355 imported from Kuwait... would you?

Looked at a 355 GTS today... late '97 model year, 15k miles, Grigio Titanio with ivory (not sure of the official name, but it's not Crema) interior. Colour-coded steering wheel and dash. Was apparently owned by the Kuwaiti Royal Family, then imported into the UK by its current owner in late 1995. Car looked pretty straight, except for a badly scuffed rear offside alloy. History-wise, it had stamps from Al Tayer Motors while in UAE and 2 stamps from Verdi in the UK. Receipts for belt service and tyres (Michelins) in UAE and receipts for SVA prep, new exhaust manifolds, clutch (plate and slave cyl. seals) and Capristo exhaust all from Verdi. Was raining reasonably hard and, whilst driving, I noticed a drip of water drip onto my arm from the roof. Interior in excellent overall condition. Car seemed to drive well, but electric release of fuel filler cap wasn't working and the gas struts responsible for holding-up the engine cover when open were a bit weak (barely supported the weight of the engine cover).

Owner had paperwork incl. the original bill of sale and the UAE title document (actually just a laminated card all in Arabic). This was in addition to all receipts since the car has been in the UK.

I have the opportunity to buy this car for a very good price (somewhere in the region of £30k-ish), but I've been advised not to touch a Middle Eastern car with a barge pole.

Oh, the sticker on the inside cover of the service book that has the VIN printed on it had the wrong VIN. The owner of the car pointed this out to me and said it was an administrative error by the supplying dealer. He showed me a couple of computer print outs supposedly from a Ferrari dealer in the UK that shows a warranty start date of the car he's selling that matched the warranty start date on the service book, thus demonstrating that the VIN in the service book is in error. He said I could cross-check this with Ferrari and could have a new sticker put in the book to correct.

Comments?

 

lol, you're right about the UAE registration card... could've been anything as far as I'm concerned!

Can I ask you to clarify why you wouldnt touch a car like this? tbh, my foremost concern before anyone told me about the potential horrors of cars imported from the UAE was the colour combo. Not the most sought after and would probably be a nightmare when it comes to resale down the line (apart from the fact it's also a Kuwaiti import, which would put prospective purchasers off even further).

 

The reasons, as far I can see, are mainly around the history of the car whilst in the Middle East. Firstly, much of the documentation (if there is any) will be in Arabic. Secondly, the Middle East is apparently a mecca for stolen cars which subsequently have their identities changed. No equivalent, as far as I am aware, of CarCheck or HPI in the Middle East, so no way of tracing its history whilst there. Also, I've read that the Saudis generally do not treat their cars well and abuse them and generally run them into the ground. Because they have so much money, the car is literally a play thing and a novelty. Also, I've read about sand corrosion.

The specific car I'm looking at does have some history, but the thing I mentioned about the service book sticker VIN not macthing the car VIN is rather troubling (however trustworthy the seller seems and however simple and plausible his reasoning for it sound). With something as important as a sticker identifying a car, I can't see a dealer making that kind of mistake.

 

Agreed, I think I'll have to pass. It's tempting due to the low miles (which I guess may or may not be accurate) and the very recent history while in the UK with receipts for $$$$'s on clutch, manifolds and Capristo system. I would be getting the car for around $20k (dollars) below the advertised price of a similar car (same year/miles/spec) of European origin and with no question marks over it.

 

This is the car I'm talking about...
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Thinking about this, I don't see how even a Ferrari dealer would be able to reconcile the service book with the actual car if the sticker in the service book with the VIN printed on it is 'wrong'. What do you guys think??

Also, the seller intends to sell the car with his private plate still on it, but says he still wants the plate. He told me all I have to do is fill in a form, send it off to the DVLA and they'll issue an age-related plate for the car. However, thinking about this cynically, wouldn't he already do that himself before selling the car?? The fact that he hasn't rings some additional alarm bells. The car DOES have a V5 (log book), but even so.

285Ferrari... I'll get the VIN for you when I speak to the owner tomorrow.

Cheers,
Ian.

 

Pete,

The car does look very clean overall... imperfections consist of a badly grazed offside rear alloy wheel, couple of scuffs on the nearside alloy wheel, minor 1" scratch above offside rear arch (looks like it would buff out) and some scuffs on the bottom of the front valance that aren't visible unless you kneel down and look for them (obviously where the car has scuffed the pavement when coming down ramps, etc). Other than that, the car is pretty immaculate and the interior is equally clean.

Not sure if the 30k service has been done.

How would I verify that the previous owners were the Kuwaiti Royal Family as the owner claims?

Cheers,
Ian

 

chaa,

The cheapest advertised RHD 355 I've, so far, is in this week's AutoTrader. It's a '94 Berlinetta with 30k miles on it. Spoke to the owner and it needs a manifold on one bank, cambelt service and other bits and pieces doing. He's asking £35k for the car as is and doesn't have ANY receipts with the car either. Although he does that a fully-stamped service book. Seems the going rate for a low miles, straight GTS with documented history is £40k+. Add another £5k for RHD.

What's tempting about this Kuwaiti car (apart from the general condition and the miles) is the recent documented history from Verdi that includes new manifolds (both banks), Capristo and clutch. Still, there are several question marks about the history of that car. Without the Kuwaiti equivalent of the UK HPI check (or the US CarCheck), there's no way I can be sure the car hasn't been an insurance total loss between '97 and '05 when it was imported into the UK, etc.