Hey All! Long time lurker and now I'm finally in the position to purchase! The car in question is a F360 F1 1999 in Rosso Fiorano with 28k Miles Being young at 23 and unfamiliar with these cars I wanted to pick the brains on owners and what their experiences have been owning this car. I'm coming from almost all American or Japanese cars so reliability was always a given. I understand that may not be the case anymore since I'm buying an art piece that makes race car noises. Recent maintenance is timing belts, rotors, suspension sensors and most importantly a CLUTCH job done about 7k miles ago. What are the odds I have a sorted drivers car to enjoy for a season or two of trouble free driving? I plan to diag and fix most on my own and document the experience thoroughly! Questions for you fine gentlemen and gentlewomen - Where are all the websites to find parts? What are my options for the "SD2 scanner" I may need to diag issues? Tips and tricks to drive the F1 trans and stretch the life of the clutch? Any locals to the South east PA area that like to go for fun drives to experience the F cars together? Any and all extra info greatly appreciated! The car in question btw - Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login BAT link to the car as well - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1999-ferrari-360-modena-41/
I see that car didn't sell. I guess you are just going directly to the dealer. The Jersey/Penn region of the Ferrari Club has some local events and if you join the North East Italian Car Club, there are always fun things to do. My one big piece of advice I can give is not to put yourself into bad debt to buy a car. Make sure you can afford it in cash and then decide if you want to finance or pay cash. This will make sure you won't be "car poor" These are expensive cars to fix and not everything can be solved with just sweat equity and watching a few YouTube videos. Sorry been watching a lot of Caleb Hammer videos lately and it seems to be the SOP for many 20-somethings to buy more car than they can really afford. If you can afford it, then yes go for it. As someone who has owned a Porsche since 17 and had a new Lamborghini in my 20's, cars can be fun and you meet great people, but not at the expense of your future... Cheers, Corey
Thank you for your insight Corey! All is appreciated and good new is, the financial aspect isn't a huge worry for me. I have the cash aside to purchase the car and some but I still plan to finance about half just to keep my credit flowing.. I work really hard to afford the toys I like to drive and a budget is second nature to me, thankfully. I've built a few classic cars and I really find joy in a car that has a "personality" some of that being the quirks it has and learning how to fix it. From what I hear a Ferrari does the quirky bit quite well and I'm excited to see it have it's first weird "Ferrari thing". My goal in asking all of you is to get ahead of the ball on some things you would like to know if you were buying the first F car all over again. This is the oldest V8 Ferrari that I can actually sit in and drive(no one told me a 308-355 are built for the smaller statures, even at 6'2" My torso was too long by a long shot haha) You and I sounds similar in our car purchasing habits! Hopefully I can catch you out at an event once things warm up, I'd love to pick your brain on F groups and local events
If the funds allow ...do what makes you happy. These cars are extremely easy to work on. Have pretty much done it all in every thing on the 360. Ask away in this group there is some good talent here
Just a word of advice. The price of entry is relatively cheap, but to keep them going can get pricey. They can also last for years once they are where they should be with very little maintenance. These cars can surprised you in both ways. LOL. I bought a Challenge Stradale that was “good to go” in 2022, and I’ve put about $90,000 into it once I get it back from the shop getting it “perfect” so far with me doing about half of the labor myself over the year and paying a good shop for the other half. About $30,000 of that was unessesary mods though (Sline exhaust, tune, Tubi cats, full 430Challenge center locking hub conversion, and a few other things), and about $10,000-$20,000 of that is me being super super anal to get it perfect. Still leaves about $40,000-$50,000 spent over a years time on the car to get it where it really should have been at when I bought it. I don’t mind at all as it’s a lifer car (I honestly just want a second Challenge Stradale now too), I can afford it, and they are $300,000 now, but it’s something to consider. For some people that would wreck them. Understandably too. It would have wrecked me for sure in my 20s. Haha. By all means, buy the car and enjoy it if you can. Especially in your 20s! I’m only in my 30s and am glad I didn’t wait any longer. I actually wish I would have jumped in 5-7 years ago, but for some silly reason I didn’t. But be sure you don’t end up putting yourself in a bad spot or not being a proper steward of such a fine car and brand by not being able to maintain it properly. They can bite the wallet big time. Just my $0.02 Edit: As stated above, these cars are very easy to work on. IF YOU HAVE THE TIME. Easiest car I’ve ever worked on actually except my 1929 Ford. Seriously. Super easy car with most things. In depth jobs (Often the ones that would cost a lot at a shop) can get a little hairy though. Again, all just stuff to consider. Edit: Join FCA.
What cb said! A line I like is, "Many people can actually afford to buy a Ferrari, but few can afford to maintain one!" Am sorting out my F430 Spider and am up to $40K in nine months - but it's starting to be a REALLY nice car now. Kevin
My F430 was dealer maintained it's entire life when I bought it at 27k miles, but still had to spend a good chunk once I got it to fix all the things that were deferred or didn't bother the previous owner. Would likely have been closer to $20k if I didn't do half the work myself, but still ended up spending $12k at least. I guess the word of advice here is that make sure you have another 10-20% at least put on the side for things you'll likely need to do within the first year unless you're buying a super meticulously cared for example which would likely be that at least that much in a premium anyway.
What a gorgeous 360! This forum is nearly all you'll need, it is nothing short of amazing, I've done a lot to my car and found almost everything I need on here. Incredible community. Based on the info from BAT, I would imagine you've got a fairly turnkey car which should go without issue for some time. That said, stuff does happen. I would suggest taking off the bottom rear and front undertray. That gave me a lot of insight into my car's history, that's where the stuff is that you don't normally see and you'll get an idea of how well it was maintained. I use eurospares.co.uk for most things, shipping is always attached, so sometimes will use ricambi and can skirt a shipping fee Eurospares.co.uk, as do many others, have great assembly diagrams showing you every (nearly) part you may need. Get an at least decent Workshop Manual, I got a cheapie off ebay ($20) helps me 99% of the time. And, echo what @GogglesPisano said on extra budget, stuff that you 'wanna' do needs a budget too. These cars are awesome to 'personalize' and perfect.
It's too bad you couldn't find one in a decent color!! Just kidding -- that's my favorite color on a 360 by far. Congrats and enjoy it and drive the wheels off of it.
Thank you to everyone so far! Took the car for a test drive today and it felt great. First time driving an F1 trans was weird, felt like it kind of drives like a 16 yr old who just learned to drive stick if you're too gentle on it haha. Also got it up on a lift today and looks like the fun begins, the boots on just about EVERY ball joint are old/torn. One had some very minor pitting. No play in the suspension....yet, but definitely looking for parts to have on stand by to replace. Another item was a front outer tie rod looked like it is on it's way out too, as the boot was almost falling off. Other than that some small stuff I noticed - - the heat isn't very warm after a 30 min drive, like at all. (the stop button was depressed) -What's the trick to get the clutch to let out sooner? felt as if it was riding a little long (1.5 ish seconds after takeoff) - F1 actuator is MILDY damp, like a seal is just starting to go. All in all it looks like the car has a case of the "Sits" (that's my lingo for a car that has been parked up for too long and little things just start to fail) Still very excited, getting a pretty good rate even with the market right now. Keep on coming with advice and contacts! Next on my list is a way to start sourcing parts for a manual conversion or stradale TCU upgrade.
Any 360 you buy, unless they have been replaced previously in the last decade or so (preferably with Hill Engineering versions), assume they will need ball joints. They are famous wear items. Thankfully, they are pretty easy to replace as long as there is no control arm damage. The STOP button should not be depressed to use the climate control, it should be out. Stupid design. No help in the F1 arena as I have a gated, but whatever you do GET A PPI on any car from someone familiar with these cars. If the seller won't allow it, move on to the next.
If you're looking to do a conversion, you certainly can attempt to source parts, there are several full kits available, search the forum for many threads on this
Related to the F1 shifting, there are some items at play as the throttle position (partial vs WOT) and other dynamics are taken by the TCU to perform the shifts. So in a way you are slightly part of the equation. One simple option is to select “Sport” mode as it will shift (very slightly) quicker. Bridging into what others said on tweaks/expenses- you can either swap (if you can find it) a challenge stradale TCU or go through trev360 and get a tune (ECU/TCU) which if you search fchat a bit is a popular enhancement for performance/experience (but I have not yet personally done this). I have had a 03 360 spider since 2020 and while I have had to do a couple things it has been a solid experience. I can echo that if you are new to Ferrari the Ferrari Club of America is a good choice to meet others and decide if it is for you- I’m a member in mid-atlantic and it has been good for me. As for code scanners- you can go cheap (mostly read) with Autel AP200 or many go with the launch x431. Hope it helps.
