How important to you is the condition of your car?

A good fchat friend once told me that our Fcars are like supoermodels. They get their pictures taken (cell phone videos too) regularly so always have them in their best possible condition when you go out. Its like an event each time the garage opens. So yes, I do my best to keep her looking perfect inside and out. I wont even go into how I felt when she got her first scar (err..stone chip)...aww man, that was hard... Still there...I count 5 blems now. She's still beautiful though.

 

I will occasionally clean the bugs off the front.
I love cars to drive.
So do my friends...unfortunately had too much going on to join them right now on their Ferrari road trip from South Florida to Yellowstone...12 days, Rt 66...probably in Jackson Hole right now.
Some of you might come across them.

 

Actually right now they are in Santa Fe ,NM...

 

Mechanical? Very important.
Cosmetically? I fix dents and big chips and I keep it cleanish and clean/condition the leather from time to time.

 

But, do you ENJOY your car?

 

I like to keep it clean and of course mechanically fit.
In terms of chips, cracks etc, I don’t like downtime in the shop, so I’ll need a certain amount of accumulation before I’ll take it in....preferably in the off season.

 

I did not buy my car to be a concorso winner, and it has had its share of paint imperfections since I bought it. It is also missing the grille in the under-nose spoiler, the fabric on the inside of the b-pillars is torn, the gaskets behind the removable roof panel are cracked, and the cover for the luggage compartment is missing its zipper. In spite of that I enjoy taking the car to shows and I sometimes even win a trophy. I enjoy seeing the smiles on all the people who see the car, and I particularly enjoy letting kids sit behind the wheel. I've seen 328s in much better condition, but I don't mind the car the way it is. The important thing to me is that the car is sound mechanically, and it's probably in better shape in that regard now than when I bought it, 14 years ago!

 

Once a Ferrari is treated like any other car it just becomes any other car. I always had other cars for driving in the rain etc.

 

This

 

Driving it means it’ll never be perfect, but I try to keep on top of the big items, and get to the little ones during the off season. I have a bunch of models that are perfect through.

 

Mechanical i.e. trackworthy condition is very important to me. Race patina and signs of what the car is meant to be used (not to be confused with neglect) are also welcome. OTOH, show car/garage queen condition are no longer my priority as I have found that those detract from what I find most enjoyable in my car hobby.

 

I used to be super picky about it. I wouldn't drive in the rain and lamented each rock chip. I would never drive it unless it was all clean and shiny.

Fast forward 8 years. All these things don't bother me in the least. I have 300 rock chips and a few scrapes here and there. I will eventually have the whole front end resprayed including hood but other more important projects on my mind now.

 

I'm SUPER anal about my car both mechanically and cosmetically. When I had my 2008 F430, I detailed that car and in the end made it better than new. Keep in mind the car was in great shape when I bought it, but my anal nature continued to work on it until I was pleased with it. I enjoy cars but I am a perfectionist. I still drive my cars but won't drive them in the rain because I want to keep them looking as good as possible. Now that I have a 458 Spider, I'm just as anal but I have learned to live with the items I do not feel are perfect (it's difficult). This has probably caused me more "angst" than what it should. As Clayton said, you don't have to take a Picasso off the wall to enjoy it and I not only enjoy driving them but I also enjoy looking at them.

 

My cars also have to be 10+.!!!
Even my Everyday Range Rover must be a 10+. I will not tolerate dings, small scratches scuffed wheels, NOTHING!

 

I'm a nut at keeping it clean because I want it to feel new and special every time I drive it. I also happen to love detailing cars in my free time.

 

To those that keep the car clean/10, how do you feel about resprays for small things like rock chips? Do you deal with it and keep the rest as clean as possible or do you respray it not caring if the next owner has a problem with non-factory paint?

 

100% PPF for this very reason.

 

Great Question. That's a tough one to answer. I have sold "lesser" cars for those reasons in the past. My honest answer: I think I would have to respray my nice cars and not keep the chips.

 

A great quality re-spray is worth the cost to remedy numerous rock chips and other wear issues. If it is done right with great color matching then from a cosmetic perspective it will be easy to talk around.


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I'd rather respray just the nose and have it looking perfect then have an original unpainted front with chips. The quality these days of a really professional restoration job makes it impossible to tell the difference between original and resprayed in a smaller area. Twenty years or more ago it was a different story so why not take advantage of modern technology.
As they say with good cosmetic surgery "only you and your doctor would know".

 

I guess I must be in the minority...raining like crazy Friday...pouring down...decided to take the Speciale on a few errands...getting some food and drink for people coming over.
Car drove perfectly, only issue is rear window tends to fog up so must use side mirrors.
Ceramic Pro on the car...after back in the garage a few hours...looked like it had been detailed., no rain drops, nothing, just glistening..added bonus all the bugs got washed right off!

I pick which car to drive based on my mood.
Life is short.

 

See that's where I see past just the clean paint. What about the under tray, Hubs, Axle, intakes, ANYTHING that has access to the dirt & water from the road. The water + the build up of dirt already on those parts make it even dirtier and turns into Grime. What about salt in some of the states?

 

I just drive. Coffee cup or 2 on the passenger side floor, bird shut on the roof..what ever. It's a car. Use it. Don't even wash it really..