of mind than better performance. And if I am lucky both!
For those of you doing your majors as we speak, I was thinking it would be very informative for us 355 owners for you to inspect the condition of your old belts and tensioners and to compare them to the new ones being installed. Pics of the old belts and tensioners would be even better! The reason being, of course, is that us 355 owners are constantly wondering how often we should perform belt services. A lot of 355 owners, myself included, purchase our cars knowing they will need majors soon. How awesome would it be for the owners doing their majors now to tell us about or post pics demonstrating the condition of their old belts and tensioners after years of driving. I would love to hear just how worn the parts are based on how many miles driven since last service and how much time has elapsed.
