Fed up and had it?

Yes and car be gone. Realized it was better, cheaper, MUCH faster and easier to maintain a proper track car.... plus Fcar means police follow you, ricers doing stupid things around you, etc. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to have enjoyed the Fcar, yet highly doubt i'll ever get another, just not worth all the hassles over a mere material object.

 

Oh, every once in a while I get that feeling. I just park it for a bit and let the feeling pass, and then fix it. For a street-only car, the 328 is fun and reliable enough.

 

True, you tend to think you want all the attention, before you get it. And it can be an idiot magnet on the road.

FWIW, my 328 hasn't failed me yet (knock on unobtainium...) Most of the downtime has been for restoration and some routine maintenance, all of which I knew about before I signed on the dotted line. It's a hobby, not a Honda.

I know of two owners who capitulated to mechanical problems. One was Tmobileguy on this site, whose 348 timing belt snapped -- pretty sure he sold out and moved on (?). The other was a San Diego area 360 owner whose engine blew up at 10,000 miles; he has a Gallardo now.

But, there's also the saga of Testarob, whose TR differential failed, and he had it repaired to better than original.

 

No.

 

A certain amount (varies for each person) of drama seems integral for the serious car guy. A friend of mine applied this observation to motorcycles as well. He switched from British to a BMW, but sold it within a year and went back to a Norton because the BMW didn't have any "issues".

 

So, to help me understand....why are you here?? Shouldn't you be on SomeOtherCarChat.com?

Since getting fed up with PC's and buying a Mac, I would never buy another PC, but I'm not on PCchat.com talking about them all the time.

Not dogging you. You post interesting topics and replies. Just curious why you stick around when you don't think the cars are worth the hassle.

 

I took a 20 year break between owning my first two ferraris and my present one. It really wasn't the money or the maintainance. One day I just got tired of the emotional commitment to its care. I just got tired of worrying about them. How many miles to drive them . How often to wash them. Where to take them. What was happening to them when they were parked out of sight in public places. Driving them hung over on a Sunday morning at 8AM to the 7-11 to buy a cup of coffee wearing a t shirt , cutt offs and 2 day beard and finding yourself the unwanted center of attention. Went back to driving porsches and never worried about anything car related again, period. But once you are bitten you never really loose the feelings you had when you sat behind the wheel and heard that italian engine scream in your ears. Once again you find yourself drawn and pulled into the light.

 

If you don't have to monkey around with it a little bit it's not a sports car, it's an appliance.

If you don't want to worry about anything car-related, why bother having a car that's a hobby?

A 308/328 is a very simple car. As long as you can find the parts there isn't all that much to worry about. If you buy a well-sorted one to begin with it requires about as much maintenance as a new BMW or Mercedes.

 

You're a couple of steps ahead of me. I have owned a 1998 Maranello, 2004 Stradale, 2004 Maser Spyder, and a 1967 330 GTC. The Stradale and Maser were more or less free because I sold for what I paid. I got out of the GTC at a nice profit because I realized I'm not an old car guy. You see, I like to drive em, not love em. When you realize how much the parts that you can buy cost for an old Ferrari, it takes the fun out of driving, at least it did for me.

The Maranello was my first Ferrari that I brought six years ago. I sold it last Summer and wiped out whatever profit I made on the GTC. I loved driving that car. The infuriating part was paying for Ferrari's inexcusable use of bargain basement parts when it would cost pennies more to use something that worked. Hoses are just one example of what I'm talking about. There's more, but I'm working on my anger management so I don't want to go there.

In fact, I have sold all my cars (at one time my car insurance bill was over $14k) and just brought a 2009 Cayman with the PDK for $56k. Wow! What a sports car, and I mean that. The Cayman truly is a sports car. I haven't had it on the track yet, but so far it feels as good as the F430 I drove on the track at Mt. Tremblant. I like it so much that I got the Cayman and not the "S." Yeah, go is fun, but sweetness is better.

Will I buy another Ferrari? No, never, not in a million years, never again, no how, ain't gonna happen... And then I see this ad:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=1009

Oh ****. Devil get yo ass behind me. I don't know anything about this specific car, but a F430 with a stick for under $140k? Oh man, I'm a slut for yellow too.

But after I recite my serenity prayer 1,000 times, the fever breaks, and I hop in my Cayman with a 4-year warranty backed by a company that actually pays warranty claims.

Dale

 

A normal daily driver solves all those issues. I'm sure if I drove the Ferrari everywhere it would get banged up, break more often, etc., and my answer would probably be very different.

Actually, my 2002 BMW 325Ci had more issues than my 328. But, the 308/328 are simple cars, as you say. There are Ferraris that are much more demanding in terms of things going wrong.

 

I was thinking of getting a PDK Cayman next year, and keeping the 328. I was very impressed with the new Porsche -- it's what the 911 should have been, and easier to drive than my old 993.

But every time I drive something else, I end up feeling like "yeah, that would be a great car to park next to the Ferrari." Then I see 4 other Caymans, 20 Boxsters and a dozen 911s every weekend, and -- good though they may be -- I'm pretty happy with what I have. I suppose if service cost and convenience were the main criterion then a Ferrari would be less attractive.

The 328 will probably always be one of my favorite cars, worth a four-figure service bill every few years.

 

I sincerely wish with all my heart...that I could just walk away and get another car. I would love to own a Porsche 993--a better car objectively-- and just drive the car worry free. However, I settle in enough areas of my life. Yes it gets old worrying about something happening to her and they are NOT cheap to own if you want to keep her right. It also offensive paying 50x the normal cost for parts--which are often inferior to other makes. That being said, I just can't imagine a scenario under which I surrender my Ferrari for a Porsche or some other sports car. Owning and driving a Ferrari is an experience...so F-ing unbelievable it can't really be accurately described.

If things became too frustrating, I would probably just stop driving her, but I can't imagine not seeing her in the garage after a hard day at work.

Again, I wish I could convince myself to trade my car in on something more sensible...but as is often said, there is Ferrari, and then there is everything else.

 

+10 Amen. Brother.

 

Went through all those emotions with my 360. At first I was considering trading her in for a Granturismo S. I thought it would be a good compromise, be able to carry both my kids and wife, drive it more often maybe even to work, but then I would take the 360 out for a ride and I would ask myself..."WTF are you thinking ?" And as my own salesman told me,
"You can't replace a Ferrari with a Maserati". I reflected and I agreed, you can't replace the Ferrari with any car in my opinion. So I decided to keep the 360 and work on getting the Gran "S" to compliment the 360 in my stable...

 

wow, you washed your car?


Seems I hardly bother.....much to 'some' dismay

rik

 

Great thoughts expressed above. I guess I'd add a few of the many that I am thinking. Until I have retirement completely sewn up, financial considerations matter, and Ferraris don't pencil that well (of course, except for well selected collector cars or $500 mongrels, the entire hobby doesn't pencil well). But, I ultimately came to view my Ferraris as an un-needed extravagance, not quite good enough on the track, to many issues to daily drive (personal issues, not car issues), to much guilt when they just sat undriven, unwilling to make time for extended weekend drives in the country, and on and on and on.

Plus, there are a lot of great cars to experience--I want to belong to the car of the month club, sports car chapter. But I do agree that these cars get in your blood. I don't have one currently (though I look at the damn ads several times a week) and there isn't one in my short term auto planning. But I do hope I own another some day.

Scott

 

Why the Cayman over the 997 or 996TT?

 

Didn't ask me, but I'll chime in. I just (last Friday) test drove a Cayman S PDK, and a Carrera S PDK (as well as an M3 DCT). I currently drive an older Cayman S.

To me, the Carrera S was the least desirable of the 3. It has to do with balance, weight, and the particular torque characteristics of the Porsche flat 6. A turbo would solve the torque issues, but a Cayman just has supreme balance (I actually find it kind of boring to drive on the street, but I think that's because it is so amazingly competent).

 

If it's too expensive to own, why own one? The idea of the cost is individual to each of us. If the cost of owning one of these is too much, then DON'T BUY ONE. But, then don't snivel about the high cost, there are other vehicles which you could own, so get one, and move on.

Art

 

If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.

Along with that the previous motorcycle post reminded me of someone I inadvertently launched on an "iron butt" career. He got jazzed following me on motorcycle across NC in one day -- Manteo to Murphy -- about 600 miles.

So he does all the preliminary Iron Butt Association rides on a Harley *Sportster*, which is an iron mounted 883 ci -- 1000 miles in 24 hours -- 1500 miles in 24 hours!

Then, he gets into the big biannual Iron Butt of America ride -- basically four corners of the US and then some in 11 days. Minimum 8,500 miles winner probably doing 13,000 - 15,000. He is on a BMW now for this competition -- for reliability -- and is knocked out on the first day with a sealed rear wheel bearing failure. He finished but what an ironic total bummer.

 

Art, my only concern right now is that you are not opening up and sharing your feelings with the group. Please tell us how you really feel

 

i have bought all of the cars i have had, because i wanted them ( see profile ).

if i wanted a more sensible car, or a ricer car, i would have one or more of them.

 

The Jalpa was your only sensible car, IIRC.

 

Art's right. Ferraris were designed from day one to be money-no-object toys for tycoons and movie stars. If you want a car that demands zero attention and zero cash, you don't buy a low volume European exotic car: you get a CPO Toyota.

I think people either have the temperament and priorities to own a Ferrari, or they don't. There are a lot of good reasons to stay in BMW/Merc/Porsche land and not cross over to the weird universe of exotic cars. You have to value the stuff a Ferrari does well in order for the whole equation to make sense. Otherwise, yeah, something will break and you'll immediately point to the Lexus next door as a superior car.