Ferrari reliability

I think that the cars are better than others. They withstand the highest abuse and worst care. By that I mean that people store them, they rust, then are fast charged-up and ran fast before warming up. Fluids are not changed often enough, mainly because they are not used and the owner figures that the fluids do not need changing. The oil changes are expensive and the dealers are far away. What you really want is a car that was cared for by a daily driver, not a gold chain guy who only bought the car because the other gold chain guy bought one. Often the best sounding car is actually the worst. These cars should last hundred of thousands of miles without as may breakdowns as a Toyota.

aehaas

 

I will only speak from personal experience. I've had my car ('89 328) for exactly one year. I've put on 10,000 miles since and it's been as reliable as any car I've ever had. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I drive it a lot but it's been great!

 

I have had my 94 348 Spider for 21 months 9,000 miles. Only have had a major service (due to age) and two oil changes. Car has never left me stranded and drives like a dream.

 

Reliability is not an issue with Ferraris... because it is a fact of owning one. Plan on spending about $5-10K a year in maintenance, regardless of how much you use the car, that is, unless you can fix the car yourself.

My 355 Spider has consumed over $40K in repairs with 22k on the odometer (note that it hasn't been used in over 2 years). The TR cost under $30k in maintenance in the last 17k miles, but its time for an engine-out service, so figure another $6-10k.

Unfortunately, these are real, out-of-my-pocket numbers :-(

 

I think $10k is a little excessive, unless you're talking about newer cars. I had a 15k service done and several oil changes and I've spent barely $3k in a year.

 

Umm..Not to sound like an idiot..but were have you been taking your car for service? 40k into a 355? Did you have an engine and a trans blow? Other then that I really can't see how one could spend 40k in reapairs with only 22k on the odo.

The TR I can see costing that, but over a longer period. One trans failure can put you close to 30k (if a dealer did the work anyway)

I'm just really curious about the 355. Why so much money in only 22k miles? If I was in your shoes regardless of how much money I make, that car would out of my life so fast it would make your head spin.

 

I don't understand that logic, something that's used everyday is going to wear and require more $$ to keep running. I purchased my 92' 348 with 5600 miles, I wouldn't think of one with 30K miles, just because it's going to be more of a USED car all the way around.

Buy a low mileage car and have it thoroughly serviced before you take delivery You don't have to drive the crap out of them, but if your not going to use it much just start it every 2 weeks, let it get to operating temperature and exercise the brakes, clutch transmission a bit.

 

Not necessarily. Was it engineered to be run regularly? Or was it engineered to sit for long periods of time? Many car components deteriorate due to lack of use... they dry up and get brittle and inflexible... they gum up and get hard to turn... they corrode and lose their properties.

As another example, the worst thing you can do to a computer is start it up each day, boot up the OS, and then shut it down. Startup and shutdown are very hard on electronics. In contrast, it'll live longer if you just leave it running... forever... never turn it off.

Similarly, auto-engines incur the vast majority of their wear at startup and the short time until the oil gets flowing good. In comparison, very little wear happens to the engine the rest of the day that you're driving it warm.

Your Ferrari was built to be driven... drive it... use it...

 

"Your Ferrari was built to be driven... drive it... use it..."

Agreed. I would however prefer to buy a relatively low mileage well maintained car and have myself be the one who drives it regularily and "exercises" the car.

 

That's fine, as long as you understand that means every rubber part of the car may need replacement and there may be a lot of gunk settled in the bottom of your engine that you may shake loose when you start using it.

I'd rather have a car that has been driven daily, exactly as I intend to drive it, without notable problems... in all likelihood it should continue that pattern for me.

 

I'm on my third Ferrari, all modern cars. They are limited production, hand assembled exotics put together and engineered by Italians. As such, they will develop some "issues" as you drive them, most of them minor and fixable. However, they are expensive to maintain and fix. Assuming reasonably regular use and miles (say, 3K miles/year), plan on about $3K to $4K per year in running costs.
As a comparison, I've also owned three Porsches, and they are significantly less maintenance intensive and less costly to run - figure about 1/3 of Ferrari maintenance. As German cars, I also think that they are engineered more for durability and long term mechanical integrity without having to constantly fettle little mechanical gremlins along the way.
The above observations regarding German cars may not be true of current Mercedes models and some new BMW's (the new 7 series), which reportedly have not been too reliable.

 

i don't know what models bobby has owned, but i've owned a 355 and a 550, and 3-4 thou per year is high in my book. i plan on $10K every five years (including the major).

my new 996TT, under warranty, cost more to maintain than my 355 did during the same ownership period.

i'm not saying ferraris are like toyotas. FAR from it. but they're not as bad as the rap either.

doody.

 

my euro carb 308 is the ONLY car that i have ever owned that has ALWAYS started up and gotten me to and from my destination without a hitch. that includes ALL vehicles including new SUVs etc. go figure.
and i drive the S#!T out of it, and rack up the miles. the only time i had it towed is when i had it delivered. go Ferrari!!!! i hope i dont jinx myself here now......
john

 

I have a 97 355 Spider. Last year I ran it from Miami to LAX, then up to SFO, across Canada to Toronto, then down to Miami. This trip was appx 6 weeks and all I did was oil changes.

The car now has about 23K on the clock. Only issues to date: A rad fan switch and a busted shock (about $1K ea). Still on original clutch.

Very reliable, but parts are a killer and cost more than a P-Turbo.

As stated previously (and on previous threads) you have to run these cars. Atrophy takes it toll more significantly on F-Cars than your "normal" cars. If you let them sit, shocks go bad, seals dry up and you seem to get gremlins in ECU, electronics, you name it. I no longer work, but make it a point to drive my car at least every other day.

Doody - You sold your 355? When?

 

Porsche builds 200 cars PER DAY of its new Cayenne.

Ferrari builds 4.000 cars PER YEAR overall.

Volume manufacturers builds more than 1.000 cars of a specific model as pre-series cars for testing, crash-tests, exploration...

Of course Ferrari takes advantage of pre-fabricated modules from huge automotive suppliers like ignition systems, components of the power-train, ABS, etc. But still there is very little capacity in terms of manpower to create the overall system setup for a specific model.

In this light Ferraris CAN´T be as reliable as mass production cars - and they aren´t. But I still find it amazing that Ferrari is able to produce relatively refined cars at a reasonable price at such low numbers!

 

Brian, youa re very,very correct. That's what I did with my 355 and it has been perfect.

 

I had three 308's and no major problems. I put over 100,000 miles on a 1979 308. One 328 gts with no major problems. Now my TR, I have spent $17,000 in repairs (rebuild transmission plus a few other things while the engine was out). KNOCK on WOOD, I haven't had any other problems and the car runs great now.

 

the general rule for italian cars is routine maintanence, running them daily and letting the oils warm up before pushing them