17 years old and 8 owners

I think once you are past two owners it doesnt matter if its 3 or 8. Its all about the PPI and records

 

How many were actual operators vs just owners, i.e. people who drove the car vs dealers. Look at carfax and see how many times it went through auction or dealer sales. This can give you an idea whether it was rode hard, put away wet, and then dumped for something else. Then as Jerry said, PPI and records.

 

With a good PPI that's a buy

 

Judge on condition and state of maintenance. Number of past owners is a bit ridiculous.

 

You should add your location to your profile - that is a key detail for getting proper help here

 

I see what you did there

 

Yep, provided that "quite a while" owner didn't just leave it in the garage.

No experience in the UK market, but in the US, people tend to own Ferraris for a short time or a long time.

I'm the fourth owner on my 328.
The original owner kept it for only six months (and may have been embassy personnel, based on name and the DC area).
Then a doctor had it for nine years in the Chicago area.
Then it was owned for a couple years in Boston, where it spent much of its time in the shop.
I've owned it since '99, but I had a major, engine-out, "make it right" service to clean up the issues from the third owner.

People who own *and drive* the car for "a while" will generally clean up any issues left by previous owners.

People who keep the car in the garage or shop are failing to fix issues.

Basically, it comes down to the inspection.

But, on any used Italian car, plan for a costly first service, as your shop won't be familiar with that specific car at first, and will need more time to examine everything.
And there will be little things the previous owner stopped noticing that might annoy you.

I'd advise you to find the shop where you'll get service before you go car shopping.
Even if you plan to swing a wrench yourself, there'll be things you want to refer to a pro.
Poor service can ruin the ownership experience (contributing to that short or long ownership).

And a good shop might be able to point you to a good car for sale.

 

Maybe having a new owner every few years isn't a bad thing, as they probably immediately went for a full service, thus guaranteeing that the car was always well maintained, and on time (if even perhaps ahead of time), and may have been more likely to drive it on a regular basis, thus giving all parts like joints and rubber hoses in shape giving them a longer shelf life ? Food for thought...

The 360 I bought last summer had a single owner since she was born in 2002. Looking at the service records, she had everything done on time during the first dozen or so years. Then over the last few years, the previous owner had begun to neglect her (doing only simple services, and not necessary on time) with very few miles being placed during a 24 month period prior to it being purchased by myself.

Hence, I guess one could say that these periods of neglect could be considered worse, knowing that some titanium parts may corrode from acidity that builds into the engine oils (at least according to what I've read in place like Aldous Voice), and the slow deterioration of rubber parts.

Just thinking out loud...

 

Absolutely true, imho.

Not unusual to find Ferraris in my country with 2 owners, 15 years, 10.000km and... 4 sets of clutches fitted, for instance (spelling abused car, either by incompetence or an uncontrollable need to do doughnuts when cold).

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Exactly. 4th or 5th owner of a 360 here. More than 3 years of ownership and it still is a dream.

 

All three Ferraris I've owned had multiple owners.
I'm 7th owner of my 2001 360. That was similar for my previous car an F355.
F355 only had 25k on and as it happens is for sale now (not by me) currently a 26k car through Clinkard

 

Exactly! In those 7 or 8 or whatever owners, statistically there would have been one that would have asked about belts and the variators, etc. So instead of one owner that puts it into a garage and lets is sit for 11 months out of the year for the last 15 years, you have multiple people asking about the maintenance history and driving the car. I don't think it's bad at all. Can you get 5 knuckleheads in a row that don't do oil changes every year and neglect the car? Sure. But by that time I would have expected the clutch to be trashed and the condition obvious. Mine had many many owners in its life. One in Florida put 3x,xxx miles on it in 3 or 4 years. I think its awesome she was driven. And you know what.. she's been a really reliable car!

 

My 1959 ferrari was 5 owners...........just saying.
I bought it with no PPI.

 

With the impetus on dealers to get clients to upgrade constantly, especially with nice marques, I wouldn't be surprised at lots of owners. My dealer used to phone me every few months and entice me with new cars, and the only thing that stopped it showing ridiculous numbers of owners of my cars was that I always, at the time, have five or six, so I'd swap one of those at each point, so technically, only adding one owner a year to either car!

As the rest of the guys state, it's not the owners you need to worry about, it's the service condition. Have the car checked thoroughly, and get a good warranty. Even if you don't keep a warranty after the first year, it gives you the luxury during that first year to fix anything that rears its head after purchase..... with cars that can costs thousands for simple fixes, I think they are a must buy item

 

I’m the 7th owner of my F430, purchased summer 2016....it’s never been outside of the main dealership network so always had to go through their checks etc to sell as an approved car. Bought it with 17,000 miles, now just about to click over 25,000 & driving beautifully I was a little concerned about the number of owners to begin with, but that & mileage won’t bother me anywhere near as much next time.