Newbie question !!

Just sent you an e-mail with my suggestion!

 

The 348 and 355 are very different cars. There are many posts in this forum detailing why owners prefer one over the other. Reading those and determining which model is correct for you is the first step in finding the "right" car.

 

Welcome. I bought a 328, but considered a 355. Essential stuff I learnt along the way:

1. Buy from a reputable dealer or choose a private seller carefully and get a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) from a reputable Ferrari tech. If you don't believe the $500 PPI is worthwhile, read this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177280.

2. The Spider (1993/4) is the best sorted car of the 348 series. The 355 Spider added a complex power top mechanism, and has the usual potential 355 issues (search on 'valve guides' and '355 headers' for a start.) You have to proceed with caution -- more than usual -- on these. If you want a great impression of the two cars (in coupe form), get Forza magazine's June 2007 issue.

3. Leave plenty of money for service/stuff after the purchase. A thorough major service on a 348 can hit $5K+, on a 355 $7K+ and even on a 308/328 it can reach $3K-$4K (YMMV). Actually this applies to all Ferraris. Figure every 3-5 years for a timing belt replacement on a 348/355, which means engine removal, which means might as well do other stuff while it's all pulled apart.

4. Mileage on Ferraris is different than mileage on normal cars. A 355 with 30K miles is a "high-mileage car" - even if it's 10 years old. The odometer penalty on these cars may be ridiculous, but it is real. There's another recent thread where an F'Chat-er with a 30K-mile 512TR hasn't gotten a nibble in three months of having his car for sale, due to the mileage/price (that's <3000 miles annually).

5. Know your mechanic before you buy. I visited Gary Bobileff's shop in San Diego when I was looking. He gave good advice as to which model to buy and after I bought the car he gave me a tour of my newly-arrived purchase. The 348s and 355s are old cars at this point, and the 355s in particular seem to have a risk of engine bay fires if the fuel lines aren't properly looked after. You want a mechanic familiar with the trouble spots. (The 328, for example, has a coolant hose that runs under the intake manifold and deteriorates more rapidly than the others due to the heat; one of Gary's techs checked it out when my car was in for something else and caught the hose before it failed. $9 hose. Small price to pay.)

6. eBay is entertaining, but IMO it's usually a waste of time and a garbage pit for Ferraris that people want to sell to remote buyers. The best cars don't change hands on eBay. I'm generalizing, but not much. See #1 above.

7. The Bikini Thread is in the 'Backroom Lounge' section.

There's tons of info on this site. I hung out here for over a year before I bought mine.