Is $12K for a 355 Spider belt service (before any additional problems found) within range for 2023?

I did my own major this past spring. That included belts (timing and accessory), Hill bearings, tensioners (they appeared to be original '94 units), a new belt tensioner (appeared to have been broken and welded previously), resealing cam covers, replacing a cam sensor, an inner cv boot, an oil line and new filters (twin fuel, oil, air), engine coolant hoses, recharging the a/c, flushing the coolant, brake and clutch fluids, etc. That cost me around $3k just in parts and around 90 hours of mine and a buddy's labor. I spent 4 hours just cleaning up the cam covers and heads and resealing them as they were super gooped up. I went through a case of brake clean getting everything cleaned up. On top of that I replaced the test pipes with high flow cats, replaced the voltage regulator as I found out the original was fried, replaced a questionable looking vacuum line or two and unclogged a return ports on the coolant tank and replaced the cap. I didn't replace the spark plugs as they only had around 2k miles on them, but I have another set if I need them.

I can't imagine that's an 'unusual' major. I didn't refinish the cam covers or any other parts, that'd have added another 10ish hours. I'm sure a professional would spend less time, but honestly getting the engine out and back in was pretty quick, it was all of the other stuff that took a lot of time. We had the engine out day one, then 2 straight 12 hour days doing all of the jobs, then back in the 4th day and fired up.

Any quote you get will either be the 'base price' for the standard major service (which appears to vary) or will be a 'best guess' based on condition of the car and would include all of the major stuff along with additional work the garage thinks will be needed. What a good price is depends on which of those quotes it is and what is included in the major. So:

Is the 12k a 'base price' for a major, and what does that include?
Is it an estimate after inspecting the car? What does that include?

Then you can assess if it's fair. Based on what I did, I wouldn't begrudge a garage 10-15k to do the major I did. Even if they had special equipment to speed up some of those chores, that equipment isn't cheap. I do know, now that I've done it, I won't need new bearings or tensioners next time, and I probably won't need to re-seal the cam covers unless they start to leak. So there's some value in keeping records or using the same shop as they will know that type of stuff. And if you haven't used them before, they may have to factor that stuff in to be sure they're done (like new tensioners and bearings, timing the cams etc).

 

You can be burned as a heretic with talk like this.

 

Well that took a turn.

If it still matters; Boardwalk in Dallas, has a base $7500 FCA member discount engine out major. With needs, adds and some preventive, I was just under $12k. Axle boots, “rear main” but we know that is simplistic, couple of other bits? Steve’s team is excellent.

James and Mike are my usual go to at Norwoods and they are at $11,500 base with some additionals over and above the Dealer FCA deal. They paint the valve/cam covers for one I believe, etc. They have done a lot of these and instead of adding items, they just do it. But cannot Classiche.

Dropping GTS Next Wednesday for Classiche and service at Boardwalk - $3500 base… plus major. I figure I will be $12-15k. Then detail and dry ice - $25k total??

Come check it out at Amelia in 2024!

I hope the OP, got his answer and feels got about cost. I decided many years ago to let a respected shop do it. With experience and I think it helps with resale and documentation. Cheers and play nice [emoji2957][emoji1787][emoji1787]


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I remember someone showing me a stack of receipts totaling $25K in a couple years and saying that it was well cared for. My comment was "this is a Ferrari, you too can rack up $25K in two years." I was wrong, it only takes one year.

 

More like 30-45 days! I am just preparing myself for worse case. The Classiche is on “digital special.” Modern Ferrari is producing a cheaper Red Book, so the $3500 should not deviate. I spent $12k on spider and figure GTS will be the same. Quoted $3500ish for dry ice. First ever color correction and buff, $1500-2000?? Puts me at $20k before any “while we are in there moments.”

But then I am good for 8 years…


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