I preferred to go through local dealers or owners, but importing may actually make sense for something like this. I've done it before for a special build. Thanks for the idea.
Wise words indeed. 355's are also a victim of parts rarity. e.g. the suspension control arms rust out in UK/HK cars and have been hard to find for years. For similar money a Vetro 308 is a great drive and much easier to live with. Make a lowball offer on the yellow one that's currently available. A well known and well sorted car.
Thanks for the input Ian. I am starting from a very ignorant position and need to research and speak to owners more about this.
It's a bit older era than I am looking for. I will continue to seek advice on Aussie 355s and research more about maintenance and the part issues mentioned.
The main reason people import vehicles is to save money. Following on from that mindset, is the associated maintenance. Or often lack thereof. Take the 355 for example, if you had two otherwise identical cars, including price, except for the country of delivery, there's no way you'd buy the personally imported vehicle. Despite our sun, we have a reasonably benign environment for vehicle longevity. No salted roads, excessive humidity or high rainfall (at least in the Southern states). And the high prices of new cars here usually means they're garaged and looked after. The youngest 355 is now 26 years old. Plenty of time to become scruffy and unloved. Buy the absolute best condition, lowest mileage, well looked after model you can find. It may be a personal import, but that would be unlikely. There are some cases where a personal import is the only way to buy a particular car. 308 GTB Quattrovalvole, 328 GTB and a 288 are some examples (there was one Australian delivery 288, however it left our shores decades ago). There's hundreds 355s here. Have a chat with fellow club members, good cars often change hands privately and never see the open market. There's also a perceived issue with resale for a personal import. It's used as a bargaining tool should you wish to sell. And speak with Elliot. The 355 whisperer.
“Buy the absolute best condition, lowest mileage, well looked after model you can find.” This is excellent advice. I’ll also accept that if there are two identical cars available, one being Aussie delivered and the other an import, it makes sense to buy the Aussie delivered car. But in reality that scenario will never actually happen. Some of the rest, with respect, I’m not so sure about. You will no doubt say “yeah well of course you’d say that because you bought an import”. I could just as easily say that some people on here are so heavily invested in the “Aussie delivered” mantra that of course they’d say what they say. I’m quite happy for the evidence of actual owners to speak. Let’s ask Greg, myself, and others how our ownership of quality imports panned out. And let’s ask a few others who doggedly went for an “Aussie” car above all else how that panned out for them. Given the OP would like to hear from actual owners, I’ll try to relate my story as briefly as possible and the rest of you who’ve heard it all before can turn off. When I was looking (and I was looking for well over a year) every Aussie delivered car I looked at was basically an overpriced HOS. Poor maintenance, obviously not looked after properly, and ludicrously overpriced. I wasn’t interested in buying a HOS, so against the advice on here I looked at the UK. No. I didn’t do that because I wanted the cheapest car. In fact, the car I bought was the second most expensive advertised in the UK at that time. The only one more expensive was a Berlinetta with about 3,000 miles on it and it was very big money. (As an amusing side-note, the dealer I bought from also had an immaculate Challenge for sale which they offered me for the same price as the car I bought. I declined. What a moron!)… Sure, I got lucky with my purchase because the AUD was strong at the time and I could buy that very good car for less than a HOS in Oz but that wasn’t the main driver. The whole time I was looking I wanted to: “Buy the absolute best condition, lowest mileage, well looked after model (I could) find.” Bottom line, I owned that car for 11 years and apart from one well documented issue (no fault of the car and certainly nothing to do with it being an import) it was a wonderful thing that gave me great pleasure. When I (rather suddenly) decided I might sell it I got loads of advice. Most of which was around not expecting to get a decent price because it was an import, etc, etc. Oh, not to mention it was also an F1 so worth even less, but let’s not go there…. Thankfully I mostly ignored that advice and the car sold in three days within a bees dick of the asking price which was way higher than all the experts told me I would get. Of all the cars I’ve owned none have sold that quickly or easily. Frankly I suspect that if I’d completely ignored the advice I could have sold it for a fair bit more, but who cares. I’m more than happy with how it turned out. Bottom line? Buy the best car you can. There will always be buyers for quality cars that have been well looked after, and they couldn’t care less where it was originally delivered. Equally, if you buy a HOS it’ll always be a hard sell. No matter where it was originally delivered. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I fully agree. So, which foreign markets should I start to casually peruse Steve? PS. It is interesting to hear some back and forth of opinions, and look forward to meeting you all if I have not yet (I'm really bad with names). All the best.
My main point is don’t discount an import because it’s an import. Quality, history, and proper maintenance are the key. But obviously don’t buy a converted LHD car. That really is a bad idea. Yes, all things being equal buy an Aussie delivered car. But don’t buy a car because it’s Aussie delivered. Oh, and if you want a 355, buy a 355. No one who really wants a 355 is shopping for a 308. Just saying. Good luck!
still looking for a 550 myself. are there any regular club events where we can meet members and chat about this stuff? had a look on the ferrari club aus website and they dont seem to give access to prospective owners, only actual owners..
These cars are so old now the Aussie delivery thing is irrelevant IMO. “Buy the absolute best condition, lowest mileage, well looked after model you can find.” THE END
Hello Aussie Ferrarista, since years I try to look at Ferrari 328 market all over the world and so in Australia. I check several website but since weeks I can't connect at www.carsales.com.au that I used until today for Australia market Can you please give me other nice website where find Ferrari for sale in Australia ? Thanks in advance
See if this works Bertrand,disregard Greg he doesn't know his Belgians from his French.: https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/ferrari/328/?sort=~Year
Hi Bertrand, the problem is that carsales has changed to disallow visits from another country for some inexplicable reason, and if you come in on a VPN it blocks you for a time period. I’d try the app from the apple appstore to see if that is more forgiving, if indeed you can even download it..
