1st time F430 buyer need advice.

I wish I could help.....I look to be in your shoes someday. Good luck and enjoy, for now I will live vicariously through people like you.

 

You'll probably want to go below to the 430 section, more activity and focus on this model there.

 

Hey Joe. We get asked this a lot. I have an 08 that I bought new. 09's are pretty rare as production was winding down and the economy started to take a bite in the US.

The F430 is actually probably the most reliable of the modern cars. Still, they will occasiionly bite you.

I think typical mileage is between 1800 and 3000 miles a year on most youll find on the market. But some owners here have 20 or 30 K miles and still swear by them. There are also garage queens with almost no mileage around. Personally I'd rather have one with a few miles to get some of the bugs worked out.

The F430 needs an annual service no matter how little you drive it. That could run about $1400 to $2500. Keeping good service is key to preserving the value and preventing problems.

Finding angood one is the key. However the 08s and 09s were and are still under warranty so most likely, they will check out fine. Most of these wick be at Ferrari dealers and that's one place I would start to look and ask.

Parts are no problem. They aren't cheap but everything is available.

I find the f430 very comfortable. I've driven it over 5 hours non stop and never felt tired. Now, if you're 6'3", you might have a different opinion.

The trick is finding the right car for you. These are expensive so you want to find what you want. Spider or coupe? F1 or manual 6 speed? Body Color? Interior color? Options?

It should be noted that all 08s on up came with carbon ceramic brakes standard. This raised the base price about $16,000. They stop great but so do the standard brakes. The advantage is they last a long time and give off no brake dust. The disadvantage is they are expensive to replace. This is the biggest difference in the 08s aside that the are still under factory warranty.

The most popular options were daytona power seats, f1 gearbox, colored stitching, wheel options, shields, and differnt carbon fibre trim options. The most popular color combo was rossa corsa red with a tan (beige) interior. However you'll find them in all sorts of interesting combos.

The last thing is that I do not believe the year makes any difference in running costs aside from the warranty being expired of course.

Hope this helps. I'm sure a lot of other owners will chime in to help you out. Good luck in your search. Take your time. It's worth the effort. I haven't found an F 430 owner yet that didn't like the car.

 

Very Good Post.

 

Thanks Jim! I'm waiting for the day I can give the same advice on a 458!

 

Indeed. Thinking the same thing.

I learned everything about Ferraris from this site. Nice to see someone passing along knowledge to a newbie.

 

A great post and advice to well take notice of.

I'd only add to make sure you buy your 430 through an authorised F dealer as they come with a 200 point used car check prior to going on the lot (at least downunder they do) and get one with still lots of factory warranty left on it....this is invaluable!

It's better to have a bit of time finding out all the small gremlins it may have that you only become aware of with ownership and then be able to have these corrected at the dealer under warranty at no cost to you.

Do plenty of homework and don't buy the first one you fall in love with.
Compare/evaluate/and then judge value for money as all apples are not the same.

Oh one last thing....never buy a car that has been pranged no matter how small a repair...'cept touchup paintwork under the front bumper.
A dealer can tell you if that car you want to buy has had any panels bought for it via their national parts computer which is married to the car's vehicle ID number....Oz they can.

Rob.

 

I bought my 430 new 8/05. Now has 17K on it.

Annual services are just fluid changes, occasional filters and inspections. At 30K you need new spark plugs. I have paid (at the dealer) around $400. for odd years and $1100. for even which requires more fluids, etc. I don't know where bdelp gets his 2500. number from. My car has been very reliable. There have been a number of factory tech bulletins along the way requiring updates which are free. Under warranty, my car had a rear main seal leak (which is very rare) and exhaust manifolds which are a problem on early cars. There is a new design which if IIRC came out late in the 2007 model year. So far, I have not heard of any problems with the new design. I understand some states require a longer warranty on exhaust parts but the EPA only requires two years so this is something to investigate. If you buy an early car, it would be a plus for the manifolds to have been replaced.

I have had all day rides in it and they are quite comfortable. Supportive seats. No fatigue. The ride is obviously firm but never punishing. But if you want a nice stereo and cup holders, better look elsewhere. In fact, I'm planning on putting 300 miles on it tomorrow.

My car is a stick shift and if you spend some time reading back through all the threads you will find that issues with paddle shifts come up with some regularity. Clutches can go quickly in either type depending on how they are driven but they can last a good long time under normal conditions. Mine shows no sign of needing replacement even though it has perhaps 2K track miles on it.

Overall, my experience with the car has been nothing but positive and I have no intention of selling it. 430s are spectacular performers even though there are now quite a few cars that can out accelerate it.

Dave

 

Dave

My annual service ran $1400 last year (my first). It's due this month. So i did pad a bit to be safe. I'm pretty sure i recall some saying they paid more. I was just tryiing to give a respective range of what to expect so there were no surprises. Figuring spending $2500/ year on maintenance is not a bad rule of thumb. I bet most think it's much, much more.

 

I picked my 07' 430 spider up in December of 07 and it has the 08 upgrades with standard brakes. I have 12K miles on it. It has had an exhaust manifold leak fixed and I had some small problems with my stick shifting into 2nd gear. Both fixed under warranty. I came from a 996TT and the 430 is a completely new world.

 

1) Any mileage you want, the car is very reliable, especially 2008+ and newer F430. Mileage will determine purchase price.

2) They don't break down. Early cars (2005-2007) had issues with the F1 transmission, cracking headers, e-diff overheating, these are minor issues but costly if the car is out of warranty. 2008+ have these issues fixed. Parts are very easy to find, and thanks to on of our sponsors (RicambiAmerica) they are easy to find, quickly available and affordable.

3) 2005-2007 have the minor issues described, other than that everything else is pretty good.

The F430 rides pretty soft (too soft in my opinion), extremely comfortable, big space for the driver, fits large drivers.

I had a 996 GT3 and a 997 GT3 RS. The F430 makes nicer sounds, more comfortable on the streets, a lot quicker on acceleration. Handling is better in the 997 GT3 RS, but not bad at all in the F430. In my own experience, my 09 car has been more reliable (on the same mileage) than former GT3s, my current Cayman S and CayenneTT.

At the prices F430 are selling today, they are the best bargain Ferrari with the lowest ownership cost.

 

I have a 360 that I drive an average of 300 per week . No problems. I'm 6'2 and it very comfortable not like the 355 and older cars.


Reliability is excellent . Find a good private mechanic and drive the thing.

Do worry about miles.

 

Make sure you take your time, get what you want - don't rush. Get a PPI on any car at an independent shop that has no motivation to make sure PPI comes out ok. Make sure all campaigns were completed. Do not skip a PPI no matter what the seller claims.

 

When it comes miles, don't worry about them just buy a solid car. Its not an investment, its a car that's meant to be driven

 

I have 16,000 miles with the original clutch, how about you?

 

Hi Sam,
How did you detirmine that your car had an exhaust leak in the manifold?
Were you able to hear it easily?
Many owners like myself on here would appreciate a heads up for those of us not hugely mechanically minded.
Thx.
Rob.

 

I don't know how Sam found out, but I found out when some vibrations were evident while idling. They weren't present all the time, just enough to ask the dealer to check out the manifolds and they found one side leaking. Both sides ended up been replaced for free.

 

It did not sound right at idle and in the perfect sunlight you could see the leak moving dust particles

 

I had a 997 GT3. I liked the GT3's lower, firmer suspension (more comparable to a Scuderia's, I assume), more rigid chassis and its steering weight/feel - in general, its overall feeling of solidity. The 430 is well built and solid, but doesn't feel quite as tightly put together. However, as others have already mentioned, modern Ferraris are quite reliable. The GT3 is an excellent car, but I prefer the 430.

The more balanced, mid-engined 430 corners effortlessly and turns in better (stock 997 GT3's understeer). It sounds even better than the GT3 and looks way more special. It's also noticeably faster than the GT3 (though, the GT3's no slouch) and has better torque. The Ferrari has a certain feel while accelerating that other cars just don't have, it's an exhilarating feel that's very special...like you're strapped to a wild-thing set free.

Both cars are exceptional, but the 430 is the more special drive, no question.

 

I had particle all over the engine after even a short drive.

 

17K and counting but I'm very easy on clutches. No jackrabbit starts, rev matching, etc. I expect the clutch to last longer than me.

Dave