Ferrari Ownership - Week One

Congrats on your purchase! 328 ownership is a lot of fun! Plus, this is the greatest group of Ferraristi that you could ask for. They'll help you with anything. Just make sure you drive it!

 

There are plenty of morons out there. If they act rude they are jealous. F em.
The car shouldn't stall though, so do have that checked out. Ignore everyrone, and enjoy!!!

 

The 328 may outrun the Lexus SUV, but almost any modern sedann will blow a 328 away in both spped and handling. Cars have came a long way since the 328 first appeared.

 

Very True. But for the same $40+K who wouldnt rather have the 328!

Here is a related story, both to the post and the thread.

Fall 2002. I return home from an extended time out of town. I had bought my 348 spider while away and haden't seen it in person yet. Called up a buddy to come over and take a look. He pulles up in his 2 day old CL MBZ. A really beautiful black one with custom wheels and all. We decide to go out to a local Scottsdale hotspot. While doing some very tame stoplight racing and fwy passing it's evident that the CL has my 348 outclassed in many ways. We pull in together, 348 in the lead, the sound of the Ferrari engine throbbing in the semi-underground Valet area. The parking people are moving parking cones waving me into a spot. A crowd is gathering as I back in to the roped off area, a couple of extra throttle blips just for fun. I get stopped in the spot, I'm looking for my friend in the new CL-Class. He's in the normal Valet line waiting for one of the valet guy to quit setting up my parking space and come over to him. I mention that he is with me and they make a spot for the CL. With no fanfare the CL is backed in beside me. We get into the place and he can't beleive that his new $130K MBZ was upstaged vs. my nearly 10 year old $65K Ferrari.

In summary a Ferrari even 10 years old is still a Ferrari. The F car will always be regarded differently by car folks and Non-carfolks alike. It is unique, a piece of rolling art, a piece of history.

This said, I beleive that the next generation of Ferrari V-8 (V-10??)cars need to deliver world-class performance. 500hp min, and performance figures to beat anything else within $100k of its MSRP, both to appease us car people and to keep the image of Ferrari performance in an ever more crowded marketplace of exotic and sport autos.

 

Congrats and enjoy in good health. Jealousy is part of the experience, don't let it get to you. Whenever in doubt hit the gas...and stay away from these clowns.

 

when rude people pull up or try to harass me, i dont give them satisfaction of seeing me floor my car so they can hear that sound generated by an engine thats worth more than their lexus. instead i just give them that snooty look that goes so well with these cars.

 

Beats my first week; received my '82 GTSi ("all recoreds, well maintained")via transporter; took 10 minutes to get it started. Drove it home, window fell out of track and exterior door handle (both issues on driver's side) stopped working. Needed 2 new tires.

Day 2, 10 minutes to start, drove it to emissions station, in words of tech "worst failure I've ever seen!". Smoke pouring out of engine louvre due to oil seals leaking everywhere.

Day 4-15 sat at shop; day 15, $9,450.00 later, which included mounting my special order tires, drove it home with a long list of stuff still needing to be done and a new hum comming from the rear end. Drove to Las Vegas and back.

Hum was bad rear wheel bearings; also had to do both fuse boxes, rear calipers, pads, new fans (went w/Hayden), Thermo time Switch and far too much to remember now.

 

MarkG,
I always hate to hear of these sorts of Ferrari experiences...did you have the car inspected prior to purchase?

Dave

 

Ouch! Three questions:

1) Do you have a PPI person to recommend AVOIDING?

2) Once you got all the initial problems sorted out, has it been a good car for you? Or has it continued to be problematic?

3) All-in-all, are you a happy Ferrari owner? (Has the fun made up for the pain (lotsa pain).)

May all your car troubles be in the past,

Brian

 

Well, in my first week, my car was leaking every fluid imaginable, including gasoline. Turns out, the hose clamps installed on all of the new fuel/oil/coolant lines were loose, and needed proper tightening with a Socket instead of a limp-wristed, half-assed screwdriver. Most of my leaks have stopped, but there are a few old hoses under there....

As for the SUV, follow the First Rule of Italian Driving, as quoted by the Late Roul Julia (ripping off the rearview mirror of a Daytona Spyder):

"Whassa Be-hinnnd You, Issa' NAAAT IM-PORT-ANT!"

 

I'm not a Ferrari owner yet, but I experienced that "agressive" reactions by other drivers with my Porsche Boxster. Those times it really makes me mad to see someone speeding up just to block me then have to hit the brakes right after...

But I get far more nice people that let me get in than those who accelerate just because they feel bad about seeing a car that might never be able to own.

Steven

 

Some people just enjoy seeing exotic car owners suffer because they are jealous.

I had an experience where our 1990 348ts decided that it was going to go ahead and have alternator failure at 11,000 miles. I was driving up an exit ramp and the car just died. Sitting there on the side of the road several people just pointed, laughed, and waved, but NONE stopped to see if I needed help. It was like it made their day to see a Ferrari on the side of the road with the driver suffering. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!

 

Spoken like a true, "green with envy" NASCAR loving, redneck, LOSER !!!

 

UH... WRONG!!

 

Exactly, I can't count the number of people who have appraoched me and asked if it's brand new. It's 17 years old!! Bottom line, I'm in a Ferrari and they are NOT !!

 

Bought my car from a shop near Chicago who was selling it for a customer of theirs, several conversations so no PPI. Had receipts for all major stuff, but car then sat for about 14 months, so seals went bad; Belts had been changed but plastic gear has broken and been glued rather than replaced (somewhat commen fix...) so I went for an entire new gear/tensioner/belt assembly, all new engine seals and new valve covers/adjustment; clutch was starting to slip, flywheel cracked beyond repair, so $1700 in parts there. A/C needed work, and it now blows VERY cold; window and door handle just needed adjustment.

Car was setup for sea-level, once adjusted for my 6500' solved emission and hard start issues (last emission check tech: "never seen a car this old run so clean!")

Shop I used was Concours Cars in Colorado Springs, expensive but VERY detail oriented - almost to the point of overkill.

Car now runs stronger than my new cars do; I drive it all over (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Las Vegas and local mountains) problem free, could use a bit more power as all 2V FI cars could (I have K&N, cat test pipes and Krank Vent).

Some, but not all, issues could have been spotted with a PPI, depending on how thourough it was; for instance would a PPI picked up on the plastic gear fix, or thought it an issue? Clutch starting to slip could have been notated, but ruined flywheel may not have been detected; car ran fine at sea level, and I knew it needed 2 tires, and it wasn't untill the rear was alligned that the bad rear bearings were noisy enough to be noticed. Body and interior are supurb for a 20 year old car.

 

Good idea, I'll try that next time. But then again, I guess they can see my wrist resting on the window ledge, and on it is a watch that costs more than 90% of their cars. BOO HOO !!

 

I think this is true with most sports cars. Driving a smaller car myself, and have driven one in the past (not a 328 just a smaller car), I can say that you must drive defensively aggressive. Yea, that's the term alright. I've been run off the road numerous times. Most of them - SUV's who cannot see me. But the other week, one teenager in a pick up truck (old 70's, beat up, rustmobile) didn't want to race me, he wanted to crash into me. He made quite a scene at doing it too, where other drivers had to pull off the side of the road, so he wouldn't hit them and instead hit the target: me.

No, I'm not that bad or obnoxious of a driver, but sometimes I can be a bit too aggressive through traffic.

 

After "the fast and the furious" I bet any gold packaged lexus SUV with 22's has "NOS!!" so be careful hehe. BTW, does anybody know what the hell Vin D. was talking about saying "your granny shifting, not double clutching like you should?" why would you double clutch to up shift....wouldnt this be MUCH SLOWER? sorry to hijack, this is bothering me

 

Just wait till you look in your rearview mirror and notice the car full of kids is the same car that has been behind you for the last 10 miles...... and you are pulling into your garage.

I't's even more funny when it's a middle aged man in his smokin 85' Volvo.

I have been followed a few times pulling into my subdavision, I really don't like whe people follow me to the house so I have to make a few loops in the neighborhood to get the hint accross to some folks. Not like they are hoods or anything, they are just checking out the car but come on people.... don't be so cheesy about it.

 

I have never read such total rubbish in all my life !!! - With the exception of my ex-F50 and my current 288 GTO, The 328 has some of the best road manner's ever built into a car ! Just which modern sedan's are you talking about ? - I cannot think of a single US wallowing car that would even get close to a 328 - NOT ONE ! Alot of well engineered European cars would struggle to keep up with the nimbleness of a well driven 328.

I'm willing to put my money were my mouth is here, I will pay to have my car shipped to the US and I will have a race with you on any track of your choosing, me in the 328, you in the best modern sedan you can find, Better still I will buy a US spec 328, and give it you if by some miracle you should win, (My money is safe), I await your answer, me thinks you'll have to eat your words !

Steve

 

can i be the mechanic??? please????? maybe a cheerleader? ( lol)?
hell i just want to near a 288 GTO and a 328 at full song!!!!!!!!!! you both have ferraris, lets give the beater car to someone in need and race the ferraris on the track instead!!!!! powerful post STEVE!

 

He didn't say "US car", he said "sedan". Do you really think that a 328 would hold up well against an AMG Mercedes, BMW M3 or M5 or an Audi RS6? Not to mention some of the "lesser" sport sedans as well like the Mitsu EVO VIII or the Subaru WRX STi which out perform nearly everything for almost no money. I think that's probably what he was referring to. The 328 was, is and always will be a classic piece of automotive history, but he's got a point on the "15 years of technological advancement" thing. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

As for the race thing, that's a test of drivers, not cars. Would you take the same bet if a professional race car driver were behind the wheel of both cars?