F355 Reliability Improves after key things upgraded?

F355 Owner.

The cars are old now, they have old car problems. Most things have a fix identified, some dealers are certified to restore the cars, so most things are possible.

The issues that I've run into that I didn't have an easy "new parts" way out of:
Dash
Instrument surrounds cracking
And some rattles never seem to go away.

Most everything else can be addressed and fixed.
Electronics had significantly less issues after doing the SRI kit
Hoses, mounts, and bushings (everything rubber) needs to have been replaced in the last decade or so
And you need a competent mechanic who understands these cars.

Now on your list... the 360 and F430 are also getting up in age, and likely need similar issues addressed at this point.

As far as ongoing maintenance, it's inverse order of when they came out. The one nice thing about the F355 engine out is that likely you address a lot of issues and therefore should have less unaddressed items than the 360 or F430. The downside is that every 5ish years the car will be down for a while.

 

Yep, pretty much everything major has fixes. They are 30 years old now so things like rubber bushings, plastics and the like are going to need to be replaced. I'm not sure what the latest is on rebuilding the shocks, that might be one that doesn't have a good solution.

 

Reliability was not the issue with most of the points mentioned. Longevity was. As said by others in most cases fixes are known and in many cases already attended to. The wiring harness, SRI kit or not remains a concern. The harness came from a relativley new supplier and its weaknesses were not just the connectors. The quality of the wire itself was not very good and an examination of almost any of the fleet will reveal wiring with insulation breaking down especially in the engine bay. An average 308 or TR has wire in much better condition so it is not simply age. There was a reduction in quality.

 

I don’t qualify to comment as I bought a ‘96 F355-gated in Sept. I am just 2 months and 1000 miles into my journey.

My intention is to learn and do all maintenance myself but nothing has broken yet. I did a full ‘annual service’ to learn about the car and build out my skills and tool box.

I’ve had a blast so far.

I think the beauty of seeing one of these 30-year old cars on the road is not that someone could purchase one but that they have the diligence to keep it sorted and running like a top.



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A thing of beauty is a joy forever

 

what “maintenance nightmare”?

they are a 30 year old car and have 30 year old car maintenance requirements; as any 30 year old car will.

had mine coming up 6 years; Ive done just over 20k miles in that time, no maintenance I would consider out of the ordinary! (touch wood!)

regular upto date maintenance being key as with any older car.

just remember whilst 355 engine out costs a bit, over a 5 year period 360/430 will try hard to make it up in rose joints.

 

Go to post #22 for a giggle .
Nice to read about another bitten by 360 suspension maintenance.
I had a 360 for 9 yrs FFSH and maybe only once it’s didn’t needs something suspension wise replacing at its annual + mot .
Ran it up from 18 k to 38 k miles . Maybe U.K.pot holed roads ?
Any how the bills for suspension totted up .
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/what-are-the-top-three-bargain-ferrari-models-right-now.712125/

An engine drop every 5 yrs with 348/355 is actually a good thing in terms of reliability future proofing bcz stuff can be nipped in the bud easily . .