http://www.donlleasing.com/detail-1999-ferrari-550_maranello-1176968.html I recently sold my 348 and have decided that my next Ferrari will be a 550. I am not currently in the market for one, but I have turned a friend of mine onto the 550 and he is starting his research and collecting information and I have decided to help him out and learn as much as possible about the 550 during his quest to help me on mine (hopefully in a couple of years). I know that we would want to try and get complete records and know when the last major service was completed. I noticed that this 550 has what seems to be a rare package that has carbon fiber seats. What package was this and what else was included in the package. I also have read where the '99 had more power than the later models, is this correct??? He is looking for a good early 550 under $110k. Any other suggestions than this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I assume you've seen the recent thread on the 1999 yellow/black 550 that FOW (Ferrari of Washington) has with only new delivery miles on it. It was stored in a living room for the past 8 years. Here is some info on a different 550. I've thought about buying this TDF Blue 550 in North Carolina: http://www.sportauto.cc/inventory_ferrari/1999_550_Blue/index.htm I now am chasing a blue 575M, so I'll pass this link along. Several people have told me good things about the people at this dealership (Sport Auto) and this looks like a nice car. They are asking $105k - $107.5k depending on the advertisement. It has 20,000 miles on it and has a dark blue interior with white piping. They are a 5.5 hour drive from where I live, so I haven't made it down there for a test drive yet. Good luck looking for your 550.
Great choice on your next Ferrari - too bad you have to wait a while. I saw the carbon fibre package on a car in Holland a couple of weeks ago and it looks great. As you can see on the photo's in the link, the package consisted of a CF gearknob, centre console trim and door panels. All 550 models had the same power rating. There was some talk on this board concerning cats which I dismissed as nonsense but it may in fact be something unique to US models. Obviously a difference in catalytic converter/exhaust system could have an impact on power delivery. I'd be interested to hear more. But certainly all European 550's were identical in this respect. I suggest you check out the Buying Guide from **************** for the 550/575, I found it useful and a good read. Also, the long-term reports on driving a 550 daily on EVO are insightful. Go to www.evo.co.uk and type "550" in the search box. EVO also had an excellent buying guide in one of their issues, around January 2005. That article I've read a million times just this year before I bought my 550! I don't know if it is still available as a back-order; EVO tends to be sold out quickly. Any particular reason your friend wants an early 550? Just price, probably. There's nothing in it for difference in build quality and there's very few issues with 550's, but if I had the choice I'd select a late 2000 - early 2001 model (mine's August 2000 BTW). It's just a little safer to go late in the production run, but not so late that they start putting more of their attention to the new model. Good luck with the hunting! [EDIT: OK, now this is a bit silly. The forumname I typed in got censored. Really, almighty mods, it's OK to have more than 1 forum about Ferraris!! OK, you can find the buying guide on Amazon.com as well, but the forum I was talking about is ------life dot com where you substitute the dashes by our beloved Enzo's last name.] Onno
Opinions on Don L Leasing... http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125627&highlight=don+leasing John...do a thread title search on "Don" and you'll see ~5 threads come up on them. Not good...
