What makes you even think that? I like the 355. Not one single contributor to the piece isn't a fan of the car. We just expressed our professional opinions based on many years of experience. I simply have no desire to ignore the reality. We have a Testarossa. When I wrote many of the same things about it everyone shrugged and said "Yup". Some of you are wearing rose colored glasses and have very thin skins. The very fact you even ask supports that very well.
I think a lot of F355 problems are heat related. If you drive your car every few weeks 20-30 miles, it might not be a big problem. If you drive like these owners did, you will have very high maintenance costs related to the heat these cars generate. Also, the more you drive and use things like the A/C, dash shrinkage, windshield delamination, etc you will have problems with these also. It seems to me that so many of the owners who say they have no problems, also don't put many miles on their cars. I guess I would trust the opinion of two owners who put over 100,000 miles each than an owner who put 12,000 miles on their car. Nobody is saying these cars are not fantastic looking and performing, they just are expensive to keep running--more than most exotic cars, and that is why they don't recommend the car. How many of us would feel comfortable with no anxiety driving across country 2-3000miles with your F355? And if not, why?
Well, I guess we are all surprised too. But the reaction here should not be unexpected given that this is a forum for people who are passionate about their Ferrari, whichever one it is. If it were a UK article, I'm pretty certain the owner's impressions section would be different. But it is done, and it will have zero impact on the (strong) 355 market here in the UK, and I have mine and won't be selling it anyway, so this is where I give it a rest
Push polling? Never heard that term before. I'd recommend the 355 in a second but I also would only recommend the car to the right person. I have a friend (63 year old) looking for his first Ferrari now. It's probably going to be a 458, maybe 430. Not that he does not have the brains, but he has no desire to work on the car. That said and the fact that we live in an area lacking experts on these cars, I would not recommend a 355 to him. I know you have a long history and experience Brian but I'm sure a large % of 355's are trouble free aside from normal issues. I think this forum has enough owners to support that statement.
Do you read? They were just 2 of many that responded in much the same way. If you disagree, we get it. That's fine, it is a free country, but there is no conspiracy at work.
Yep. I don't see the 250 and 275 crowd complaining, then again those are 7 figure cars so I guess a mid 5 figure repair bill doesn't matter.
Look, at the end of the day, the comment in the article " You have to love these cars and have deep pockets to be happy with one", sounds correct. It is a gorgeous car, but labor intensive.
I guess it just points out some cars attract buyers with fragile egos more than others. It's all rather amusing to me.
Get a grip. Enjoy your car. Why are you worried about some stupid article is some over rated rag. "I read it in Forza. It must be true." And if you are so worried about what a couple of owners said in print just keep reading all the moaning and groaning about the problems of the 355 right here. You'll have a lot more to worry about. Or don't buy toy you can not afford to play with.
I would not hesitate to do a trip of that length in my car at all..... I've done many day trips of 300+ miles... and even more weekends with 5000+ miles over a few days. The only time I ever got stranded was due to a tire blowing out. A well sorted and looked after 355 can be as reliable as any other car on the road... its GETTING it to that point that costs major coin.....
Um NO!!! Honda? Are you kidding? We can't possibly disagree more strongly. I don't care how much money you put in to a Ferrari, it will NEVER come close to reliability of what normal people expect and get from any common car. Cars don't get better with age or more mileage, but for most - with minor repairs in-between you can keep them going. I had a few cars with 200-300K miles and a ton of cars with 100-200K miles, usually 10-15 years old, some older, pretty much nothing newer. A telling example - I had a 19 year old Honda with 335K miles that needed CV boot for THE FIRST time. F355 in all of it's 35K miles needed it for the SIXTH time. Ferrari was fully serviced and maintained by a professional mechanic that is highly recommended here on FChat's ...to the tune of $10K/year. Honda was lucky to get an oil change. CV boot is not that big of the problem, but it's not just the CV boot, it's everything. In what universe does Ferrari reliability compares to Honda??? Start putting 15k miles per year on a Ferrari like on a normal daily driver, and no matter how nice and well maintained - I guarantee you'll go broke paying for parts and service, not to mention it will get old quick waiting for tows and asking friends for rides. Ferrari is a cool car, but it will NEVER EVER EVER match Honda's reliability. This disinformation needs to stop.
And you wonder why people are asking why you "hate" the 355 so much? I don't personally care what you think, and I actually liked your part of the article and would love to hear practical advice on addressing known issues from someone with your experience, but you come across as being the one with the fragile ego when you personalise things like your quote above, and accuse people of being delusional if they don't agree with you that their pride and joy is a crap car. What are you expecting on a forum that caters to 355 owners and enthusiasts? Particularly given that a number of us appear to have well-maintained, reliable (for a 20 year old Ferrari) 355's?
I am expecting them to take it the way everyone else does and has. No one was attacked, no car was attacked but the vitriol showed by some is pretty telling.
You are confusing "cost to maintain" with reliability.... My 355 starts on the first turn of the key, has NEVER left me stranded, has never broken down, and has never thrown so much as a cough while on the road. Granted, it took major work, time, and money to get it that way.... but still, its as reliable as you can expect any car to be... I can not say the same for many of the other cars I own/have owned.... Cost of parts, etc, is a factor of the number of cars manufactured. Honda builds millions of cars a year... compared to the what? 10k 355s built over a 5 year span?? If you are expecting parts and servicing costs to be the same for both, I have bridge to sell you.... Reliability is not the same as "cost to maintain" And a Ferrari is not, and should never be considered a daily driver except for the very very few of us to whom money is no issue....
on a more specific note.... My 2012 Range Rover Evoque has seen the shop numerous times for everything from manufacturer RECALLS to loose trim panels and routine maintenance. Its got a whopping 24xxx miles on it.... My 2006 Mustang GT has had more repairs than ANY car has a right to, especially one as mass produced by Ford as the Mustang... My brand new 2014 BMW 4 series coupe had to have the brake rotors cut and shaved within 600 miles. Has been to the dealer 3 times already for misc issues, and its only got 3500 miles on it.. Do i think these cars all suck? Not at all... As a matter of fact, i love each one of them for their own specific reasons.. cars are not perfect, they need love and maintenance to get the best out of them. It is no different for a Ferrari.....
As a side note, my newer E-class has had the fuel tank out twice now both times for the same reason. The only reason I didn't do the job myself the first time was due to the issue being a warrantee related claim so it was free, so if I don't have to get my hands dirty I won't. The sad part of it is the second time was basically a repair of the botched first repair, notice my lack of enthusiasm for some of these dealer mechanics which seem to be very much hit or miss in terms of quality and knowledge. Ferrari dealers are the same way with most of them having younger guys who you cannot really call mechanics as the latest one I spoke with stated he had no idea 355s had a manifold issue. That being said, ferrari of Atlanta has my complete faith, great guys there. One of the rare facilities I guess.
Guys, it's a 15-20 year old exotic sports car that cost as much as a house when it was new. It's not cheap to maintain. It is on the high side for design flaws from the factory for a FERRARI, much higher for just a car in general. You have to pay to sort it and then you have to pay to maintain it. It's not cheap but for a select few it is worth it. For most it is not. I love my 355 and will always have it, another one or multiples. I would never recommend it to anyone. If I have to recommend it they don't have the passion for the car that is needed to own it.
I'm not even mentioning costs, not event talking about cost. Just purely reliability - how many NON-MAINTENANCE parts/components wear out on a Honda and need to be fixed/replaced for every 100K miles of driving vs how many non-maintenance parts/components need fixing/repairing on a Ferrari? Not custom parts, not cosmetics, not preventative maintenance - just plain repairs. Take any common car. Mile for mile. It's simply indisputable truth that per mile Ferrari will need more parts/components fixed/replaced. I don't even know how we can argue about that. For the sake of all current and future owners those facts need to be admitted and acknowledged. Ferrari is a cool car. Out of this world maintenance don't make Ferrari any less cool.
Well, I guess I read your posts and you simply are not very complimentary of the vehicle. It comes off to a casual reader as a bit one sided. Perhaps "hate" might be a strong word, but you certainly appear to really, really really not like it. But here people do have positive experiences willing to share with you. Instead you called then wearing "rose colored glasses and thin skinned". That comes across as arrogant and insulting. ...and yea, I now you have been here forever, but... If you are calling me thin skinned in your post (and it sure looks like you are), it does reveal a certain amount of a judgmental characteristic with little to know knowledge...no? Let me help you out: If my friend was looking at a 355 and he had the means to support one and he asked me if I would recommend the car. I would, without hesitation, tell him to get one. It is the most stylistic, exciting, and best sounding Ferrari I have driven (OK, short of the 458). See, you got 1!!!
