Is it insane to buy a Spider with bad history but good PPI?

And buying a car that has had serious damage in it's past has a pretty good chance of robbing one of the joy of ownership. As in every situation in life, one should enter with open eyes and not hope against the odds that everything will be just fine.

Worrying is one thing. Having realistic concerns is another.

 

Yes I made that statement agreeing with you.

Worrying=realistic concerns either way I would want nothing to do with owning said car.

 

Apologies. I wasn't trying to antagonize anyone.
For me there's a distinction between worrying and justified concerns. For me worrying can be a wide net that covers anything and everything that may or may not happen. And concern is taking steps to insure that whatever it is you're worried about happening may possibly be avoided.
Either way, we agree a car like the one the OP is looking at is probably not a good idea.

Respectful regards, sir
Ken

 

No doubt the OP made the right decision but.....there are circumstances where I believe repairs are ok, even major ones. A friend of mine was on the Gotthard pass in Switzerland. Following a Pista with a 488, he overcooked a hairpin and ended up travelling around the guardrail for around 30m. All of one side‘s panels were toast, two disc brakes split, two wheels destroyed, front end highly damaged and whatever components close to those areas would no doubt have needed replacing. The tow truck arrived and he made the very smart decision of asking them to take the car to Zanasi in Maranello (Zanasi is the body shop that does lots of specific work for Ferrari, including all three-layer painting, the hand-painted shields plus other complex bodywork items. They know what standard is required for a car to be presented as new).

He had to win the argument with his insurer but on the basis that Maranello was closer than the UK, they agreed. If you have ever experienced the three-layer painting quality from Ferrari (Zanasi), it is much better than the often poor standard paint from the factory. Zanasi are a truly high-quality outfit. When his car came back, it was literally better than new. He has kept it for a couple of years since, putting on at least 3-4K miles and the car has been perfect, to my knowledge.

I dare say that car would command a lower price in the used market, but I believe it would represent good value. If you knew the story and had some confidence, it would make a smart buy at probably 20-30% less (I’m guessing here what its market value might be) than an example with a completely clean history. It will probably be a few more years before he sells it, if ever, but the car seems to be perfect, and certainly better than it was out of the factory (at least the paint work and fit are bang-on).

We should also remember that every one of the £35m 250 GTOs has had significant damage and repair work during their life. I know it’s not directly relevant but in the end it’s about the quality of work done and the use to which you intend to put the car. For clarity, I also would not have bought the OP’s car referenced since it is impossible to verify the quality of the work completed.