Buying Ferrari 458 Spider in Hong Kong | FerrariChat

Buying Ferrari 458 Spider in Hong Kong

Discussion in 'Asia' started by BKC, Mar 24, 2020.

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  1. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    I always have an eye out for a yellow Ferrari Spider ever since I saw one in Kowloon Bay Hong Kong. On Car28 a 2012 cost around $2m HKD as of now (2020). Italia cost much less but I really like a convertible. I heard people say that if you are wise enough then you will buy a Porsche because it costs less to maintain. But something about the Ferrari I really like to own once in my life time. And I hear that the experience of a Porsche is not comparable to a Ferrari. I am ~40 years old btw.

    If I buy a 2012 Spider, should I always bring it to the dealership for maintenance ? If not how much do they charge out there, do they normally try to rip you off because they know a Ferrari owner can afford it ? Any recommend garage for repair and maintenance ?

    In general is 458 Spider or 488 (I might even consider 488) troublesum ? Does it use timing chain ?

    Just love to dream about Ferrari in the middle of the night. I would need to rent another parking space too if I am to get another car. Right now I have a SUV.
     
    kit11 likes this.
  2. kit11

    kit11 Rookie

    Jul 30, 2015
    1
    Hong Kong
    Hi Rob,

    Normally owners in HK doesnt always go to the dealership for maintenance unless the car is still under warranty, maintenance is always more costly at dealership, (due to the expensive labour cost)

    I can recommend a garage for you to which I always bring my 458 italia and BMW M3. But I guess it is not suitable to show its name here afraid it would look like an advertisement.

    From my friends' experience, spider is not too troublesome except the retractable hardtop. Though there are some downsides of Spider vs Italia, such as the little extra weight, the engine bay is not fully transparent. Of course, Spider must be more eye-catching on the street with the hardtop down.
    For 488 I personally doesnt like the feel and character when driving it. Yes it has more hp and is faster than 458 for sure but it just lacks the passion, maybe I am biased towards the legendary NA V8 engine :) If you really like to own once in life, 458 (Italia or Spider or even Speciale) should be the right call. Fyr, unlike the F430, the 458 Italia has a timing chain.
     
  3. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    Thanks for the reply. Yeh I hear all the good things about the non turbo engine.
     
  4. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    I own a GTS Porsche Carrera and a F430 Ferrari and work on them both. Obviously the Porsche is alot cheaper to maintain. I bought my Ferrari cheap and had to do alot of work myself and import all the parts from Europe which saved me about 70 percent. So that just shows how much the mark up for parts in Hong Kong is. If I recall a MAF in HK was around 9k compared to around 1500 in Europe from the source. U might want to do some research on the F458 ... my neighboor has one and his battery is always going flat - this is a common issue. I would never send my car to Ferrari direct for maintainence as its super expensive and I have shops close by me which specialize in them.

    Lastly Ferraris are renown for having very sensitive ECU's - I throw O2 sensor codes all the time however I have upgraded my exhaust and headers ... This can be easily fixed if you order a hand held computer OBD2 and u can read and erase simple codes. All my cars have one - saves alot of money at the shop checking codes.
     
    Nightscrawler likes this.
  5. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    One can only hope that you don't need to replace too many parts like MAF every year. Tiny thing like that I guess you can buy online but big parts going be a bit troublesum.
     
  6. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    Lol ...

    I replaced all O2, Headers as they are prone to fail, all MAF, repaired all rust issues on fenders, replaced all rusty brackets in engine bay, replaced engine gaskets, header gaskets, engine cover was chipping - repaired that, resprayed car after repaired rust near window seals, repaired all inside ferrari plastic - melts on all cars including the F458 .... the list was huge for repairs and parts ... I know I am forgetting alot of parts. Replaced all rusty suspension with Novitec Ferrari hydraulic from the factory, control arms replaced, bushings replaced, brake rotors and pads replaced, brakes refurished and painted - factory embels ... exhaust brackets replaced from factory. Put it this way I had alot of fun fixing stuff and learnt alot about the car while doing most myself.

    It was a huge list of parts to get the car looking new ... would have costed a fortune from HK ferrari ...
     
  7. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    If you have taken it to a non official dealer garage. How would the cost compare ?
     
  8. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    at the best I would say 4-5 times the price ... just on parts alone. And the funny thing is they order from the same place then mark up huge.
     
    Nightscrawler likes this.
  9. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    Another member recommended Zillion Performance in other post. So that would be 50% of dealer ship price but still 4-5 times of if you ship from abroad right ? How much would an oil change cost from a place like Zillion ?

    I have got an SUV and I tried to work on it myself. I got all the tools, jacks etc but I find it very hard to work on my own car. I am an IT guy so I am pretty handy person. But I just find crawling under the car in a cramped space, trying to unscrew some simple nuts and bolts impossible. Something as simple as adjusting the camber align took me many hours.
     
  10. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    I would never in a million years bring my car back to Zillion motorsports. I need to find my post from before in the BMW forums for what they did to me there with my BMW in the old days. Bunch of liars they are. I would recommend taking the car to a Ferrari garage that specialize in them like my shop in Shatin. They work on F50's even - saw a couple of them in there before. Big shop with knowledgeable staff ... they also have a show room for just limited super cars if you want to spend crazy money.

    I am currently tuning my Ferrari professionally on the dyno with German tuners at MTA ... would highly recommend them also.

    Most my other work on my cars was done at Monster garage who are opening up another shop.

    But yeah I would stay clear of Zillion I used to use them in their first shop ...
     
    BKC likes this.
  11. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
  12. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    thanks for the shop names
     
  13. AC6

    AC6 Formula Junior

    Sep 14, 2004
    651
    Hong Kong
    Full Name:
    Justin
    Dealer will be more expensive yes but I don't think it's as exaggerated as 4-5 times. I just got quoted HK$38k for a belt change for my 328 at Blackbird (which includes changing the alternator, bearing, pully, etc. and other worn items like my water pump too). Surely an independent would not cost less than HK$10k. I find Blackbird's prices reasonably 'affordable'.
     
  14. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    i think labor would be on par with other shops I suspect but parts not even close. All I remember is when I tried to order my MAF sensor from Ferrari hk it was around 8k and overseas got it for under 2k and also they didn’t have the part in stock.

    I had no choice to order oxygen sensors from overseas as the front ones were back ordered at Ferrari.

    I did a lot of the work myself so can’t compare the labour costs in Ferrari hk as never sent my car there. Only have experience purchasing parts.
     
  15. AC6

    AC6 Formula Junior

    Sep 14, 2004
    651
    Hong Kong
    Full Name:
    Justin
    When was the MAF incident? Was it with Auto Italia or Blackbird?

    Either way, always a blessing to be able to work on your own Ferraris, can't say I have such talent unfortunately...
     
  16. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    when I bought the car it had a lot of issues so I replaced all the sensors including maf and o2. Have to be in perfect order with me and now doing more professional tuning on the dyno to get rid of the sluggish F430 early curve. Can’t wait to get her back in a week ...
     
  17. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    I can afford $38k . Just as long as the garage won't try to repair something that is not broken.
     
  18. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    But do you want to waste money on labour and parts when it can be done else where for cheaper and just as well? :)
     
  19. BKC

    BKC Rookie

    Jul 28, 2019
    15
    Full Name:
    L
    I might be moving to Bel-Air. I watched that youtube channel XRX where that guy always put his car at Bel-Air.
    If I live at Bel-Air it will be easier for me to rent another car park.

    And if I immediately want to buy at Spider the F430 will be in my immediate budget range i.e. ~600K HKD vs 2m hKD for the F458. The F430 I see on Car28 seems not as shiny and a little bit older. Also the soft top does not seem so nice compare to the hard top F458. The good thing is one can see the engine. Once you buy a Ferrari in HK I believe it is a bit hard to sell it. What do you guys think ? get the F430 or wait a couple more years and then get the F458 ?
     
  20. the_dan

    the_dan Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 6, 2016
    136
    Hong Kong
    Get the F430 if you want it now. 458 is awesome but it's not like you can use even the power of an F360 in HK. BTW, I have seen a few F430s being prepared in back street garages around town. Whatever you buy get it checked out by someone who knows Ferraris. I think it is possible to buy an F430 in the ~600k range but buying the cheapest car at automall will mean trouble.

    In two years time you can trade the F430 for a 458. I can't see a good F430 dropping below ~450k HKD and by then 458 could be down to 1.xx m HKD.
     
  21. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    The F430 is actually becoming quite sort after so the value will hold or even go up in the meantime I think. As for picking up the cheaper ones I would not recommend this unless you like me and dont mind getting your hands dirty. I bought mine cheap but I was expecting to upgrade and replace alot of parts to make it perfect again. Plus I have worked on many cars in the past.

    Couple things u should be wary of with the F430 is the rust in the fenders and around the back of the window frames. They all have it to an extent unless kept always in doors. I really all my O2 sensors and if your on generation 1 headers they will most likely crack so will have to replace them. Plastic will be melted most likely in the interior from the HK heat which you can repair or replace. Ask the buyer where he kept the car to see if it was stored outside for sure. Those are just some items u really need to watch for. As I said mine had a whole revamp including paint the whole body basically twice, I painted and dismantled my whole front interior and resprayed myself, removed alot of my rear end and brakes and refurbished it all. Replaced loads of rusted brackets and heat shields etc.
     
  22. the_dan

    the_dan Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 6, 2016
    136
    Hong Kong
    Hey George, where did you find the workshop space to do all that in HK?
     
  23. George Moore

    George Moore Rookie

    Oct 31, 2017
    30
    Full Name:
    George Moore
    I did the work at my dad partially outdoor parking spot where I leave my Porsche and used to leave my bmw. Lots of light there. I had a shop do the outside paint spray and body work. And also the suspension work. Other stuff I had fun with ... just got the car retuned by mta in fanling .. running very nice now against my project A tune. I think personalised tuning on the dyno is necessary. But yeah I had all the tools from my days in college.
     
  24. Obaibai

    Obaibai Rookie

    Jan 15, 2020
    9
    Hong Kong
    Full Name:
    Larry chan
    Hi kit11,

    grateful if you could PM me the garage you mentioned as the engine light of my 360 was on recently. I purchased the 360 months ago, every thing was normal before but I just drive it once a week. It has been serviced by the dealer in 12/2019 by the previous owner. I’m reluctant to bring it to the dealer as they are too expensive.

    Thank you!



    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  25. the_dan

    the_dan Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 6, 2016
    136
    Hong Kong
    Thanks for the reply! I’m in HK, happy to get my hands dirty but the problem is space. Nice work on getting your F430 right.
     

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