348 Engine-out 35K service done 7 years ago...

It's not the miles it's the time.

2000 miles in 7 years likely means it has some severe leaks.

Anyway you look at it I'd do the service right away. Factor that into the price if you decide to buy.

 

I bought a 348 Challenge that had low miles, no service for 10 years. The first thing I did after I got it home was to put it on the rack for an engine out service. It took 3 months (leisure pace).

 

You don't want to take the chance. These are too beautiful of a machine.

 

And too expensive if it goes wrong...

 

There are some here who waited 7-10 years for the engine out service and nothing happened. However, if something does happen, are you OK with paying 20-30k to have it fixed or whatever it costs? It's all a probability and most choose not to take the risk.

 

7 years is certainly at the point of being worrisome. you'd likely worry about it, in the back of your head, every time you drove the car. whichever one you are looking at, the seller is going to know full well that the buyer will want to be compensated for the service. it should already reflect it or need it factored in. i just looked at a 348 locally and it was sitting at 4 years from date of service with minimal miles. you still have to consider a service in 1 year.

 

Wow, because of low miles in 6 years must mean "Severe Leaks"
Ok,

 

Not true.

 

Yes, not true. Low miles does not equal leaks

 

Mine was ~1500 over 11 years if I remember correctly. I drove it less than 1 mile and kept it low in the RPN range before pulling the motor. Nothing was leaking at the time.

 

I disagree with this.

 

As others have posted, time or miles, whichever comes first - and in this case it's time.

If 7 years was the last major, then it's due for another one.

 

I'm in the same boat, the time has passed but not the mileage. Car showed no leaks during PPI.
I've done around 250km on the car but after reading all the 'ticking time bomb' comments here I can just picture all the moving parts and the potential failure so I recently received Ricambi's 30k kit w/upgraded tensioners and will get the engine out in the coming weeks. Will take advantage and install my also recently received Nouvalari exhaust and bypass pipes.

 

Mine was about the same. I found the timing drive roller bearing was failing (I upgraded to the roller setup), my drive sprocket fence was loose and belt showed signs of the tensioners sliding on it. 17K on car (1990 TS), 2 K on major in 11 years. Also replaced the oil pump tensioner with the upgraded 360 part and the SRI timing tensioner pad. Its not just the belt.

 

5-7 years, you pick your poison. I've done mine in 5 and 6 1/2 over 2 348's spanning ownership from 2002. That's 4 majors IIRC. It's not the miles but the years. Rubber ages and fluids deteriorate. It's a good excuse to make sure you are familiar with regular maintenance items too.

 

Our craziest Stooge took his 348 to 8 years and the water pump was failing. While it is not the belt, some of the components that do fail can be catastrophic. Even the crazy Stooge above said he would not do it again. 5 years is a safe bet.

 

I thought we all agreed to simply call him "lovably eccentric" instead. It drives him nuts when you call him "crazy".

 

He is crazy to me, in a friendly sort of way. He needs to come back for a stooge event.

 

I thought it was closer to 10 years (9+ from what I recall)