Letter to SCM F355

Anyone see the letter to SCM regarding the high ownership costs of a 1998 F355 in the June Sports Car Market? (Page 17).

 

June?!

Did you say, June?!

You're killing me!

I just got my **May** issue of SCM today!

 

Yes June!

 

I got my June issue of SCM today. Dr. Josephs claims to be a working stiff Tifosi, yet he was only paying the top-Dollar shops (e.g. Shelton) to do all of his work (and he didn't even mention negotiating on the big-ticket prices, something that Ferrari of Atlanta certainly does).

I hate to say it, but he's whining. If he wants to be a working stiff Tifosi, then he needs to do some of the work on his car himself, and negotiate price on what he can't/won't do himself.

$11,000 for a clutch! Click on my website link in my profile and there's a thread on doing the 355 clutch yourself for substantially less (though you will need access to an SD2 to set the PIS).

I mean, you've got to be happy with your decisions in life. If your decision is to pay top Dollar for a repair, then be happy with that decision. If your decision is to do the work yourself, then be happy with that decision, too.

Instead, he pays for the work and sells his 355 for $67,000. So he lost money, he's unhappy with his decisions, and he no longer has a Ferrari!

That's most unclever. He's going to be breathing his own NO2 if he keeps living that way.

 

True, if you're old enough to buy the car, and presumably bright enough to be able to make the bucks to afford it, you ought to take some responsibility for educating yourself on the costs beforehand. It's not like the service costs for a 355 are hidden away on an ancient Sumerian tablet...

 

Exactly. Moreover (I don't know if you read his letter or not), he claims to have owned 3 Ferraris previous to his 355 F1 (4 f-cars in sum) over the past decade...hardly someone who should be surprised at costs or to be excused for failing to do their research.

 

I sent SCM a reply to hsi letter, it will be intersting to see if they print it.

 

Recent Classic Car mag I was reading has the 355 on the cover and raves about how it is the new Dino - a delight to own and drive. A sidebar has a bit about a guy with 20,000 track miles and no issues (he's used 18 rotors). "The car has lived it's life at red line." Made me pleased with my choice.

 

Well, you know that you can always print it here!

 

Here it is:

Dear SCM:

I read Dr. Joseph's comments in the June 06' issue
about poor resale and high ownership costs of a 1999
Ferrari F355 with much amusement.

I currently own a 1990 348TS. I've been a Ferrari
enthusiast since the mid 70's when I started checking
out old foreign car books from my local library.

That being said, my glasses are far from rose-colored.
My car currently exhibits several of the nagging
problems identified by Dr. Joseph, including the
bubbling interior bits, spoiler scrapes, high
maintenance costs, etc. I shopped long and hard for my
car and like him probably paid an above market price
for it.

But let's keep things in perspective.

I clearly recall spending over $3,000 in my third year
of ownership (beginning just after the expiration of
the two year warranty period) on a 1987 Ford Escort
GT. The air conditioning crapped out, the shift
linkage fell out from under the car, and the battery
wouldn't hold a charge, among other things. The
electrical problems alone stranded me more than once.
This was on a car that cost me $8,500 brand new.

My first exotic car ownership experience was a 1985
1/2 Porsche 944 that was overall a great car, but still
managed to tap my bank account even when I was trying
to stay on top of regular maintenance. I paid for a
routine timing belt change twice (at $1,000 each with
labor) after I neglected to change out the water pump
and seized the pump bearing the first go round
(stripping the belt). That car cost me $5,000 used and
I sold it two years later for $6,500.

The point I'm trying to make is old cars (and some new
ones) aren't cheap to drive, no matter what the make
or model. Although John Apen mentions in his response
that Ferrari 355's are relatively plentiful at 11,206
made, that number pales in comparison to domestic car
production numbers such as the Ford Taurus that were
built in volumes of upwards 400,000 per year.

In my opinion, those numbers and the fact that Ferrari
is one of the most recognized brands of any product on
the planet will always make them collectible.

Unfortunately, Dr. Joseph experienced the dark side of
collector car ownership when the inevitable big-ticket
item fails and a repair occurs that is a geometric
expense compared to the original purchase price of the
car. Had he held on to the car longer, his ownership
costs likely would have stabilized over the long run,
even including the timing belt replacement that his
car was due. To me, if you sell a car when the music
stops you miss the point of why you purchased it in
the first place.

Ferrari's above all are about passion and performance.
Any "working stiff" knows they aren't cheap and never
will be. Dr. Joseph should have hung in there. His
early 90's Alfa replacement will be a fun car, but it
will have every bit the propensity to bite him in the
butt the Ferrari did, as will most old cars.

In my experience, the more expensive and exclusive the
car, the more expensive it is to work on. To expect
anything else is simply sheer naiveté.

 

Ha! You definately labeled him as naive.

 

Great letter, but magazines usually go for shorter ones.

Your point about big ticket expenses is a good one. It's easy to dwell on that $6K service as a "now" expense. If you keep the car for a while -- and actually ENJOY IT -- you get more perspective on it.

The 355 is still way more expensive to maintain than a Porsche 944 (or probably any Porsche...). But I did have a $1000 dashboard fail on my M-B SLK, also had two window motors and a sunroof mechanism go $outh on an '02 BMW. Frankly I feel better about putting a few $K into the Ferrari than wasting it on gizmo-laden generic modern cars. The $3K Ford Escort GT story makes this point as well.

 

355 is the most expensive Ferrari to service at the momment. The TR has lost its 1 spot on the chart in this regard.

 

You're right the letter's too long, I was on a rant.

 

More people will read it here, anyway. So let it be long!