what is the experience of you 612 owners for running costs? i was just calculating my costs for the 456m and it is eye watering. is the 612 any better?
well as an example, i bought the 456mgt in 2006 at roughly 1/3rd original sticker with about 1400 miles on the clock. today i have about 20k. the value is diminished, and i have had a myriad of maintenance issues (not counting stuff done by the insurance company), and i get about 6 miles/gallon, and my fuel costs about $8/gallon. so i am calcing my cost at about $6-8/mile, depending. i also calced that the first owner took the huge part of the depreciation and had his own maintenance issues, and it cost him about $162/mile !! so what i am curious about is whether a 612 bought under similar circumstances (a few years old, most of the depreciation already taken, driven frequently or as a dd), is cheaper or not.
I expect a similar depreciation curve for the 612 compared to the 456, so you will lose money there again (as with any non-vintage/classic car in general). But the 612 is a much better car: More power, better mpg, more space, improved safety etc. One can argue about the looks (btw both cars have standard wheels that are way too small) but let's not forget that our cars should maintain their main function which is to bring us from A to B without having issues all the time. Due to our first baby, I did consider selling my F355 and buying a 456 so us three could go places together. Test driving some 456s really made me change my mind. Why pay 50+ k and get your fingers sticky when trying to reach the rear seats ? Someone here said the 612 is to the 456 what the 456 was compared to the 412/400. That said, I'd rather buy a 612 than a 456.
A little off topic, but I'm using the 612 for family excursions regularly, put 50mi on her last night with my 5 and 8 yr olds very comfortable in the back. The 8cyls I've owned seemed like dead expenses with the returned value in fun and camaraderie for only myself. Now it has real value to the family, my wife can drive it by pressing a little button, I've taken it to business functions under the radar which you can't do in a mid-engine really. I don't know what the future has in store in terms of unexpected maintenance, but I do know the perceived value of the 612 is far greater than the 430 or 360.
well i am a believer in the value of a 4 seat ferrari. but i would like somebody to do the calc for me so i can see how it compares to mine in dollars per mile. thx
well that wont get me far. they wont give any of that info. dont any of you 612 owners have this kind of info about your own cars?
I'm surprised an owner can't get that sort of info on another model. On the 612, there are three year and six year service. I did most of a six year plus some other odds and ends. To do a proper analysis you'd need to look at some period of time, so say 10 years? So you'd need prices on the annual work, oil change, brake bleed, not sure what else, 3 year service, six year service, and another 3 year. You'd need to look at and compare the cost of consumables like clutch, tires, etc. Factoring depreciation into this? I do indeed know what I paid for the work I had performed, and it wasn't exactly a six year full service, dropped a couple things we didn't need, added a couple we did. Negotiated a lower labor rate. I'll check with Fwash and see if I can get a refresher what the standard maintenances are and cost. That doesn't mean that's what you'll pay though necessarily. If memory serves, the big one was about $8500, but included a hell of a lot of work and was only every six years. One of the most expensive items, replacing the cam seals, turned out to not be necessary and my car is nine years old. That was $2500 I didn't have to spend.
From memory, it was an annual with belts, cam seals, F1 bleed, not sure what else. I'll try to get the sheet again.
Bob- The cambelt change interval is 5 years, auxiliary belts are 3 years. There is no published interval for F1 fluid changes or bleeding. Most services are 1, 2, or 3 year intervals, except cambelts, and at specified mileages like 15,000 miles and 30,000 miles.
To me on any of these cars it's not the maintaince, it's the unexpected repairs and worse depreciation. It's worth it if you have it. If you are stretching to do it, I wouldn't. I don't think a 612 as it ages is going to be less to own than your 456m.
I understand, and certainly guys like you know more than I do about this sort of thing. I'm a newbie to the 612. But I'd bet my bottom dollar my memory is correct that FoW had 3 and 6yr. Maybe they're upselling belt service every 3 and thus the odd interval? I chose a la carte as needed and they worked with me to tailor a maintenance package if you can even call it that when we were going by line items. I'll try to get exactly what they showed me, and I could swear it was 3 and 6.
I think what's going to bite you in the butt are not the regular maintenance items but the little things such as broken window switches, light switches, power seat blowouts, hood struts, trunk struts, etc.$600 here, $800 there, etc. and now your maintenance costs shoot up.
I have both a 456 & a 612. The maintenance on them has been very similar. The major service costs are similar as well as the minor & routine service costs. As any car ages, you probably need replace shocks, batteries, tires etc, refinish sticky switches, and perhaps freshen paint & leather items such as dashes. 612's are newer & so you may be able to put these costs off for a bit, but then you pay more for the car. I'm a perfectionist & I've spent tens of thousands on these cars this year alone--Ferrari's are not cheap to own, even if you bought the car at a price. I see no issues that cause the cost to own one any cheaper or more expensive than the other. They are similarly based and costs of ownership including maintenance and refreshing are similar.
I think if you exclude depreciation, the 612 will be slightly cheaper, in part because it is newer and in part because they seem to have fewer issues. If you include depreciation the 456 will be cheaper going forward, because it's more fully depreciated.
I've had my 612 for 2 years. It's one of the very first batch of cars built, so pretty old. It was purchased from the Ferrari Approved program from a main dealer. Annual service starts at 1,500, but this is at HR Owen who are an official dealer and will charge you top dollar. You can get away with 700 quid at an independent. I use an independent for the maintenance work. Believe that the major service (belt change) will be in the 5K region. So far, I've replaced the following: - power steering cable - 300 pounds? - air filters - can't remember how much I paid - air conditioning condenser (piece of gravel fired a hole through it) - 1000 - new front ball joints (damned potholes and salty gritted roads over the winter) - 2500 The car maybe due some new rear brake shims for 500 quid. Tires may cost you 300-500 quid depending on where you buy them from. I haven't had to change mine yet. Biggest cost for me is fuel. I only drive at the weekend, so can imagine it would be eye watering as a daily driver.
ok. thats the kind of info i was after. thanks. just adding it up, you have spent roughly 10k pounds in the two years of ownership. and since you only drive it on the weekends, you have probably not put many miles on it....so i am guessing your price/mile is worse than mine..... but not by much....i keep forgetting to add other stuff that i have done on my 456mgt over the 7 years of ownership, and altho above i said 6usd/mile, i am beginning to think it has been closer to 8. i obviously love cars, and dont need to be convinced about owning some nice stuff, but frankly i find this sort of cost ridiculous. even if you take out the depreciation hit completely, and put the car on even footing with something like a mercedes, then the running costs are still stupid.
Twice the other evening my wife mistook the window switch for the door handle. Scaring the hell out of me.
It is stupid from a financial standpoint. Anything over a 5 year old Honda is stupid. Having said that it's a great pleasure if you can afford it. A Ferrari is an emotional decision not a financial one.
FoW replied with the info I requested and as I recalled, it was annual, three year and six year. I've asked him if he minds me sharing the details. I just think that's only polite. Both the three year and six year include timing belts.
Ross, try to convince yourself of the following logic: The price of admission for an additional toy is - let's say - GBP 400 a month. If it wasn't this high, everyone would own one. Now thats about 9600 in two years. So your ownership just cost you the difference between price of admission and your 10k. That's only 400, in two years! Almost free, for a Ferrari!!
