DRIVE THEM for God's sake!!!!

The choice to drive or not is really a personal thing. It sounds like driving your F-car is working for YOU. Unfortunately the nature of the beast it to be light on the miles. Your lucky to be one of the few who really drive.

PS - these type of posts creep up all the time. I guess people like to share their driving excitement and hopefully pick up a few more converts along the way.

 

I agree they should be driven. When had my 355, I drove it like a Honda Accord If I needed something from 7-11 at 2 am, I drove the ferrari most times. I put 12K miles on it in two years and that was with having two cars. I never took it easy on the ferrari - if something broke, it could always be fixed. It suffered a few rock chips and marks in the paint, but as you say, they are meant to be enjoyed. I took mine apart and installed the tubi myself, as well as the larger brembo brakes. Drove it in the rain (they drive great in the rain by the way!) and generally enjoyed it as much as possible. The one thing I never did was smoke the tires or abuse it - but drive it, heck yes!

Ray

 

I'm with you Ray.

 

I agree that Ferraris should be driven. The issue is having the time on Saturday or Sunday. If you own a few exotics like I do, then to drive them, you need to have the cars on a rotational schedule and consequently each car will get less miles per year.
Personally, I find it hard to use a Ferrari as a daily driver, when my commute is about 25 miles each way and the top speed is 60 miles an hour for short stretches and many stoplights along the way and traffic jams. Factor in, the other crazy drivers cutting you off, constantly watching for potholes and poor roads, I just don't find it fun. I also worry about other people scratching your paint out of jealousy or carelessness in a parking lot.
I don't worry about putting mileage on the car but the heartache from paint scratches or dings that yes can be repaired but is still hurts to do so. My daily driver , a SUV has many dings from other people from parking lots which not being a Fcar, I don't mind as much.
You are lucky that you can drive your F car more that I am able to do so here on the East Coast.

 

I've had my 360 for 18 months and have put 11k miles on it so far.

 

When I park (whether it be the Ferrari or my truck), I always park as far away from the masses as humanly possible. I haven't gotten a door ding on my cars in years, just by being willing to park carefully and walk a bit more. It does drive my gf crazy though.. she always calls it parking in "Z-99". When my brother-in-law is with me, and I park at the far end of the lot, he usually will yell "get out the map!"

Nevertheless, it keeps people from parking too close to you and probably also helps to reduce the vandalism factor as far as someone damaging your paint, etc.

If I had an H2, I would be more concerned about someone keying my car. My experience with Ferrari is that most people like them and even the most hardcore hippies still dig a groovy super car Peace and love man.. can you dig it?

Ray

 

I have had my 575 for 15 months and today the odometer showed that I have driven her 40,000 miles.

Steve

 

I though I drove a lot.... 6 monthes 6000 miles.
I guess I need to work harder ;-)
chris

 

The only problem is a Honda Accord doesn't break down, and on the rare occasion it does, a spare part is like $15 . But yes, Ferraris should be driven, why not? They weren't built to sit there.

 

I'm still waiting for my name to come up for a 6-spd F430 coupe and I agree Ferraris are meant to be driven. I'm just wondering where does everyone drive their Ferraris. Are you brave enough to leave it parked at a mall or restaurant. Or do people take it out for a long drive without really stopping, or if you do stop the car never leaves your sight. I think once my car comes in I'll probably belong to the latter. I'll just be too nervous to leave a $200K car unattended. But I won't be afraid to put miles on it.

 

Yes.....but how many miles did you put on your road bike??????

I like to drive my F-car as often as I reasonably can. The thing that holds me back (when I'm held back) is NOT the mileage, wear & tear or even the unlikely maintenance......it' the potential for damage due to these skimpy parking-lots and the abundance of ignorant drivers who couldn't care less about how they swing the door out on their SUV's!!!!!

Cause you know if I get a ding in the door...I'm not going to live with it. Especially since Jon hasn't even seen it yet!

 

Sam,

That was a great post, and very much in line with my way of thinking.

When I decide to make the change again, having had two 360 Spiders (the first had 13,000Km's on it when I let it go) the second will probably have the same if not more, but it will be in the best condition possible, albeit with a bit of mileage.

However I will be seriously well qualified to tell the prospective buyer EVERYTHING about the car, not just how good she looks in the garage.

In my younger years when buying used exotic/sportscars I was always happy to buy from the guy who obviously was seriously involved with his car, and generally shied away from the chap who simply knew where to insert the key, and the gas, and could talk for days about the stereo, and the speakers.

 

I drive mine like any other car. Park it at the mall, the book store, post office, 7-11, outside strip clubs, etc. I have left it in under ground parking over night (although with a cover - and not the red cover It's fully insured after all. The other thing is that I think Ferraris are a pretty low theft risk by and large.

My dad used to always talk about how it was risky to leave it parked some place because someone might steal it. That is until I showed him that his Honda Accord was the 1st or 2nd most often stolen car in the US I assume people steal cars based on demand for parts or ease of selling them. Lots of people needs replacement parts for Hondas and Toyotas? Okay, people some place in the world will steal them.

Where is the demand for ferrari parts? There isn't that much.. you are dealing with a very small number of cars, owned by people who don't drive them or crash them much. Additionally, Ferrari owners tend to be a small group of people who know each other or at least run in the same circles, and deal with the same companies, shops, etc. If you stole a $150K to $250K car and suddenly tried to sell it (at least in the US), you'd have dealers and people asking for records, checking VIN #, doing history checks, etc. The one time I sold an Accura, two mexican guys show up with cash and bought it. They didn't ask about the "15K service", if I had "ever tracked the car", or "how many owners has it had and have you done the belt service". They drove around the block, spoke a lot of spanish while I was in the back seat, then the guy who did speak English said he would take it. Something about his wife needing a car.

When I sold my 355, I had to provide everything but a DNA sample

I have always felt - due to these factors - that the risk of theft of a ferrari is probably rather low. The only risk would be someone stealing the car and shipping it out of the country to some place like the middle east or something. But then again, getting a stolen car out of the country is probably not an easy task. So if you are dishonest and make your living stealing cars, why not just go steal a couple of Hondas, chop them up and move the parts to every shop out there needing fenders, hoods, etc. Easy, fast, and constant demand.

Steal a 355 and on the way back you run the risk of the CHP pulling you over to ask you how fast it will go and if it's actually a kit car or not

Just my 2 cents.

Ray

 

It seems of these posts comes up every now and then and I certainly agree that these cars should be driven, but not all of have the time. Will 430 coupe (which is on the water) will be my 4th Ferrari in the last four years, and in that same time frame I have bought a traded around 15 other cars (BMW, Porsches Mercedes Etc.), most of which I had heavily moded before getting bored and moving. No insult intended, but I do not consider any of these cars exotics.

I stayed single till pretty late in life and when I was I drove the hell out of everything I owned. I until two years ago when my twins were born I still managed to have the time to put 1800 miles in 6 months on the 1st 360 I owned. Now though things have changed, other things come first and I do not have the time to drive like I used to. When I got married 5 years ago I had 11 cars, now I have 4.

Will I drive my new 430 as much as I can, YES, as much as I want to NO. I wish I lived somewhere where there was no traffic, it never rained (I do not get alot of joy sitting in a traffic jam in the pouring rain regardless of what I'm driving) and it was 75 degrees year round.

I look at it this way if you bought the car to stare at it, you will get bored soon and sell. The people I know and the places I go, no one could care less what you drive. And if you are like me and just do not have the time, but the desire, I guess all we can do is envy those of you who do. Does that make us Posers? Hell I'm not even sure what that means.

 

I have an '04 360 F1 (July delivery) and it currently has 4100 miles. I have 2 kids and I own my own homebuilding and land development and construction business. I absolutely could never drive my car to any of the jobsites (or even to the office). Besides, a nail in a tire in my suv is no big deal where in the Modena means new tire (s). I try to drive at least every other week for a couple of hours. I even leave at 6:00 A.M. on a Sunday and meet up with a couple of other car guys and have a quickie blast somewhere. Its a 2 or 3 hour deal. Some guys play golf in the wee hours, I choose to enjoy my car and every single time I smile.... more than once....

The kids and marriage make it tough. Baseball, t-ball, lacrosse, the weather, my wife's B.S. makes me squeeze in a drive only when I can not when I want.

It's by no means a garage queen but it wll never be a daily driver either. Out to dinner sometimes. Drop one of the kids off sometimes. Pick up one of the kids sometimes. Wake up early and dash before anyone else is awake, You bet.

My new Silverstone Cuoio 430 coupe is scheduled for build the first week of July. I can't wait but not because I get to drive it every day...... I get to cherish every moment when (I) can enjoy it the best............

 

I average 5-6K a year on Fcars, but often I have 2 at a time (like now) which distributes the miles. Many owners do have more than one, or perhaps they have another toy car of another brand and that lowers the Fcar mileage. For some people, it is hard to drive a lot. Commutes can be no fun or they may have no place to park at work where you want to leave a Ferarri all day. Some also choose to keep a Ferrari secret from co-workers, employees, or employers for obvious reasons, thus making it a weekend toy. If you are in a cold weather climate, that reduces opportunities. For those with families, spending all of one's weekends with the car will lead to divorce and probably loss of the Fcar itself. So, I don't criticise people in these situations. And, there are some who just like having a Ferrari to look at, caress and preserve. That's OK with me as well. It's a hobby and everyone should be free to do as they wish with their Fcar without fear of criticism from those who have them for different reasons. There are some who buy Ferraris as a form of bragging or like a peacock on display. I don't like those folks much, but, fortunately, they seem to be in a small minority of Fcar owners.

Dave

 

I drive my CS every other week. I know I should drive it more, but I work six days a week and have a 1.5 year old son and a lovely wife. It's no excuse not to enjoy the CS, but all I have is early Sunday morning blast. I need to manage my time for family and work more than the car.

I used to drive F355 everyday when I was single and lived in the US. But career and family do take time from me, which I don't mind. We gotta feed the family..ha ha.

I buy car because I can and because I enjoy driving them. But I won't make driving a duty. I will drive whenever I can and want to. And once I stop enjoying the drive....I will sell the car, no matter if it's a Nissan or a Ferrari.

In the mean time, I will drive the car whenever I want to.

 

i drive my cars all the time. I use my 355 for anything, 7-11 runs to grocerys. I have put 2,000 miles on my 355 in 2 months and live in hawaii. I have a few rock chips on my bumper but i don't care. Its the enjoyment of being able to hop in and enjoy every bit of the car. I always drive my cars the way they were intended to be driven but never abused.

 

I bought my 360 on Sept 1st of last year with 17,969 miles on it. I'm at about 29,700 right now.

 

Why buy a 200k car and never drive it or worry about driving it because it hurts its value? Doesn't make any sense, if you can afford to buy one then you can afford to drive one, these cars are meant to be driven and not end up being garage queens like so many do. I've already put 5k miles on mine in the past 3 months and I drive it anywhere and everywhere, its a ferrari, we should enjoy the car and feel fortunate enough to be able to own one. Just my .02 cents.

David

 

12k in TWO yrs and thats driving it like a honda accord??

i put 8500 miles on a F355 in 8 months.
i put 13k miles on a CS in a year.
i do have 2 other cars as well.

 

I work at home

 

me too!