I give up. I don't think owning a 308 would be worth it (for me).

You are missing out. Stop over thinking the situation and buy a 308.

1. You only live once. At 32 you probably don't feel it yet, but give it a few years. There will come a time when you will realize your mortality and understand that you can't take things with you. Have fun while you're here.

2. A 308 is a toy. You don't need it for basic transportation. If the silly thing breaks, fix it. In the meantime, drive the reliable daily driver. Besides you will learn to fix it yourself and you will start to enjoy that part of the ownership experience. I think most of us here do!

3. Worst case scenario--engine blows up and it's going to cost $20K to fix it. The car is still worth half what you paid even blown up, more than what you paid just in parts. If the going got really rough, you just aren't going to lose that much money.

4. Now is the cheapest time in 10 years to buy one. You are going to kick yourself in 3 years that you didn't buy one.

5. Forget money. It's the coolest car in the universe and money is only money. You can easily afford one. If I can afford one, anyone can. Just buy the stupid car and thank me later.



Birdman

 

You think 308s are bad? What about boats (new or used), 15+ y.o. houses or teenagers?

Just pay cash for the car and put away, every month, an amount that would equate to a modest car payment. Consider that as your Ferrari Fund.

Remember, anything worth having (and keeping) is not going to stay "free" for very long.

Live the dream!

 

I hear what you are saying and let me be the first to say I had the same concerns. In fact, I almost went with Porsche because I was so concerned. However, Ferrari is a bug, and trust me, you will keep coming back to this question for the rest of your life if you don't pull the trigger. Here is another thing that is VERY hard to understand until you own one...Once you have a Ferrari, you simply will not be concerned about the cost of ownership...they are that good. If they weren't people just wouldn't lust after them. My f-car gets out of the shop tomorrow after getting her spring prepping. It will be the first day I get to drive her with the top down in months...do you know how excited I am...I took the day off!!!

When you own a F-car, you find yourself daydreaming at work about taking long drives, you here the engine sound in your head like your favorite tune, the leather and fuel is as erotic as your best girl's perfume. The car is automotive nirvana...If you have the financial means, you shouldn't miss out.

As for the repair costs, one thing people always fail to consider is the absence of any real depreciation in older Ferraris. Let me give you an example. I just bought a 2006 Mercedes R500. The car stickered for 75K, I bought the car, 2 years old, for a third of that. That means the first owner, who didn't pay a penny in repair bills, lost 50K on the car. Now I will own it for three years, during which time I will probably drop 3G in repairs and sell it for 15K. Well, in 3 years I will be out at least 13K. As for my Ferrari, it is likely to not depreciate at all during the next 3 years and, barring something catastrophic, I will likely put about 3G a year into her...so my Ferrari is cheaper to own than my Mercedes. Put another way, if you bought a brand new Honda accord for 27K and sold it three years later for 15K, you would still be better off having bought a Ferrari!

I am not saying they are not expensive to own, nor am I saying that you can't get hit with a huge bill, what I am saying is that the experience of owning and driving a Ferrari is beyond anything I can even describe...Once you own a Ferrari, everything else is just a car.

 

Buy the 308 that has had the $20grand (or other whopper service dough) already spent on it. That way someone else pre-paid 'your' repairs for you. You'll only drive the car 3,000-5,000 miles a year anyway, so your next 'big' service will take you 5 years to reach.

By then, your income will have likely gone up, and you may...

1. Hate the car (sell it, it's out of your system) or
2. Love the car (keep it, pamper it)
3. Love Ferraris, move 'up', add on, whatever strikes your fancy

Or you can do nothing, having invested all that time, lust, looking, thinking, watching and gotten a zero return in money or enjoyment.

Personal Note: We were expecting our second child when I sprung for my first 308, a red/tan carbed GTS (in 1994) at, I believe, $32k. It had a $60k restoration done in 1989 by the crazy previous multi-Ferrari owner. I enjoyed it two years and as my kids aged, decided it had to go. I made zero profit, probably lost a little, loved every minute, and back then wasn't making NEAR what you're making, but vowed to get another.

 

The answer is simple (if there is an answer to your post) first of all you are a wise man to have come up with that conclusion. Second you could get lucky and buy one that will give you several years of fun and then you manage to sell it for the same price you bought it, OR you get one which needs work and then all you need is either lots of cash and a patient wife who will drop you off and pick you up from the mechanic on a regular basis OR you work on it yourself and act as if your dreamcar is like a 1000 piece puzzle which you are trying to figure out. These cars are quirky but well engineered, the problem is that they are old and even if the paint is shiny you are still buying an old car. Thats the reason why 308's are cheap, because most of them are old and junk.

If you buy the car all cash and you have 2000 a month to spend ( I am not saying that this is what it will cost you) then you should be fine as long as you buy a nice one. In my opinion the main issues are Rust, accidents and how many people have tinkered on it in the past. If a car looks great and runs great and you get a proper inspection before you buy it and you have a pretty complete history on the car then you should be fine. Make sure that besides the compression check they also have a good listen to all the bearings on that engine, I think that a 308 engine can run for a long time before it needs much work as long as it has been taken care of by somebody who knows what they are doing. The basic fact is that if you buy a 30 year old car then the seals and bearings and bushings, shocks and hoses etc simply need to be replaced, if that has been done by a person who really had the time and the brains to do it right then there is no problem. If it hasn't been done then you will have to do it, driving it hoping that those things don't become an issue would be stupid. The good thing is that in my opinion a nice 308 will appreciate in value so even if it sits in your garage for years you don't have to worry about losing money, it may even be better than money in the bank, who knows.

Helmut

Helmut

 

Birdman is right - life is short, even if you have not yet got to an age where you have begun to feel your mortality! Buy the car. Don't try to over-rationalise this. You have enough dosh to do the deed. If you keep the 308 Ferrari for a few years, it will probably still be worth much the same as what you paid. In the worse-case-scenario, you have a major rebuild expense - so what - if you amortise this over the years of ownership, it will still probably be cheaper that the depreciation on your Subaru! The bottom line is that if you own one of these things for a few years, the cost of ownership, even with fully outsourced maintenance and repairs, is not a killer. It is certainly not a financial investment, but it's not like you are throwing money into a hole in the water, like with a boat.

Now the good part - you get the car - you get to know it - you get it sorted - and then you drive it, and then you drive it some more, and then you repeat the driving process. It's great! Then maybe you track the car and have a bit more serious fun like that. Whatever. But it's when you are behind the wheel that you know you made the right decision. Go for it - good luck!
Cheers for now,
Grahame

 

You are the best judge of yourself. You are probably right. The first time you have to do something to that 24+ old car and it costs a few hundred dollars you'll not sleep at night, never drive it for fear of something else going wrong ... it will not be a pleasant experience. Who needs that? If you are not prepared to shell out a lot more money than it takes to service your Subaru then skip the 308. Owning an older Ferrari is somewhat like a threesome .. it's possible that the fantasy is better than the real thing. But not always ...

 

Yes, some of the bills are hard to swallow. A set of plug wires at $400+ is certainly a good example. One way to approach it to limit repair exposure is to have the major service done as part of the intial acquisition - either you do it upon getting the car or the prior person just had it done. Even if you pay for it yourself and have the water pump and all the other various things done it runs $10K or less (make sure to include this into your acquisition cost calculation). From then on you have a baseline knowing that the big things have already been done. There will be things that come up but getting it in sound order will preclude most of that.

The next piece of advice if you want comfort. Buy one that has either been driven regularly or buy some just restored show car. In either case you will know that everything is in good operational order. The unloved car is a problem to bring back to life unless that is your specialty. The ulta low mile time capsule may not be driven enough to keep everything working properly.

It is fun. Everytime I walk into the garage and see our QV it makes me happy.

Jeff

 

I agree a 308 isn't for you.... it's not a subaru or camry or accord or anything else like that. It's different altogether and so if you aren't prepared to take the good with the bad then yes you should seek your fun elsewhere. Life is short and maybe someday when you stop trying to rationalize a dream or a fantasy you'll be in a better place to become an owner. God willing I'll never part with mine.... it's just that much fun!

 

a line from a movie I've liked since I heard it - If there is any doubt, there is no doubt.... this is not the car for you nor is any other old car. Old cars need work on a regular basis and that cost money, money that makes no rational sense to spend. I spend just plain stupid and amounts of time and money on mine because I enjoy working on the car as much or more than I enjoy driving it.

 

ferrari - easiet car in the world to psyche yourself into buying, easiest car in the world to psyche yourself out of buying.

 

In the words of a good friend "you don't live forever......so live while your alive" and as for the baby on the way...........just one (hyphenated) word.....octo-mom........jeez......if she can handle it........"one ain't nothin bro".......thats a quote from another nameless friend.

 

If there is one compliment I may pay many Ferrari owners (namely those who aren't especially wealthy), it is that they are not afraid. It takes a certain amount of fortitude, character, plus a certain zest for life and adventure, to "take that leap" and just go out and buy it -- knowing the financial risk, but choosing to have fun rather than worrying too much about what life will throw at you.

Whatever your dream may be, for most people most of the time, going after dreams takes a bit of risk in addition to work. In most cases, the things we really want won't be handed to us. You have to step up to the plate and swing if you ever want to hit that home run. If you want to hold the hand of the prettiest girl, you have to ask her; if not, someone else will. And if you want to enjoy the sweet symphony of an Italian thoroughbred, you have to put your money on the table and ask for the keys. You either do it or you don't. You may find that you like yourself more once you take that leap, and that life is better -- not because you own a car, but because of something inside of you.

 

WELL SAID!

 

I think I know where you are coming from. When I was in my early 30s and finally started making money, I happened to stop by a classic car showroom in San Diego. I told the salesman that when I was a teenager I would have given anything for one of their cars. I said the hell of it was that I was now at a point wheret I could write a check for almost any car there but I was too responsible to do it.

Years later my wife finally said if we wait until we can truly afford a Ferrari it we'll never buy one. So for her 40th birthday we bought her a 1992 Mondial t. Suzy Orman would tell us we are nuts but look at all the fun we are having.

Now, this next part may sound hard to believe but it is actually fun maintaining a Ferrari (even when it hurts). You likely won't regret the maintenance cost like you do with your Subie.
Dave

 

Just wait until you have to fund your 'first' divorce.... the Ferrari will seem CHEAP (experience talking on both)

Jedi

 

One either really wants it, or doesn't. You don't. No biggie.

 

Get the car and the guilt will be gone in about a few days. Also, plus 1 for what Tony K said above .... Tony gets "it"!!!!

 

Exactly.

Also - if you are trying to make it a "rational" decision, you are right to give up. Because there is no rational way to justify owning a Ferrari. Or any other automobile that ultimately is really just a toy.

 

Maybe get a Toyota Camry, certified pre-owned. Screw the dream. There is simply no way to get through life more economically than in a CPO Camry in resale beige.
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nice fiat!

 

SLC guess What? I was unemployed when I bought my 308 3 years ago and I'm glad I did, I love my car and I do my own preventative maintenance. If ever I become unemployed again I will still keep my car. Something that you have not or probably will never experience until you own one is that it will grow on you like a child, it makes you feel like it's part of your family as if it's one of your own. I've met lots of Ex ferrari owner who regrets and miss their 3x8 dearly.

 

There's no rational way to justify owning pretty much any expensive car. Buying or leasing a new modern mid-level luxury car is far worse than any mid 80s Ferrari.

You'll drive that car for 3 years, it is *guaranteed* to lose $30,000 in those three years (either in thrown away lease (i.e. rent) payments if you lease, or depreciation if you buy).

It's a tremendous waste of money, a guaranteed loss of a lot of money, but to a lot of people it's worth it to them, so they do it.

With something like a 308, yeah, you might own it for 5 years and lose $30K (in depreciation, if it depreciates, and maintenance/repairs, if you get really, really unlucky). But that is not likely. More likely it will cost $5-10K for those 5 years, a lot of people own them for 5 years and break even on them or lose very little.

At the end of the day, it's just money. If a 308 gives you happiness and value in excess of what it cost you, then it is a good idea, if not, then it's a bad idea.

 

You really should drive one before you buy one. I'd consider the 308/328s as moving pieces of artwork but not as easy to drive as your "modern" car. You really have to work at it, get used to the "notchy" (ie difficult to shift) tranny, lack of power steering (...I know, bite my tongue), stretched out arms to reach the steering, narrow footwells (I drive without shoes), hunched down position (I'm tall), or look thru the top of the windshield driving position. There is a driving position for everyone, some less comfortable than others. But once you get everything right, it works like a charm. The sound is amazing with a tubi and like someone said, it makes you feel like it's going fast when you're really not. But that's the final point, these cars are not fast (by today's standards). By owning a 308/328, you are really driving a "classic" but not a "modern" Ferrari.

IF your goal is to race the guy at the light, you might as well as buy a Porche because even your soccer mom minivan will beat you. Don't get it for the performance, get it for the once-in-a-lifetime dream...

You'll never look back!

Ace