355 or non 355 owners I need your opinion on my choice of potential purchase: (1) 1997P rosso/crema, GTS, 44T, 8 out of 10 overall condition, all main dealer servie history, £45,000. Recently serviced. Selling by a non-official dealer in the UK (2) 1999T rosso/crema, GTS F1, 30T, 9 out of 10 overall condition, £54,000. Recently serviced. Selling by an OFFICIAL dealer in the UK Which of the two is the better value for money? Also, what are the pitfalls that I need to watch out for before I fork out my hard earned cash? Is there a list of questions that I ought to ask the dealer to clarify before I make the purchase? Many thanks in advance.
2 questions: - is #2 selling with a Ferrari Power 1yr warranty ? - did either cars have both exhaust manifolds replaced already ?
#2...plus you can probably get him down a couple bucks. Make sure the dealer has the car Ferrari Certified (101 point inspection) this will enable the car to qualify for a 1 or 2 year waranty...that's how it works here in the US
If you buy #2 it's going to be #1 in two years. £9000 in two years sounds like a lot of depreciation for a used F355. I would probably go for #1 as it's also got FFSH. I'd prefer to buy #1 which might depreciate by £3000 and use the £6000 depreciation fund saved for maintenance and goodies. I've just been through the same heartache with a 348. I went for the lower priced one and had money to spare for the clutch change and a few oil leaks (which could be due no matter what one you buy and which isn't covered by any guarantee). Looking at the terms of the Power Warranty, it seems pretty naff to me. For example, exhaust manifolds seem to be definitely not covered. It doesn't cover 'normal wear and tear' but basically only a broken gear wheel. How often does that happen? Anyway, is there no Product Warranty by law in the UK? i.e. if the manufacturer has sold a defective product, he is in any case liable for the repair irrespective of warranties and guarantees.
Dealers here in the UK don't take haggling kindly... Most they can do seems to be around a token 2% off listed price. You think #2 being GTS F1 is worth the extra few £?
#2 is a GTS F1, #1 is a bog standard GTS. How much more do you think GTS F1 should cost over normal GTS?
Difficult question! There's not much of a statistical basis for F1's at least in Germany and France and the chance of having two identical 355's back to back, with and without F1, is too rare to make a definite statement. A guesstimate for me would be 3000 (~£2000). I was looking at 355's when I was searching for a 348/355 and I must admit that flappy paddle vs. stickshift was not an issue. I was looking at condition, service history, colour, and mileage. I know the F1 owners will now set the dogs loose on me!! LOL!
