I was on my way home for Steve Rochlins ferrari shindig, and drove by a used car store that specializes in wrecks, thefts, storm cars, etc. out front they had a red 355 berlinetta. I quickly did a u-turn, parked at the office and inquired. the salesman handed me the keys and I went outside to check it out. 1100 miles. worn paint. this car has been outdoors for a while. black leather rough. pulling away from seams. faded. rubber trim dangling. the engine stumbled at first but came to life quickly. there was rust on the brake disks. it hasnt moved in a while. the salesman said it was from california and was a bank repo. it also has been in an accident but he didnt give any details. the engine bay looked mint. although it had collected water on the header heat shields that quickly turned to steam. probably from rain water. some funky aftermarket 18" wheels. I was toying with the idea to have a ppi done and offer something under 50k to see if they would bite. It would be fun to rip around with a 355 and not be too freaky about the cosmetics and worrying about the condition. any feedback? something in my brain says "run away, as fast as I can"
Dont walk, run away!! That car probably has more gremlins and problems..... I wouldnt bother. Pay for a well taken care of car with everything sorted out and it will be cheaper in the long run.
1100 miles and worn paint????????? accident but not sure?????? 95s with valve guide issues?????????? good 95s with service are in the 60s and 70s and are going lower - run
You would pay $50... and over the first 6 months spend another $20+ to make it nice, and thats if your lucky. Save the time and effort and just buy a no stories car. The engine 30K service, valve guides, exhaust, headers, brake rebuild, electrical gremlins etc etc will eat you alive on that car. It also sounds like it sat outside for an extended period not being driven. BAD for any car.
What if you could get it for 42K or 36K...there is a price at which this car is a good deal. I would run a carfax, and see if a sympathetic ferrari dealer could run the vin and see whats been done in the past (or see where the car was registered and try the most likely dealer). It may have had the valves done. If its been intermittently cared for (and you intend to keep it and drive/track it) Make a low offer...you can tell by the general sentiment on this board that most if not all ferrari crazy people would run away from this car.
depends on what you want it for, but i think your general sentiment is normal and healthy; since the car's discounted, you won't be as anal and maybe you'll actually enjoy it. i think everyone else here missed the ppi part of your post , hence the pandimonium, but if you ppi it and put it on an alignment/frame rack and everything checks out, and the car is true then i don't see forsee buying the car to be the biblical catastrophe everyone's implying. (just make sure the ppi is done by an honest mech, not a shop that'll pass the car off in order to milk you "... gee, must have missed that...") the only thing you should consider is resale. by the general reaction here, i think you'd get a nun in hustler before you sold it to an "afficionado." so, plan on keeping the car, or selling it to someone like me. hubert ps: drive the living **** out of it. PPS: possible problems from weather exposure: seized calipers; rusted rotor hat bolts; dried belts/hoses; etc again, the ppi is very worthwhile. the paint can be brought back (if it's all stil lthere) with some color sanding/bufifng and a good detail. about the interior, STRIP IT and slap in 2 recaros and an omp alcantera steering wheel. done. good luck.