612 owners/experts: parts/issues/maintenance? (Wife questions/potential purchase)

That should be no problem.

 

Yup, what Don said. I'm 5'10" and I like my seat back. I have to move it a little ahead when there are rear seat passengers. And a couple we regualarly take are both 5'11" and they are comfortable.

As an aside, the glass roof on the OTO is a real plus for the rear seat passengers.

 

I bought a 2005 612 a few months ago. The car had done about 1000kms the last 5 years.

Once purchased and on the advice of Ferrari Chat veterans I took the car to Ferrari in Toulouse.

It turns out that the air conditioning compressor was leaking oil and they put a new one; they changed the belt and all the fluids, they also had to change a part of the ABS which cost 4500€ and underneath they changed tires and some tie rods.

The repair cost 25000€ but now I have a car that gives me confidence and an invoice from Ferrari that explains all the revision and the state of the car.


I had problems with the heating but I did the reset that they recommend in this chat and now it works perfect.


Theoretically, I will do every year an overhaul and a hopefully nothing special will come out as the car has been very well overhauled. I am very happy with my 612 even though I have spent a lot of money.





QUOTE="Sunshine1, post: 149903896, member: 100441"]3rd year of ownership for my 2013 Cali30HS (my wife and I love this car). I am attracted as ever by a big Ferrari with 4 real seats and a V12. Starting exploring possibilities: FF or 612. The forum provided me with answers about repair and maintenance costs, but that was in 2022, we are now almost in 2025. I love the 612’s design, the N.A. V12, the performances and the fact that it’s more analog than an FF.

My wife has no power to make decisions for me but she has legitimate questions regarding the availability of parts, reliability and maintenance regarding a 612, mainly because the Cali30HS is a more modern car, 2013 instead of 2006/2007 for a potential 612 (not an OTO). She knows me and she knows that I’m a driver and enthusiast, not a mechanic who would work on cars and accept to be without a car for a long period of time.

Thank you very much for providing answers to the following questions/comments about 612s:

. Parts: are all the parts available to fix a 612? If not, what are the parts that are difficult to find?

. Apart from the regular annual maintenance, the main thing to do every 5 years is the belt change/service. Any other items that need attention? Any potential issues that you would like to mention?

. Based on your experiences at the end of 2024, are 612s very solid over the long-term? I would buy a car for 5 to 10 years (retired in a few years).

. Last but not least, would you recommend the purchase of a 612 based on the concerns above (including parts) and compared to an FF (the FF’s PTU + DCT + electronics are a concern over the long-term + it seems much more expensive to fix and maintain compared to a 612)?

. Aahh a question from my wife just when I’m ready to post this message : can a 360 bird-eye view camera system be installed in a 612?[/QUOTE]

 

All the above remarks are sound. I own one with the optional Elk roof ornament, hard to find. Personally, Black, Blue Grigio Silverstone and white. I will add my car eats tires. It is a heavy car, but with all the torque it feels and drives a lot closer to a nimble sports sedan then a the big GT that it is. So the tires get the "extra heavy" use tax. 7 years, second battery, about to get a third set of tires. One nose to tail major service. Regular annual maintenance and love to take long trips, 800-1200 mile without hesitation. I wouldn't keep a car that wants to be repaired all the time. As Paul has posted above, he has, and does drive his car everyplace, and it still runs and looks excellent. As the 612 gets older, I think it looks better among the newer cars out on the road.
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I'll bet that elk ornament is murder on your gas mileage.

 

Have had mine for 3 days and I’m loving it. Surprisingly it has no cruise control (it is a GT). I had an 8hr drive to get it home but had a smile on my face most of the time. The color is Grigio Alloy which is kinda polar silver. The interior is beige with dark blue straps on the Daytona seats. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice 612, Larry. I love the headliner!

 

Thank you very much.

 

Nice! Cruise control came in with the Sessanta in late 2007 and was optional beginning in 2008.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Congrats and I wish you good luck with it!

Kudos to you for driving it home and not having it shipped.

The car looks marvelous. I have the cruise control and in 60,000 miles I think I've only used twice, and once was just to see if it actually worked.

 

too nervous to shave someone you don’t know handling my car. It did limit my search range. Thanks

 

Got mine earlier this year and spent quite a bit to recommission the car. 2007 612 HGTS @ 60k km.

Have the intention to use the car for long trips and reliability

1. Full major service including belts and water pump
2. New clutch, flywheel and F1 sensor. Serviced the F1 actuator as well.
3. All 4 new shock absorbers from Ferrari (they transform the entire handling of the car) mine is on the upgraded shocks p/n: 235584/235585.
4. All new suspension bushings including upgraded ones from Hill Engineering
5. Brand new brake discs and pads
6. Fabricated the cooling pipe which is under the manifold (original one is obsolete from factory)
7. Replaced new valve gaskets

My car is also on the upgraded F1-S gearbox which provides a raw experience changing gears under hard acceleration.

Have since been daily driving the car and clocked more than 3k km. Once done up proper, the 612 is the true epitome of grand touring!

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grigio alloy is a very classy colour!

 

Thank you

 

There is a nice OTO on BAT.

 

Who is the vendor that has the rear view mirror control fix? Also interested in the window switches.

 

Not a vendor, but a fix.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/heres-a-pic-of-me-pulling-the-engine-out-of-my-612-yesterday.453306/page-8

 

180 Out said:

“The rearview mirror control is known to break off. There is a repair part available for about $50.

The window switches are also known to break. They work like a teeter-totter, and the bracket at the fulcrum breaks off. The same guys who offer the repair part for the mirror switch say they're coming out with a repro window switch in December. I'm gonna get a set of three, one to fix my broken switch and the others to ensure a match.“

That sounds to me like a vendor selling an actual part and possibly another part for the window switches.

I have done the fix using permatex on my window switches. But if someone has a permanent solution that will keep the OEM feel I am all up for it.

 

The vendor for both is Carplastix.com. The window switches are only available as a set of three. When I ordered in December I paid $360.46 all in, but checking the website just now I see the price is 381,93 €, with no indication of the shipping cost.

Here is the URL for the window switches: https://www.carplastix.com/parts-catalogue/612-scaglietti-c47/window-switches-set-of-3-with-internal-reinforcements-p497/

Here is my set in the box:

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The plastic strips are reinforcements, to be installed inside the driver side control box.

Here is one of my OEM switches and one of the Carplastix units in a light box I made by poking holes for an LED light to shine through. The Carplastix is on the right. I think it's a big improvement. The part is molded in translucent plastic and painted black.

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Here's a drawback, that the Carplastix part is about 1/4" shorter than the OEM unit. As I recall, the Carplastix guy on Facebook mentioned that 612s came with both short switches and tall switches. Evidently they decided to go with the short switch. Because you replace all three, no one will know of the deviation from originality. So I'm OK with this.

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Here's the URL for the mirror switch: https://www.carplastix.com/parts-catalogue/612-scaglietti-c47/mirror-switch-internal-part-p417/

 

Pulled the trigger recently on a 612 OTO and did some research for this and other models. 612 was probably the Ferrari with the least complaints I've found from owners.

I would speculate that the 612 robustness is due to this model being the last mechanical iteration of a long range of models: it uses the last version of the F1 gearbox in the OTO, which is a much-improved experience since its launch in the F355. 612 has the latest version of the F116/F133 V12 engine which originated in the 456 more than a decade before. It accrued all the improvements, innovations, and corrections from previous models that used the same engine/transmission platform, while the superseding models used new and different technologies (California, 458 started using a DCT gearbox, FF had AWD and Enzo-derived engine).

There is a pre-OTO 612 with over 150.000 miles in a indy shop near me. It is by a large margin the Ferrari with most miles I've physically seen and speaks a lot regarding how far these can do with regular maintenance.

 

I think both the 612 and the 599 are very rugged, reliable cars.