FAQ's about buying a 355

Welcome to Fchat Doug.

Do you have a very strong desire and passion for owning a 355?
If not then maybe 355 is not the best Fcar to be your first.
Some common problem area are:

Headers/exhaust manifolds
Infamous Valve Guide issue
Sticky interior plastic trims
Shrinking dash leather pieces
Short F1 clutch life
Too-complex-for its-own-good and expensive-to-fix convertible top
Stress fracture at base of c-pillars
Being called a Hairdresser's car by the wish-they-had-a-355 owners of 348's

This is just to start a few for ya...
Do a search here on Fchat and you'll find more in great details
If after all these still don't scare you away, then you're safe to look for a 355.

Good Luck...and did I say Welcome to Fchat?

 

I think that you should be good with well sorted car. Alot of these are sorted out at this point. The valve guide issues should not effect you on a 99. Get a good PPI and make sure those headers have been changed to Quicksilver or NA performance....This problem is not fixed with the oem part they fail over again.....$3,200.00 per side for the part!!!! BEN

 

Good for you. You sound like a serious soon-to-be owner. Most 355 wannabe's would talk all day about how 355 would compared to 348's and 360's and just talk and talk and talk. But when time comes to real purchase and maintenance/servie issues they would fall back to Hondayota level.

Good luck finding a '99 6-speed coupe. Most '99 out there I've seen are spiders with F1 trans. Be patient...your car is out there waiting. Just takes time to find the right one.

 

Those are excellent posts above. You could probably buy a 911 engine for the price of a 355 F1 clutch. My brother and I have had 911s, and the parts/service costs of the 355 are from another planet.

The 355 is probably the most expensive Ferrari V8 to own/operate.

But as long as you go into it with your eyes and thick wallet wide open, they're great cars.

 

Enzo?

 

exactly,,.....

ps. nice avatar

 

Enzo has a V8? Maybe you're thinking of the entry level Enzo or the turbodiesel.

 

The TR maintenance costs are maybe even steeper, although it depends on the car and your luck. If you have the cash, the 512TR seems like the improved/refined/debugged version - much like the 328 was for the 308. One thing to keep in mind is the 355 feels nimble, fast and small. One F-Chat'er told me his TR was more like a "battle ax" - a brutal, big car for the open road - whereas his 328 was agile and tossable. The analogy probably holds for the 355.

You might surf the TR board a bit. A differential failure (design flaw) on a TR can set you back $15K+. And price out things like caps and wires... it was the top of the line Ferrari, and the parts prices bear that out.

I'm an '80s guy, so I like the looks of the TR. But ultimately I decided the repair/service costs are ludicrous even by Ferrari standards, so I kept my 328 (on which the repair/service costs are merely stupid...)

The 355 was in my range, but you've got to get a well-sorted car - meaning the valve guides are done and the manifolds were replaced with aftermarket. IIRC the F1 pump list price on those cars is something like $13,000. So I would go with the six speed.

If I liked the modern cars, I'd probably go with a 360. I really do like the 550s, and prices on those are getting attractive. They also seem to be reliable. Problem is I would go through deep emotional withdrawal if my current ride ever went away, and two Ferraris just isn't in the cards right now.

 

There are just two major common failures unique to the 355: OEM exhaust headers and bronze valve guides. Both *will* fail, and continue to fail so long as you replace the failed with new parts that are the same type.

If I wanted a 355, I'd be looking for 355's with those two issues above reputably and verifiably documented as corrected with aftermarket exhaust headers and sintered steel valve guides...preferably on a 1995 model, or for a later Challenge model...in order to get the Motronic 2.7 system.

There are two Motronic systems on 355's: 2.7 and 5.2.

Motronic 2.7 is chip programmable *and* lets you display the error codes in the car with no diagnostic equipment.

Motronic 5.2 is flash programmable (?) and requires a diagnostic tool to view error codes.

...plus a clean carfax. Avoid "duplicate title" 355's, 355's with mileage discrepancies (if you are concerned about resell), salvage/rebuilt titles, and 355's that don't have a valid current license plate in the *same* state in which the car is being sold (puts you on the hook for unpaid title/sales/use taxes). These issues plague exotics; they are much more common and more costly than you may know.

The above would be deal makers or breakers for buying a 355 in my book.

After that would just be "nice to haves" rather than "must haves."

Such as:
1. manual seats rather than electric seats (fewer Italian electrics to fail)
2. no air bags (some Euro models, some Challenge models, some modified 355's)
3. manual 6 speed tranny
4. no power steering (this was actually an option on some 355's)

Anyway, if you've got good compression in the engine and the beast runs fine when you test drive her (no unusually high oil pressure or water temp or gear grinding shifts) then go for it.

The Ferrari suspension and drivetrain are top notch. Interior rocks (save for some minor sticky plastic pieces that you'll clean one day).

 

That is exactly right! I spent nearly 1 year searching for my 348. It took a while, but I found the perfect car and I am very very happy with it.

Keep searching till you find the 355 that you are really happy with and pull the trigger Doug. Keep us posted when you do.
Welcome to Ferrarichat also and I hope you have fun here as this really is a great place to learn all about your car, having fun while doing so and making many great friends.
Cheers!

 

There is so much BS on this forum about 355s reliablity by a select few, I have put 8000 miles on my 95 355 with no issues except fluid changes, my 355 is much more reliable than my old 328 don't even mention my BB, the 328 had a melting overheating fusebox $1000, bad crimps/connectors causing the fog lights to intermittently fail, ignition issues from 2 $300 distributor caps and rotors needing cleaning at times which 355s don't have, water pumps that fail from having the belt tight per spec then a worn idler pulley $250 part, snapped clutch cable- 355 is hydraulic, bad a/c compressor that went out, didn't fix it as the a/c sucks in 328s anyway

 

It seems in reading through many many threads on just about all older Ferrari Models (when I say older, I should clarify that I mean pre 360 model)...that often times having "good luck" with the Ferrari car you purchase really comes down to just getting a well sorted FCar period. Probably more often then not, a well sorted car purchase of any kind will provide you with a more reliable car in the end.

There have been endless debates on Fchat regarding reliability of 308, TR, 328, 348, 355 etc. When I refer to reliability I really mean "stuff that breaks or needs replacing factor" no matter how small or how big.

In general though and from what I can tell in all the threads I have follwed regarding 308, 328, TR, 348 and 355 over the years and with a subjective observation from my side, the 328 does seem to have about the best reputation for reliability.....but maybe the 328 crowd is just more vocal and plentiful? Like I mentioned this is subjective reasoning.... ..Having said all that my next purchase will likely be a F1-355 or a 550M. I am leaning towards the 550M as I am tall at 6' 3" and the 550 seems very roomy and I love the look....very refined. I have heard the 550's are reliable....but also espensive on the service side etc....

so I believe in the end it comes down to getting a really well sorted car that has been well taken care of with 100% verifiable history.

 

I agree in theory - I haven't put miles on my car yet so I may eat my words, but I'm betting that *most* 355's are just fine for reliability and don't cost a mint to run if you stay up on the PM. Forums like this always bring out the horror stories, which is good to help others who may experience the same problem. The F1 pump rarely 'goes', and if it does there are documented fixes for a few k's, not $13k. And in a '99 the valve guides are fixed. I say pick up a '99 F1 and drive away!!!

 

Agreed, anything can happen with these cars but as I mentioned the 355 has several things sorted such as electrical fusebox issues with older Ferraris and less wear parts such as distributor caps to fail which gives them greater reliability. My 328 was very well sorted and just typical in its issues I experienced, I still consider it a very reliable Ferrari but its older technology such as dual coils and dist systems are more prone to failure

 

I cannot believe the Brothers let this one slip by! This was a fine summary of the car, but it is still for the "gel" set.

 

No, brothers of 348 owners didn't let this slip by...they just acknowledged in silence.

Just kidding with ya.