This is the kind of stuff scares 355 buyers...

I see what your saying JOE
but the car is only 16yrs old it did not need a service when it was new.so after the first five years it would of needed only two more services not four.
I also owned a 1985 testarossa i know them well. it was a great car but my diff did go at 84000 miles. I bought one of newmans diff's and replaced it in the car myself $ 3500 later.
I'm sure the dealer would of wanted to pull the motor and charge me $20000.00.

 

I just want to make something clear.
When i was in the market to buy a 355 i did alot of reading first.
I read all about valve guides ,cat ecu's ,f1 pumps,cats,header's 0/2 sensors and so on.
So i looked for a 99 most likely would have steel guides after market headers and cats which my car had when i bought it at 27000km and a fresh service with water pump.
I then spent about $ 4000.00 on updates the first year.
updated to a 360 pump didn't need it just didn't want a problem later. replaced all three ecu's 360 green one's, all four 0/2 sensors replaced the tripple seals and well i was there replaced the clutch disc only and the rear bearing in the bell housing. i did all the work myself.I think if you buy a sorted 355 they are a great car.But i do agree if your car is not sorted out and if you have to take it in for any small repair it can be a money pit like any exotic.My car now has 81000km

 

Shocks and actuators are separate parts. Expensive too, rears. $1800ish for shock and a grand for the actuator..

 

People do not realise what it costs just to keep these cars on the road.....

Lets assume you owned the car from new.... and its now approaching 20 years old.
If you strictly serviced the car at the dealer.... and did yearly oil changes @ $500 and bi-annual Fluid Changes at $1000 a clip (im estimating costs)....
you are into the car for $15,000 in just oil changes and fliuds ALONE!...
no majors... no repairs or new parts... JUST FLUIDS.

Why would $20k in service records over 15+ years on a Ferrari scare anyone??

 

Ha, what? Apparently not you

I tell my clients to budget a minimum of $2500/year for F355 maintenance. More if it's a spider. It is what it is.

What's interesting is that the high mileage cars tend to have the same $$ amount in receipts as the low-mileage ones....who's really winning here....the guys that drive them!!!

 

The worse part about the mentioned 355 with the huge repairs bills, is just how little it has been driven in all it's years. The "cost per mile" it has been driven, besides the listed repair receipts, not even counting the purchase price of the car, sales tax, and yearly costs for fuel, insurance, & property taxes , would be huge! I agree with Switchgears, DRIVE them, and put lots of miles on the F-cars, otherwise what is the point of spending all the money on maintenance, just to make a coffee table out of them(dust collector)?

 

To answer that question.. I'm going to make the statement that I was looking at 360's and 348's when I was in the market. After my 928.. I wanted a break on 20 year old cars and maintaining them. So I got the 360. Now, after a break.. I might be ready for the 348.

The second part of my answer goes as follows:
There are three types of men (because lets face it only men buy these cars.. women would rather own Subaru)
1. Unmarried men
2. Married men who's wives do NOT know how much they spend on the car
3. Married men who's wives KNOW how much they spend on the car.

1 + 2 are responsible for a bill like this and continue to own the car. Type 3's are the reason the car is being sold.

 

Its really just a case of "know what you are getting yourself into"..... a Ferrari

 

Ah, that #3 guy would be me Curt. But mine is (has been) very supportive thus far of both the original concept of even owning a Ferrari and the repair bills since purchase. I try to do all the repairs I can myself, but having a great wife who understands my passion is priceless.

Henry

 

I fit mostly into the #2 category.. but I do relay the spending.. kinda. And she's very understanding.

 

Which is completely insane considering Bilstein USA will rebuild them for $100 each.

I have a nice eye opening receipt of my own. Total bill is $25k and is about 12 pages long. Car went in for a major, misfire was detected and they did a leakdown test showing some low numbers. So, full valve job at a cost of somewhere around 12k. Put the car back together and it still had a misfire. Turned out to be a bad injector. Did the car really need a valve job or did it just need an injector and a good run through the gears?

 

Yes, but why would you ever have to replace a shock unless in an accident? Bilstein will rebuild them for $100 each, or you can send them to Delta V for a complete rebuild and custom valving for around $450 each iirc.

That part of the invoice is clue 1 that this guy was getting taken for a ride.

 

Apparently the owner could afford to write the checks so WTFCs? This is one of those things I really don't get about this forum. Not your car, not your money, why does it matter? There are a lot of people in the world for whom these cars and the cost of ownership is pocket change.

 

John, I think it matters since these cars get a false bad reputation. The same really applies to the GCK which you and I agree is probably not a good solution and so why do we care if others install it? Same situation really...

 

So wrong. There are many reasons to buy a new shock over rebuilding an old one. A forensic investigator you are not.

 

Perhaps, but not I'd certainly look at the option Pete suggested before spending that kind of cash. Pete's a fantastic help on this forum.

 

Yes, that is true, but we all wind up paying too much when shops go after "those guys" who say, "make it perfect, damn the cost!" Those receipts were probably not very recent. As these cars age they are passing into the hands of owners who can do more work themselves, or are unwilling to do business with shops that would charge the "Ferrari tax". I am sure very few knowledgeable owners are overpaying for service these days, there are too many reputable shops that work on these cars. The thing to worry about is the NEXT generation of cars passing down market that will still be electronically tied to dealers and shops with the special equipment to diagnose and service the cars. Very few independent shops will be able to service the out of warranty 458's and F12's that will enter the used market in a few years and dealers will have a bit of a monopoly.. THOSE bills will be truly frightening.

 

So this is what Pete said. He draws a conclusion with zero evidence. This is exactly the kind of talk that scares people away from your beloved 355. Pete is a guy being here a long time on the Fchat with 2000+ posts who people might respect or at least give the benefit of a doubt. It is sad when people use their power for evil instead of good.

To answer bob there are several reason to go with new shocks. You got 10k miles on a 10-18 year old chassis that has obviously sat in an unknown environment. What about pitted and rusted shock rod? What about the anal owner who loves his garage queen so much to not only put just 10,000miles but in those 10,000miles the springs have run up on the shock tube and scratched them up so now the 95pt car is not 95 pts anymore? What about those running low profile tires in LosAngeles rods hitting a nice pot hole and bending a shock rod? What about a mechanic not knowing about DeltaVee or that Bilstien rebuilds for that matter? I was one of the early people on this board using DeltaVee. We are the guys who spread the word about how great these guys are so people like Pete can parrot us. What about having the locking collar come lose on a shock unknown to clueless owner allowing dirt to score the internals of the shock so you can't rebuild it? I have seen it! What about an anxious owner who wants his 355 for some event and new shocks are off the shelf and Bilstein takes a month to rebuild? What about people who have enough money so that they would rather pay for a new motor than a rebuilt one? OK I'll stop now.

 

Ed this is not directed at you.
I hate that term "FerrariTax." There is no tax. One pays for the expertise of the guy you hire to do the job right. If I charged for the quality of work I do on my own Ferraris I could not afford it. If one has the expertise to do it yourself then call call all the high prices a FerrariTax one has just shortchanged and devalued the quality of his own skills, knowledge and expertise most likely bought with years of blood sweet and tears.

When we went from carbs to fuel injection the same fears of being beholden to the dealers was there. We figured it out. With fuel injection came ECU's and we figured that out. Now we have incestuous ECU's and a CAN bus and we are doing pretty good with that too. Never underestimate the cleverness of the American hotrodder. The manufactuers can bring it on and we will figure it out.

 

I am not crazy about that term either, I used it because it is an FChat colloquialism. I take nothing away from shops that charge a premium for working on high end cars...they are more fiddly, and they require paint caution and customer service beyond the normal repair shop. If a shop charges a few dollars more per shop hour billed I am fine with that. In this case we are talking about invoices that veer sharply beyond any of our collective sense of "reasonable". In those rare occasions where my race shop works on customer cars, we charge a fair labor rate and we mark up our parts costs..but at the same time, we offer a menu of options to the customer including costs before we get too deep.

 

I'm a fan of dealer support but within reason. Algar has treated me very well with remote support. But not all dealers are the same. Good and bad in every walk of life.

And FBB, your comments about Pete are out of line. You seem to think you are god's gift to this forum. Pete has been very helpful to me, great point of view on many topics, much more help than you have been to me.

 

That's great. I'm glad you have a helpful buddy. I have made no effort to ever help you. Feel free to put me on your ignore list.