My first special car

In your first thread someone mentioned there is a dealer near you - why not just go in and talk to them (maybe phone first) and see which car you like ?

Once you have narrowed the field spend some time reading the sections here devoted to each model to learn more about their pros & cons

 

Maybe dip your toe in the water with the brand new C8 Corvette. Doubt you need anything faster than that for now.

You can drive it to the beach,put a ton of miles on it and not worry too much about running costs.

Older Ferrari's can be a headache compared to an Accord,like most cars.

 

First things first - You need to set a budget. You mention $450k but then say you dont have half a million to throw around. Then you need to have a yearly budget for maintenance and "**** happens" events. This will depend on what you buy (Used or under warranty, Ferrari or Porsche etc..).

So how much are you comfortable with spending on a car that will not be your daily driver and will most likely depreciate (unless you buy used and 6/8 years old).

Ferrari dealers will let you test drive if they think you are serious and not just going there for fun. My advise is to call a dealer that is local to you - explain your situation and let them know how much you want to spend (again set a budget beforehand). As much as i hate to say that, it does help if you show up clean cut rather than not...We all judge on appearances whether we want to admit it or not.
By calling first and setting a time to come, the dealer will know you are a bit more serious than a guy walking in expecting to drive a car. It's the dealer's job to guide you through what they can offer but they need to know how much you want to spend. You can spend $80k and buy a used 360 or you can spend $250k and buy a new Portofino or a used F12...

Good luck

 

Well I tend to get asked about cars (I just helped a nice young bartender buy her first new car), and I have to say OP, why do you want a Ferrari? What purpose will it serve you other than lose you money (depending on the car it could be a lot of money). After close to 500 cars, I have learned things probably no one else on this board will ever learn. The first thing I ask people when they want advise is what do you want the car to do? If it is all about the horsey well than no logic or nothing I say will make you change your mind. Keep this in mind though a Ferrari (or any exotic ) is just a car, and when driven like a Honda Accord it will respond like a Honda Accord. I will give you an example, a local dealer had a used AMG GTS for sale, the potential owner thought the car was too tame after a test drive, so they asked me to give him a ride in mine. When he got out of my car he said I think I'm going to be sick, he had never experienced a ride in a car like that before. What I am trying in a nice way to tell you, is go buy an Alfa 4C a great car, or a 911, or a 718 Boxster, or the Lotus Evora 400, or the C8 Corvette. Unless you are buying the car as an ego boost (I always feel sorry for those people, even though I cannot understand what makes them do that), you really should start off with something that you might not loose your shirt over. Sort of like some people think spaghetti o's are pasta, because they don't know any better. I think you would be just as happy with the other cars I mentioned, and spend a lot less money and not worry about them breaking down. Going from a Honda to a Ferrari is a pretty big leap, and in my opinion, a pretty foolish one.

 

Let me piggyback what Carnut stated with my own story. I've had numerous secondary "fun" cars, from a Lotus Esprit to Dodge Vipers, and had ALWAYS wanted a Ferrari. Two years ago I bought a 2004 Giallo Spider 360, MINT, with 12K miles. Threw Fabspeed headers, cats, and Tubi on it and it was everything I thought it could be. That is up until the excessive attention the car draws around here. People don't pay attention to the road when you pass them, or vice versa. I've come out to ladies laying across the car while their boyfriend/significant other took pics of them, and also to milkshake thrown across the car. I came to the point where I had anxiety any time I parked the car out of my sight and it became more of a burden to own than a pleasure. I won't even get into maintenance costs, F1 issues, etc. I now have a RennTech 2009 Mercedes SL65 with three times the power of the 360, it flies under the radar without any of the attention of the 360, and so much more comfortable to drive. Moral of the story, figure out what you want and if you can deal with what ownership brings with it.

 

Try contacting Foreign Cars Italia where you live. I bought my first Fcar from them but in Greensboro. I had a very good experience with them. They have different used models and not only Ferrari to look at. They may be able to steer you to the car you are looking for.
First off, as others said, set your budget and what you want and don’t want in the car. You want F1 paddle shifters or gated. How old back are you willing to go. Any body style in cars you like and don’t like. Then are you going to do the maintenance yourself or not ... etc.
good luck and let us know what you decide on.



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I would go for either a new Vette or a 360 spider. Both around $70k when all is said and done. Drive it, have fun!


BT

 

With all due respect, I dont think you are a candidate for an “exotic”. The above part of your thread indicates that you think of the ownership of an “exotic” like you think of the ownership of a Honda. Honda’s are wonderful cars, they run forever, are easy to maintain, and cost very little if anything does go wrong. No exotic can compete with that. They are essentially hand crafted cars where things do go wrong and they can be very expensive to fix and there are relatively few people that can do that.

I would suggest that you stay with large volume production cars and just go up market. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and Audi all make great cars that are “exoticish” but they are still production cars and much more reliable, have parts readily available, a good dealer network, etc. The only downside is that their parts sometimes can be closer to the price of Ferrari parts than Honda parts but that would be a good introduction into the world of near exotic. Then see if you like that and go to the next step.

 

Flying pig coming in low.

 

Yup. agreed.
GT4, GT3, GT3RS, GT2RS would come pretty close or beat some Ferraris in driving excitement. They all cost less than 450K.

 

I kinda agree with what the others have said. How about putting a toe in the water first rather than jumping into the deep end. Say a used Porsche 911 model 996, 997 (sorted with the IMS issue sorted), 991 or an Audi R8 (V8 or V10) way less $$$ to start and a bit lower maintenance cost - perhaps 50% of a Fcar but still not cheap to maintain. Also a new Vette C7 or a wait for new C8. Lots of cars to “try out” if you are new to the high performance sports cars. As others have said in many other threads buying the car is the easy part, the maintenance, license, insurance etc costs are the ongoing realities of ownership. IMO

 

I'd also say that if the fastest car you've ever driven is your Honda you should probably start out with something a bit tamer and maybe think about hitting a high performance driving school or something.

 

New C8 Corvette and leave the rest in the Bank.
Amazing how many members here are putting deposits down on this machine.

 

I am one of them that has my C8 all spec'd out. Insurance cost vary, depending on where you live, what other kinds of insurance you have with the company. I suggest you call your insurance agent.

 

was just thinking this....

if all you have ever driven is a honda, then getting into any modern ferrari will soon lead to a hasty introduction to the guardrail or worse.

besides all the other good advice on here, before you make that leap, get some driving instruction.
dont become another picture on 'exotic car crashes'

 

To the OP, dip your toe in with something like this first. Then move up to a $450,000 car.

Enjoy!

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Buy 911 Turbo S Cabrio.

 

Nissan GT-R.. Rare car in the grand scheme of things.. Fast as hell, but with AWD and plenty of driver aids.

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I’m holding out for one of your modified C8’s!


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That cost varies substantially depending on the New cost of the vehicle (not what you paid for the car), your garaging address (cities especially like LA, SF, Chicago, NY are higher than less populous areas), and your driving record. Also on your first performance sports car some insurance companies are very particular in there underwriting. The old catch 22, they don’t want to insure a driver w/o driving experience in performance vehicles but how do you get the experience w/o owning the vehicle. Too many high performance cars are crashed by inexperienced drivers of that type of vehicle in the first couple weeks of ownership. So the insurance companies don’t want you learning on their dime so as to speak.

Best to call your insurance broker and give him/her a couple of vehicles you would LIKE to own and get a couple of quotations with your company and other insurance companies who are willing to underwrite you, your experience or lack of in make/model and your proposed vehicle. I can tell you from my experience (40+ years as an ins. Broker) that insuring a Ferrari as your first performance sports car may be “a bridge to far” for many insurance companies or you may really not like the price of the coverage. My personal insurance company Encompass (Allstate subsidiary) would not insure my 612 OTO Ferrari even though they had insured many, many Porsche 911 including a couple of Turbos for me over the past 20+ years. They just didn’t want to insure a vehicle with a cost new of close to $400k so I had to go to a specialty company for insuring classic/exotic cars for the Ferrari and a collector 930 Porsche.

That is only one of the reasons I suggested a used Porsche 911 (or Audi R8) lots of good 911s out there at reasonable prices and worse case you could always self-insure the physical damage (comprehensive and collision) if that portion of the premium is too high. Wild a** guess not knowing where you live, your insurance company, what is the cost new of the 911 you want but knowing you have a good driving record and reasonably good limits of insurance coverage, higher physical damage deductibles ($1,000 or more) the full coverage premium will be $750 – 2,000/year. For a Ferrari with your lack experience the coverage will be difficult to find and the costs will be likely much higher.

Good luck on your activity – get your insuring “ducks” in line first before you get the car.

 

I am still trying to grasp the, "I have always driven a Honda and now I want a Ferrari to drive to the beach. But it had better not cost more than a Honda to run. I have a $450K budget, but don't have $500K to throw around".

Maybe check out BMW or MB. Getting into any exotic (even though modern Ferraris are from exotic), had better be a passion.

 

1. Go to Foreign Cars Italia on Tryon Street and just take a walk around. Tell them you're just looking. They tend to have a lot of Aston Martins on the floor. Speak to a couple of the reps, speak to a couple of the customers about their experience.
2. If you're still interested, before you get one.. you need to ask yourself as above "WHY DO I WANT THIS?" Don't take this the wrong way.. but a 51 year old honda driver who doesn't know anything about the Ferrari models.. you've got alot to learn and I wonder WHY you're interested? For your son? As a "life reward"?
3. This is going to be a bit like buying a boat... the more you know going in.. the better the experience is on going and going out. Do your research and read as much as you can about exotic ownership.
4. YOUR experience will be YOURS. It may mirror others experiences but it will be your own and you'll want to have as good an experience as possible. From what I've seen the more you know going in... the better it will be. A Ferrari might be for you.. or you might have a better experience with a Porsche.
If Charleston I'd be happy to meet up and give a ride, I'm sure others would as well.. if you're serious.