Ferrari vs. Porsche : reliability

I think one important thing to consider in this discussion is total cost of ownership. I would venture to guess *ducking* that a 2001 911 Turbo would be cost less to maintain than say a 2001 Ferrari 360

 

Maybe, but "cost of ownership" doesn't equate to reliability. You know the big service costs in advance.

 

True test of reliability is 100k + miles...now this is where Porsche pulls away from Ferrari. there are not many Fcars with that many miles...let alone 200k+...this is something you see from Porsche regularly.

by no means, am i saying Ferrari can't do it...just no one does so we don't know how this cars hold up under these conditions...


Buy 'em to drive not to look at...

 

My experiences:
208 Turbo has broken and burned the valves 2 times in 6 years
On the contrary in 8 years with
Mondial not seen any problem.
now i own a carrera 4 P. 996 and it is near to be perfect and very fun to drive.
Fun to drive and a complete driving
experince...but to have a Ferrari is really another planet.
ciao
alex

 

Thanks for sharing, Jim! Pretty neat that people have such broad stereotypes which generally hold true and invariably find amazing exceptions.

 

I owned a Carrera 4S for 2 years and never had any problems with it, I once had to have entire discs changed due to the dealer not noticing damage to a pad at a service but the dealer replaced them free of charge and took full responsibility.

 

+1

Justified or not, my Ferrari (328) just "feels" more delicate than any of my Porsches ever did. (First 911 in '76, and owned every 911 model since.. thru 997).

Porsches are "utilitarian". You can flog 'em and they clean up nice.

Ferrari= fine jewelry. You check to see if everything's workin' everytime you turn the ignition. Then wonder if anything'll break while drivin' it.

(cant' comment on newer ferraris, no experience)

 

Sure, two different cars (but both boxer engines)

The 930 has chain drive. The TR has belts.

The TR has sexy lines no doubt. The 930 has "Hood cleavage" (my copyrighted term don't steal it!!)

Got one of each, all is right in the world.

nuff said

 

Porsche wins, hand down...and it hurts me to say that as an owner of only one Porsche but three Ferraris. Now, would I trade the Ferraris for Porsches, heck no!

 

OMG, could anyone have said it any better. I go through this mental exercise everytime I head down to the garage with keys in hand.

 

Man, keep buying from that dealer. I've never met one that takes responsibility unless pushed.

 

Hard to say all depends on driving style or habbits.

 

I apologize for bringing back an old thread, I just found it and read every post. These are questions that have been on my mind lately. I have been wondering about these quality issues, because I am not an owner (though many of my friends are.) It's great to know that the reliability issues tend to subside when the car is driven frequently.

I am also impressed by everyone's honesty. You all admitted that Porsches (a rival brand) have better build quality. This tells me that you guys are true enthusiasts, not a bunch of fanboys who can't admit that their favorite car manufacturer has its faults (just like any other.)

I, too, was hearing a lot of stories about Ferraris breaking down all the time and costing a fortune to maintain. I was really feeling distraught because I have always loved Ferraris and wanted to own one someday, but I was starting to get a bad taste in my mouth after hearing all the horror stories. Though I still need to learn more, I am starting to feel a little better about the idea of Ferrari ownership.

Chris

 

we have been using Porsches and Ferrari as daily drivers for many years dating back to early 911 and 330... one of which ( Porsche ) has over 400,000 miles, we are not bashful about putting miles on any car... of the cars we have had ( and some still have ) we have not had any catastrophic failure of anything... yes, things have worn out, but not before their time... the wife and children drive the cars as well... no one is bashful about hitting redline and making the 6 and 12 cyl sing... stuff happens, one would think we would have had something break unexpectedly...I guess we have been lucky

 

No one gets on Fchat everyday and says "I drove my car today and it didn't give me any problems".

If Ferrari's were such troublemakers, why would they be so popular?

I also think a lot depends on the model and how well it's been taken care of. If you buy a butchered car, you should expect it to act like a butchered car.

 

Supermodels are high maintenance too but still remain sought after

 

lol, With that logic, you could say that driving a Ferrari is like having sex with a porn star, owning a Ferrari is like marrying a porn star.

Chris

 

Having limited experience I'll take your word on that

 

I drove many Ferraris as daily drivers and as so they were as dependable as any brand and some even more reliable than some of the Porsches I owned. Maintenance was the only issue that made the Ferraris more expensive, but no breakdowns ever.

 

There may be outliers on both sides, but there is no question that for the vast majority of cases, a Porsche will be more reliable AND more available for use.

Of course, the extreme majority of Ferraris and the majority of Porsches are not used as daily drivers, so reliability and availability are of secondary importance to many other factors.

 

The reality of reliability is that the newer Ferraris are right up there with the best. The 430s were very reliable, I've had very little trouble with mine. The 458s are extremely reliable, the only issue is the transmission, and they replaced those that could be a problem.

Porsche has had reliability issues, just like Ferrari, but it appears that both manufacturers have gotten the quality issues under control. The older cars, in both brands, aren't even close to being reliable, despite the rumors.

Art

 

I bought my 911 new in 2005. 75 K miles and 7 years later it is still going strong. The only out of warrenty (non maintenance) expense has been the replacement of a leaking water pump at 73 K miles.

Just purchased an F430.

We will see.

 

During the 80s and 90s, porsche would have it all day over ferrari, with the possible exception of early 964s.

since the 360, the gap is smaller, but I still give it to porsche.

They seem to be tested more thoroughly which prevents some dumb problems (typically nothing earthshattering, but annoying nonetheless)

 

My '86 328gts daily driven was better in everything than my experience with the 944, 928 and even the 911 3.2 targa.

 

Discussion seems really ridiculous, no offense to anyone. I can show you 100 911s that have over 100k miles with one search on Rennlist.

I put 75k miles daily driving my 911 all over NY and NJ. Everyone says that "911s are like Civics... too common" Well obviously that says something. If they were even *near* Ferrari reliability or TCO, they wouldnt be as common as Civics, sorry.

Possibly Ferrari gets better the more you drive, but the cost of service is enormous. If ones plan is to short circuit any reliability issues by using the Italian tune-up method, then they are going to really have to consider how much they can afford to spend on regular service.

There are reasons why most Ferraris are left to sit and then are sold before they ever get a major done.

I think if you were to take money out of the equation, say an owner with essentially unlimited capital, and then put equal miles on both a modern Ferrari and modern 911 (similar to what one poster on this thread already did), 9 times out of 10 it would come out that the Ferrari cost more and had more down time.

Its simple economics IMO. Porsche is making cars, these days, that are basically designed to compete with BMW and Lexus as daily drivers. Their *goal* is reliability. In the GTs its probably different which is why those are often more temperamental.

Ferrari is designed and marketed to be a disposable status symbol and luxury toy for very wealthy people. That is simple reality when it comes to the *actual* target market (which is those who buy new).

When your average customer is a ME or Asian new billionaire who treats the car like his latest mistress, engineering for 100k uneventful and reliable miles *really* isnt high on the priority list (nor should it be IMO)