New owner 09 F430

Hey guys! New to the forum. Since I was a teenager, my dream car was owning a Ferrari F430. I feel like the stars have aligned. After a long search, I found the PERFECT F430! This car has been serviced through the same dealer in so. cal for the last 8 years! I was able to walk through the entire history of the car with the servicing dealer! The previous owner refinished all of the "sticky" buttons, he replaced the exhaust system with with a sport exhaust AND had the dealership install it!++ I currently am awaiting results of my PPI, but all the research on this car continues to point up. As it was very well maintained. PPF & no paint damage, pristine & meticulously kept inside & out. It only has 8500 miles, and it recently had a BIG service done in May changing out all the fluids; from the oil to the F1. They also noted the clutch was only at 17% wear life. I was astounded! I am coming from a Porsche 911, and I love that car. However, there is no way I can pass on owning my dream car! 911's have moved into a turbo-charged era that is not sitting well with me too.

Hoping the PPI comes back with flying colors, as I am having them focus on a few things from my research on the car. Let me know if there is anything else you think they should look for:

1. Cracking exhaust manifold
2. Engine mount failure
3. Double check clutch (dealer confirmed 17% wear in May, 2020)
4. Double check sticky buttons (refinished in 2017)
5. Double check exhaust welds (sport exhaust added 2018)
6. Check for leaks obviously
7. Go over paint imperfections or other significant cosmetic wear

Anything else you think they should look at?

 

Check brakes ..check hairline cracks on rotors ..I assume ccb brakes.. check underneath front fender for damage ... Check door jams and under hood for peeling paint ..(black paint)

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upper and lower ball joints, steering swivels and rear tie bar swivel.
Mine lasted 6000 miles

 

Thanks for the response. The car is Rosso Corsa red.

Are you saying the black cars have had paint peeling issues?

I’ll make sure they look at the CCB’s and underneath the front spoiler

oh wow. I’ll have them look at that. Is there a tell tale sign that they are failing? How would you even know they are about to go?

Do you believe it’s just “time” related, or is a manufacturing weak point in the car like the engine mounts and cracking manifolds? Is it luck of the draw with these cars since they’re all hand built?

 

The door jams and under the front bonnet ferrari used a black flat paint ..they didn't do a good job in prep and some of it flakes off and reveals the body color underneath

If you hear a knocking noise from the front end when you go over small bumps in road ..tell tale sign of ball joints or flambloc gone .. mechanic should be able to check in lift by pulling and pushing on wheels simultaneously on the bottom and top

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Okay good to know. Would something like that be from excessive use? Outside exposure or just paint age? The car was garage kept and it didn’t show any signs of flaking. Is that another luck of the draw?

And thanks for the tip on the ball joints. I’ll bring that to their attention too. They are a reputable Ferrari shop, so I’m sure they know what to look for. But it’s definitely a significant help for myself to understand what to look for as well.


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all those in the list become small stuff when oil temp is up and you heard engine knocking.

its not common but it did happen to me once while I was shopping for a 430.

 

No just poor prep from ferrari

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Check rear lights for looseness, broken mounting posts. I wouldn’t worry about flaking paint in the door jambs as it’s very common.

 

Yes ..it is very common and nothing to worry about but on a ppi it is important to note it and then decide if any remedy should be made

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Is the PPI independent from the dealer?

 

Thanks everyone for the responses! This has been beyond helpful! I’ll note the paint peeling in the door jambs is normal. What would be the remedy? Just a respray I’d imagine. But that may impact the original feel to the car. I can live with some petina for the sake of its pure state if that makes sense. I’m more so worried about mechanical issues. A solid paint correction after I collect the car is already on the books for next week. I’ve got an A++ shop in the bay that I use.

It is independent from the dealer. Originally I requested the servicing dealer to PPI it for me but apparently they are getting away from doing that do to liability issues. So next best place I was referred to by Ferrari is doing the PPI. And they are independent from the 3rd party exotics dealer I’m buying from.

However, tremendous service by the Ferrari dealer to still walk me through every service the car has been through, and all of the services were done through them. It was a solid 30 minute convo and they really showed me the light in terms of how special this car is, and well maintained it is with the previous owner that he knew personally.

I am beyond excited! PPI results will be in tomorrow. I’ll keep you guys posted. I’d imagine for what I am paying to have it done, I’ll get a legit report that I can then post here on this thread so you guys can have a look at it!

Let some of the pros eye ball it if you will - on Ferrari Chat baby!



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The ball joints fail because the are made of mild steel, which is then plated. The plating comes off and the nylon ring wears on the jagged surface. Most people fit Hill Engineering stainless steel replacements as no point putting more ferrari bits as they fail again.
To test the various swivel joints you need to get the weight off the wheels , then hold them at 3+9 O clock- if any wear you will feel the side to side movement- again these are plated mild steel bits and hill eng parts are available.
If u r not diy, changing these bits can cost a lot of labour hours so be sure they are right.
As another post mentioned, rear lights can break- all 4 should be the same, wriggle them up and down and if one different to other, probably broken plastic post. It is not a matter of making tight normally.

 

Still waiting on PPI results

In the meantime - Thanks goes out to SAFE4NOW

Any opinions on this build sheet would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything that is “missing” in terms of must haves with an F430?

1INTCInternal colors364014208BEIGE 4208
2EXTCExternal colors065427400ROSSO CORSA DS
3223CRPTCarpets colors364900152NERO 152 (BLACK)
11CALRRED BRAKE CALIPERSSISI
14CCMDCARBOCERAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMSISI
30DEDIDEDICATION PLATE IN SILVERSISI
34ELECELECTRIC SEATSSISI
41INSTINSTRUMENT PANEL094077935STRUMENTAZIONE COLORE GIALLO
42IPODIPOD CONNECTIONSISI
44LOGO'SCUDERIA FERRARI' SHIELDSSISI
65RUF1LEATHER HEADLINER364018500NERO 8500 (BLACK)
79TRIMMATERIAL FOR DASHBOARD INSERTS094080154INSERTI PLANCIA IN CARBONIO


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PPI is complete. Went over it all over the phone and they’ll be sending the report to me tomorrow.

Everything passed with flying colors other than three minor things.

1. Front tires are 2008 and cracking. I’m asking for a set of 4 tires to be installed before I take it home 350 miles away.

2. Ding in passenger door. Only paint issue that was noted. The rest is perfect as they say

3. The car still has a few “sticky” buttons which caught me by surprise. Ferrari dealer noted that this had been “addressed”. So I assume possibly only a few of the buttons were address and not all of them.

What do you guys think? Should I continue with the buy? This is technically sight unseen other than the PPI and going over everything on the phone.

Positive notes:

1. No signs of cracking manifold
2. Engine mounts look good
3. Some buttons aren’t sticky lol
4. Clutch wear turned out to be 35%, not 17% as noted by dealer when I spoke to them from the May service report
5. Car does have the sport exhaust, so no more weak exhaust welds. I was told this could be a $10-$12k system through Ferrari (who installed)
6. No peeling paint in door jambs or under the bonnet!
7. No pitting or signs of wear in the chassis components including the upper & lower ball joints, steering swivs, & rear tie bar swiv!
8. No leaks whatsoever, and fluids came back new & fresh. (Which makes sense since it had a full systems fluid change in May at the dealer)
9. Upholstery came back in top notch condition, especially the dash.

What do you say guys? The sticky buttons & ding shouldn’t hold me back should it? And I should be able to work some new tires into the deal.

I’ll post the report on here once I get a copy of it tomorrow



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after some thought , i think the oem ball joint is super.

the reason is this.

the inner tie rod and outer tie rod are competing for failure.

if the outer tie rod never fails, that will leave for inner tie rod, which is a far more difficult problem to solve, at least u need to remove the steering rack to do it.

so making the ball joint we talked bout a super anit-wear item isn't that good an idea.

don't you think?

yea, my inner tie rod just failed!

 

I always like someone to look at it...maybe depending on area a ferrarichatter would do a once over and a test drive .. just a fyi ..not a show stopper but remember that even if manifold is good now they will need to be replaced sooner or later

Also no note of compression or leak down test .. which some may say not needed for the mileage but not the worst idea to get done

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I believe they did that in the report. I get a copy tomorrow.

Once I finalize everything I’ll be picking it up myself to drive before signing the final paperwork.


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Update. So the fuel pump has a leak. They also pressurized the system and it didn’t pass. So I guess it’s not all good. Now I am on the fence. How much would a new fuel pump cost?


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a few hundred dollars? Labor is another few hundred, maybe even $1000.

 

Are they saying injectors are leaking ? Evap leaks ..trying to understand your concern

They should be able to give you a guess mate with the ppi of how much all could cost ..in fact most do to get your future business

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I didn’t see where you posted what the asking price was. That will make a difference as to what you are willing to pay for out of your pocket, for repairs.

I bought a 2009 F430, five months ago. Is had a few small issues, missing flashlight, missing leather case for the owners manual, chip in the front bumper thru the PPF and paint. The windshield had some deep scratches in it, so the dealer replaced it with an original Ferrari windshield.
It had 12,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it’s been a blast to own. I paid $115,000 for it.
I just bought new custom floormats, and had the brake calipers painted yellow. I’ve got new plugs on the kitchen counter and I bought a Launch X431.
If the price is right for you, don’t worry about every little thing, you’ll have plenty of time to make it how you want it.


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As its an 09 you have all many refinements and improvements built in, which are advantageous and cost efficient in the long run. Attached for your interest by assembly number are the mods - this was posted previously - FYI

Do note that although these cars are pretty bullet proof, even 09s are now 11 years old, and with or without many miles, age related factors will start to need addressing (rubber seals, hoses etc ). Yes it's a Ferrari, but it's still a car...

 

That is a pretty cool spread sheet. Thanks for sharing!

 

The injectors didn't pass, and they said the fuel pump was leaking.