Can Maint Really Be THAT Bad?

Problem is the 355 is not thát rare. There are a lot on the market for sale through the whole world. So, prizes are going down, due to aging, production numbers, economic disaster?
You cannot expect all milionaires to keep them in good shape, or to keep them at all.

So now it comes in reach for some poor lovers like me And I think it's only reasonable if maintenance can be done without paying milionaire prizes. The 355 isn't bought by milionaires anymore, they buy a GTO or 458 now!
I think Steve has an important point in this view: it should be possible to keep those cars in a good condition for normal reasonable prizes, but hey, I begin to understand that a Ferrari is no reasonable car: that's why we want to drive it (I guess).

It is meant to brake down, you should bleed, it's a fragile racing car, and you should be happy when it runs!

 

Recently, I bought something that is just as maintenance needy as a 355, just as many 5 figure repair invoices. The difference in the two owner groups really boil down to attitude.

The group from the car I bought are like, yes the car has needs, I'll fix it if it breaks, no big deal....the car is really special, they're not making any more. The 90s cars have drama...all the new paddle-only cars are so clinical and detached.

But the 355 group seems to work against each other, one faction seems to always be in denial about the issues, so prospective owners are always confused.

I still have an interest in a 355, one of only 2 Ferraris under $100k I like. Definately time to buy soon, I imagine they will start climbing when the next boom cycle occurs.

 

LOL can do 5g in a good weekend for sure

 

My logic although is different is buy a 6 year old atleast ferrari and the money you saved on depreciation from new gives you more than enough for some problems.

 

I feel like the math on this is pretty simple. I just bought my second F355. I love the model and I feel like I am buying with eyes wide open. If you do the following you will be in good shape. I used this math to buy both cars.

1. Buy a car and have a well respected shop do a PPI. Yes - obvious but I'm still surprised people dont do this well. I had to do 4 PPI's before I found the right car for me.

2. Buy a well maintained car with a good owner history and receipts going back as far as possible. Stay away from the cars which are switching hands every year or two.

3. Buy a car only when the major issues have been handled. I like higher mileage cars because someone paid the $30k to get those issues fixed. The issues are obvious but the big ones are the entire exhaust system starting at the headers, valve guides, sticky and shrinking interior etc. If you get lucky someone even put on the Dave Helms gold connector kit to eliminate electrical gremlins. If there is no thick set of papers for your F355 you should keep looking.

4. Change all the fluids yearly. Get an engine out service at a great shop every 5 years. If you dont have a great shop put it on a truck and send it to one.

If you do this - the maintenance is $250 per month for 5 years. Yes - that's still not cheap but its accurate. That's 7k for a major, 3k for who knows what and $1k per year for basic stuff. I had a 458 spider and I can tell you the depreciation was a tad bit higher than $250 per month.

Now - the hard part is the car I just listed above is very difficult to find and you have to pay a premium if you find it.

 

Jeff, I assume you bought Rick's car?

 

Yep. I think he got sick of me stalking him. I took a tour of Ferrari models and ended up right back where I started. Started with a F355, then Scuderia (loved it), brief stint with a gated Superamerica (shouldn't have sold it), brief stint with a gated 360 (misrepresented by dealer and sent back). Then I hit the end of the internet with the 458 spider and decided of all those cars the F355 was the one I missed the most. I am excited to be back.

 

Congrats Jeff! I know Rick loved the car and took care of it. Plus he had like 100 hotties drive it so that should make for some good stories!

 

Welcome back Jeff. Congratulations.

 

Which makes me wonder about the clutch...

 

Wait a minute..you mean Rick Sandy Eggo?
Great car. I tried buying it 3 yrs ago but he wound not sell it.

 

And there it is.... the self inflicted jinx....

Good luck Dave. Over under is about 8 to 12 months... or 5k miles!! (j/k.... i hope)

Although....I do wonder how resale of any F355 will be affected when the potential buyer asks
"when was the last major performed? And where??"....
and the owner replies.... "3 years ago.... Here in my garage. I did it..."...

just thinking out loud...

 

Dave if your belt broke(worse case scenario ) ...that's a repair you would do yourself or would you sell at that point ?

 

Congratulations!! Great to see someone who has been round the block coming back to a 355! We all know the issues with these cars but we love them regardless.

 

I will see if I can get done in OZ but if not I will give you a shout.

 

I would like to hear why you liked the 355 over the newer models ?

 

Excuse me for butting into your response mate
In the unlikely event of one of these engines suffering a broken belt. Stripping and rebuilding these engines are relatively straight forward and no different from any other engine. Although the stupid design of the head bolt locations leaves one scratching your head as to why
The real problems are the expense of the replacement parts. However the Internet is full of used parts, and company's like eurospares and Superformance sell parts at half the cost of Factory Ferrari. If you are a competent home mechanic the 355 engine is a breeze to work on, and can be rebuilt at a very reasonable cost if one does the leg work to find the parts.

 

I've been told this but many will not attempt an overhaul even on a chevy...and my point was a total rebuild would be 20k if done yourself so it could happen

I'll agree, large bills are not common but do happen .

 

I'm sure some would look down on self service but I keep very detailed records - see attached example. I like to work on the car so I learn more about it. We also have no resources in my area.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yes, I would do the work myself. It's not my DD so I don't care how long it would take. And would I need to learn a bunch along the way? You bet I would but I love to learn and I take my time so I am more often sucessful than not.

 

Bingo!
If I'd only paid $50k for the car I'd probably be ok with that. And I am full of admiration for guys who have the skills and commitment required.

BUT....

For the prices we pay here I would never even look at a car which had been "owner-maintained".
I'm not going to hand over $150k of my hard earned for a car which hadn't been maintained by a professional, and didn't have the "stamps in the book".
It really is a function of the initial outlay.

Thus the US market is probably a self-perpetuating entity, and it goes some way to explaining why the cars are so much cheaper there.

I haven't quite decided which I'd prefer...

 

I had to rip apart a newer vanos equipped bmw v8 to replace the timing chain guides (chains are not quite the no maintenance silver bullet people would have you believe). Compared to that, where you have to set the cam timing by reading values coming from the vanos solenoids (using a special bmw tool of course), the 355 is absolute cake to work on. For work like that I'd absolutely love the engine sitting in front of me out of the car.

I also had to R&R the cylinder head on my wife's mini S (turbo) to replace a broken valve. That was no cake-walk either with the engine in the car. If you've worked on any newer car, the 355 is absolute cake to work on in comparison. Everything is easy to access and straightforward to take apart using hand tools. They use screws instead of the damn one time use plastic rivets and there's usually no complicated sequence of parts removal and re-install that you absolutely have to adhere to in order for everything to fit together properly. R&R'ing the climate control unit in that car was like playing the worlds most complicated tetris game and half of the dash had to come out to get to it. Not difficult, but you had to know the exact order everything came out and went back in to do it, and it wasn't something you could deduce by looking at it like most of the stuff on the 355.

 

True Bobzdar, I know what you mean. I have a CL55 and the simple analog F355 engine is a breez to work on compared to that. It's special tools galor for the CL55, but not for the f355 apart from the head bolt wrench, which is easly made.

 

Some people just don't touch anything on their cars period. I am not just talking about the Ferrari, I mean all their cars. If anything goes wrong, its to the shop. That is a fact. Bumper to bumper warranties, leases, engines that look like they have a tablecloth over them. I guarantee that there are some like this on this forum also. They probably are just lurkers because if you are intimidated by working on your car reading some of these posts will just scare the crap out of you.

For those who are mechanically inclined and desire to get their hands dirty, there is nothing all that scary about taking the engines out of these cars. Having the proper lift arrangemnet would deter most (my hat off to Ernie of course). But disconnecting everything, taking your time and reading all that is available on here and elsewhere will allow one to do a great job at a major service.

There are some who would never consider doing this and to them anyone who would is committing a mortal sin. The fact is that Ferrari put the engine on a subframe and when you get under the car and get the pans off as I have and start chaging fluids, , disgnosing oil drips, sorting out wiring issues, sensors, ECUs, etc., the fear factor is quickly diminished.

Most shops that I have talked to allow 40 hours for labor on a major. It took me at least 10 hours to chnage my CATS so I will probably end up at 80 but so what? I have the garage , I have the lift, I 'll do it over the winter and take my time. I actually cant wait to do it.

 

I did my engine out (my first Ferrari) and it wasn't bad at all. As a matter of fact my boat motors are harder to service due to clearance etc. Since the entire motor comes out of the car it makes it really easy to service, and because of all the help available through F-chat. I really enjoyed dropping my motor and going through everything. Once you get past the name and fear surrounding the car the "service" isn't bad at all.