99 355 30k service?

6 years..its time

 

yes, very much the time. 16K miles in ~6 years = 2.667K miles a year = 222.25 miles a month (aproximately). give the age, it should really be looked into for a 30K service for belt wear among other small items that haven't been looked after too closely.

get a PPI yet?

 

I'm not an expert by any means, but a few things to think about: the 95 is ODB-I the 97+ are ODB-II. The 95 will have a tad bit more power, which is probably negligable.

Issues in speedmoore's shop that I've seen on the F1's and spiders - strange things. On one individual's car, there was a problem with the seat, which goes forward when the top goes down. The F1 tranny is also a first for Ferrari or any other make in mass or semi mass production and is an interesting modified transmission which is shifted by air... or a type of pneumatic jets.

A few images to help you out:
-- the underside of a 355F1, this is the left rear quarterpanel. those are the "jets" that fire in order to push the tranny to the correct gear. http://www.buymeaferrari.com/gallery/moorespeedtechday2/10_15_2003_014
-- another shot of the same car. if you look closely you'll see two rings in front of the tranny where the shift linkage "would" be if it were not an F1. http://www.buymeaferrari.com/gallery/moorespeedtechday2/10_15_2003_015
-- various SD2 tunings on the 355 - definately not a DIY'er type of job. http://www.buymeaferrari.com/gallery/moorespeedtechday4?page=3

Hope this helps, if nothing else, to become a more informed buyer.

regarding the valve guide issue - search and ye shall find - there's a great post by Jon Koford regarding it. And to be brief - if it hasn't been fixed by now, it probably isn't an issue if it is still running well. Still.. invest in a PPI, but more than that... wait to get what you really want. A spider isn't for me, I'd hold out for a GTB 6speed if I were in the market. But again, that's just what I'd take.

 

to answer your original question
yes it's time
car was probably built in late '98
which means it has 7 year old (maybe almost 8 year old) timing belts on it
i wouldn't want drive it around on those

 

Hi Niteroi,
If you want to save even more money, I know a 95 Berlinetta for $72K that has had the valves done and just about everything else by a well known mechanic. I bought a 98 that is past the valve issue for the reasons you probably have. Either way - a car with the valves done or a 98.5 or newer car with the steel valve guides is the way to go. Yes, the mileage on the car is not the issue regarding the 30K - its 5 years OR 30K - the owner is just trying to avoid paying for it. Plenty of owners get it done before they sell it. This guy just wants to get away cheap. Don't have him lower the price by the 30K either - chances are it will cost a lot more than just having the 30K done (its never just that and nothing more on these cars).

Good luck!

Scott

 

Del,

$80K for a 95 GTS is too much. $70K is closer the mark.

$90K for the 99 is more reasonable, but factor in the required service. I'd offer $80K and expect to spend another $10K on the 30K service and other miscellaneous items.

Remember the GTS is the "least loved" of the 3 versions, so should be the cheapest. I think they offer the best of both worlds however....

Good luck in your search.

Dave

ps A PPI is money well spent....

 

Based on a recent experience, I would buy an 97 or later. 95-96 had the Teves ABS system. 97 switched to Bosch. If you lose a brake master cylinder on a Bosch car, it's about $375 for parts. If you lose a brake master cylinder on the Teves system, it's currently only available as the entire hydraulic control unit for about $4,200.

But with any exotic, you're always better off buying the latest car you can afford and taking advantage of all the running changes they inevitably make...

 

What about the exhaust headers on both cars you're looking at- any info? I love the spider- that's my dream car- but in the end when the time is right, a GTS may be the way for me if the price is lower for similar car and for the same reason you cite of the complexity of the top motors/seat motors in the spider. If and when the time comes, I will only consider 6-speed cars as well...

I'm probably stating the obvious, but look over the records carefully if the seller is claiming a 15K or 30K service was done...any try to talk to the mechanic who did the work if possible.

 

Hmmm, that is a tough one. I'd say $90K is probably reasonable - depending on what the crash was. I'd want to see the bill for what was fixed. If it was a lot, I'd discount it a lot - or run away. How much longer is the extended warranty good for. Is it a Ferrari warranty? If so, its worth something, if not, its worth very little from what other folks say here. The warranty is the only saving grace here. That way, if you find an issue in the first year, you'll have a lot to back you up. That may be hard to beat. Personally, it would be a tough call. The car sounds great - except the crash. I just got a 98 that has similar characteristics - but no tubi and no extended warranty. Mileage a tad lower. I paid $87K (its red/black GTS). Problem is - the repair place now has had the car 2 weeks longer than I have!

It was an out of state car.
It failed smog.
When they smog tested it, it leaked coolant from the radiator.
Just spent $2K almost to get the radiator replaced.
It is still likely to fail smog. They want another $2K or so to try to replace the exhaust bypass valve which may or may not allow it to pass smog.
It won't talk to the OBDII computer so even if it passed the smog part of the test, it would fail the "functional" part. Hence, I have to take it to a referee for a waiver.
The windshield got cracked in transport - just had that fixed.
My wife has said - you got a F3 (as opposed to an F1 car - but mine was a GTS but anyway...) - Fix F*%!ing Ferrari
Needless to say, I'm a little jaded to the whole experience so far.

Scott

 

Huh? The premium a GTS gets over a Berlinetta is almost as large as the premium a Spider carries over the GTS. FML will confirm this. They may have been the 'least loved' when introduced but the relative scarcity now keeps supply low and the price higher than the Berlinetta.

 

I think the headers may be in other years than the '95....they can crack.

I believe Martin at Cavilino motors had a repaired GTS with under 10K for $70K....it was on their consignment for a long long time. I was considering this car for the mid $60's when I was talking to the original owner, but couldn't get past the accident damage. It was red/tan...supposidly had salvange title, but didn't show up on the carfax report in subsequent talks with Martin. I see it's in his sold section now, so it must have eventually sold.

$89 is too much given the accident history in my opinion...there should be a considerable discount in price...damaged goods

 

To give you an idea of the condition of that GTS, here's a couple of pictures the owner send before it was consigned- what a beautiful car!:
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Niteroi,
Did you find out what the accident damage was?
My car is Red/Black. Sounds similar to what you are looking at. I am thinking of jazzing it up a little with a red shifter knob and carpets with logos. I think it looks classy. My big thing was finding a car with as little wrong with it as possible (and look where it got me - I have to deal with fixing the car for emissions which I didn't count on). But, a spider and/or F1 are going to have more potential for things to go wrong. On cars this expensive, thats something to think about. I have a 14 year old Lotus which is a convertible. I carefully make sure that the mechanism works properly when moving the top up and down. And, it still isn't perfect. It doesn't seal perfectly and there are little things that stretch out over time. If you are never going to track the car and you like the look and feel of a convertible, sure, go for it. But, in my mind, the GTS is the best of both worlds. Not only that, you get a built in wind blocker . That is pretty useful unless you like the wind in the back of your head trick that almost all convertibles give you.

Scott

 

The original seller was advertising the car here on f-chat. He claimed to have some pictures or documentation of the damage- I can't remember which. Supposidly it was a light front hit to a curb- front bumper and front suspension was fixed- if I remember right....(it was a while ago, so I don't recall quite what it was). It didn't sound that bad- i.e. the body wasn't bent or anything supposidly. One of my concerns was if I had to sell the car down the line it would be difficult timewise and price wise to sell...I talked to the guy who owned it a couple of times...even called about insuring the car etc. I didn't recall there being a problem financing it as long as they inspected the car to make sure it was all fixed, but I never went through with any sort of for financing application or anything. I know the insurance company was willing to insure with an inspection that they have on any car they insure... I would have had a nice gts for cheap...but it would have always had that stigma. My wife was OK with it too because it was doable at the time for us- can you imagine Now we have a house, so......oh well. I'll get one some day!

 

The original seller was advertising the car here on f-chat. He claimed to have some pictures or documentation of the damage- I can't remember which. Supposidly it was a light front hit to a curb- front bumper and front suspension was fixed- if I remember right....(it was a while ago, so I don't recall quite what it was). It didn't sound that bad- i.e. the body wasn't bent or anything supposidly. One of my concerns was if I had to sell the car down the line it would be difficult timewise and price wise to sell...I talked to the guy who owned it a couple of times...even called about insuring the car etc. I didn't recall there being a problem financing it as long as they inspected the car to make sure it was all fixed, but I never went through with any sort of for financing application or anything. I know the insurance company was willing to insure with an inspection that they have on any car they insure... I would have had a nice gts for cheap...but it would have always had that stigma.

 

Rob,

asking prices (FML) and actual selling prices are VERY different numbers. I would suspect that GTS sales are very slow, especially as spider prices come down to be almost the same as berlinetta.

Dave