308 help for a noob

My first 308, a 1977 GTB, had 23k miles….it was a truly exceptional example. Two Ferrari’s later, I owned a 1981 GTSi with 91k miles. It, too, was a beautiful example.

I purchased PPIs for both. Each received positive reports. The high mileage GTSi didn’t concern me. It had been maintained and loved.


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100K miles proves they're good cars when properly maintained, as this one probably was. I've seen a 308 with 200K+ miles on it. A thorough PPI and service records will give you confidence to make an informed decision. Good luck. I'm a 767 pilot myself. Like airplanes, the more these cars are used, the better they behave.

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My '83 is just over 100K. original rubber parts are past their prime. Are you getting the prior service records? Otherwise rely on a detailed PPI as mentioned above.

 

I have 126,000 plus on my 84

 

I believe the QV engines and drivetrain are pretty bullet proof as long as they’re maintained properly and regularly . By the way where are you located Rory?

 

I hope it works out for you. Lower mileage cars are getting rarer with each passing year. There isn’t usually a whole lot of cars for sale at any given time. FYI, there were 783 GTS and 271 GTB “1983 Quattrovalvoles” made. It is a rare car.

In my (very biased) opinion, the 1983 QV is the pinnacle of the Ferrari 308 series. After the “1983” model, Ferrari simplified the painting process by no longer masking and painting the A and B pillars separately. The ‘83 QV has the black A and B pillars, has three black vents on the front hood area, black rocker panels, black basket handle and a large black vent on the rear deck. With Rossa Corsa the black really pops out. I love it. It is also the first year of the 4 valve per cylinder engine but the last 3x8 model made without ”computer” controlled emissions monitoring. The ‘83 model has open loop Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection. Subsequent 3x8s, the 1984/85 and the 328, had oxygen sensors, frequency valves, etc.

 

The reality is: given two 3x8's in similar condition, Lower mileage is always worth more than higher mileage. There is no way a 50k mile car will bring as much money as a 20k mile car.

We can argue all day (and have) about whether a 100k mile car with all the records, original paperwork, etc is actually a better car to drive around than a 20k mile car without any records but the market clearly shows that the low mileage car is worth more money. Whether the price difference it is really 'worth it' is up to the individual buyer.

 

I have a friend with almost 300k miles on his 1984 QV (I think it's around 286k +/-). It's still a concours winning car, drives exceptionally well (I've driven it several times), and looks gorgeous. Worth noting, the car was also tracked regularly for a good portion of its life (not any more as the owner has a few other Ferraris, including a Challenge car).

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Just budget in a rebuild in the next few years. I’m back in the Porsche world now and at least with the classic stuff we drive them and replace wear items as needed. Most of the big dollar cars from the 1950s and 1960s are really TMU, because a mechanical odometer from 60 years ago is nice to look at but hard to trust. I don’t know how many rebuilds my 50,000-mile 356 had. Several, at least, because it was raced.

For a 308, I think my dream car would be one rebuilt recently by a top tier Ferrari tech: engine, gearbox, suspension, cooling, hydraulics and fuel systems. A 10,000 mile 308 that’s sat around since 1992 would scare the crap out of me, because it would cost a fortune to buy; depreciate terribly when driven; and it would probably need most of the refurbishment of a higher mileage car.

A regularly driven 40,000-mile car might be an easier purchase, but they’re all OLD. (And cool!)



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My dream car is what I have. I couple owners who loved it, cared for it, overserviced it, but drove it. And it looks nicer than most, drives better than most and will for a very long time.

Condition is all that matters in a car 40 years old. Find a nice car, test drive it, get to know what a nice car drives like. Find a car your comfortable with and do a PPI, a must. And if it gets a good PPI buy it. Enjoy it.

Be prepared for potential issues. If you can't work on it yourself you may want to find a mechanic who is competent on 308s prior to buying one and ask about cost of service. This will make your ownership experience horrible or loving.

I would never bring a 308 to a Ferrari dealership today for service as they simply are not familiar with them.

Good luck with your search. A well serviced 308QV is a great 308 and will be a joy to own.

 

Okay but the baseline here is that he is buying the car, not selling it so "worth more" means "costs more" and the extra money you pay for low mileage is erased from the value every time you drive it. In either case the car is 39 years old and there is no guarantee that the 10k mile care is in any better shape than the 100k mile car. The high mileage car may have been constantly and meticulously maintained, it could have new belts, hoses, bushings etc whereas the low mileage car could very likely have seen little attention throughout the years. The high mileage car might have a working air conditioner whereas the low mileage car might state "needs a recharge"

You can see where this is going.

So the stigma of low mileage really only applies to an owner who is concerned about how much he will get when he sells it and the result is an urge not to drive it.

 

Yes, good points!

 

Most 308's have over 100k on them despite what that odometer says. 308's over the last 20 years for some reason all have 43k miles..that odometer reading hasn't changed since..keep that in mind..

 

What year did the odometer change to 6 digits? The earlier 308s only had a five digit odometer. With those you couldn’t tell the actual miles.

 

Not sure there is a consensus but it's been discussed before: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/308-odometer.430665/

 

My '83 QV has six but I'm pretty sure my buddie's 328 has five. Both USA.

 

Forget the odo. Just focus on condition and past ownership. A loved car is a great car will match the odo. When I see cars with 30-50K miles and they look worn out it is a red flag, they have not been loved.

I've argued this point with folks who know zip about 308s and want one, but don't have the money to buy a decent car or the talent to work on one and bring it up to a decent standard, but insist on trying to get some fantasy car bargain.

I don't even bother with folks like that anymore. Sorry, but they're just dreamers. Ferrari ownership is not a thing to try and do without having ability to do your own work and still afford the expensive parts if needed. Or a piggy bank which is used for maintenance so there is no hatred for the car.

I'm done preaching, but after 20 years of owning my 308 and 40 years of owning and enjoying nice cars, there are no shortcuts.

 

The only qualification for Ferrari ownership is to own a Ferrari - There's no minimum time limit involved.

Plenty of people buy a Ferrari that has just been serviced, run it for a year, only spending money on fuel and insurance, and then sell the car on just before the next service is due, leaving that cost to next owner, so it is possible to be a Ferrari owner without having the ability to work on the car yourself, or have a piggy bank to pay for maintenance.

You might not like that type of person, but for the year or so that they owned the car, they were a Ferrari owner.

Added to that, for some long term Ferrari owners who have achieved their dream of owning a Ferrari, who have the ability to work on their own car, the only way they have been able to afford their car, is due to the cost being reduced to an affordable level, due to previous owners who didn't have the ability to work on the car themselves, and couldn't afford to maintain them.

 

And what's your point. That's a good car to purchase because they were a conscientious owner and bought a fully serviced car drove it for a year and sold it. Not really sure of your point. I would not call that passion. Maybe they had a need fulfilled.

Do you work on your cars or do you pay to have them serviced and if you are asked about your experience and what to expect what do you share with that person.

 

Here's the thing, though: If the odometer says 43K, it may (or may not) have 43K. If it says 110K, it's not likely that it's actually under 110K.

Certainly lower miles doesn't mean the car was cared for and serviced properly. Also doesn't mean it wasn't.

 

No, here’s the thing. Buy the car to enjoy the experience with it, not as an investment. There are plenty of things to buy as an investment but unless you’ve got everything else and tons of free space a car ain’t one of them.

 

There's a difference between Ferrari passion, and Ferrari ownership.

Plenty of people have a passion for Ferrari's but can't afford to own one - Plenty of people own Ferrari's. but don't give a rat's arse about them!

You said :

My "point" is, it is possible to be involved in Ferrari ownership without: "having the ability to do your own work and still afford the expensive parts if needed. Or a piggy bank which is used for maintenance so there is no hatred for the car", as you claim is required.

You're making out that: "Ferrari ownership, is something more than simply owning a Ferrari.

The fact is, you don't need to work on your Ferrari yourself to be a part of "Ferrari ownership", nor do you have to have enough money to pay someone else to work on your Ferrari, to be apart of "Ferrari ownership" - As pointed out before, the only criteria to meet for: "Ferrari ownership", is owning a Ferrari.

You want to make this a bit more personal and about me? - Okay: It's a case of both.

I work on the parts of the car myself that I have the facilities to carry out the work, and I pay people to work on the parts of the car that I don't have the facilities to do the work on.

If I am asked about my experience concerning my Ferrari's, I share exactly what happened. I take credit for the work I did myself, and I give full credit to the people who did the work that I couldn't do myself - I NEVER take credit for work I didn't do myself!

I have worshiped Ferrari's since I was 9 years old, when I saw my first 308 GTS in the metal, back in 1979.

From 1979 until 2014, I didn't own a Ferrari, but I'll guarantee I had more passion for Ferrari than many Ferrari owners.

Since 2014, I've owned a 348 TS previously, and now I'm lucky enough to own a 328 GTS.

Does that make me a real Ferrari owner? - I'd like to think so, but I don't do all the work on my Ferrari's myself, and I don't have an endless piggy bank to pay others to work on my car, to fix everything either, so I guess in your book, I'm just a dreamer!

 

There are many more probable issues with age than mileage on these cars.

The only serious things I can think of where mileage could count would be the wear on transmission syncros. If the cars shifts well, you are good to go. If valves have never been adjusted for clearance, you could have some valve wear that mileage would cause. But even then if the car was not driven hard, the valves might actually be fine. A compression test and leakdown as part of a ppi would tell you what you need to know.

Suspension bushings, hoses, tires, and other rubber bits are age issues, even a low miles car will need these dealt with. Dist caps, rotors, wires and coils could be affected by mileage, but are consumable items that should be renewed periodically anyways.

How the car was stored will also make a difference, eg. my car in a heated and cooled garage is going to have less issues than cars stored in wet environments, or baked in the sun. You want to ensure the interior is complete, even if worn, as some bits will be hard to source if missing.

So, at this point I really don't think miles makes a difference in whether you have good example or not. Sure the market speaks and prefers low miles, just well because. But the market is concerned with the next owner, not the experience of the current owner.

We all hope for our cars to be good investments, while also enjoying the them under our watch. But tastes and collectibility is very fickle, and is in the midst of generational changes in preferences. If your plan is to own for say longer than 5 years, it is best to just enjoy the ride as the only thing that counts.

 

I asked what you tell people about your expierience of Ferrari ownership: What someone can expect financially, personal expierience driving the car, ect. You again misinterpret that as some attack. I do think you have issues, but I'm not qualified to help you.

Of course someone can buy a Ferrari drive it and have no passion and that is not the person I want necessarily to buy a car from, which is one of the points I'm making to the person who asked for advice.

I've been involved with cars my entire life and have deep passion for them. I restored one, maintained several including two Ferraris - my BB512i which I recently sold after 9 years of great drives and my 308QV which I still have after 21 years of great drives. I work on them because I can, enjoy it and like things done right. So when someone asks for advice, I'm honest with them because Ferrari ownership is not for everyone who thinks they may love to have one. A nice car can have an issues a person is not prepared to deal with financially. These cars are expensive to own and you as an owner are aware of this I'm sure.

This discussion is about helping a person by giving them some personal expiriences and insite to buying a 308QV. What to think about regarding past ownership, and mileage. You were offended by something I said in sharing my opinion. Don't read into things and get offended. I was not speaking to you. Share you thoughts without trying to challenge others opinions. I hope you can work though your issues.