Hiya all, I`m looking at a car tomorrow that seems to have a lot going for it - low miles, recent service/belts, two owners, attractive price...etc. There`s one thing that I just thought I`d ask on here about. I am told that the car has previously had a full respray due to reasons of colour choice only. Apparently, it was originally a white car (ugh!) and the first owner struggled to sell it as such. So he paid for a full spray job (apparently by a f dealer.. need to see docs) to rosso and it sold almost immediately. Ever heard of this before? Does it make it any less attractive/valuable? I guess it just comes down to the quality of the paint job done which I can judge myself.
Hi Geoff, I saw this car advertised on Autotrader about 6 weeks ago. It's an L reg for about £33k isn't it ?? It looked very reasonably priced and was just what I was after, but after being told that it was originally white I was turned right off. The guy selling it told me that the repaint cost £4k, so there's no doubt that it should be a good job. The choice really comes down to yourself, it is well priced for an L plated 348, but you may struggle to sell it to a Ferrari purist when the time comes around. You have to realise that it's not every day that somebody is looking to buy a Ferrari, and generally only true car enthusiasts buy this type of machine. All the records at Ferrari will show this car as being white, maybe even the chassis plates etc on the car will still show the original colour code (unless new ones have been made). For these reasons alone, I decided to buy an original rosso 348. I paid a bit more for it, but feel that I will get that little bit more back, when I come to sell it and not give a potential buyer a reason to walk. Well those are the negatives.................................... The positives are..... what a great car the 348 is !! I wish you luck and can only sumarise by saying the real choice is yours, condition and history is paramount when buying this type of car.
Hi Geoff, Andrew raises some valid and geniune concerns regarding the re-spray job.Make sure the invoice from the F dealer who did the paint is with the car when you look at it.Needless to say,the work should be flawless. I'm not sure that a professional re-spray will knock resale value of the car anymore than it already appears to have done.£33k for a low mile,2 owner 348 with belts just done seems very reasonable to me. Do you intend keeping the car or is this a summer flirtation and sale in winter? If it's the former, i'd be tempted to go for it.If the latter, chances are it'll cost you to get out of it. Good luck
Hi guys, The top side of a car can always look very nice, as tony said get it put on a two post lift fully checked over and then you will get to see the real car,compression check also,emission print out and watch while its being checked out,and a road test wont go a miss for trans,wheel bearing noise's,engine preformance,steering etc,the list can go on and on, just because its been repainted does not mean its a pile of scrap,it may be just the opposite,who know's, cheers Dale.
Is it from a dealer or private!, most of the realy dodgy car's I've seen tend to be with small "home" traders (but some really nice ones too).
Thanks for the views guys... all very good points and I appreciate the input. Yes, I do intend to hang onto the 348 that I eventually buy, so from that perspective I`m not all that phased about resale some time way ahead (one hopes!) So the plan is to have an initial look see in the morning, and if things seem reasonable to me proceed to detail checks (hpi and mech inspection). It is being brokered by a dealership, but the meeting I have arranged is at the actual owner`s home address, which is pretty good all round really, and yes it`s a great price for the vehicle without the paint issue considered. I will let you all know what I make of it when I get back... Thanks again! Geoff
HPI does not always list the history of the car. I know many cars that people have bought and they have not been insurance right offs and not been put on the register but still have had lost of crap repair work done to them underneath...
Crap repair work done to the underside-SPOT ON I'll show you pleanty if you want to see it,keeps me in a job also a good laugh at the very substandard work, cheers Dale.