Interesting you say this about the 997. My 360 also failed and just stopped on the side of the road a few weeks ago. No warning signs. nothing, it just stopped. Yes it was F1 related as you'd expect, but luckily I diagnosed the fault and replaced a pump motor. So no sending to the Ferrari dealers where I would have had a bill for 3K probably. I sold it and bought a 997.1 TT MANUAL, and I can speak of it's addictiveness. It is VERY addictive. OK, it doesn't have the sound, look and prestige granted, but so far it hasn't stopped on me and nothing has fallen off it. As sexy as the F cars are there comes a point where you have enough. I was spending more time spending on it in 3 years than actually driving it. I hope that buying a manual it will not drop in value, but time will tell. Ferrari are not the sole car for addictiveness is all I'm saying. I miss it all the same!
If this is not a specialty Ferrari repair shop equipped with an SD2 and intimately familiar with the F1 you are making a serious mistake. I just finished a repair on a CS F1 problem that had spent months bouncing back and forth between 2 shops (one a supposed "expert" on Ferrari) with SD2's and no real idea how to use them. By the time I got to it, it had myriad patches and band aids, countless hours and a bunch of parts replaced and yet it still did not work. For some reason many of the complaints and horror stories I hear about these cars come from situations that pursue similar repair shop selections. You live in Northern California. There is not a single good reason not to send it to someone equipped and qualified to perform a quality repair. Same old story. Cut corners on repair then blame the car when the desired outcome isn't achieved. Reliability is a function of service quality. If you have reliability problems with your car your choice of shops is largely to blame.
To answer your questions, he kept driving the car to multiple places and did not see, hear, or recognize any warning lights and he did not mention he had any problems at all while driving his car, thus it is relatively safe to say the car was driving well and he failed to mention noticing any warning lights or sounds. Therefore, I refused to assume or believe that the owner/driver is ignorant to any warning lights or sounds a $200K+ car will do while in operation. That being said, I based my OPINION on what the OP posted, doesn't make me right or wrong, just an opinion. You don't have to be in the car to base an opinion on the facts that were presented in an open forum(e.g. walked to get DD then change battery, etc) no matter how astute or ignorant an owner may be. Although I understand and agree with your professional observations, ignorance is not really a good excuse, particularly when owning and operating a car, no matter what it is worth. I am sure many of those that repair and maintain vehicles for a living don't mind fixing the damage done by the ignorant (it isn't a career based on charity work despite the occasional discount). Man, the stories you could tell probably range from the sublime to horrific to hilarious. Cheers!
Not safe to say at all. Refusing to believe that is where you go wrong. I fix them for a living and our worst source of information in all but few cases is the driver. You can ask a Formula One mechanic and he will tell you the same.
just checked thread. OK... I broke down and called the shop. Left msg. Will update. RD, I sent you a PM. A little worried now....
Everyone knows the blinking red light.. "SLOW DOWN".. "FILL UP OIL".. "BETTER FILL UP NOW OR ELSE".. "ABOUT TO DIE IN 30 SEC" They're all merely recommendations... Until they're not! Re:997. I bought an 06' C2 in November of last year. It's a nice car and very refined. As a DD it's everything the 360 isn't.... but it doesn't tickle my G-spot the way the 360 does. It's just a car in traffic (which is nice FWIW), and is smooth and kinda lexus like. When I first bought it like 2 weeks in I was asking myself "Do I REALLY need the 360?" Now I can unequivocably answer that with: Absolutely.
In an ideal world I would also have both Kurt. But we're not and I can't, so I have make do with what I have
finally, an update. the transmission problem specifically turned out to be the F1 sensor - it failed and doesn't know where the transmission is. So this is a big job and the clutch is near the ends of its life so the clutch will be replaced - this is where the big bucks come in - no figure on final figure yet. Will update when have the final shop paperwork in hand. that 997.2 is looking awfully tempting.
Clutch position sensor.... been there. However, it can be replaced without taking the transmission apart. Just fyi You can buy the sensor at Ricambi for a lot less.
Clutch position sensor cannot do that but I suppose if they replace enough parts they will eventually get it fixed. Shops like this give us all a bad name. If I picked doctors the way some pick mechanics I would have died by medical misadventure very long ago.
997.1 turbo in 6 speed = good fun I will keep mine and still buy 3 pedal 360. Cheers. If $$$$$ overcome fun, then back to Porsche only. Craig
Greetings guys.. I am a long time lurker and don't own a F-car, but have been researching for a couple years now and appreciate some of the honest opinions on here. In response to this thread, at what point does the resale value not be a factor when it appears most are dropping 10's of thousand so dollars a year on these cars. Still seems like your loosing major money, NO! In the case with the CS sure its rarer but if you have dropped or might drop 50 -100K over a 5-10 span, are you really making out? I can see if the car was more dependable, but wow, that seems ridiculously expensive. Lastly does the thrill of having this 100+ K car out weight the embarrassment of having it on the side of the rode needing to be towed. Not knocking anyone's car, as I really want one, but I have to admit, I have started looking at other options.
Value to you is an individual decision. To some that is walking around money, others not so much. As for your perceived lack of reliability, it is largely a function of the quality of service the car gets. If you ignore problem signs or shop for cheap service your ownership experience will not be a happy one. They are not bad cars, some have bad owners, some have bad mechanics and some have both. Looking in a forum as this is a little like visiting a hospital and assuming all people are sick.
Cars break so don't let the concept of being stranded on the side of the road stop you from your dreams. If you are ever stranded on the side of the road in your future Ferrari wear a smile. Life is interesting and so is your script. I'll bet there will be more chances that day for you to make positive memories than a breakdown in any other car. No one is dropping 50-100K in 10 years on repairs unless they are used to throwing that kind of money around to solve their problems. -Buy a "good car" and hedge against surprise repairs (plenty of advice on here about how to find a good car) -Take care of said car to hedge against surprise repairs (plenty of advice on here about how to take car of such a special car) -Make sure you can actually afford the car so you can place your priorities in order. (plenty of advice on here about what it take$ to not loose sleep over ownership) Owning one of these technical and emotional masterpieces is not for everyone. Just like owning vintage cars is not for everyone, or airplanes, or boats. If you do it right, the positives outweigh the negatives and the financial downside can be minimized. It's not an investment, you should plan to loose money on paper, like a boat, or an airplane. If you don't actually lose great, but don't count on it. The best related things I have read on here and committed to memory are: 1. If you can afford the car as priced on the original sticker (new) you can afford it. I like to think that if you can afford the most expensive one for sale at any given time that you can afford a "good buy" so search wisely. 2. The most important thing when looking for a car are the 3 C's...condition, condition, condition. (not fender shields, colors, interior options!) 3. The car is not an investment like a house or a savings bond but it IS an investment! An investment in you! I hope you get to spend some time behind the wheel at some point because the hype about a Ferrari is all very real and so worth the effort. Other cars makes might be as special to some but we are not in another forum.
I spend more time on here than I should and I don't see people dropping tens of thousands a year. Most have yearly services; others repairs in the 4 digit range, not 5 based on what I've seen. Of course some people are unlucky and sometimes things break. All of the factors Rifledriver points out are relevant as well of course.
The post was so poorly written I did not get he was talking about 5 figure annual service costs. That's absurd.
Final tally is not yet in but over 3 years ownership, it approx $12,000. My car may not represent average. as of right now (can't predict future), I have had offer to sell my car for exactly the same price I paid for (ie no effort on my part). Therefore (discounting insurance, gas and registration), this car would have cost me less than a 911 (except GT3), R8, Gallardo, Aston Martin (even if those cars have no unexpected maintenance) due purely to depreciation. If I work a little bit or put it on consignment (I might break even after 3 years of ownership and 7,000 miles).
You could be onto something because we all know that worrying about the embarrassment of breaking down in your car is a.....little chief problem!
I was not just referring to just servicing at those figures, but overall cost with unscheduled maintenance included. Again I was not trying to offend anyone. It sounds like this guy is about to pay a lot to get the car back in the road, so though the car may sell for what he paid, if he drops another 10K to get it back on the road, then technically he wont be getting the valve of the car. Plus if I understand correctly he has already paid 10k over a three year span for maintenance, and if he has to drop another 10K for this F1 problem then he is on track for that 5 year 50K I was referring to. When does the thrill of the drive loose out to the money pit factor and time in shop. And yes, I am sure there has to be some type of feeling if you were stuck on the road in this car. I have a 2013 AMG S63 Merc, and if that ever stopped on me on the side of the road, for sale it goes. Just wonder if any F car drivers fear that since it seems according to driver here they have lots of mechanical issues.
Don't generalize from single sample! You can always find outliers... Key is to find a Ferrari experienced mechanic/shop, develop a good relationship, do the yearly scheduled maintenance, and unless you put tons of miles on the car I don't think you will have much trouble or see the mechanic much between yearly service. At least that has been my experience...
