Ferrari 348 in 2021

Sounds like a very honest car/owner, no red flags in there for me, I often leave mine in 2nd when driving around town at stops and speedhumps etc, I would probably go through a thorough service of engine/gearbox, all fluids and consumables replaced before really driving it like it should be driven. By the sounds of it, that car has ALOT of life left.

I picked up my 348 this year too, go for it!

 

If you like it, that's all that matters.

Starting from 2nd isn't a big deal depending on how the owner does it.

Can you describe how he takes off? If he starts off gently, doesn't shudder the whole drive train and put a heavy load on the engine at low revs it should be fine.

The only point of concern is, these cars will need rubber bits replaced regularly and since he didn't get the car serviced regularly, there's probably a few more things that are "deferred maintenance" that you might have to do.

 

With my experience of 348 it’s not often you require 1st gear. And it doesn’t like to select 1st at anything above a crawl. Sounds like a good car, that should present close to new given how little it has been driven and touched.

 

Very few answers change due to time so all the existing advice remains worth reading & learning from

Also cost of maintenance is impossible to answer since your profile does not even give an indication of where on earth you are based & costs can vary hugely

 

Rubber bits being crankcase hoses, brake hoses, maybe rubber seals. Nothing is too scary, parts are still available readily for the 348, easy to work on, its all nuts and bolts at the end of the day. The 348 sounds perfect, id rather be catching up on deferred maintenance than fixing other peoples attempts at repairs. Take the saving over the 328, put it into an engine out service, new brake hoses and anything else that jumps out at you and enjoy it! Only other thing I can think of is possibly a valve job at some point if it has sat alot in its life. A job for when the engine is out for a service at some point. Most of these Ferraris at that sort of age will need it sooner or later.

 

Buy it ! Sounds like a great car. I have on that was also needing deferred maintenance and have no regrets. It's easy to work on and a very solid car. You will not regret it !

 

At 80 years of age, I can well imagine that with the wide sill, and low driving seat, the 348 could be an absolute ball-ache to get in and out of.

On top of that, at parking speeds, the weight of the steering could be quite a challenge.

Pulling away from a standstill in 2nd gear in a 348 is a bit unusual (and with quite a few older Ferrari's, would be nigh-on impossible for the first few miles when the gearbox oil is still cold - It's far more common for drivers to have to do a 1st to 3rd shift in those conditions).

I would wonder if the owner had an issue with operating the dogleg 1st - Either due to an issue with the gearbox, or an issue with the owners body.

1st gear on the 348 is quite low geared - It's basically for just getting you rolling (in the same way that 1st gear in race cars is basically for pulling away at the start and in the pit-lane, and is then basically forgotten about) . Once on the move, the car is essentially a 4 speed box , with only 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th being needed (along with reverse for going backwards ). Short geared as it is though, it's still better to pull away in 1st than in 2nd from a standstill, in most applications.

The good news with the 348 (and F355), is that the clutch replacement is probably one of the easiest of any car made, due to the location of the clutch, right at the back of the engine. The only real down side is the cost of the parts.

The fact that the owner never took the car above 4,000rpm has probably helped with the lack of belt changes on schedule, as the water-pump and and belt tensioners haven't been worked as hard as cars that have seen 7,000rpm + - However, I would have the water-pump and tensioners replaced for peace of mind

(One belt runs everything on the 348, so if the water-pump or tensioners fail, they can damage the belt, which in turn can result in valve damage. When I bought my 348 TS, the Ferrari specialist said it was best to have the belt changed every 3 years - Not so much for the belt itself, but to check the the water-pump and tensioners [the thinking being, once the engine is out, you might as well replace the belt regardless, as it was only a £12 part. With the 355, they had less concerns about leaving the belt change for a couple of more years, as there was less stress on the 355's twin belt arrangement)

Clutch life? - Depends on the driver, and how smooth their gear changes are. A smooth driver could see 40K miles, a rough driver could see 3K miles.

Engine life? - Serviced regularly (including belt changes and replacement of water-pumps and belt tensioners when required), warmed up carefully before driving in a spirited manner, and run using the best coolant's, oils and fuel, the 348 engine should be easily capable of 100K + miles before requiring a full rebuild.

One of the worst things to do to any Ferrari (or any car, for that matter), is not drive it for long periods, especially older Ferrari's - They simply don't like it. Seals and gasket's dry out, oil drains down to the bottom of the engine, fuel starts to go stale, damp can set in.

One of the biggest factors in the "Ferrari's leak all over the place!/are unreliable" legend, comes from owners who parked up their car for months/years on end, came back to them, and then jumped in and started them like a race car from cold. Basically, the dried out seals/O-rings/gaskets couldn't take it, and started leaking all over the place.

Before dehumidified/air conditioned garages became the norm, the cars would be parked up in damp garages, with allowed electrical connections to corrode, leading to all manner of electrical faults.

If you buy any Ferrari - Drive it as often as possible (and always drive it until the engine oil gets up to operating temperature - Not just the coolant temp!)

The 348 is the start of Ferrari's sticky plastics era - The surface of the plastic becomes tar-like, and goes everywhere (the car you're looking at might not be suffering this yet if it's always been garaged, but it will eventually!). You can clean it all up yourself with solvent cleaners, and a billion cotton wool buds, or thake all the plastic parts out and send them off to be reconditioned.

As for the cost of running a 348, that depends on how much work you can (or want to) do yourself, and how much your local Ferrari specialists charge.

Cambelt changes are best done with the engine out, and that can be costly due to the Labour cost (strangely, in the USA, specialists seem to charge a lot more for the engine out belt change, than we pay here in the UK)

The cambelt can be changed without the engine being removed, by removing the fuel tank instead, but this makes little sense to me for a few reasons:

1) Ferrari designed the car with the rear sub-frame removal in mind, so it's only a few bolts, a few pipes, and a couple of cables. (UK Ferrari specialists have told me that they do the job so often, it's simply not a big deal to them any more, and that Ferrari made it as simple as possible)

2) With the engine out, a far better inspection of the engine can be carried out, including checking for leaks, checking the water-pump and belt tensioners, and, all of the coolant has to be drained out the car, so you can guarantee that the coolant is fresh.

3) Unlike the engine sub-frame, the fuel tank was never really designed to be removed on a regular basis. It makes little sense to me to disturb something that wasn't designed to be disturbed, rather than disturb something designed to be disturbed.

Finally, if you do buy the 348 - Take your time to learn how to drive the car properly.

Their handling is nowhere near as nervous as the various test drive articles make out, even at spirited speeds on the public road.

I found that to get the best out of the 348 through twisty roads, you need to get your braking done in a straight line, trust the front end into the turn (the steering is go-cart like superb, and the car will change direction instantly), wait until you're just past the apex, and then gently apply the throttle.

Do not ever lift fully off, brake hard or floor the throttle mid-corner at high speeds! - It unsettles the car, and that's when the rear end can let go (I'm talking about driving at 11/10th's driving, that is more suitable for racetracks, rather than the public road).

To drive the car at it's best, unless you're a racing driver, chances are you're going to need a bit of time to get used to the 348's handling, but once you do, and so long as you don't take liberties, it's a fantastic car!

 

One of the best safety improvement you can do to the car, especially the early models, is upgrade the wheels and tires. Most of us use 355 or 360 sets. 355 rears will need a 10mm spacer, but you should check with Hill Engineering since they have the specifications for this. That is because they sell lug bolts and spacers for these applications. As for your other concerns, they seem to be answered pretty well so far. The sticky interior parts can be addressed by professionals or you can do the repairs yourself. Oven cleaner is a good solvent for this. Then spray with rubberized spray coating. I am not sure if you have such a thing in Europe. Wurth is a good place to check; they probably make something like this. Check the threads here for tips on how to do this.

348 engines are famously bullet proof as long as you keep up with service - belts and fluids. Oil, brake fluid and transmission oil are very important to replace regularly. These engines cry to be red lined so driving it at 4000 rpms is criminal, in my opinion. Clutch replacement is easy. I would worry about all the rubber bits in the car if I were looking at this one. When we do a major service in the US we look at replacing the water pump along with the tensioner and alternator bearings. Also all of the coolant hoses. In Europe they usually price a more limited service of the belts only. 5-7 years works fine for belt services, regardless of what the factory tells you.

As for 2nd gear drive-offs, this is not something I would do. Too much initial clutch slippage and wear. The early cars have a longer gear set than the later versions. Lastly, make sure a professional looks at the car as a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) so all the primary vehicle functions. Good luck!

 

Some awesome advice so far.. My perspective, some of which is rehashing a lot of what has already been said:

As others have said, starting off in 2nd isn't necessarily all that bad. I've got a manual 355 and it's very similar. I always start in first, out of habit, but first is only something you use to get the wheels moving.

If the car isn't under load (for example on a steep hill starting off), I wouldn't be overly stressed about it. It won't necessarily increase clutch wear, and if the driver rides the clutch in second he probably rode it in every gear - so you'll have wear either way.

That being said....

Impossible to say, there are so many variables. Generally, very broadly speaking, with normal use and driven by somebody who is sympathetic to clutch wear and is a good driver, you should easily see 50k miles. I just replaced mine at 40k and it would have probably gone quite a bit further (last owner was an old dude as well).

I wouldn't overly worry about it though. Clutch replacement isn't catastrophically expensive, and if you have to do it, it's likely only something you'll only need to do once.

The design of the 348/355 makes it a dead simple job to replace the clutch too.

Same answer as above, but broadly speaking a well looked after 348 engine should "last" a very, very long time. I recall one that had over 150k miles a while ago, and was still going strong. It really depends on so many things. "Driven only on weekends by a 80 year old female driver" is NOT necessarily a good thing.

Only one belt change in its whole life? Wow....

Not necessarily an issue though. They want you changing belts every 3 years, but every 5 (especially with modern belts) is fine. Some people push it to 7, but personally I wouldn't.

That being said, not doing belts every 5 years is _not_ like failing to change the oil. I would rather have a 7 year old belt on my car than 7 year old oil. A belt you can change and you're good to go - with 7 year old oil, who knows what damage/wear has occurred that you can't see.

Alternators on 348's/355's - yeah there's a story there I'm afraid

This sounds like a good car, owned by a man of my own heart (except I'm a maintenance fanatic). You could be onto a real winner here.

I can only quote Australian prices, but I only pay around $600 per year for a regular service, and (wait for it) about $6,000 every 5 years for the engine-out belt service. Servicing isn't really going to be your primary worry, it's going to be if/when things start failing. Ferrari parts can be quite expensive, as is the labour costs for the skilled technicians who can fix your car. I would not let this put you off though, as owning one of these cars is a real life's experience if you're a car-person.

If you're a nut-job like myself and @MAD828 the services are the least of your worries... When my next major is due, I'll be putting in new radiators, oil coolers, A/C compressor, water pump etc etc just because the old ones aren't perfect.@MAD828 knows what I'm talking about.

This is a purchase from the heart, don't listen to other people (especially in your family) if this is something you really want to do. Just don't expect it's going to be like owning a regular car though. These things are fairly reliable, but they do require a bit extra TLC and fanaticism to keep in tip top shape. For some people, like me, this is a big part of the fun.

And anybody who tells you not to buy a 348 because they're "not as good" as other classic era Ferraris can be ignored as well. In my opinion the 348 is a bargain (well it was) and very underappreciated. Sure it's not as quick as a F355, but honestly if performance is your primary concern then you really shouldn't be looking at any of these old girls.

Good luck with your purchase. I guess the only advice I can give you is that if Ferrari ownership is for you, you'll absolutely love it. It's something you either "get" or you don't.

As others have said, definitely get it inspected by a Ferrari expert, even if it costs you a few hundred bucks the peace of mind will be worth it.

 

Mate - I’m a Brit. I’ve owned my 348 for 15 years. I’ve driven approximately 15,000km during that time. She’s now at 26,100 miles (42K km). She’s been ‘off road’ (aka SORN = UK road tax status) for a sim total of about 4 years within that period (6 months here, 12 months there). I’m not a mechanic, nor am I Tifosi. I’m a bloke who always aspired to own a Ferrari, and in a moment of madness, bought one.

The advice above is all sensational. 4rePhill and others have put genuine effort into giving you superb advice and opinion. I can’t improve upon theirs.

What I will say though (90 minutes before England beat Italy in the most important football event in decades ), is that 15 years later, I still get a thrill every time I start my car.

Forget the running costs. It’s a f***ing Ferrari. It won’t be easy. She’ll be like the most beautiful woman: worthy of respect, permanently demanding your love and always keeping you guessing.

But believe this: everyone will be looking at you, at your car and they’ll be doing it with a smile. Because the 348 makes everyone smile. It’s a beautiful car.

I hope your assessment went well. And read the experts’ opinions above carefully, because this (and Club Scuderia) are amazing. I owe these people a dent of gratitude for their help over the years.

But most of all…OMG…we drive f***ing Ferraris, which makes us very, very lucky.

PS - come on England !!!


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