Purchasing a Ferrari

Your dealer will help you spec a car but for more extreme options there's the Atelier service

Lots of photos of differently optioned cars in the 458 section

Also on Ferrari's own site they have a configurator to help you choose options

 

I'd suggest setting your sights a bit lower, and work your way up to a 458 if fortune allows.

You can buy a perfectly sound used, older Ferrari for the cost of a new higher end Japanese car; the purchase cost isn't cheap, but it is within the reach of many.

The problems:

1) Fear / intimidation: many people are afraid to pull the trigger; for whatever reason they convince themselves they cannot afford a Ferrari, or delude themselves into thinking that they could never put up with the issues involved in owning an "exotic" car. They're probably wrong. These are only cars, after all. It's simple: you want one? Buy one. Yeah, it really is that easy. Just do your homework first.

2) High maintenance expense: yeah, this one is real: you gotta pay to play; don't get an F-car if you cannot service it the way it should be serviced, or it will bite you. But the cost shouldn't cripple you, and if you can do some work yourself, that is a real plus.

3) Pig in a Poke: some problem cars out there, either deferred maintenance, benign neglect, hidden defects: get a PPI!

A well chosen Ferrari can be a joy forever.

 

I'd suggest this: consider buying a 15 or so year old used Ferrari now. Drive it, love it. In 15 years, you should be in a financial position to buy a used 458. Buying a new 458 today costs some SERIOUS coin; don't set your goals so high as to be unrealistic. If you can afford it, great, but don't sweat it if you can't. You have options. Live in the present.

 

I realised my dream 4 years ago with a secondhand 550 Maranello. Still own the car, still love it. Bought a couple of other Ferraris since but the number you own is not important, and the model is also not important. You just need to make sure YOU love it (whether it's a Ferrari or Alfa or Triump or Mini etc). I would be perfectly happy with just my Maranello, or "just" a 308. Enjoy it. That should be the main goal.

Having said that - I do share your dream of ordering my own Ferrari and spec'ing it exactly the way I want it. If I ever do, I will go to the Ferrari factory (been in there a couple of times) and define my exact specification in the Atelier. Then 6 months later I would take delivery in Maranello and drive it back home over the Alps.


Onno

 

by the time you are ready to buy a 458 ITALIA
it will be out of production by then

like the man said, aclimate yourself , so you would experience the feeling of owing
a FERRARI, going to the meets, join the fun.start young
I am 64, bought my first new 308 gtsi 32 years ago, it's in my BLOOD

good luck young fello !
you have your whole life ahead of you

DO THINGS WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG with no regrets !

 

I would say do things at any age with no regrets. If it hasn't worked for you when you're young why not do it when you're older? And if you're a bit prudent when you're young that generally doesn't hurt you. Be sensible but don't forget life passes by quickly and tomorrow is an uncertainty.


Onno

 

To the OP you can alway's do as I do and make friends and maybe one of them will let you drive their Fcar. Heck I have wanted a Ferrari for longer than I can remember but my desperate need for one has become quite sublime, I am not a poor man but I'm not a rich man either but I am rich in the sense that I have made friend's thru the year's who enjoy sharing good fortune and that is pretty damn cool right there.

Get into the community be humble and get as many ride's as possible as I believe that will really help you decide what model is your goal. Now ownership for me could change at any time if the economy improves and they finally put in those daym well's, heck one of my aunt's get about $250K a year and I'm certain I'll buy a Ferrari when we get our's.

Hear that lady's I'll be rich someday so bare with me lol!!!

Apologies too all as I stumble off the path occasionaly lol.

 

no where to really put this thought that i have had for a while but here.....


THE 360 PRICES ARE AMAZING RIGHT NOW.

so much car for such a great deal.

 

Quite a few, but I'd start here, look at the ads on this site. There are more than a few very well kept 360s listed here. Make sure that when you find one you'd like, that you spend a few extra dollars to find someone to inspect the car, and guide you through the various pitfalls that purchasing one can entail.

All of these cars had problems. The 360 had header problems, F1 problems, Variator problems, and many others. Ferrari had various campaigns to correct these problems and you'll need someone educated in the various issues to guide you through them. There are indeed articles in the 360/430 subsection below that can help you, but I'd make sure that I had someone in the know assisting you.

Art

 

It feels great as you drive off for about five minutes...

...then fear begins to set in about what weird noise, light, or other abnormality occurs that sends your heart through the roof, your brain into "how much will this cost" all leading to you racing home and right to Ferrarichat asking "whats wrong with my car"

 

All depends on how you do it. As an example, the Dutch section on Ferrarichat has a lot of people that do not own Ferraris. We (owners and non-owners) are a large group of friends that get together regularly and enjoy sharing our passion. Anyone that seems reasonably trustworthy can get a ride in any of my Ferraris. To drive one is a little different - I wouldn't let anyone drive my 550 that just came up to me and asked for it. But friends? No problem. A lot of the owners feel the same and some of my non-owning friends have driven 5, sometimes 10 different models of Ferrari.

I do have to say that I am more picky about who gets to drive my 330GTC or 365 Boxer - they are a bit harder to drive and I like people to have some experience with classic cars before they get behind the wheel. But still, several people have driven them.


Onno

 

In our group it's pretty normal, so I don't claim to be one nice guy out there. Some even let others drive their cars on the track - now that, I would not do. I'm not comfortable with other people looking for the limit in my cars, given very few exceptions.

Personally, I get a real kick out of sitting in the passenger seat and seeing people enjoy my cars. Sharing them makes the ownership experience more special.


Onno

 

I would let friends drive my Ferrari if they asked: none have, yet, although they all sing its praises.

Thus far, I've let my son drive it, and to my wife's amazement he hasn't wrecked it or beaten the bark off of it (she remembers the wide swath he cut when he was a teen).

He washes and details the car, takes it to and fro for one thing or another, and gases it up at the only non-ethanol station in the area.

Yesterday he took a client of his wife (she's an in-home care giver for different people), a fellow with reasonably advanced MS, for a ride in the country, and I am told the gentlemen was truly ecstatic.

Funny thing: My wife was checking his facebook, and someone had asked him how fast he'd gone in the Ferrari. He said "143;" my wife posted "Oh, really?!" and he quickly posted "Just kidding."

Kids.

 

Simple solution: go to some "cars and coffee" events and mingle.

A quick search didn't show one in San Diego (maybe there is one?) but there's one in LA:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311718