550 Purchase

Need a little help. What should I expect to pay for a lower mileage (under 10K miles) 550? Is there a specific year I should go after or look out for? I tried to do a search, but had no luck. Thanks in advance for the help.

Chris

 

Depends year to year. Dale did a database for when he bought the car but I'm sure it could use updating.

IMO, buy the latest year you can afford, and focus on that more than the miles. Remember, driven cars drive better, and that is an absolute truism on the 550s.

IIRC (and the numbers may have changed a bit), the delta between years is ~7500. The cars did get way better over time, and while my 97 is good (and very good for that year), my '01 car is WAY better.

Not sure what's available on the market, but happy to help look at specific cars / info.

--Dan

 

Dan, could you elaborate on what is better on the 2001?

 

Thanks Dan. What percentage come with the paddle shifters versus the 6 speed? Which do you have and do you have any opinions on either?

 

only 575s have paddles. They were from years 02-05.

 

i won't speak for dan, but net-net, the cars just got better. the quality levels increased. it's newer so things are newer. ferrari is famous for its updates to cars during production, so the latest model always has the latest updates.

i believe the only material changes (non-mechanical, not under the covers) were the radio system went from sony to becker in 98 or so. other than that, the cars are largely identical.

make sure the recalls and TSBs are up to date (eg: mag wheels on older cars, engine mounts, etc.).

oh - and the FHP option became available at some point late in the production cycle, methinks (that wasn't just 575M, right?).

doody.

 

Thanks Doody,

It seems like people talk more fondly about the 550 over the 575. Do you find that to be true, or is the 575 a newer version of a great car? Unfortunately, these aren't cars you can easily go and test drive for yourself, so that's why all the questions.

TIA,

Chris

 

the conventional wisdom is that ferrari over-fluffled the suspension in the 550 to 575M conversion. the 575M with FHP is great, and the 575M without FHP is a bit too damped. i've never driven a 575M, so i can only report what i've read and heard.

your butt is the best instrument to test this stuff. you SHOULD take some test drives - don't be bashful - this is a ton of money to drop on a stupid car .

personally, i did not like the styling changes they made to the 575M - though i know i'm not alone in that opinion. the extra power is nice, but it's not a ton and by some accounts it's an entirely imperceptible change.

if i were in the market for a Maranello right now, i'd be looking at 99 or 00 cars for good value for the money, but that's just one boy's opinion, worth no more tha you paid for it . i'd second dan's comment to be careful of low-mileage cars. a 2000 MY car with 15K or 20K on the clock is likely to be quite nicely sorted - though always review the service records and get a PPI.

doody.

 

IMO, Doody is right. Ferrari just gets better at building the cars. The fit and finish of the car, sorting out of the suspension, little things (actuators), hoses that leak, etc. are all just much better on the later cars.

Also - in 99/00 there were some big updates, not just the radio. Introduced CAN to the cars, steering rack is different, and then a whole slew of smaller little things, most of which I'm sure I'm unaware of.

575s have a completely different suspension (skyhook). I don't like it, but that's me.

As coolestkid mentioned - paddles are only on 575s. Completely different, IMO.

Best thing you can do is get seat time. It's easy to get rides / drives in them, just go find a car and drive it. I bought my first one w/o ever having sat in it, and while I got lucky I don't think it was a smart idea.

--Dan