Prospective Buyer- Testarossa, 550 or 599

There are some nice 550 and 599. They are more recent cars with the service implications. The BB’s are beautiful machines but not one I’d put lots of miles on to preserve the collectible value. And they are quite pricey.

I like the mid-engine setup and the iconic look of the Testarossa. It was the 80-90’s poster car right next to the Countach which is now $750k. The TR is poised to rise in value at some point. You can get a solid example well within your budget and leave some money for incidentals or perfecting any flaws.
They’re not too finicky to maintain and parts are still available. It’s a great cruiser for long drives and a huge attention getter. Some have been driven past 100k miles happily. It’s a drivers car.

If you’re planning on putting serious miles, then it may not be worth paying extra for very low mileage cars. Unless they’ve had an engine out open wallet service recently, chances are you’ll spend a lot on repairs soon. Get a 30-60k example and you won’t feel bad adding 20k miles on it, nor will you take a value hit lol you would if you paid extra for a 3k miles car and wanted to sell it with 30k miles on it.

Hope this helps. Good luck!



Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

7-15k seems like a decent number for a 599, but it sounds low to me for a 550 and very low for a 512, at least in the context of how you plan to use it.

I'd think you'd pay some premium for that mileage on those older cars. It also means the car sat a lot. I have no personal experience with lightly driven Ferraris. But a lot of people around here are adamant that these cars get better when they're driven, and have issues when they're not.

 

A TR is a very different car to a 550 or 599, obviously.

I tell my clients, when they come to me with these type of questions: what have you laid in bed thinking about? What do you want to see in your garage, have a glass of wine/scotch/whatever, and just look at? If you’re thinking about a Ferrari, you’ve already had these thoughts.

Then you’re ready to get into the specifics about what car to buy for a particular model.

 

I own a TR and have driven and worked extensively on the others. All are great cars for a road trip and are at their best in that environment.
Buying a Ferrari really makes no sense, it needs to be driven by some internal emotion. If one of those models speaks to you forget the others.
TR really needs to be considered a vintage car at this point. Many parts are getting very difficult to get. I have come to terms that if ours is crashed, even a minor crash it will be totalled because lack of parts will insure it will be out of commission for a very long time and at my age that loss of use will be a deal killer.

550 really steps into being a modern car and the 599 even more so. Far more people available to properly service it and vastly improved parts availability. They are however very different in driving experience.

All are great cars, Id own any of the 3 and really enjoy the experience. Find a way to drive them. It will probably make the decision for you.

..

 

Usually followed by some kitschy quote about girlfriends.

All regurgitated nonsense.

Buy the lowest actual mileage / best F you can afford, and drive it a little or a lot, as you prefer.

 

Interesting. Like I said, I have no personal experience with lightly driven Ferraris. And I don't think(?) anyone would suggest that you should seek out a 200k mile Ferrari. Just that ultra-low mile Ferraris (a 7k TR seems pretty borderline) may not be worth the premium and may, in fact, have issues that result from sitting so much.

That notion has always made some sense to me. Gaskets and rubber bits don't get exercised and lubricated so can start to dry out. Issues arise with E10 fuel and other fluids sitting. I've also always had a theory that garage queens are less likely to be carefully broken in - if you're only going to put 200 miles a year on a car, are you really going to wait three or four years to start driving it hard?*

Sounds like you're saying these aren't valid concerns with garage queens. I'm curious why you think so. (Not arguing, just learning.)

(The flip side - that they get better with miles - has always seemed like a stretch. The theory I could maybe buy is that issues are discovered and sorted by driving. But, of course, other issues will surface as parts wear.)

Even if you're right that garage queens aren't more likely to have issues, is it not still sound advice to skip the low mile premium if you plan to add a lot of miles? If you were planning to put 10k miles on a 599, would you pay the premium for a 2k mile car?

----

* Yes, I know a lot of people ignore the break-in guidance, I'm just speculating that this could be more likely for lightly driven cars.

 

Some questions for the OP:

What is low-ish miles in your mind?
How committed are you, if at all, to a manual transmission (since you have a mix)?
Do you have a preference for a mid-engine car (since you have a mix)?

You can tell from my questions that a 599 is an outlier....why no 575 listed?

I also think your budget would struggle to include a 550. On Autotrader, just 1 of 6 would fit your budget, and it has 42k miles...AND is a repaired salvage

 

Your points are all very valid and should be taken into consideration vis a vis one's intended use and budget.

I was referring to the oft encountered refrain "gee, what a pity the car wasn't driven" and a well known collector's signature comparing Ferrari's with girlfriends.

Nothing with buying a car and staring at it if that's what one likes, and nothing wrong with putting lots of miles on a car.

One shouldn't assume that mileage accrued linearly. There are 2k miles examples that were regularly started and maintained and 20k cars
that sat and have the issues you mentioned.

 

I have dealt with this more than anyone else on this entire website. It is for the most part regurgitated nonsense. A good car when left unused for a long period needs a serious but not very invasive going over prior to being put in service. Very few know how to do that. When you are done you have a very nice car with little to no wear and tear. If you park a poorly maintained piece of **** for a long period you still have a piece of **** and those cars account for most of the stories. Why skip the low mile premium? Do you want a discount hotel room with the bed and towels left form the prior occupant. Count me out. I want a car that was treated the way I treat cars and there is only one way to do that.
Its mostly a wives tale from those who were unaware of the entire story.

 

That makes sense to me, thanks @lagunacc and @Rifledriver. Glad I put the notion out there since it's prompted helpful input.

All else equal, do you agree that you'll pay less depreciation putting 10k miles on a car that starts with 15k miles than one that starts with 2k miles? I'd think so. You'll pay for those miles either way, but the depreciation curve presumably is steepest at the lowest miles. A good investment in happiness either way though.

When I bought my Lusso, it had 15k miles on it. Which mostly was a non-issue for me because I love the spec, it was impeccably maintained, and owned by a well-known member of the community. But I took the "high" miles as a small plus since I'm going to put a ton of miles on it and figured that low mile premium was already paid by the prior owner. Doesn't particularly matter to me either way since I adore the car, but what do you think...was I out to lunch?

 

I own all three and will humbly suggest in order 1.) TR 2.) 599 (converted) and 3.) 550. If you're not interested in converting a 599 to manual, personally I'd put the 550 ahead to 2nd place. The TR is so low and exotic in person, every time. Wins the garage visit competition. Especially in red or black (to me). And with a performance exhaust/etc, you can juice her up a bit. It's an icon. The 599 and 550 are not hard on the eyes either and each have their own beautiful design details, and are certainly on another level performance wise than the TR, which won't mean anything for the short drives, but it becomes a little more meaningful on the long drives. I drove my TR from FL to MA in one stretch so I'm not suggesting it's never fun, but 20 hours in the 599 is like flying first class it's so refined and smooth, 550 close behind let's call it business class, in comparison to the 599. The manual conversion route is for sure not for everyone, which I respect. To me, the f1 599 is just too easy and smooth to give me those Ferrari goosebumps, but I respect the f1 is far more capable in terms of acceleration. I took my 599 to Chuckwalla last month and as fun as it was, no doubt the f1 would have been more blistering on the track. I bought my argento/nero 550 ten years ago with 15k miles and now she's just shy of 50k. I did three memorable, wonderful coast to coast blasts that could not have been more amazing, and I still love it, but she doesn't look like the TR and doesn't go like the 599 (which feels twice as powerful and half the weight). I'd suggest to torture yourself a little more, add the 456GT to your consideration list, they're obviously a different thing being 2+2 but in person it's gorgeous and still a ridiculous bargain. Few youtube vids been popping up lately about its design history and background. But I'd still say TR is tops, for that 12 cylinder dream. Great question!

 

d'oh that was you
outstanding

 

I've driven the 550 and 599 fairly hard.
To me they are obviously front engined. To some that's a plus. A Luxury tourer.
To me its a deal breaker.
There are plenty of front engined "gentleman" tourers out there. Very few mid engined V12s.

 

I really like the color combo. That dealer seems to always have the cream of the crop cars. Great buy

 

Except all the misrouted cabling and hoses, incorrect hardware etc to me indicate whoever did the service had no Testarossa experience.

The detailers did do a bang up job of making it shiny though.

 

Doesn’t make it any less of a very nice car. You’re doing the major service so it’s an easy problem for a good mechanic to fix. No big deal. I still would have bought the car.