348 - best value in the classic Ferrari lineup?

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No I'm not. "Most" people do not - just the loudest ones. Porsche sold 85000 of them and not at bargain prices which is hardly a testament of "ugliness". I don't think they're ugly.

It's a matter of taste, select your favorite and enjoy it. So many threads on collectability, value, clutch vs. F1, blah... that the passion is lost. Did anybody have a poster of a spread sheet on their wall growing up?

 

No. Definitely not an ugly car, and quite fun to drive.

 

That's ok, the only view a 355 gets of a 996tt is of the rear end quickly disappearing down the road.
As far as reliability, the ims in the non turbo cars is the only real issue, some turbo cars have 300k to 400k on them .
this probably isn't the place to bash the 996, seems like a lot of guys have them sitting in the garage right alongside the Ferrari.

 

In regard to the 348 it means the ECU only controls the very basics for running the engine. There is no fly-by-wire throttle body, no fbw brake peddal, no electronically controlled differential, no electronically controled magnetic suspension, no stability control, no electronically controlled gearbox, no cruse control, no traction control, no launch control, no electronically control thermostat, no electronically controled variable valve timing, no electronically controled variable length intake, no electronic driving nannies.

In a 348 the DRIVER is in control of the car.

Further more it also means the 348 owner is not at the mercy of the dealer to maintain his Ferrari. The 348 doesn't not have to be hooked up to a computer to repair things, or carry out basic maintenance. When the brake pads get changed, the 348 does not need a computer hooked up to it so that it can tell the ecu it has new brake pads and/or rotors. The 348 does not need a computer hooked up to it to bleed the brakes. The 348 does not need the computer hooked up to it when the clutch gets changed. The 348 does not need a computer hooked up to it in order to bleed the clutch. The 348 does not need a computer hooked up to it if new shocks get put on. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The 348 can be maintained by a do-it-yourself owner and does not need to be hooked up to the crazy expensive computer "life support system" at the dealer. As the owner of a 348 you are not forced to take your Ferrari to the dealer because it does NOT need to be hooked up to what ever the latest SD-xxx computer the factory dictates is "needed" to work on the car.

That is what last of the analog cars means.

 

I wouldn't say pig ugly but it's definitely not as good looking as other 911s and they were cheap on the inside, at least until they upgraded them towards the end.

They sold 85k of them because people wanted to have a Porsche. Just like today, people will buy anything because of the brand. They also made them a lot more daily driver friendly which is the main reason they sold a lot in my opinion.

 

An early 355 hits all of those points as well. The only electronic 'assist' it has over the 348 is the active suspension but it doesn't intervene and keep you out of trouble, it just provides the best shock damping for how you're driving the car (kind of like how fuel injection gives the best engine map for how you're driving the car). It also adds a more connected solid linkage shifter and better throttle response due to the non computer controlled individual throttle bodies. No computer needed for DIY stuff either.

The 360 was the introduction of drive by wire and traction control where interventions started happening. The only intervention the 355 has is abs, which the 348 also has.

That said, the 348 is a great value in the Ferrari line up. For 20k more, I think the 355 is still worth the premium as it was the first of the standard v8's to be in supercar (0-60 under 5, 180+mph top speed) performance territory. A 348GTB or 348SS is knocking on the door, though and with a set of challenge, GTC or 355 rims, looks the business.

Prices on 348's are following the 355 with a slight lag, so get one now or you will be priced out like many have become with the 355. If I were in it for the money (which I'm not), I'd sell my 355 and buy a 348. Then sell the 348 in 5 years for whatever the good deal Ferrari is at that time (360 f1?) etc. However, if I were in it for the money, I'd have bought a 512TR back when I bought my 355 for not much more and made a killing. I knew the 512TR was going to shoot up in value, but problem was I had zero intention of ever selling whichever Ferrari I got, so I bought the 355 because I really couldn't decide which I wanted more and the 355 was 15k cheaper, so that made the decision fairly easy.

I suggest you buy the Ferrari you want, not the one that's the best value (unless you don't really care which one you get). Otherwise, all you'll really care about is the value and not the car - unless you fall in love, which is a strong possibility with these cars.

 

I don't see the additional electronics as a detriment. I see them as performance enhancers that also increase safety - and just might save my butt one day. Like ANYTHING, they can be troublesome but the pros outweigh the cons for me.

 

The additional electronics on some cars can be annoying in my opinion. What I love about the 355 is you get in turn the key and drive away, it's simply a car and it's going to do exactly what I want it to do.

New vette for example, as good as they are, have so much technology I find it annoying. Get in, find a place to put the key fob, press a button to start, screens booting up, nav booting up, passenger airbag off light flashing, active noise cancellation, press and hold traction control button until active handling is disabled and then you still have an electronically assisted rack and an ecu (in stock form) that can still cut power at will. Torque vectoring diff to pull you around corners.

Yes much faster but my main goal is to have fun and enjoy driving, these things do not help that at all, again, in my opinion.

I'll take an older simple car any day

 

What I didn't like about my F355 is that 50% of the time a slow down light came on - the car ran fine but a blinking red light never added to the enjoyment. And, unless I alternated key fobs, I might have to hit the key fob button two hundred times before the immobilizer would allow me to start it. The suspension light would come on sometimes despite all the actuators being new - and this is on a car with nearly $100,000 is maintenance and repair costs. Gorgeous fun car no doubt - but I'm pretty sure that I would've sent Kate Upton packing if she cost me $100,000.

 

348s are sitting in between 48-65 asking. Not many selling for 60's though. Check out ebay sold listings for an example.
355's are sitting 60-80 with some people TRYING to get more than that. Highly doubt they are selling for that much.
Only if 348s come down to about 45-50 on average would I consider purchasing another. I bought my first one for $37,500.
I may not like 360's as much per say but they are leaps and bounds a better car than the 348. And they are fractionally more expensive at this point. There are also a ton of other cars you can get with 360 money that makes a 348 silly as a purchase. This is all just my opinion. I fully feel like it is an artificially inflated market right now.
Are they a decent purchase? Of course. But they were much more attractive to me when they were 10-15k less.

 

Agreed that would be annoying. I've been lucky so far as to have no slow down or any other lights come up. (and no immobilizer).

I'll pick up the slack on Kate for 100k. Probably spent more on less

 

She's all yours - just like my F355, I would still have her if I hadn't found something even better.

 

Absolutely one of the best value buys right now, particularly as an entry level classic. The 348's direct driving input and feedback, and minimal assists really embody the pure no-bs italian exotic sports car approach. It is the last iteration from the old-world breed before the modern concessions and technologies started to take firm hold, no doubt making better 'cars', but to the detriment of that harder edge that presents a sunny weekend toy as a more special, invigorating experience from the everyday.

 

I believe you misunderstand. The thought is in reference to the comparative perceptions and representations of a philosophy between two adjacent models within a marque. The 964t (930) for a long time, existed in the shadow cast by the 993tt. The latter being largely proclaimed as the final and most perfect evolution of the air cooled 911 series. However, time and the aging of these sports cars towards the realm of classic models has evolved the perception, more universally recognized now as distinctly separate flavors which stand alone equally on their own individual merits. Not unlike how the perception has been evolving between the 348 and F355.

 

And therein lies one of the Porsche's biggest problems - There's just too many of them on the road to make them special!

I would agree, they're not ugly (saying that, they're not particularly good looking either as far as I'm concerned) - They're just a bit............well............ common!

To the average, non Porsche-anal enthusiast, a 911 is a 911 is a 911!

Sit a 993 next to a 996 (or any of the other myriad of 911 variations), and Joe Public just sees the exact same common 911 that they've been seeing for decades (actually, they more than likely don't see it at all because Porsche 911's have become just another everyday car due to there being so many on the road!).

Let's put it this way, why spend your hard earned money on one of 85,000 identical 911's that no one even notices, when for the same money you could have one of the 7,000 348's ever made that just about everybody notices?

 

^^^This!!! Thank you. Except I think you left out the fact that the 348 was the last V8 car to escape the feel-stealing power steering. That was a big factor to me when choosing between a 348 and a 355.

 

A lot can depend on the owners personality. Don't get me wrong , I loved my 348 , but I'm a pretty low key kinda guy and it actually got very annoying, the gawking , the photos,videos and then the life stories at the gas pump. At a car show , you go there to talk all day about the car , at the grocery store , I just want to leave. Now in the 911 , I get the , hey nice car , and so on , a brief nod maybe, and its much more enjoyable to a guy like me. The 348 attention is part of the reason I started to drive it less to a point where I never drove in it by myself, I felt like people would look at me like some egotistical kinda guy and it became uncomfortable. I live in a very small blue collar community so that didn't help either.Driving the 911 I just fell like a car guy and its much more low key and enjoyable .
As far as a 911 is a 911 is a 911.Yes that's true and intentional , Porsche is smart enough not to mess with what is good, looks the same , but there is oh so much more under that familiar skin.
I will not argue that the 348/355's are beautiful, but each car on this planet serves a different purpose, and the 911's strong suit is that is might just be the greatest drivers car ever. ( at least they got the power steering right , lol)
Not ugly , just different , it is a pretty mean looking car , and omg is it fast.( k24 turbo'd and tuned to 500hp !!!! )
Thing I miss most about the Ferrari , just sitting in the garage admiring its looks, pampering it with a nice wax , that in itself was relaxing. Driving it here in the northeast on our crappy roads just ruined the experience.

I'm going to muck up fchat with my ugly duckling.
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Yeah, well they're going to lynch me up right along side you. Still got the Ferrari though.
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They all really do look the same , lol .

You took a nicer pic tho , i just cleaned the fingerprints off my lens maybe that will help next time , i'm not much of a photographer


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I don't think that it became a Porsche vs. Ferrari thread, Porsche was brought into it as perspective regarding "value" ..and of course threads waver from the topic.

I still believe that a 360 is a better choice for "value" though. Better performing, more comfortable, much lower maintenance and more reliable.

 

If i did it again , it would still be the 348 for me , maybe black ( lower key ) and not a spider , next time . I looked alot at 355's before settling on the 911 , just couldnt go the 355 route , beautiful car , just cant get past the gremlins.the 911 is just more suited to the climate and roads where i live . In 2000 miles i've yet to scrape the front lip, hooray !! Have yet to look at a parking lot. And say we cant go in there because of the angle , hooray , When i move to the southwest i'll gladly buy another 348.


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