Dilemma: 355 or 328 as first Ferrari?

I just think that painting with such a broad brush is wrong. For every reason you can think of to own one of these cars, I am sure you could find someone to fit that bill. But to say that someone buys a Red 355 Ferrari is an overt, show off, etc. I take exception with.

I sure didn't get mine to grab attention. I love cars, always have. I have always had what for me were cool cars. I sure wasnt trying to make any statements about myself. I just have liked unique automobiles and enjoy driving them and owning them. Maybe someone might look at me as being some kind of peacock but that is their problem, not mine.

I would also suggest that you attend some Ferrari shows and events like I have in the past year. I am surely a close to the bottom feeder compared to the people that I have met through these events. But I will tell you, and my wife would attest as well, that any trepidation we might have had sitting at a dinner table with strangers that could buy and sell me ten times over and that had new Ferraris, etc. was quickly dashed as they were to the person genuinely non assuming and great to be with. I don't think as a rule these people bought these cars to be noticed. Maybe a few did, no doubt, but the generalizations are a overspeak.

 

same here drbob , just a regular guy here, and i know alot of owners who are genuinely nice people , but if you read through some of the posts here you can't miss what i'm talking about , and i rarely see it from owners of models other than the 355. why is that ?

there are exceptions to everything , but the car you says a whole lot about who you are. car companies know it, ad agencies know it . .....

 

The worse aspect of my swaters blue 355 gts is the attention she and I get when I drive her.

It's the main reason why i hardly take her out anymore.

People looking and photographing...and watching me as I get in and out....arrrgh.

I bought her because of the engineering pedigree, the gorgeous design and just the way she moves...all that power and noise in a sex bomb...certainly not to be the flash poseur with the Ferrari.....

And I never tell people i own a Ferrari.

 

The only guy I see puffing out his chest in this thread owns a 348...

 

hows that , by having the balls to call a ********* a *********

EDIT: That's not 'balls'. That's just being crass and anti-social.

 

By being the **********.

I realize a 355 is just a car and any decent mechanic can probably fix it. However, some are better equipped than others, that is indisputable, yet you dispute it and add zero value to the thread. Then you recommend the guy buy a 348 when he's not interested in one. Then you call all the 355 owners d-bags because they don't agree with you. Again, there's only one guy puffing his chest out in here, and he doesn't own a 355.

 

It really all depends on what you would like to do with the car.
If you live in a warm climate with nice roads, I'd go for a 355 Spider. The car looks great, sounds fantastic with the hood down and your missus will like it. If you keep it below 5000rpm it's quite a civilised car.
If you want a driver's car I'd look for a Gtb with those gorgeous carbon seats.
The value of these cars will only rise when they'll be 35/40 years old.
Servicing these cars can be expensive, but if you buy an honest and mechanically sound, there won't be many issues.

The 328, especially the Gtb, is a great looking classic Ferrari. I drove mine 2000km from Italy to Belgium.
The 328 is much lower profile than a 328 (especially wit the stock exhaust).
It has neat little seats and notbso much headroom.
It drives crisp but visibility is poorer.
It's value however will rise faster than the value of a 355.

Hope this helps a a bit.

 

thank you for helping me make my point about the posts from some 355 owners, you are exactly what i was referring to !

 

BTW ,first, i was not the first to suggest a 348 , someone else did , i simply said that could be a consideration.

second , i clearly did not call "all" , just some , i guess you can not read a thread properly from 355 la la land.

 

That was me...

I also recommended a Carb 308, although I probably should have also included 308QVs. I'd recommend those to anyone looking for an older V8 Ferrari. Great values can be found in 348s right now. Unless a buyer has their heart set on a particular model it's really short sighted to not consider a 348.

 

This forum has a lot of extremely valuable advice, especially for the DIY mechanic. In fact, I ordered parts today from a site that someone else here mentioned. I, in turn, was able to secure a better than advertised price from the shop and I passed that information on for others to benefit from. We all benefit from the shared knowledge and ideas.

All (or most of us) are here either because we own a Ferrari, dream of owning a Ferrari or simply appreciate a beautiful automobile. That being the case, what is the point in all of the insults and put downs? Some of the posters here are the worst critics of these cars and contribute more to depressing that value than building them up. 328, 355, 348, 246 or whatever, they are all beautiful cars and its a privilege to own any one of them. Buy one and drive it.


Life's too short to spend so much time sniping at each other.

 

Wow... This thread is about a request on buying a 328 or a 355 and we get all of this for free

Anger Management Lake Ariel PA.. Anger Counseling, Anger Therapist in Lake Ariel PA

 

my therapist advises me to breathe deep and say " serenity now"
what was nicholson's line in anger management something like " broozzzeee fraba"

neither one works.

i just go around pissing in 355 gas tanks , that seems to work for me . lol

 

Back to the original question. You can't compare the two cars, they are very different. You should know that the 328 is built for smaller people and the pedals are pretty close to each other. If you are tall or have wide feet this is a problem. Remember the top stores behind the seat. But the ride and feel of the 328 is nothing like the newer cars, more feedback to what you are doing. The 355 is bigger, faster and louder. Not many downsides except maintenance is more than the 328 (on average). I own a 328 GTS and a 355 Spider (with capristo III and hyperflow cats, hence the loudness) and I let people drive both. I would say half of my friends enjoy one or the other, but there is no clear favorite.

 

I thought I had responded, but I guess the post didn't stick.
So, I own an '83 308QV GTB and a '95 355 Spyder.
I love them both.

Maintenance:
The 308 is older so things are going to break; Rubber is old, plastic is weathered, interior is worn.
The 355 is newer so less degradation.
IMHO : Budget $4K/yr for maintenance. Some years you'll use it, some you wont, some years will hurt WAY more.

Issues:
308 - The A/C sucks. Some parts are NLA. Some parts are expensive. There's no OBD for diagnostic assistance. Can you speak Joffatron?
355: Watch the cat temp sensors, Headers, dashboard peeling, sticky parts...
Both are classic Ferraris. They have issues. Get over them & love the car. Buy the best car you can find or start dumping money in a lesser car to bring it up to snuff. The 355, being a new car, I have more comfort taking her for drives.
The 355 is also 4" off the road. But the nose is longer (or so it seems) and it has major issues with speed bumps. I've scraped the lower bumper more times than I care to admit. She's due for another nose spray. Do get those metal skid pads put on the bumper. You'll be glad you did.

styling:
Both are out of this world gorgeous. It's the Magnum PI or just the sexy 355 (some might recall the bond movie, though few). You'll get lots of attention.
My wife loves them both. But she thinks guys are staring at her, when in reality it's probably just the car.
The 308 seems a smaller car and you do have to watch out for SUVs & trucks around you. They wont see you. Let's be real. If they don't see a bright red Ferrari traveling next to them, they shouldn't be on the road.
The 355 seems to be bigger, and SUVs and trucks are still an issue, but not major problem. Everybody wants to race you. Save face - don't do it. Limit it to engine revs. That'll placate them.

Comfort:
I'm 6'3, 200lbs and Size 9medium shoe. I have 1/4" head clearance on the 308, but don't have any issues driving her. My wife at 5' can't reach the pedals. The car is hot in summer. Very hot. See my threads on some internal cabin temps. I got the car when the P/O g/f declared she could not get in or out of the car gracefully. I don't have much of an issue with that, though you could call the cabin cramped. I like it. I have put 60K+ miles on her in 10 years. I've had her from NJ to Canada & back several times. You need to take a break about every 2 hours. That coincides well with filling the gas tank. There is a stereo in it, but I rarely use it. Maybe some driving tunes off a USB stick.

In the 355 spyder, my head is above the windshield line, so wearing a cap to keep off the summer sun isn't going to happen. My wife loves to driver her. Power steering, power brakes, comfortable seats and plenty of room. I rarely use the stereo.

Fun:
You can toss the 308 about with no problems. I have no ground clearance issues with her even though she's about 4" off the pavement. I shouldn't but do enjoy kicking the back end out every so often. I haven't had the nerve to do it to the 355 yet.
The 308 has an OEM muffler & Cats & air pump still working. She's fun to shift at 7Krpm. But she doesn't sing as loudly as the 355.
The 355 is just a symphony at 8.5Krpm. Esp. if you have test pipes & the exhaust valve open. Just try & go under an overpass or through a tunnel without the engine screaming. You can't do it. It gives you chills. I've been stopped by strangers a number of times to tell me they love the way the car sounds.


Security:
I do lock both cars. I am nervous about parking either in busy parking lots. I have had damage to the 308 by uncaring louts. But nothing that can't be repaired. I've been rear-ended lightly a few times. For those times, I'm REALLY happy about having those massive American big bumpers.

Reliability:
Ok, let's be honest. I keep my fingers crossed starting both cars. If they start, there is a 90% chance you'll get home just fine. I've been stranded by the 308 4 times in 10 years. In the 355, just once. The more you drive them, the more reliable they are and the more in-tune you are with them to know their moods.

 

Excellent unbiased and informative evaluation. Thank you for your input on 2 of my favorite Ferraris.

 

One note on timing belts... FWIW, the NSX has a similarly conservative guidance for TB/WP. Equally controversial on the forums, btw. And "engine out" is the recommendation for this service, it's expensive, and as has been said re: the 355 its also a chance to do other important checks on the engine.

Audi S8 has a low revving engine. The R8 (V8 and the Lambo V10) as well as the V8 version of the R8 V10 that is in the RS5, all use chains (as does the S2000 oddly), so no real data point there. I get the feeling if they were belt driven the service interval *would* be similarly conservative.

Net net, it isn't just Ferrari. Very high RPM belt driven engines tend to have a pretty conservative change interval. I really don't think its "just a money grab" or you wouldnt *only* see it in those cars. If anything, I suspect that Audi/Lambo (and other high revving engines like the E92 M3) use a chain to *avoid* having to impose a conservative change interval that obviously causes a lot of controversy among owners and leaves you open to legal challenges if folks fail to comply with maintenance schedules and as a result suffer an engine failure. Didn't the F430 switch to a chain also?

 

Here's problem with non-Ferrari shops.

In my experience many regular mechanics can't even find door handle on F355.

Then they call and tell me they can't find parts, because they suppliers don't stock Ferrari parts.

And they are working from a manual on a car they never seen before - a 2 hour job takes them 8 hours, and they actually want to get payed for 8 hours!

 

How can it be so hard to work on a car less complicated than a 2001 turbo jetta? Have you ever considered that us " regular mechanics" don't want to work on your ferrari because we don't want to deal with a whiny pain in the ass owner, in our shop "were booked" is secret mechanics code for " go away"
Fyi, my " regular mechanics" work on my car routinely, i take it to a " regular mechanic" for alignment, and never experience any problems, is it just my car? Is mine a singular example? We have been in and out , up and down my car , and i have yet to see anything on my car (or the couple customers that we have chosen to service)that my regular mechanics cant handle , why is that? Is it possible the issue is with owners who think the car is more " special " than it actually is? Could someone please tell me what i am missing? It is such a simple straight forward car , why can't my guys work on it?specifically, what procedure will i need a ferrari only expert for?
We are not a ferrari shop, we work on all cars , some of the most complex cars on the road, but since we don't work on ferrari's exclusively, i guess that means we are not qualified to work on a car fastened together with phillps screws, is that what i'm being told? Most regular mechanics cant even find the door handle? Really ? What do you think your precious 355 is , the damn space shuttle?ummm , were booked!
" serenity now "

 

Yes, it's a regular car, just like any other.

But, how can you deny experience?

If you work on GM (Same model) 100 times, doing the same job, don't you think the 101 time it will be easier?

Now, do that same job on a car you have never seen - are you suggesting it will take the same amount of time?

I'm really not sure what's in the Koolaid you are drinking

 

Theres a good dose of reality in my koolaid. Along with a dose of confidence. I can work equally as well , on a chevy , on a ferrari , on a mercedes, .........THAT , is the sign of a good mechanic, not a repetative single brand parts changer. Still no answer what i should be sending my ferrari to an "expert " for.


" serenity now "

 

You want to talk about kooky koolaid, how about totally irrelevant drivel posts containing curing charts time charts for adhesives, drivel about lifts , blah blah blah, insert sound of me laughing here. Meanwhile here on planet earth.....


" serenity now "

 

I'm going to change my recommendation to Nick. Please go buy a 348 so we don't have to hear any more of this. The guy is obviously an expert and knows all about all, do what he says or we'll never hear the end of it.

 

When you want to talk about experience , and you become the guy that is the go to guy from other garages that can't figure out problems , when your phone rings all day with questions from other mechanics asking for diagnostic assistance then we can talk.Then i'll try telling YOU that because you don't work exclusively on ferrari's you can't possibly figure it out , one of the simplest mother f ing cars on the road.


Yes , please nick buy a 348 , or something other than a 355 , so you don't become one of "those guys"
When i set out to buy a Ferrari i started looking at 355's , them the more i read , the more i observed , i decided to buy a 348 , partly because it is a more trouble free car , i saw mainly posts from down to earth guys , the brotherhood, and quickly decided i didn't want to be one of those guys , the gelheads.