Looking for 348

Welcome to the club!

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/ferraris/533445-348-tb-us-mondial-t-coupe.html

 

Good luck in your search. I'll keep my eyes open for you.

 

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Where are you located?

Is there a colour preference, or are you open to all colours?

What is your budget?

 

Depends on whether or not it requires a major service.

 

no color preference and willing to take a ts and/or spyder. you'll have plenty of choices!

you might find this thread rather helpful:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/536080-given-choice-348-355-a.html

it's not exactly your issue, but i think you'll find the content and information on the 348 in the thread very worthwhile. a lot of very enthusiastic 348 owners here.

good luck with your search.

 

i certainly didn't mean to suggest another car over the 348 - i love the 348. i just thought there was some great 348 owner contributions in that thread - qualities of the car, impressions, etc.

good luck with you search. i personally think 348s are undervalued right now.

 

both the 348 and 355 have bottomed already, but the market is a bit soft right now. before winter might be a good time for a bargain. that's what i'm hoping for. to me, the days of a clean, honest 348 for $35k are gone. i have been looking for several months - at both models - and i felt that a $55-60k budget (asking prices) was reasonable and a buy in the low 50s would be quite good. again, clean, honest cars, 25-30k miles - the big question is how long since the major and does it need it. most need it based on years now, not mileage. make sure you keep an eye on that. with a fresh major, you're going to be a tad higher, but you'll have a car ready to drive and worries in the back of your head.

 

I looked at this car and test drove it a few days ago: last major was done in 2008 and it has two oil leaks the size of the Panama Canal collecting at the bottom of the block. Ah, and the undercarriage looks like was used in combat.

The car shows well overall but, among other things, has a major case of deferred maintenance disease. In the words of the mechanic who cared for this car in the past many years: "All was done is really just oil changes". 'nough said.

 

perfect example of the timing on the major. 'major done 2k miles ago' is equal to 8 years ago. i doubt i'd even want to drive that car - as the owner. test drive, sure.

 

Looks like the sister car to mine. Has the extras that are often missing, like the leather tool case and manual case, which are almost $2K if you had to buy them separately. I'd check to see if all the tools are there. A single missing screwdriver is over $100. May not matter to you, but it's nice to be complete. This one also has the targa cover that mine unfortunately is missing.

I wouldn't worry about oil leaks if you're going to be doing the major service anyway. Assuming they're coming from somewhere accessible like cam covers. Getting this car in low $40s seems like a good buy to me.

 

PM sent. thanks

 

What is the date that the major was performed?

2k miles ago could have been 15 years ago (for instance)...in which case a new major should be done immediately.

 

The archives are your friend.

 

Nothing wears out, but even the belt manufacturer recommends not using the belt even if it sits on the shelves for an x number of years. So a generally accepted recommendation for belt service / major service is 5 years or 30,000 miles which ever comes first. 99 percent of us don't put 30,000 miles on these cars in 5 years, so it is the 5 years that is normally discussed.

For a 348, a timing belt job requires the engine to be removed and since it is out anyway, you do take the opportunity to do a bunch of things to it.

Your car, your money, spend it your way. There is once again a raging belt replacement interval argument on the thread next door to this one in the 308/328 section.