"There is nothing worse than a cheap Ferrari Testarossa" Truth or overblown?

Look at this guy’s motivation.....he is in the business to sell cars, and knows he will make more money in top end cars than driver grade. He is trying to recruit more buyers with a “look how smart I am” approach.

Take anything a car salesman says with a mountain of salt.

Get any car inspected by a guy that knows their stuff. Can you have a 5 figure repair bill at some point? Yes, it’s part of the ownership experience.

 

"high" mileage is fine, with a full blown PPI, find the car and drive it and enjoy it. It's as simple as that.

 

The two big worries are the differential, and timing belts. Other than this, the Testarossa is a very solid car. Years ago I had a TR that many would consider a "clunker" or a "parts car" but it did run...not great....but no unusual noises or anything. I worked through various issues and it ended up being a great driving car that never let me down.

 

I bought mine at 73,000 miles and seven years later I am at almost 95,000.

If you want to enjoy these cars, you are going to replace stuff regardless. Even on low mileage examples.

 

Check with Bill Fulkrod at SpeedWorks in Osteen, FL he may be able to hook you up.

 

Personally, they say buy the best you can afford, but I would say if you have some decent mechanical skills, meaning you have done brakes before and have done general tune ups on other older cars the maintenance thing can be a bit overblown. I love buying a car with some slight issues that I think I can fix. If I cant fix it I can always pay, but trying with the help of this forum is a great experience. I have many different brands of cars but NO Forum is as good as this one in my opinion.....bar none. Very helpful professionals on here. With simple skills you can change the oil, change the air filter, change the fuel filters, change the plugs.....lots of them. You can do the brake pads etc. I would say if you get a center lug nut car 87 or earlier then it is pretty difficult to get a wheel off. Mine probably had not been off in many years before I bought it and it was still incredibly hard with the special 3/4 lug nut tool and a 48 inch breaker bar and an 8 foot pipe over the breaker bar. No car I have owned ever gets the looks that a TR gets.

 

I agree with Giallo Uno...this forum is the best I've seen. The most complicated system is the fuel injection, I bought a 4-Gas Analyzer so I could make proper fuel adjustments. For sure - watch the electricals and mother board for issues, heat...etc. The Flat-12 engine is built like a battleship, when maintained they go a long time, just check the timing belts occasionally for any odd wear, or the presence of oil / coolant. The Testarossa is a great car....I've had several and miss them all dearly....

 

Like Giallo Uno said, buy the best one you can afford. I have gone both ways. I do all my own work ( I was an aircraft mechanic on the special air missions fleet at Andrews AFB and owned my own repair shop for 25 years after that) In the long run it is cheaper to buy the more expensive car and much more enjoyable. Overall, I think the TR is a very reliable, sturdy car and easy to work on.

 

If you buy an “old” car the cheapest is the most expensive.
I have my Testarossa for 30 years now. No major disaster. The fuse board is a weak spot. Replacement recommended. Recent timing belt service mandatory. Condition of clutch and brakes depend on how the previous owner handled the car. Differential is a potential weak spot depending how rude the previous owner was driving the car. The injection system is not state of the art, the next generation was better but I never had any problem. For me it was a reliable car, nice to drive on long distances and fun on bending roads if you like the experience of the electronic free driving of the time when the Testarossa was the start of the Ferrari hype, culminating with the F40.