430 F430 is now up to 15 years old and sadly

none of these cars are cheap to run as they age. anyone who says otherwise is either lucky or a liar!

 

Be glad you don't have to deal with the maintenance of a 360 like some of us. Although we all have it better than the 355 guys. Also, I hate to disappoint you, but just because it was serviced by a dealer doesn't mean they did a good job. The dealer that did the timing belts on mine before I owned it never changed them. They still were happy to charge for it though.

 

it's all a privilege at the end of the day...being a 355 owner isnt bad at all.

 

Look on the bright side. Its still cheaper than owning a boat.

 

Ok guess it depends on the size of the boat. I certainly spend more thank $3k a year on maintenance and that doesnt include slip fees.

 

Sadly living in Switzerland may be a factor for more costly repairs than here in the states. In the US there are a lot of options for repairs and maintenance. Dealers here are usually the last place most folks want to take their cars. Ferrari or Fiat

But remember, the 430 is a Ferrari and not a run of the mill production car. I'm sure you are reminded of that each and every time you take it out for a spin!
Costs to repair your 430 may seem high but I do urge you to compare the costs to repair a BMW, Benz, or even a high end SUV out of warranty these days. Quite and eye opener.

 

Ever had a girlfriend/wife shop at Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc... I'll take 3k a year in car maintenance any day over that

 

Thats why you need to marry a girl that thinks you drive a honda

 

Who'd have expected a car to depreciate by about 2/3 in a dozen years..........

 

RichardCH knows a lot more than me about these cars but I will still disagree.

My gated 430 Spider has cost me £600 in the last year (routine service) and the same the year before. Same as my Mercedes. I asked my dealer to inspect and report anything that needs fixing, nothing. Ferrari main dealers not usually shy about these things.

there was an extra £400 but that was to replace the factory hi fi with something that actually makes a sound, not really maintenance.

the car would easily sell for what I bought it for in early 2015, if not more, enough more to make up for sales commission.

so a LOT cheaper to run than buying a new 911 for the same money then, and as cheap as I could ever dream of Ferrari ownership. Hell, people spend more on old bangers. I spent a lot more on old BMWs and Porsches and Mercs 2 decades ago.

now tomorrow I will climb in the car to find the engine has seized and the suspension has fallen out.

 

Same on dealer service. We were lucky enough to have a Gulfstream jet mechanic start a Ferrari service locally initially for 360s & 430s. Didn't take long for us to learn he was a very talented mechanic and never cut corners. It was shocking how often he worked on cars that had supposedly been serviced by dealers & other "respected shops" where even routine brake fluid flushes revealed very degraded fluid that had clearly not been flushed at the suggested intervals or belts serviced on 360s without addressing tensioner issues.

Even so, I think these are challenging cars to work on and it took quite a bit of detective work and help from forums like this to sort out my F1 trans issue, which turned out to simply be loose actuator bleed screws. Doing that detective work on Fchat showed there were not only quite a few 430 owners who had experienced similar F1 problems, but also many who relied on Ferrari dealers to fix the problem and either wound up having multiple visits or never completely solved the problem.

 

Buy at the bottom.....

 

I may be jinxing myself but 3k a year is about what I pay for stuff on average for my 996 GT3. Some years more and some years less. Owned it since new. I also had a regular 996 aero kit in the same color but the idea of the IMS bearing issue made me swap it out when my GT3 came in.

The only major work was a transmission replacement at about 4K under warranty due to a synchro problem.

FYI. I mostly use the dealer on the 996, but that’s because they also service my other Porsche’s and they never charge me for anything stupid.

Cheers,
Corey


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

Thank you BruceC I have a feeling my F1 had that problem that went undiagnosed by the dealer after many trips and time wasted after which I had it converted to manual...

 

my 996 Turbo S was about the same to run as my 430. 430 night and day more fun. But 430 has more wallet-busting potential, for sure.

 

Own both, and fact is I have years where very little needs spending and years where each can throw up near 5fig bills.... now some of that is discretionary (upgrades etc) but the reality is that these are now old cars and the day you decide the fun of ownership < the cost of ownership, is the day you sell.

 

Would love to hear more about this story. How did you or the previous owner find out? What happened after?

 

I know that the belts tend to be date-coded; whether that's how they knew I couldn't personally say but it's one way to know.

 

My 14 year old 911 is waaaaaaay cheaper than my 360, even as my 360 is stick shift.

Though I can only imagine how much fun the 430 is in the tunnels around Zurich. I wish I had mine when we were tooling about Switzerland two years ago...

 

Best... Comment... Ever...
***drop the mic***