Please can I have a few opinions about the merits or otherwise of buying a 'higher mileage' F40. In an effort to reduce the amount of cash that will effectivly sit in a little used but much desired car, I am looking at a car with over 46k miles. The car is a German car, with full history, and has been regularly used. All the services have been on schedule. I intend to use the car, maybe putting 4-5k miles on per year. I dont want to pay a premium for a low miles car, and watch it evaporate as the miles go on. If and when I come to sell the car though (with over 50k miles), whenever that may be, what sort of resistance will there be from buyers looking for a F40 at that point ? Assuming that the price differential asked over a car with say half the miles remains around 20% less, and 35% less than very low miles, am I the only person who would go for the cheaper car as a driver instead of a show car. Also, as long as the car has been well maintained, are there any inherant issues that occur with high road miles. I accept that the car would not look as fresh as a lower miles car, but how many lower miles cars are not what they seem, and you pay a premium for a false mileage. Thanks.
One thing I can tell you is that these cars need to be used, they are not good garage queens. That aside, I would have a full, very qualified check, make sure tanks, belts etc are current and provided the price was right I would not be unduly concerned. No doubt Sherpa will jump in as he has just done an overhaul on his car and there are many areas that hide small potential problems, but nothing a full check should not reveal. Good luck!
A well maintained car with miles like that shouldn't be a problem as far as I can see. Mine has about half those miles and is considered "high mileage." I will say that I had my car next to one with 8k and 15k and of the three, everyone who saw all three together thought mine looked the nicest, freshest and definitely the most sorted mechanically, so I don't think miles mean nearly as much as condition and care. I doubt you would find an F40 that's better cared for than mine. Perhaps this one is similar. These cars really do need to be driven and, as Tim indicated, they sort of fall apart when not driven. If you PM me your email, I'll email you the rundown from my major, major service and show you the areas where we saw the issues and headed off any problems from happening, complete with pics. And we did a leakdown and compression on my car and everything was top notch (full even compression and <5% leakdown across the board). Unlike some of the other super cars, the 288 and F40 really lend themselves to getting some good miles in.
Dudlow I like the strategy you are going for. US owners of all collector cars are very focused on low mileage. In europe they actually use their cars. Low mileage cars do hold a premium but in my experience from gull wings to F40's the 20% difference is about right. F40's require almost the same replacement service whether low mileage or high mileage. My "needs nothing" 4,000 mile F40 needed $20,000 in service work just to run well. Go for it, enjoy the piss out of it and create great driving memories.
