Ferrari under 40k

Its a matter of personal taste. The Maserati is a beautiful car....nice sound and fun to drive. For me, part of the fun of owning the Ferrari is having a car that I can work on myself. I doubt that the Maserati is much of a DIY type of car. An 80's or 90's Ferrari is more of a classic car, where the Gransport is more of a modern car. In 5 years, it is likely that a Gransport will be a $25k car, whereas any model of the older Ferraris will likely be worth at least what you paid for it (not saying that these are great invesetments, just less of a loss). As far as your concern for parts, yes some things can be pricey, but many of the parts for an older Ferrari are shared with other brands, and are very affordable.

 

At the risk of sounding bad if you buy a gandsport, dont. The ferrari will be less to run, wont depreciate may appreciate and is an infinitly more rewarding car to drive. A granbsport looks and sounds nice, but really is meh to drive, in the end its just a car.

A 348 is a special and uniqie animal, no one else make that type of car now cept maybe lotus, even new ferraris today are bland to drive in comparisoon.

Unlike a 355 348s dont have valve guilde issues, and they dont have PS, definatly a purist machine. While the first 2 years may have had some handling quirks at the limit the later ones are really good, and reputedly very robust. A 355 is a 348 with more power a grenade engine ps and different body panels, in fact they are so similar you can swap 355 panels onto a 348.

I think 348s came in tragas too which woudl be rally rare, but lack the full stiffness of a berlinetta. Additionalt 348 electronics are still simple.

IMO you cant go worng with a mondial or 348, and they are leagues more of a driving experiece than a grandsport.

Now 400's 412's and 456's thye can eat their purchase price in repairs pretty quickly, my advice is to stay away there. Maybe if you can find a really well cared for 400, but even then its big heavy thing, fine for cruising.

Like great sex with a hot redhead, everyone shoudl be so lucky as to drive/have a mid engined ferrari somewhere in their life.

As someone here has said, these are now classic ferraris, they are not going down, if you can do some maintanance and keep it under control, then you can drive almost for free.

 

Suggest you ask this at the 348 subforum at this site, now that you have a specific model in mind.

 

BRYM - is this going to be a daily driver vehicle or a toy (sorry, I could not think of a better word than toy)?

I have owned a 348 and currently own a 09 Gran Turismo and a 360. If it is not going to be your DD then the 348 is a great looking car and very raw in performance (in a good way).

If this car is going to be your DD then a Masserati is much more comfortable. You can work on both cars, if you have the passion to learn and drive to do it.

 

You may want to look into the electronics of the 348. The connectors are known to be such a problem, that they make complete connector replacement kits which is not cheap or an easy job- ask me how I know.

 

Consider too that the 348's transmission takes a bit of warm-up time before 2nd gear is usable. By comparison, I can shift into all gears on my 3.2 Mondial with virtually no warm-up time at all. Granted, I DO drive sedately until the systems are warmed up appropriately.

What I'm saying is; the 348 is not a "crank and go" car like we're used to.

 

I loved my 348, however at 6ft tall and 200 lbs I felt like a Shriner sitting in a small go cart as I was very cramped. Wade is also correct, shifting into 2nd gear was a bit frustrating when starting out (even after changing the gear oil). I really did not enjoy driving the car every day as the AC was R12 (had to take an online course to be able to just buy the R12) and the AC had a tough time keeping the car cool on a 90 degree day. It was a fun car to go out and raise he!! in, but very uncomfortable to drive every day. Just an opinion.

 

After two years of ownership I still find my 94 348 Spider exciting to look at but more so to drive. As others have said it is a drivers car. No PS so you really feel the road and the sound is awesome. You can buy other cars but none will match the mystique of a Ferrari.

Brewman

 

I think the Maserati Cambiocorsa clutch will be a major impediment to future values. When a Quattroporte, Coupe, or Spyder is worth $20k and needs a clutch, this appears to be a dealer-only option to change at dealer prices, probably 25% of the car. With no DIY option for this major component, you will see perfectly good cars being parted out due to this single component or they will sit and be worthless.

 

How long do those clutches last? I suspect you're right but haven't seen data on the replacement cost.

 

Parts-wise, the Maserati clutch is cheaper than the dual-disk unit that most 348s require.

$1275 Clutch Kit Clutch Maserati 4200 Coupe Spyder Gran Sports F1 Cambiocorsa | eBay

$1995 Ferrari 348 Mondial T Double Disc Clutch New 136800 | eBay

But, apparently, the frequency of changes is what matters most.

 

From the research I have done, on a true three-pedal manual the clutch is basically the same as any other car, although the Maserati has a ton of things that need to be removed under the car including the exhaust. The F1 is a different animal because while the clutch change itself is the same amount of work, you have to reset the wear level (PIS?) in the computer otherwise it will quickly ruin the new clutch. There is not a Durametric cable (like was developed for Porsche) or similar for a home mechanic to do this. The options appear to be either Leonardo ($20k) or the factory SD system ($$$???). So basically every clutch change requires a trip to the dealer, assuming they would even do only the recalibration.

You can find Spyders and Coupes with normal manuals, although they are perhaps only 10-15% of the cars out there. Gransports I think were all Cambiocorsa (aka F1). Early Quattroportes were all Cambiocorsa until a true automatic was introduced in 2007.

The F1 system on Ferraris from the later 355 through the 599, 612, & 430 is the same AFAIK. But a $5k clutch job probably isn't as big a deal on a car costing nearly six figures. Those cars will never be worth zero or even close to zero, the Maseratis however...probably will follow a depreciation curve similar to a Jaguar XK, well below $10k in the coming years.

 

Don't be put off by all this talk of 2nd gear not being available until the gearbox has warmed up!

Yes it is a fact that on almost all 348's 2nd gear simply isn't available until the gearbox warms up (some cars suffer more than others and some cars apparently don't have the issue at all), but it's not really that big an issue!

The 348 is surprisingly tractable going from 1st gear straight to 3rd when cold and doesn't even grumble or stutter doing it (yes it obviously feels a little bit sluggish but the car just gets on with), and you soon get used to it.

Best advice if you thinking of buying any Ferrari is to go and test drive one first.

With the 348, if you've got large feet then you may find that the pedals are far too close together for you and you keep hitting two pedals at the same time.

If you've got short legs then you may find that the sills are too wide for you when getting in and out of the car.

You may find that you don't like the firm ride, or how deliberate you have to be to make a gear change. You might find that the large turning circle and lack of power steering makes parking a bit of a pain (again you kinda get used to it TBH).

Something I have found with My car and that I'm still getting used to is how upright the throttle pedal is (to the point where it makes My ankle hurt slightly on long journeys).

I can't see any reason why a 348 could not be used as a daily driver (I would have to say though that crawling along in rush-hour traffic and having to constantly keep changing from 1st to 2nd and then back to 1st, followed by shifting back to 2nd again etc., etc., can be a little bit tiring, but again, you get used to it).

As I say, before committing yourself to getting a 348 (in your mind at least), take one for a test drive and see how you fit with the car.

Just be aware that it's very easy to become a bit mesmerised or "star struck" when you go to drive a Ferrari for the first time and you see it there waiting for you, which can lead to a real "Head Vs Heart" situation, and result in you not noticing all of the issues that the car may have.

Also, have a look at some of the Ferrari parts specialist sites such as Eurospares or Ricambi), to get an idea how expensive some parts are (and how in-expensive some parts are too!)

For example, break a door mirror assembly off and that'll be @ $2300 (or £1400) please just to get a replacement!

Try (at least) one before you buy one and be aware that the reality of owning a Ferrari is not quite the same as the dream of owning one!

 

You'd be amazed at just how many people simply cannot accept that to be the case! (Even here on Fchat!).

There are a lot of people who think that the parts should cost just the same as they do for a Ford because: "Okay yeah it's a Ferrari, but it's still just a car at the end of the day!"

Whilst the general principle is true, "Ferrari tax" is just a fact of life!

(When I told My friend that I think I might need to replace the headlight/indicator/wiper switch assembly on My 348 and that the switch assembly is @ £900 [$1422] from Eurospares she nearly had a cardiac! "Nine hundred pounds for a bloody switch!" she exclaimed out loud! - I did tell her it was a bit more than just a switch but it didn't help much! )