barchetta - ease of repair

you sure don't sound medium skilled to me ! I don't think this should scare you at all , good luck !

 

The Barchetta is a 550. No differences. More appropriate to ask about 550/575 maintenance campaigns.

The 550 will require specialized diagnostic equipment (SD2 or possibly SD3) that is quite expensive ($20K?). That said, however, a car is a car is a car. It's got a chassis, engine, transmission, suspension, electrical systems and coachwork. It's not like you need some secret handshake to remove the lugbolts. If you can change oil in a Honda, you can change oil in a Ferrari. I doubt you'll be required to do an engine rebuild anytime soon, though. This is not a 30 year old car. Most Barchettas have low miles on them, too.

So, I have no idea what your planning as far as maintenance goes, but I doubt you'll have significant issues.

CW

 

And, if you run some searches on the typical failings of the 550, you will see an assortment of common ills- bad hoses, no big deal, wanky ECUs- more problematic since I doubt they can be 'fixed'; leaking modular wheels, although there was a campaign for that one, so check to see that it was done on the Barchetta you shop; some funky motor mounts on the early 550 but that may have been cured by the time the barchetta rolled around. Frankly, I had more problems with my 550 Berlinetta than I did with my barchetta. They succeeded in de-bugging it pretty good. I think CornersWell nailed it, mechanically; the only thing that might tie you in knots is some of the fancy electronic stuff. There is a gripe thread on the General Discussion about this very issue, namely, whether more modern Ferraris will have the same shelf life as the cars from the 50's and 60's because of the electronics. Kinda like that scrap heap ship of dead robots in the first STar Wars movie....
Good luck. They are nice cars (if you don't need a roof).

 

Can you point me in the direction of the leaky modular wheel campaign? Might have one... is it too late?

 

I do too Joe, Loose about 6 lbs a month so I have to keep an eye on that one wheel tire pressure. I hope you find out its still a recall option but I doubt it. Algar even pointed it out when I bought the car and said it was a factory defect but didnt offer to fix it. Jon

 

Damn... I think we're going to need tires in the spring, might just ask them to tighten the bolts when it's in (unless the leak is from the seal between the barrel and the rim?). What are you doing about it?

 

Guys- didn't mean to stir the pot. When I got my Barchetta new at the time, the car wheels were losing air. I think I had it in for service at Wide World, which is not where I bought it, but closer for service than Algar. I think I spoke with the regional service rep about it, Ferrari replaced the wheels, end of story.