99TDF with Cuio leather options include leather headliner and rear shelf, Tubi, and painted red calipers. 17k miles Needs 5k service, front tires, alignment, rear brakes, dash recovering due to leather shrinkage. 3 owners, belts done 4 yrs ago, 15k done 2 yrs ago. No evidence of service since. When I saw it was dirty and looks like the owner has lost interest. Rubber coating on window switches and door lock levers deteriorating. I would want to replace those. What are your thoughts on values for a private party to private party sales?? I figure 8-10k to put it all right immediately upon purchase. Thanks for your help PB : )
Agreed, but for the same money I'd rather have a car that has been driven more miles or tracked, but has complete records and shows exceptional mechanical and cosmetic care. Neglected cars often have been treated to cheap band-aid solutions to their ills.
I think $10k is being optimistic. I would figure $15k and price accordingly. TdF/Cuoio is a hard combo to beat. -dsd
If you get creative on the repairs, $10K sounds like a more than adequate budget. It's a bargain at any price under $85K, IMHO.
Ya anything over 85 you might start to regret it as you do all the needed repairs/maintanence. id offer 75 see how he responds. Good luck though and let us know what happens.
I would be very cautious with a neglected 550. Instead of guessing to see what it would take to set it right, I'd run (not walk) to a place where it can get a detailed PPI. This would include a leakdown test as well. You also need to check and see if the updates have been done. The mechanic should also check the motor mounts and actuators. You also want to make sure that there's no corrosion in the brake lines- if he hasn't been changing the fluid and it isn't driven much, moisure could have gotten in and caused some problems. Finally, make sure after filling the tank that there's no gas smell underneath the back end or in the trunk. The rubber fitments have a habit of deteriorating depending upon a variety of things and that could become a major repair. You could get a bunch of unpleasant surprises if the PPI is only a cursory one so be sure and be willing to plunk down 300-600 for a really detailed and thorough job. Get the estimate to set things right (don't guess) and then bargin accordingly. My guess is that it could go well north of 10K as I'd be especially cautious about replacing just the front tires unless you can confirm that you can match the backs exactly in terms of the tire. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
All good points, if the owner is realistic I will spring for a thorough PPI, including leakdown test. If I end up with the car I will do all four tires, my last Ferrari, a 90 TR came with its original tires and 8K miles. Tires were the first thing I did even tought thehe tread was still good. The tires were over 10 years old and one had many plug patches in it! I drove one 550 with 5k miles on it and 6 year old original tires, the back end was extremely squirrielly as a result. What can be checked about the actuators? Thanks for the opinions and info. PB
The actuators sit on top, on each side of the front suspension. Sometimes, they can spin to the point where they actually break the wire. Each one should be checked for twisted wires. On my car the driver's side one was fine but that's because the wire assemply was tabbed onto the engine compartment. The left one was badly twisted but not yet to the point where it needed to be replaced ($1000.00!). I simply fabricated a fix and took the actuator apart (easily done), untwisted it, reassempled and fixed the wire assembly to the engine compartment on the passenger side as well with a bit of epoxy. A broken actuator can give you suspension warning lights or worse. A great thread can be found here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24988&highlight=doody+actuator But I'd just use the search function and type in 550 AND actuator. OR you can type in actuator AND Doody (an FChat member who had all sorts of good advice).
We I expressed some interest and started at the low end of the spectrum discussed here..the owner seems to think it is worth substantially more than 90k in it's present unloved deferred maintenece state. I am not moving forward on that one. Thanks for everyones help. PB
