93 512TR

Anybody know this car? What's a fair price here? Thanks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270193116600&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI

 

If the car is as perfect as the seller says -- that is, if it truly needs nothing service-wise or otherwise -- I think exotic dealers would be asking $110-$115,000 for the car.

That means that a private party should take a little less.

The mileage is on the high side, but given the "perfect" condition of the car, I think mileage -- while it does hurt the value -- hurts it only a little.

Exotic dealers would probably wholesale this one for $90-$100,000.

Now, for my biased opinion that will keep 512 TR prices as high as possible: well, I won't give it

 

I am not so worried about the mileage, which I feel means the car has been driven and everything is in working order.

Is anyone familiar with this particular car? Is the owner on Fchat?

 

Hello -- I found FerrariChat while looking on another topic, and was somewhat surprised (guess I shouldn't have been) to see my car being discussed!

Happy to talk with anyone further, and to verify details on the car. By the way, I'm looking at my 2003 service receipt for "gear box updates" right now, so would politely dispute the claim on another thread that my auction ad was "a lot of bs" in that regard. I was glad to see the authoritative info in the other thread on the several tranny updates over time. By the way, I paid for them, not the Factory -- design flaw or not. One clarification is that I've added up the numbers, and it cost me a little less than $5k in early 2003, plus another thousand for additional work a year later -- so at that time it only cost me about $6k, but remember that the engine was already out of the car at the time. So, my estimate that "it's a $10k job" today probably isn't too far off the mark given the rapid escalation in authorized dealer repair rates, especially if you pull the engine specifically to do the job.

As noted in that thread and this one, the belt and fuel line recalls are real, not "bs," and I've had them both done. My recollection may be a bit off on the brake fluid reservoir, but best recall is that shortly after I bought the car (say, 1994) I had an episode in which the ability to shift absolutely went away, and the explanation I got was that the seam in the two-piece plastic reservoir had given way, and dealer then replaced with a newer part. That was 13 years ago, so I may have my facts a bit scrambled -- but driving from Wisconsin to Lake Forest stuck in 4th gear and praying to make all of the lights is something I won't soon forget!

On the Euro ECUs -- I had a problem in which during hot weather but when the car was cold, I would crank the engine -- and it would crank and crank, but not fire. Dealer explanation was that US ECUs were set up to limit emissions during cold starting, and the algorithm used led to the problem -- and that they were going to replace the units with Euro versions. Maybe I'm just a trusting fool and they weren't telling the full truth, but the car fired just fine after that -- so I'm inclined to believe their version of events. And, right now I am looking at the service receipt from 9/23/94 that shows "check for hard cold start -- order new ECUs" as a warranty repair, so I can show that ECU replacement was indeed done.

On the overall condition of the car, I'd invite others to get a Platino at the FCA annual meet and then try to achieve the Coppa Bella -- it is a tough, tough test to pass. I know about the little light inside of the ignition switch because mine burned out and I spent the afternoon after the concours (and before the Coppa Bella judging) taking the steering column plastic housing off and replacing the bulb. Good thing, because the judge checked it! I had a lot of routine cosmetic freshening done (seats removed and refinished, wheels touched up, rear wheel wells repainted, radiators repainted, screw heads touched up, etc.) for concours purposes -- just taking care of normal wear and tear, but little things that many owners don't do and that add up to a car that's in great shape.

Sorry to go on so long about this, but it drives me a bit nuts to see all of the 512s for sale with aftermarket junk on them, no evidence of regular engine-out maintenance, and absolutely no assurance that the tranny can take the load of the engine, and then take grief about the care that I've taken of this car. Thanks for reading this far.

I'm reachable through forum email (I assume) -- a potential local buyer is visiting me at 9:30 am Pacific on Thursday, but I'll certainly look at my email and the forum prior to that.

Best,

Gary