New job, first Ferrari?

My first post on here, I believe.

I am 19 and am moving to another job in January, making decent money at last.

I currently own a 2012 Mustang GT which has a balance of a tad over 30k, so what I have been thinking about is after paying my car off in about another year or so - buy a used 360 Modena.

Now I know these can be had at 60k+, however what would it be wise to buy an older exotic car at such a young age? I know that maintenance on these machines is much more than that of a Ford, however it is one of those goals in life.

I have never paid much attention to the 360, and never have been around discussions regarding them, are the 360's good models?

Please forgive me for any stupidity, I have never posted on here before.

Much appreciated

 

New Ferrari owner, but I am budgeting between $5,000 and $7,500 a year on maintenance. It isn't the initial cost that gets ya. It is the up keep.

 

I think you should ask this in the 360 section.

 

There is no such thing as a stupid question... and there is no problem in aspiring to a Ferrari. But a few things come to mind..

1) Why the 360? Is it really the ferrari that you want? You never paid attention to it but you now want to buy one?

2) You own a car that has an MSRP of $31-34k. You have a balance of $30k on it.. and after you pay it off you're going to save for a Ferrari or buy it with a loan?

3) We don't know how much you make or what you do or how safe your job is. It will cost you about $1-3k each year to maintain the car. Your new Mustang has a warranty, the 360 does not. Does your job have the income stability to afford this? or will you buy the car and then be one of those guys that used to own a Ferrari but had to sell it and now drives a used Ford? Its easy to go up, hard to go down. There is a reason why most owners are middle aged.

4) To answer your question.. Yes, the 360 is a good model. I love mine, its been very reliable. I've spent between $1-3k a year to own it above and beyond the loan. If I had someone else do the work, the costs would be double.

I'd save some cash if I were you..

 

Trackspeed,

Welcome to ferrarichat. Good first post, BTW.

Lots to consider with your question.

It would be best to keep your Ferrari in a garage, do you have one at this time?

Also, even though some people use their Ferraris as daily drivers, I'd recommend buying one as an extra car instead.

Are you in the kind of job where driving a Ferrari to work isn't going to cause resentment/envy from your co-workers, boss, or customers?

Also, one thing you might want to do is fill in your fchat profile with a few more pieces of info such as your First Name and the State or Region you live in.

Good luck.

 

Thank you for the replies.

I started following Ferrari at the F430 Scuderia intro, it is my personal dream car to own. I never have paid attention to the 360, but I think that a entry level Ferrari at that price is awesome.

I will be a train engineer/conductor, so driving a vehicle of this caliber would bring many questions about of me. I would like to keep my Mustang as my DD to avoid this.

I would be able to pay a 5-10k down payment and finance the rest, I would have to check my finances at that time before I get to a really serious level of consideration about the purchase.

I know main thence would be horrible and these vehicles do have to be serviced at dealerships, correct?

I also will be living in a town new to me of 3000 people, in New Mexico near the border of my home state, Texas.

I appreciate your help and feedback.

 

Unless the 360 is exactly the Ferrari you've alwyas dreamed of, wait, save money and buy a better, newer one when you're older. You've got plenty of time.

 

Your future self will thank you for investing when you're young. The first dollar you save is the most powerful. I know I'm a buzz kill but its true.

 

"At last?" Damn, I thought I was impatient!


Welcome to the board. Do what makes you happy, but I'd warn that the $60k 360s are probably in need of much more maintenance than the $75-90k ones. The great news is that there are many cheaper models of Ferrari to start with: 308/328, Mondial, 308 GT4, 365/400i/412i, 348, 355, Testarossa, 456, etc.

 

I got mine at age 29. As people here say its not the purchase price but the maintanance.
I would figure 5k per year on a ferrari. From what i see the 430 is a sweetspot, as it has chain driven cams so you save on the whole 5 year timing belt thing.

Any car and especialy a ferrari over 10 years starts to have all types of needs, like hose replacements kleaky radiators etc and at 20 years you also have shocks bushings calipers etc that need redo.

The older ones look great but will probably feel real slow compared to a mustang GT, unless you go for a testarossa, which has the speed and looks, but once again budget 5k per year and some years will take a bigger bite than that.

 

Well I had typed out a long reply to answer questions but my phone must not have sent it through. I apologize and will watch the thready and reply tonight on my laptop after work. Thanks everyone!

 

Do your plans include the 360 being your daily driver? Have you taken into account your living expenses and insurance on the car as your age is going to kill any chance of you having a reasonable monthly insurance payment. I would rather drive a poor car than to be car poor but I do support your Ferrari goal so I wish you the best of luck. I had the chance, and was approved, to buy/finance a '77 308GTB back in '98 for $18K and save over $100/per month on the monthly payment but had a moment of clarity and walked away.

Listen to your gut and not your head would be the best advice I can offer.

 

Don't even think about it. Buy a house and pay it off, have a good retirement plan in place and then save and pay cash for one someday.

 

Welcome to Fchat. Please first ask yourself: why you want a 360?

Its horrible as an investment & will lose you $. For investment I'd suggest a totally different car as the only Ferraris that will likely increase are already VERY expensive like 288GTOs, F40s, F50, Enzo etc. The lower range Ferraris just don't increase much

If you want a track car I'd suggest an old 5.0 Mustang or a Vette which would be far better track choice cus you'll have much more track time & learning for the $

 

You shouldn't be buying a Ferrari. Put some money in the bank.



Mark

 

Or a Miata.

 

I almost bought an '85 308 in 1996. I made about $80k a year back then. Everyone told me I was stupid to think about buying it when I made that little money. Instead I bought a series of Mercedes and Porsches and lost 10s of thousands on depreciation. I wish that I had bought the 308. Instead I spent over 10 years without a Ferrari that I'll never get back. Make mistakes when you're young and have time to recover from them. You'll have plenty of time to be responsible when you're old.

 

Miata race car is fantastic for honing your skills as the competition is fierce & parts are cheap & plentiful.

I agree, put your $ somewhere else as an investment, a house w its own well would be excellent

 

Welcome! I am not going to give advice on if you should or shouldn't buy because it's up to you. If you really really want one and have to sacrifice somethings to do so, well great for you, go for it. The one thing I would highly recommend though, is to truly understand what it takes financially to really OWN a Fcar. I am a new owner and I am learning first hand. I bought one of the more "reliable" Ferraris, a 550. Well a month into ownership I'm going to be in for my first big bill, I had a coolant hose go, and now off to the shop it goes. Just something thats going to happen. Before I bought the car I had it PPI'd by someone who has a great reputation, it came back clean, so I did everything I could but again it's a car and things go wrong, and when they do the $$ starts to go. I'm looking at several thousand dollars by the time I pay for transport to/from the shop, and the repairs themselves. So just understand that it does cost thousands every year to keep it on the road. If you are able to do some things yourself you will save some money, but, even if I could do the repairs myself the parts are around $1000 from SRI, so it would be cheaper but not free. It's best to really understand this going into ownership and be ok with it, if your not ok with it, then ownership can and will be very frustrating. Best of luck!

 

At 19 and the job you specified I wouldn't make this purchase. Keep your mustang GT. I would have maybe thought otherwise if your downpayment was going to be huge but since it's not you really shouldn't put yourself into this much debt at 19. It is what kills America. Debt is the ultimate killer.

You really shouldn't buy any exotic until you have a stable income of at least 100k per year (or big enough downpayment), 401k, IRA, and a 3rd separate investment account, additionally you should have at least 30k in the bank and another 15k in the bank just for an emergency fund for the ferrari.

My rule of thumb which always works for me is if I have these prerequisites which again are:
401k
IRA
Savings Account with at least 30k
15k Emergency car fund account

Whatever my car payment is going to be which lets say for 60k car with 5k down that is around 1000 a month in your case. If I am making say 3k a month AFTER TAXES then my total expenses are 4k. Which means I have to make 8k a month after taxes to comfortably afford whatever car. So the expenses should be half your monthly income or pretty close to it. Obviously if this off by like 500 it's not a big deal. This is a pretty good formula if you follow it you'll never have to ask a bunch of strangers on a forum if you should or should not buy something and if you can afford or not afford it.

 

+1

If you're talking about putting 5-10k down a Ferrari is not something, IMO, that should be a top priority right now.

I'm a younger enthusiast myself and would not consider any Ferrari until I have paid off majority of my own home and have very little debt. The maintenance as you will read is in this range and Visa will be financing you that at +20%.

I don't want to kill your dream but now may not be the time. It will be just as exciting at 23, 25, or +30 years of age to own your first Ferrari...I think.

Welcome to Fchat btw, great website for the enthusiast in all of us.

 

HOLY. COW.

 

I hear you can finance a lambo with a few credit cards....

 

HOLY. COW.

 

I think that the responders have been both sincere and extremely helpful in their replies, but I can't help but thinking that the OP was just "baiting" you so that he could have his own thread and people to correspond with. I'm not being mean to the kid, just being a bit of a skeptic, I guess.