How many 355's did you look at before buying yours?

three or four i think.....then bought the only 348 which i looked at next.....

 

0. I bought unseen..

I never even sat in one until mine was delivered.

If you want something bad enough, you'll make it work.

 

I didn't look at the one I bought or get a PPI. A few pics and I was good to go

 

I hear that!

 

I purchased my 348 from photos and a few phone calls, sent payment and had it delivered. Lovin it.
Then looked at two F355 Spiders. Returned to the first one as it was a Great car & Price. The second one was a total POS and the seller was insane on the asking price.
Hope this helps you on you journey.

Cheers!
Roger

 

Three. And I bought each one of them.

 

researched/shopped seriously for 2years, then bought the first one I test drove.
went against all 355 purchase rules. no PPI nothing.
overall respectable shape but needed work.
at the price I couldn't pass up the opportunity, I was in 7k more within a month of purchase.
but it's been the best car owning experience I've ever had with the good and bad.

heres pic the day I bought it from previous owner.
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Multiple local 348's, all garbage. Ended up with a 348 spider, from the states, sight unseen, no PPI, and its minty. Helps that I purchased from a reputable f-chatter. Wouldn't have done it any other way.

 

Great topic.

If you are talking how many cars I considered before purchasing that I saw online - that would be about 40... With only 5 or so that met my criteria. Looked at service records first for 2 of those.

I saw probably 3-4 in person locally just to see what I would discover. Was disappointed in each of those.

Test drove 2 locally.

When I found my final car listed, I got records first with many photos, asked advice of a trusted F-chatter, then cleared it with the wife...

Then agreed on a price based on PPI. Put down a deposit. Flew one way. Drove back.

No disappointments. Just smiles for the 1000 mile roadtrip. Still a love affair with zero curse words in the equation.

Robb

 

5 for me including a Fiorano.

 

One ... after the test drive, I was hooked! The sound, the feel was just irresistible! PPI? Forget it! I had to have that car! I still miss my 355 ...
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0, mine was well sorted.

 

That is great!

 

One. It's in my garage. No PPI. Just a nice long test drive and a review of the service records. I bought from a private party locally. I had been searching for about 3 years locally.

 

Just one. Passed PPI and I bought it. Still had to do head rebuild/major 2 years/7k miles later. Love the car to death!! Future collectible, no doubt in my mind. I've put 28k miles on it so far and it runs better than ever with 53k miles on the odometer, and a whole lot of sorting.

I imagine with the recent bump in values owners of good cars are going to hold them a bit longer, so as a result a lot of the cars on the market might be dogs that the owners need to sell rather than want to sell. Just my totally uneducated guess...
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I first saw the car on this site. The second owner Andrew (ASK328 )sold it to the third owner Al (Strictly Ferrari) who lived in Florida. The third owner only had it for 6-7 months. As you can tell both are forum members here. When Al listed the car on Ebay, I was already familiar with the car so I contacted him, had a PPI done by Eric at F1 Imports(compression test and leakdown). Bought the car after that. Before I bought my car I had never even been in a F355, let alone driven one. It has worked out so far. No regrets.

I forgot to mention that I contacted Andrew ( the cars second owner). He answered all my questions which gave me some reassurance.
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Depends on what is considered "looking."

I inspected records of about 7-8 cars across the country.

I visually inspected 1 car that had no records available but was in superb cosmetic condition. Being a newbie, I could not convince mysef to buy that car.

I bought the first car I saw and was actually able to arrange a compression check on. It turned out to be right under my nose, if my nose were a ten-minute drive away.

 

It's funny, I bought my 328 from a dealer who performed a major service. The records checked out and it was a peach.

But I had never driven even one... Rode in one only, and thought it was special. Knew I would like it.

The 328 gearbox was just fine but a bit more finicky than what I expected even when warmed up. The seats could have been shaped to be more comfortable for my body. You might not discover these though until a longer period to get to know the model.

Some cars are just great from the start.

Although I had seat time, the F355 is a car that you could buy without even driving ONE as long as the mechanicals worked out.

The controls are naturally intuitive and the gearbox divine. It is a timelessly beautiful car, so as long as you fit inside (not too tall - 6'-3 probably won't work ) or too wide for the seats...

I'd feel comfortable buying one "knowing" you'll love it!

But just like my trip dashing to finalize the F355 challenge car purchase 2000 miles away, it's always much better to put your own eyes on a car if you can.

Robb

 

Polluting the thread with an old side-view:
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Nothing wrong with a little pollution. That is a beautiful car Cuneo. Black/Tan is one of my favorite combinations, along with Dark Blue/Tan.

Tony, your cars looks beautiful as well. The yellow on your car really pops. I have seen some yellows on these cars that look a little washed out or faded. What year is it?

By the way, Eric at F1 Imports had developed his own checklist, so not only did he do the compression and leakdown tests but went over the whole car and examined every aspect of it. He also took it for a test drive to evaluate its performance. I then had a phone conversation with him about his evaluation. He also faxed me the written evaluation. Naples Motorsports gave Eric a great recommendation(knowledge, ethics, and work).

 

blacked out JKU to hit the trails with + the 355 for the street = best of both worlds!

to the OP. I shopped for about 18 months and bought the first one I actually drove. I would have pulled the trigger much sooner, but got way too caught up in "research" (i.e. F-chat)...Although, the research was fun, driving the 355 is the best!

 

Actually sat in, drove and touched :2. One failed a PPI and the other was an F1. Vetted 5 or 6 others over the phone and virtually.

 

ya the Black/Tan is one of my favorite.. that and yellow.. the yellow came up so I went with it. its a 1997 Euro car.

I got lucky with the compression, my mechanic was very pleased with the results.. nice and even all in range of 175.

the price was main deciding factor.. and I had alot of history on the car, I tracked it all the way to original point of sale at a Ferrari dealer in Germany. also have the original warranty card. had some good work done, Valve guides etc..

but I knew I was going into it, with good amount of work/TLC and a major to do. but thats part of the fun/adventure right..? well dishing out the $$ is not fun lol..

theres no way around with the pricing of this cars.. low price+ work = higher price no work. holds true every time.
but no regrets here with my purchase/decision..! stress at times, but no regrets.. drive time makes it all worth it..

 

THAT is not pollution, that my friend is a work of art.
I love that color and that car.