The new Forza magazine has an buyers guide in it. Has anybody read it?
Read it tonight, first buyers guide I can recall where both of the owners surveyed said they would not recommend the car. Valuations on the lower end seem too low as well. Not sure what a $30k 355GTB would be but that was the bottom for a serviced car in the article.
Actually Bob, Brian only wrote the "shop/mechanical" area of the article. What pisses me off the most is that the F355, once sorted is an amazing car. One pundit in the article, when complaining about the need to drop the engine for the 30K major, stated that "...an F355 plus a major service is in 360 [price] territory". Does this individual understand that you have to drop the engine on a 360 for a clutch change? IMHO, the F355 represented a quantum leap in technology for Ferrari road cars. Were some mistakes made? Of course, but these areas are now well documented. It's all too easy to be critical invoking 20 year old hindsight. The F355 is NOT a car for those who want to own a Ferrari on-the-cheap. Many individuals far more Ferrari-savvy than I, believe the F355 (6-speed, Berlinetta or GTS) is going to be a very highly sought after car in the not too distant future. We shall see, shan't we?
Spot on. I find it more than a little suss that they decided to run with owners who wouldn't recommend the car, when there are hundreds (if not thousands) of owners with trouble free cars who would happily recommend it. They couldn't even balance the opinions? Poor effort.
It was a hatchet job by whoever for whatever reason. The car is what it is. Almost 20 years old, and has some inherent design flaws that if you go into it with your eyes open and your homework done you shouldn't be blindsided. If you take the car to a shop for every nuance of this and that you will get chewed up no doubt. This forum and others provide a great source of information to weed through the issues and make ownership fun and enjoyable. The model is polarizing no doubt. I am happy I am on the positive side of those poles.
These two owners have driven their cars and their opinion should carry a lot of weight. Between the two they have put 200,000 miles on their F355's. I have had mine for 15 yrs and love the car, have ton of mods, spent a small fortune on the car in repairs, and that has over 50,000 miles on it. I think when owners think that they went on a 300 mi trip and feel that they have achieved something because the car didn't break down, it's telling. It seems owners who say the car has been very reliable are using it on weekends or putting 1000 mi per year. I use it as a daily driver. When the car is working it is a fantastic car. But, there always something - headers, valve guides, alternators, plugs, oil leaks, radiators, sticky parts, dash shrinkage, a/c problems, door handles breaking,etc. This is from someone who loves the car, but is realistic.
Agreed. Who is the editor? What does s/he drive? One of the basic tenets of journalism is to provide a balanced view. This fails spectacularly. It's crap like this which explains why your market is so out of whack with the rest of the world.
With respect, these cars were probably never intended to be a daily driver. If you want that, buy a McLaren or a 911. I don't understand why anyone would want to use a Ferrari as a daily driver. In my experience, it doesn't matter what you drive / ride / fly / sail, if you do it EVERY day, it loses it's feeling of specialness. Maybe that's just me. Most of the issues you have mentioned are one time fixes. Once they are done, they are done. The rest are issues common to virtually any car. The article is a hatchet job. And that's all there is to it, really.
If a car is special, you want to drive it as much as possible. To be honest, most don't drive it often because they are afraid too many miles devalues the car or afraid of breakdown. This is just my opinion from what I have read on the forum over the years. Have people not had many problems, yes. Do they put many miles on them, I would say no. When you have cars that are 20 years old with 20,000 miles, you shouldn't have problems. People say problems occur because the cars are not driven enough. These guys have averaged 100,000 miles on their F355 and I am sure some are track miles. They obviously love the car, it is the amount of repairs that come along with this car that the don't like. That is why they would not recommend buying one. I would agree with them based on my 15 years and 50,000 miles.
Fair enough. Your view is perfectly valid, although I would disagree with the assertion that owners only drive their cars sparingly because they are afraid of breaking them. My problem with the article is that it fails to provide a balanced view. What they have presented is by no means fair and balanced. And that should be their job, unless they have an agenda. It would have been very easy to find a happy 355 owner who would recommend the car, but they chose not to. Note the word: CHOSE.
The magazine is a craptastic rag. The only reason anyone even talks about it is because their market valuations are completely off across the board. Next.
Well stated. +355. I don't know if the F355 values are going to increase, but to me the car has such great styling and beautiful lines along with the 288 GTO you would think it should. As stated in the other thread about this article, one of the owners went out and bought another 355 for himself after the first one he had was damaged, but wouldn't recommend the car. Maybe he is a glutton for punishment.
Excellence is the same with regards to the 993's. Prices are usually a lot higher than what their buyers guide suggest. Maybe they base them off of well used high mileage cars.
+1 I thought it was very fair, and they selected long-time owners which was being very responsible. Like someone else said, great car but not an on-the-cheap Ferrari.
Picked it up last night and was skeptical at best before i began reading. The only thing I did agree with is that clean mechanically correct 355 seem to be getting scarce. As for the rest I'd like my ten minutes back please.
It was fair, except for their selection of "owners opinions". What, they couldn't find ONE owner who would recommend the car?! A car which is very highly regarded throughout the rest of the world? Which is almost universally considered as saving the Ferrari road car brand? Absolute bollocks. And an indictment on the pathetic rag which produced it. Is there such a thing as an "on the cheap" Ferrari? I really hope not.
Just Read it. The useful part is the major and minor issues area, but I'm surprised the cats weren't mentioned. That said, I've never seen a 355 priced below $45k, although I could see a high mileage car that has 'needs' meeting the lower price threshold he mentions, that's just a extremely rare occurance so not very valid to 99% of buyers viewing the normal market which usually has low mileage cars, albeit many of those have serious needs too.....
I have replaced over 100 360 clutches and have never removed the engine to do it. In fact even the transmission does not need to be removed. It is a pretty simple job. Of all the Ferrari wives tales I have heard that is a rare original and actually funny to anyone who has had the chance to look under the hood of a 360.
I don't believe the 355 will be a hugely sought-after v8 ferrari for anyone other than the crown who can perform their own maintenance. For everyone else they'll shoot themselves.
I think F355 will always be highly desirable, maintenance notwithstanding. It was THE CAR of that era, so it will always be sought after as a collector's car. Take Lamborghini Diablo for example - another iconic car from the 90's with even higher maintenance needs - yet it's been keeping it's value with no signs of depreciation.
What the hell, I'll weigh in here. I first read this thread before going to my mailbox and retrieving the newest issue of Forza. Granted, as a two year owner, I certainly don't consider myself an authority, but I really didn't find anything in the article to be that far off base (except the prices of used 355's). I really wish that those that were interviewed (much more experienced than I) would have felt comfortable recommending a 355 to their friends, but hey, that's why they call it an opinion. Having said that, I love my car and have put quite a bit of time and money into it's maintenance. And while I expect that trend to continue to some degree, I wouldn't trade the ownership and driving experience for anything. And that's my opinion. Thanks, Henry
