Seen 2 348's, now need some advice please?

Keep looking. Unless the price is really squeezing you, you should feel good about the car. Be patient, don't compromise.

 

What JSalmon said ... Ferraris should be VERY well kept. I wouldn't demand service stamps in the book, because independent mechanics can be very qualified to maintain these cars and would not have those stamps. But insist on service invoices for the major timing belt service, every 3-5 years is ideal - you should be able to verify these by talking to the shop that performed them.

Broken door parts, broken speedo, cracked side strakes, etc., are all bad signs. Small Ferrari bits can cost a lot. The front fibreglass bumper on a 328, for example, goes for US$2000 - not sure if a 348 is comparable, but parts can add up quickly.

Keep looking. When you find one that looks good, then have a trusted mechanic inspect it to make sure the engine is making good compression, the body hasn't had collision damage, and so on.

Be patient. 348s aren't rare. And find a Ferrari mechanic in your area who can help you evaluate a car before you buy it.

 

Car B sounds like a clocked/speedo disconnected disaster. Car A would have to be very cheap. Most 'poor' cars have had at least 5 services (over here anyway). Technically a 92' should have had 14 services by now.

I too was disappointed at the quality of some cars available when I was looking - I really did expect them to be close to good considering the glowing descriptions. How wrong I was. I looked at a "superb" car 2500GB less than the one I eventually bought - a bargain? Not when you add up: 4 tyres, discs/pads paint to bumper, rusty sill plates, innop windows, innop A/C, seats worn (only 20k miles! Hmmm..), scratched alloys and it was a 90' vs 92'.

There are good cars around so keep looking.

 

Dont suppose you can get a US Spec car in your country? Ill give you a great deal on mine. All original, stock and clean.

 

The ratty ones can sit for a long time, so you tend to see those ones first when you're looking. But don't be afraid to look at the more $ cars too - they're more $'s for a reason, and almost always cheaper in the long run (unless you can do 90% of this work yourself).

I'd expect to see a minimum of one maintenance invoice a year. If no invoice includes "belts" then run!

My car had a stamp for the 7,500 mile (1999), and one for the 15,000 mile service - with lots of invoices including the 2nd service with belts (in 2003). This for a '94 348. I'd expect no less from a dealer maintained car. Independents wouldn't have the stamps but just as many invoices (with smaller dollar signs usually).

Proper resprays can be significant dollars, and there are many 348's in pristine condition. Based on your standards - run, don't walk. It took me many months to find a good one after I'd settled on the model.

I strongly recommend an experienced Ferrari mechanic go over any car you're interested in - he controls your retirement savings

 

I really can relate well with what you going thru.

I personally looked at almost 9 individual cars. Really nice cars are out there, but I usually didn’t find for sale signs on any of them, and when I did, they were always very expensive cars. 25 – 50% above market.

My first three contenders were at dealers. But literally every time I tried to get the dealers to put there agreements in writing, they ran away, or turned down the deal.
Examples like, (I live in California), Guarantee there car pass a smog check, (big deal breaker). Request to provide a written promise, of no accident history, (also Big deal breaker). One of the nicest cars I looked at in my price range had a beautiful after market exhaust, but no catalic converters, in California I have to have them, or else.

To me service records were a very big deal. I wanted a car that had an absolutely traceable Service record. This usually is just a matter of doing a little homework, and making sure there are not any historical discrepancies, or at least any that matter.

I also looked at 6 other cars from private buyers. Five of these cars are destine for the bone yards. You can trust your intuition in this case, if it looks like a piece of junk it probably is.

The car I finally settled on, Needs a little paint work, but doesn’t have a single door ding. It has a cracked windshield, none working air conditioning. It did have a recent 30K service, that was easily verifiable. It runs, and drives great. It also tracks straight as an arrow, and feels really tight.

Now as to my summary, and trust me, many, and I do mean many, of my fellow brothers, whome I like and respect, will most likely disagree.

Be care full not to set the bar to high, and try to take advantage of the bottom of the 348 price curve if you can.

Beware of a former competition race car. Some of the cars I looked at were former racers. Racing is lots of fun, but brutal on the equipment. The former owners of these types of cars seem especally good at hiding this and detailing the cars to look almost too good. Missing catalic converters are a dead on givaway.

I intend to work diligently to put my 348 back in show car condition, honestly perfect in every way possible. So think about it logically, do you honestly think, “I” or anyone else, with an equal example would put low a price tag on it, if we chose to sell it.

Good Luck with your purchase. Indy

 

I'd walk away from both cars if I were you. Don't let your heart rule your emotions - be patient (easy for me to say). The cars you mention should have more service stamps and invoices - lack thereof, suggests to me that the vehicles were underserviced and possibly neglected. Are they HK imports or Australian delivered?
As you are aware, this may affect resale prices. Good luck in your search and stay patient - all good things come to those who wait.

 

Don't do either- keep looking. I spent a few bucks on plane tickets before I found the right car. 348's were built in high enough numbers to avoid the monkey business you saw with those two cars. I wouldn't get too hung up on the stamps as long as you have a documented paper trail that satisfies you that the car was well-maintained. A PPI is a huge plus but not always possible.......

 

Walk away from both cars. The 348 you buy should be perfect, nothing less. You'll pay for the priviledge, but it will be well worth it, both financially and in terms of getting a better car.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=1234&sort=1&cat=11&page=3

 

The sticky interior parts are very normal and easily fixed. The owner sounds reasonable to me. The 348 is not that complicated of a car, so since the services are done and the car drives well, and the local mechanic said it has good compression I would go for it (mostly because of the limited options you have in Australia). Is there a decent mechanic near you to do service and repairs? To me it sounds like the owner has taken good care of the car so anything that breaks is a matter of chance and not because the car was mistreated. Good luck with your decision.
BT

 

Remember to factor in the cost of a belt change (soon). You say it was done in 2002, that's 4, maybe 4.5 years and the interval is time based (even if not many clicks have been covered). Please lets not start the belt debate again but I think a change at this point is good advice.

 

he doesn't want to waste his time with someone out for 'fun'.

and you don't want to buy without a PPI.

compromise , put down a cash deposit with him. Do a small simple agreement
that the car be properly PPI'ed. If it comes out clear - deal is on and if you
don't follow through , the deposit if forfeit. If the PPI comes out bad, the
deposit is to be refunded.

if you're serious , that is.

 

Be patient. The former owner of a car is almost as important as the car itself. It tells a story about the car. The former owner sounds like a jerk. Would he treat a piece of machinery any better than a person? Has he treated you well? I say **** him and feed him fishheads. Let him spend more of that valuable time trying to find another buyer to abuse. Just my opinion.

 

What country are we talking about Zakeen?

 

Very good advice. I feel when you are buying a car like this, you are actually "interviewing" the guy selling it. If the guy is a jerk you can nicely tell him to ****off. I've always felt these kind of guys that come across like jerks, are that way becuase they are probably hiding something and want you to feel like pressured into buying now. Take your time, its your money.