I thought I'd throw this question out to the general 355 audience. I am planning on buying a fairly well-sorted 1995 355 GTB. The car only has 9,500 miles on it, but the last (and first) major was done on it last July at 7,000 miles. It has stock headers and valve guides, compression and leak down done last year were great. It will be de-catted, have an aftermarket exhaust (likely Tubi), and have a challenge grill installed. It currently has Speedline Challenge wheels on it. SO! The questions are.... 1.) Is it insane to drive 2,000 miles in 4 days in this car? Why? I am not against driving the car so the, "it is too nice" comments won't be valid. 2.) Are the Challenge wheels a concern in a long trip? Should I change them to OEM wheels? 3.) Am I embarking on an epic road trip and create memories that I'll cherish forever, or am I going to hate everything about it, abandon the car somewhere in North Dakota and beg for forgiveness from my wife for the next three years......?
My first thought would be to put some miles on it before heading out on your trip. A car with this low of miles on it may have some issues that will not show up just running it around the block once every few months. I would not just head out as soon as you get it and not expect to have some problems.
The wheels mean nothing. Prudence would dictate some local driving to test it out. But a reasonable plan would be to plan the drive with the expectation that at the first sign of trouble you call the auto transport and fly home. You should have a great trip with memories, but be prepared to bail.
Nathan- Drive it like ya stole it. It sounds like it's had everything done that needs to be done. If not now, when? Epic road trip. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Post pictures. Have a story to tell your grandkids. Or, be safe. Don't take chances. Have it delivered. Put it in the garage and admire it. But, above all, don't drive it! Bad things could happen! Door dings! Rock Chips! Mechanical malfunctions! Be afraid! Stay home! Lock the doors! Hide the children!
But your 355 has not been a garage queen for the last 17 years. If his 355 was as well sorted as yours with some miles under it's belt, I would say go for it as well.
What does "fairly well sorted" mean? Stock headers, stock valve guides and presumably stock cats. My understanding of a "sorted" car is one that has had these potential problem areas addressed. On the plus side, 2500 miles over the past year since the major should have shaken out any problems. That being said, I agree you should drive it locally a bit before embarking on a long trip and have a bailout plan just in case. Good Luck with your purchase.
Google F355 world tour. Then, go enjoy you beauty. (we need pictures BTW). Lastly, I would highly recommend that you remove the challenge wheels before your trip. They are ugly, unsuitable for road trips, and really have little value. Go ahead and just ship them to me, and I will be a good 355 brother and pay for your gas the whole way home. That's how we roll. Always looking out for eachother.
Thanks for all the comments so far! I feel a little blessed just to have a a Blampee post! The current owner (2nd) has put 2,500 miles on it I the last 12 months without issue other than having to rebuild a seized rear brake caliper. I will drive it about 300 miles in CA prior to heading back to WI. I am not afraid of "ruining" it because it will need a major restoration sometime before I give it to one of my kids, anyways. This may be the best opportunity to actually spend some time with the car. Dreamer- I actually like the Silver Challenge wheels. I may be able to sell them to you at a substantial markup from current market value, with an additional finders fee, fuel surcharge, handling fee, environmental protection fee, new guy buying a 17 year-old Ferrari tax, etc......I think you get the point! I'll have a road trip thread to either document the awesomeness and make everyone insane with jealousy, or to substantiate all the naysayers' very rational fears!
I put over 12 k on mine in two years including two major road trips. Road tripping a Ferrari is what it's about. Go for it. No matter what it'll be a memory
Nate, if I read your OP correctly..."the first and ONLY major done last year"? Why? It's a 17-year-old car; regardless of miles, it should've had at least one other major done. If the car has been sitting A LOT, I'd be a little concerned -- really crappy for cars to sit. And you did, or are going to PPI it, yes? My best, Scott
I think the 355 makes a good GT car. I'd do a long trip in a heartbeat. My car came out of 15 years of deep dark storage, and (after an engine out service) has covered 4500 trouble free miles since then. I'd trust mine to get me across the country and back. The only thing I would recommend, is turning the 4 day drive into an 8 day drive. I'm all for putting miles on cars, but I do think miles in a Ferrari should be savored as much as possible.
P.s. Also remember that most valve guide issues show themselves relatively early on; i.e. this car may not have the mileage to show a potential issue. And the manifolds...you're going to have to change them at some point, without question. Just sayin'... ;-)
LoL! A. You're funny. And B. If he has driven it 2,500 miles it should be fine. Also, the 300 miles you put on it in CA should tell you if he had any CELs that he reset (not saying the seller WILL do this, but I've seen it happen one too many times where someone buys a Ferrari and 150miles later a CEL pops up--coincidence...??? I think not. When I had a CEL problem years ago it would pop up about every 120 miles. I drove mine 1200 miles in two weeks before I got a CEL in mine back when I bought her in 2008. I took her on a 3-hr road trip to Eastern Oregon the day after my 355 got delivered. Drive around there....then drove back home--put about 500 miles on her the first 4 days. Just a car...if you wanna drive it, then Drive it. If you want to take the safe route, have it shipped. Personally I have zero problems with taking mine on a cross-country trip. But mine is fully sorted, too.....
Scott- 1.) no PPI as yet. The car is going in to have some things done to bring it back to OEM specs (stock springs put back and challenge exhaust removed). It willbe stock with exception of staying de-catted, aftermarket exhaust, and challenge wheels. I'll have the compression and leakdown done at that time, plus I am going to speak with the current mechanic. PPI'd April of 2011 formally. 2.) the original owner lived out of country and had it as a garage queen. New owner has loved it up, thus it is missing about two majors from the original owner. 3.) I'll change the headers to coated Fabspeeds likely this winter. No question about that.
I've driven 2 355's on 2 separate road trips which were about 3000 miles each. There were some 1000 mile days in there too. The 355 loves to be treated this way. You can run it hard in those trips too, just make sure you regularly change the oil and in particular when you get back. I have approx. 35,000 miles logged on the 355 in 4-1/2 years of ownership. Beware of the crooked repair shops and you will be fine.
Drive it. You'll be fine. (In fact, you'll be better than fine.) These cars -- even the F355 -- are not made of sugar.
Like everyone, I would recommend driving it locally and see how everything feels but I believe I read that you already drove it for 300 miles?? why remove the ch.exhaust and springs? sell selling separately or keeping them? please document your trip!! id love to read about it and see the photos! I have never owned an fcar yet but when I do I know ill be in the minority for putting high miles and enjoying every moment of it!!
That's a crap shoot in any 17+ year old car. Ferrari aside..... The upside is you get to drive it...alot. The down side is if it does have "moment", the repairs are not easily done at some local shop. Be prepared to tow it the rest of the way home. I would go for it, but be prepared (and not disillusioned) if you do not finish the trip in the car. Changing out springs and a "challenge exhaust" has me wondering what kind of life the 9700 miles were.
Lex I: Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare. Really. I think this holds true of most Ferraris. When running, they continue to run. The trouble usually starts when they're sitting in the garage.
I bought my '95 GTS and drove it back home 1800 miles on 3 days. Very similar set up to the OP's car. No problems and a trip of a lifetime for a new FCar owner. Only difference is that it had 25k miles on it. This was 1 yr ago an just passed 33k miles! See details: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328972 Steve
Last weekend I took my F355 GTs on a trip and drove a total of 3000 km at 160 Km/h MINIMUM, had absolutely no problems other than sunburing my skin. The car can´t go any better. Drive it and enjoy it, thats what they´re for.
Just this past weekend I put over 700 miles on my F355.... Everything from highways to back roads to twisties, with a few hours of standstill traffic in the mountains thrown in for good meassure... The car took the entire weekend in stride without so much as a hiccup... And now that I think about it... outside of a few random things like a fuse and the odd suspension light turning on and off... my car has been trouble free in the last 8000 miles and 3+ years since its last engine out.... Why people are afraid to drive these cars is just beyond me.... The only issue I ever run into with my spider is getting some sunburn on the back of my neck from keeping the top down all the time
