Buy 355: Slightly higher mileage or Low mileage??

I would prefer 1 that was Exercised regularly (2-3K yearly) than a Garage Queen.
Ferraris are meant to be DRIVEN !!!

 

The most important thing for me is that the car has been regularly serviced, all the issues with the mechanicals (campaigns, upgrades etc.), the electricals and cosmetic aspect of the car has been taken care of and they have all the records of the work they did on the car. Not to mention you can get them cheaper than garage queens.

Low Mileage garage queens sometimes are just a mess and you have to take care of everything which means more visits and time spent at the service center and less on the road.

Just my 2c.

S

 

The reality of it is: You want one driven regularly, but where the odometer was broke for most of it .

And from my experience looking for a ferrari, a whole lot of cars fall into this camp...

Not recommending it, just my observations...

I have seen testarossa'a which CLEARLY had tons of miles/wear/bad paint, listed as 10,000 mile or less cars. And folks bought them...

 

Condition is more important than mileage. Especially on older cars, I would feel more comfortable with a documented 30,000 mile car that has had valve guides, cats, and headers sorted than a 10,000 mile car that has not. And the interior will help tell you if it has been cared for.

 

At the age of F355s, I'd like to be buying a car with 50k+ miles on it right now that was driven every weekend or even every (non-snowy) day.

Seals dry up and everything wears prematurely otherwise.

Condition would my paramount consideration, mot high mileage. LOW mileage would be a concern!

 

I recently bought a 95 F355 with fewer than 30K. I concur that with something that is close to or over 10 years old you want some mileage on it with a maintenance history. My car had its 30K, new guides, new cats, belts, etc. I looked at a lot of low mileage cars, but was concerned that none of them had been given regular Italian tune-ups by their owners. Also, wanted to make sure no real track mileage on the car. IMO this is the way to go.

 

Ditto on everyone else.

I had a 95 355 Spider with 10K when I got it. I drove it regularly and when I finally got rid of it (A garage Valet crashed it into a wall, different story), it had 28K miles on it.

Beside oil change, the only major problem I had with the car was a minor electric glitch with the spark plug wires.

Other than that, the car ran like clockwork!

A car with clean history but high miles can be bought at a relative bargain. Most of the problems if any, has already been taken care off.

Good Luck with your search.

 

I would get one that's been driven. I'm in the market for one and cars with 30k+ miles are a + for me.

 

Rule NO. 1. NEVER EVER Valet your FERRARI !!!

Rule NO. 2. See Rule NO. 1.

 

Haha! you're so right! Get this, the valet was fired the next day but he got the audacity to hired a lawyer and is suing me...b/c my brake "failed".

 

Make sure belt (30k) service was done, it's due for time reasons alone if not mileage.

 

Having overseen over 137,000 miles of combined Ferrari/Lamborghini miles over the past 2 years, I can assure you that we had WAY more problems early on in the cars' lifetimes than later on. The only thing bad about a high-mile car is the fact that so many people are scared of them.

 

Well, he's suing you because you own a Ferrari.

But "brakes failed" sounds better in court.

 

Good, the more available they will be for me when my hunt begins. Which is still a vast question-mark.

I actually had a discussion with my friend at work. He's not really into cars perse, but when someone in the parking garage/building next to ours drove his 550 for two days and parked it on the roof he couldn't comprehend it.

I told him true Ferrari enthusiasts either track their cars, drive them regularly, or do a combination of both. Then I said the higher mileage cars tend to be less problematic and he just couldn't see how that would be. He also couldn't see why the guy parked on the roof. I said, one reason: he's watching it from his office window. Only saw it for two days, but exact same spot both times.

I actually assumed his daily was in the shop.