F355

HI hope you have settled a bit. The car dealer must be a looney. Sure maintenance is more expensive on a ferrari than most but they are also made to take hard driving more so than most. Clutches are a very subjective topic. I just replaced mine on a 355 gts at approx 25000kl and many do much more than this. There are dozens of threads re timing belts and you should go by the maintenace book however between 3-5yrs seems to be the general talk depending on mileage done or time sitting still as both wear out the belts. If you drive regularly you will probably do about 12000kl a year so 3-4yrs you need to replace belts. There are many mech's who are qualified to do the job at less than $150 per hour. The parts can be sourced outside australia at about half the aussie price and are avail. in kits with all that is needed, as are clutches. Talk to a few 355 owners and attend a club meeting or 2 and get the full story.
hope you buy one, I like the gts i have as in my mind is the best of both worlds.

 

You can pretty much halve the running costs mentioned by going to a specialist. There are several around Melbourne (of which I am one).

Where are you?

Please don't confuse Ferrari with a quality manufacturer (regarding your expectations). The only similarity is price.

If running costs/reliability/build quality are a TRUE concern, buy a German or Japanese car.

If it's passion, fashion and fun you're after, 355 it is!

 

My 95 F355 GTB has about 60000km now and i'm still on my first clutch.

 

Is this a genuine 1st post? Or perhaps one from Sadelaide?

 

Why not?

 

Im all for buying privately, however lately it seems that quite often dealers are very competetively priced with unrealistic private sellers.

however the opposite is also true, where some dealers think their stock is worth far more than it really is.

look at each car on its merrits.

 

I think you'll save $50k by buying privately. Dealers are mostly pricing these in the low $200k. Shop around and bargain hard

 

But buying from a dealer brings you many benefits and warranties....

I know of a fairly recent "cheap" 355 that blew it's engine and will cost at least 30K to fix (in another specialist).....

Shop carefully and wisely.

 

Very true. Get someone like Phil to checkout whatever you buy

 

I go and pick up Pizza or go through drivethrough in my Lotus all the time and would with a 355 also, perhaps not if i buy a diablo though, because you cant manouver it around a drivethrough.

i would never leave a good car parked unattended for any length of time unless i can keep an eye on it.

Rest assured i wouldnt go to a restaurant unless i could park out the front and perv on it.

 

Or any specialist/dealer of course.

 

In over two years of trading my own business in Oz now... this week a customer had my first witnessed case of vandalism.

Bonnet badge/screwdriver in St Kilda outside pub.

Vandalism is a really small problem with Ferrari, compared to other exotic/prestige marques.

 

*cough* MB, BMW *cough*

Every week we would have a beamer with a smashed window, mangled lock, or one that had been keyed.

 

Funny that, I've witnessed the opposite.

The Lambo is widely accepted as more of a "look at me" car, even more so than a Ferrari. I think you'll find a greater % of Lambo's get vandalised than Ferrari... but it's a small point to make, as both are very rare.

 

I drive my 355 almost everywhere I go.

I suppose the most important thing is that you are comfortable with the purchase be it buying the car from a dealer or privately.

 

Investment?

If you want to buy a Ferrari as an investment, look at the F40 or F50...

 

Or low volume stuff like BB (!), and 288 GTO.

From what I've witnessed lately, 308 and 328 are holding strong.

GT/4 are the bargain of a lifetime at sub $50k. And a very nice very original silver one (but not freshly serviced or painted stone chips etc) sold recently for over $80K!!!!!!!!

 

Buy a Boxster S and invest in property.

 

And go and open a hair salon