328 Time on road vs time in shop / garage?

I have had my 87 328 GTS for 10 years now and it has never left me stranded.
I do all my own maintenance including belt service.

My suspension bushes are up for replacement and I have all the parts in boxes in my garage for a a complete suspension overhaul, I have recently started my own business so I am a little time poor at the moment.

The only time it has given me a real issue was hunting down a intermittent backfire which ended up being 2 faulty HT leads. Replaced the set and it hasn’t missed a beat since, that was 7 years ago..

Touch wood but the 328 has been the most reliable car I have ever had period.

 

They are odd cars and we are an odd bunch.

I would say that my 1983 308 GTS is just a reliable as anything. I turn the key, it starts and I go. However it is 40 years old and there is always something that can be made better or refreshed on the car, so the car gets a lot more work done to it than is needed to just keep it moving. As an owner, I tend to want to get it perfect because it is this mystical thing called a "Ferrari". Very few of us are just driving them anymore to consume the service utility of our particular example with the plan to trade to a newer model when the car is used up. We like what we got.

 

For me, after 21 years of ownership, these last two years, my car has been in the shop , ,mainly for routine maintenance , and also for a bunch of restoration , AC , suspension, fuel pump issue, so its been in the shop more than i have driven it, on Tuesday, it goes back in the shop for an electrical problem with the fog lights, and dash idiot lights, as well as the fuel pump not turning off when the key is left on but not starting the car. I have put over 80,000 miles over 20 years, so all in all , I am way ahead when it comes to shop vs, driven .

Thank you,

 

Not sure if you should be getting into a 30+ year old exotic car based on nostalgia because well, it's generally a disappointment. Fact is, you can never go back. In my case part of the lure of getting an old 308 was to fiddle and tinker with it and I'd say, based on what you read here, that it's true of a lot of people who go down this road. Considering their age there's pretty much always going to be something that could be done, not to say that it would have to or that it would necessarily prevent you from using the car but in comparison to a newish Cayman it's certainly going to be a different experience. Question is: how much enjoyment do you get out of turning a wrench?

 

The number of times my '89 328, purchased in 2008, has had to be worked on by me or a shop for other than routine maintenance is...ZERO. A new Porsche 911, and the last two MBs that my wife have owned all required multiple repair trips for various issues - Th Porsche required a warrantied engine replacement and its transmission had to be replaced about two months after the warranty expired!

328's probably the most reliable car I have ever owned...except for maybe our Hyundai Santa Fe!

 

Buy the 328. Its the most reliable Ferrari ever made. Having said that, get to know a good mechanic in the Bay Area. There will be something to sort out, now, tomorrow, eventually.

 

I can't help but add a bit more re 328 reliability. I have driven mine across the USA several times and we are planning to drive it from TX to Atlanta and back for the Xmas holidays. I don't even consider that it might have a problem. I just get in and drive it! I don't carry any tools/spare parts other than the OEM tire-changing tools and the OEM space saver spare.

 

Aren't you the guy who posted about your 355 engine being trashed?

 

In my opinion, the amount of time spent either on the road or in the shop is more dependent upon the ambitions of the owner not because of the needs of the car. There are so many examples of projects with the purpose of trying to extract more out of these cars. More handling, more hp, more torque, etc. Once you have a 308 properly sorted they can be driven and enjoyed without issue. To your point, where the challenge comes in is getting it to that sorted state. You also have project creep which is why you hear people say buy the best example possible that has already been maintained well over the years, this will keep the car out of the shop and on the road. If you buy a project car expect it to be in the shop more than on the road, buy a well sorted and maintained car, it will be on the road more, it’s up to you to decide what path to go.

 

I've put about 20K on my 86 Euro, including three trips SC to NY or reverse. Have had no more issues w.my (well-sorted) 328 than any other car I've owned. Road:shop time is probably 99:1. Get a well-sorted car w.records and a thorough PPI by a good wrench and your experience should be similar.

That said, my first trip NY to SC, having owned my 328 for a few months and scared of the rumors of F unreliability, I had a list of wrenches in every state in which I'd be traveling. Prudence, I believed, is all it was. Never needed that list and don't even know where the hell it is.

Stop mulling, and pick one up. The 328 needs no introduction, explanation, or convincing; she is unlike other sports cars - exotic, full of character, and a stunner. You will NOT regret owning one (err at least provided diligence in selection).

As I've aged 12 years since I bought mine my body definitely recognizes the ergonomic issues (to your point, the pedals are askew of being centered on the lower back!), but that just means shorter drives or more frequent stops.

 

Got you confused with another guy.

Buy the car you like. I've owned a 308 QV for 35 years and a 355 for 8. Haven't had a significant problem with either. You saw the cam drive bearing failure in the 355 thread. That can happen to a 3x8 too. The 355 does required a little more attention, but it's worth it for the driving experience. The time I spend working on either car is incidental and mainly keeping them looking good. I do all the work on the cars other than majors. I think it has been mentioned but to say it again, many people just spends a lot of time fixing things that don't fixing.

 

During 2020 I have but around 250 km on my car and it's a 25 km drive to and from my mechanic.

Other then the annual scheduled maintenance service all other driving is either...
To and from getting detailed,
to and from getting fuel,
to and from getting to concorso's,
....and then occasionally driving for the sake of driving.

 

20 years with a 1977 308... no major issues of any concern. 20 years with a 94 348... no major issues of concern. Just added a one owner testarossa with full service history, everything seems pretty much routine. I think you are over thinking it, but definitely buy a well sorted out clean car and keep it fresh.

 

I do both cars annual fluids. On the 308 I had to track down the loss of spark on one bank which was due to a bad distributor rotor. Other than that, I replaced plug wires and a distributor cap, and a set of brake pads. On the 355, a coolant temp sensor and oil pressures sender that were bad when I got the car, a couple of O2 sensors, CV joint boots, track down a broken wire causing misfire on one bank, replace an MAF, and replaced actuator motor for the AC vent selection and recirculation flap. These are old cars and things go bad.

 

By the way, I have a 1989 328, the best of the 328.

Other than a major service every 5 years, a fluid service every 1 or 2 years, I have had only two occasions where the car failed on me in over 10 years of ownership.

1) a bad fuel pump connector at the fuse board. This is a very well known problem and is preventable if you pay attention.
2) A heater hose blew up at the engine rear bank. This is an inexcusable episode on my part. I neglected to change that hose when I bought the car because .... it really is a ***** of hose to do. I paid for my laziness. This hose, or a 3 foot section of it, is routinely changed at the 5 years service such that .... it does not blow up.

Other than that, my ratio of hours driving to hours working is 95 : 1 or it seems like it.

As for your GT4, well, I have a 996 GT3 with the same specs as that of the GT4. I enjoy driving the Ferrari 328 immensely more than the GT3. The public at large seems to like it better too.

 

My 1989 328 has never had a single mechanical, electrical or other problem. It goes to the shop for its annual fluids change every year and belt service every 5 years. It had a major service at 12k miles and will have another soon when it hits 30k. Thus its down time is 3 days/year (I usually drop the car off at the shop for 3 days). As others have experienced, I just get in, turn the key and go. The car is driven weekly for 6 months/year and still looks and drives like new.

 

I've owned my '87 328GTS just about 33 years now. It's on its second water pump but still has its original water hoses except for the large short one near the thermostat. I have to cut that one off to remove it when I service the car. Years ago I replaced the lambda sensor because my slow down light kept coming on. Spark plug wires have been replaced and new spark plug extenders are on order. Two years ago the shift rod seal that separates the oil sump from the transaxle sump was replaced. It took me a week to do it but I am a slow worker. I replaced the shaft seal in the York compressor many years ago. At the moment the speedometer and pulse generator are in Palo Alto getting fixed. Palo Alto says my pulse generator is faulty because the speedometer works with their pulse generator but not with mine. A new generator is in the mail on its way to Palo Alto. Pulse generator showed me pulses that coincided with wheel speed but evidently the pulses were on the weak side. Vehicle has about 34K miles on it.

The most perplexing problem I ever had with it had to do with a sudden idle speed change after an engine hiccup that would occur after driving for a short time. Turned out the original spark plug wires were interfering with the computer in the rear. There probably were some other issues over the years that I do not recall at the moment but these were the salient ones. The car was professionally serviced only once in the early 90's. I don't think I'll ever sell it.

 

I've owned both 308's and 328. The 328 is by far the more reliable usable car. over 16 years of ownership on my 328 I think it probably spent about 5 weeks in the garage for work. about 1.5 weeks was for a windshield replacement from a golf ball strike on a highway..( long story )....

The KEY is to buy a good car in the first place. Besides a PPI and Leakdown / compression test... you want to see a huge stack of invoices for the previous service history. higher mileage is not as much a worry vs. past mtns. There will always be work to be done - they are old cars, but when you keep on top of the Mtns, they are largely trouble-free. I've only been left once by my 328 ... and that was in the parking lot of a restaurant - with a cracked vacuum hose... the biggest trouble on a well kept 328 is going to be electrics... connectors get old corroded and start to burn out. this leads to lots of non-starting or running issues ... 90% of your troubles will likely be electrical in nature. the AC is not great, and even when well set up, provides only adequate cooling for one person. with two people in the cockpit at anything over 90F ... you are going to be HOT.

Belt changes, water pump, tensioners and valve job every 5 years and mechanically you should be fine. suspension rebuild every 15 - 20 years, and new tires every 5-6 years. the interior can be a challenge to keep clean and neat ... but they can be brought back to life and look spectacular.

the 328 is a very, very good Ferrari... and an in general good car .... its not the fastest or best handling but for pure all round fun, and joy of ownership its right up there. I Hope you buy one and love it.

 

Come to think of it - I think Merlin Motors here in Atlanta still as my old 328 for sale.... ( I have no commercial interest in the car any longer) but I would like it to go to a good home.

 

My 89 328 has never failed except for one time when the battery died so no fault of the car. Other than oil changes and regular maintenance it has been 100% reliable. The key is to drive it regularly and my goal during the driving season (it hibernates when the salt hits the roads in IL) is to drive it at least once per week. I’ve owned it for 8 years now and it has been great. Most reliable Ferrari ever including the new models in my opinion.