I worked on Helicopters alright. No harder than the Ferrari to be honest. Definitely have more room on helicopters! But working on aircraft make "hard" to get to things on the Ferrari seem trivial.
Depends on the number of nuts and bolts... ...besides helicopters don't actually fly, they are so ugly the earth repels them...
That car has been brought up before in another thread and I mentioned it then but I'll say it again. If it's the car I'm thinking of, it was for sale when I was shopping around for a 355 a few years back. The owner drove it really hard and the engine might have been rebuilt twice since the first time it wasn't done properly. But I could be wrong, I'll have to dig up my emails. If you plan to put a lot of miles on it, a car with higher mileage or a rebuilt engine is OK. If you don't plan to drive it much, get something with low miles as resale will be much better. Just remember, if you sell something with higher miles you'll get hosed on the resale so buy accordingly.
Fond Du lac. If anybody you know needs codes read or cleared, I'd be more than happy to help. I have a tool that works pretty well on every Ferrari model I've tried. I find it crazy how nobody here works on their own stuff. The shop rates are higher around here than anywhere I've heard of. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Welcome! I would say you're good. The key is to get an F355 that is well maintained. Make sure the valve guides have been done, check the exhaust headers, make sure you either can do the engine out yourself or have a place that can do it nearby. Best wishes!
Not all 355's need valve guides. A thorough PPI with leak down and compression check will tell the health of the motor and valve guides. If the numbers are in line and has the original guides, I would not worry about buying the car at all.
I could not disagree more strongly with depression baby John (I'm in that category too). You're asking the right questions but omitted these important factors against which to measure your question: are you single or married, perhaps with children whose education will have claims on your income and savings? Otherwise I'd say 'go for it' - you really do only live once. My wife, whose parents were both Holocaust survivors, was born in Prague and grew up under the communist regime, came to New York City with Mom at 17 with one bag each, $25. between them and neither spoke a word of english. Her mantra is: do it now; today isn't coming back.
Yes, kids, wife, etc must also be considered, but two things. I would never buy a toy that I could write a check for and still have a comfortable level of cash on hand. That doesn't mean it can't be financed, that is another issue, but buying a close to $100k car with only $100k in liquid assets is not something it would do. Sure, live for today, but you better dam well plan for tomorrow. You never know what lies ahead, car accident that lays you up with no income for 6 months or longer, serious medical issue that drains you of cash, job disappears.... I know that is not the way the younger generations things. And the other thing I read is that the OP is 38, has about 120 to 140k in income (gross I assume) $1800/ month mortgage, what other expenses? What's his real disposable income after taxes? And with that kind of income, at 38, $100k in the bank with $200k set aside in a retirement fund (self funded or company?) doesn't sound very frugal to me. Net worth? Doesn't mean squat until you are dead. Cash on hand is want you live on. But the go for it, you only live once attitude, I want it now so I'll buy it, is what leaves you working until you are 90. So sure, you only live once, make a plan for life, not just for tomorrow. Anyway, it's not really any of my business and I really don't give a FF anyway. Maybe the OP will buy it and next year there will be a fire sale and I can pick the car up cheap. LOL.
I knew I knew this car from the last time or maybe 2 times it was sold: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=529488333&zip=06447&referrer=/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?zip=06447&sortBy=derivedpriceDESC&incremental=all&firstRecord=0&marketExtension=on&modelCodeList=F355&makeCodeList=FER&searchRadius=0&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&modelCodeList=F355&makeCodeList=FER&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=FER&modelCode1=F355&clickType=listing
In 2015 that car was asking 95K. Going back to few years, complete with an unfortunate video outlining the opposite of mechanical sympathy. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/355-berlinetta-170k-invested-wow-really.379257/page-2#post-142935758 I think that car may be bad juju. Google the vin a ton of stuff comes up.
And it makes you wonder why the Autotrader add show a picture of the engine idling at 1100RPM, cold, with ZERO oil pressure. Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's all coming back to me now. I had some passing interest in this car back in 2013 when it was a Black Horse in FL. I told you the story sounded familiar. The memory of this old man is still sharp.
Wow good eye John, geez. Yeaaaaaahh thats no good. Car is bad juju. No one sells a car because it runs too well do they? Sent using FerrariChat.com mobile app
I bet gauge or sender is issue. Would be making noise or other issues that low of oil pressure at idle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Zero oil pressure on the guage could be a number of things it doesn't mean the motor is garbage. It's easy to assume the worst but come on. Funny how the internet and photos/videos can black ball a car. The 355 as a whole is a victim of the internet.
Given Ferrari's outstanding record of electrical foundations, I'd assume the gauge or sender was faulty. A pressure of (actual) Zero with a running engine simply isn't the most logical conclusion.
The point is that the current owner hasn't bothered to correct whatever the problem is. How long would you drive your car with the oil pressure gauge reading zero? It's not something that gives me great confidence about the current owner and recent maintenance. How ever serious or simple the problem, the picture only points to a negative. No need to make excuses. I don't think anyone here would buy the car w/o having that checked out.
This guy would be buying, if I had room in the Inn. I don’t live in fear, or future “what ifs”. I take it as a whole from documentation, condition and conversation with the seller. I never do a PPI. And I would not sell a car dependent on a PPI. In 30 years, I have done just fine. From Ferrari’s, Porsche to everything in between, a Just do It and get off the “pot”. Most every single issue I have seen on any car is tech error causing the problems. Factory rarely gets it wrong. I think the biggest 355 issue was headers.... then valve guides on a limited basis. The rest is revenue generation. RifleDriver is the true expert and he has a different take, but as a life long car guy with a few skins in the game and experience with all kinds of cars/trucks, exotic and mundane, you just enjoy it, before the Good Lord says you can’t. Buy the Car! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Exactly that's the core issue. That said if the car checks out its all water under the bridge, that was mentioned btw. There is posts and videos about this specific car btw. Lots of read about did anyone look at those, I posted a link that has other links. All part of the research for a car is all.
My guess is those who start “can I afford it” threads most likely do not buy the car in question; those that include statements about income and assets (real or otherwise) probably even a lower percentage. Hope I’m wrong though and see a new owner posting here soon!
Bottom line, If you get a good car that is maintained these are pretty easy to maintain and don't cost a fortune compared to other engine out services or R8's or lambos maintenance, yes they cost more than a Vette to own but if its a good car its not back breaking by any stretch. Unless you wind up with a bad one that needs an engine or something and that is very avoidable. Lots of cars with 50-75K miles where owners costs were incidentals and consumables, brakes, tires, clutch and an occasional 2k bill over years and a major every 5 years. Lots.... Pick one up, use the forum lots of help out here. If not there is always vettes or what not. Life is short its all about risk reward. Some people lean toward risk averse some lean toward weeee! Decide what you are then Enjoy I'm with carnutdallas, find a car and check it out and buy it. Weee!
I want to thank everyone for the opinions, and even more specifically on this car. While its history doesn't necessarily make it a bad car. Seeing the car being wailed on during the youtube video, makes the rebuild make more sense I messaged the seller, asking about the location of a Ferrari dealer for a PPI(seems to be one somewhat close) and asked more specifically why he is selling the car only after a 2 years and a few thousand miles, the best answer he had, was he "moved" didn't really make much sense, also this car has had 10 owners over its lifetime, not a bad thing in of itself, but doesn't give you confidence in the car. After him responding quickly to my emails, I have heard nothing since I asked for a PPI. Questions brought up regarding money. whether I can afford. I have a 1800 mortgage, but no other debt. im single, no kids.