Should I walk away from this 355?

Keep Looking, IMO. The engine can be brought up to par with a major service, but body work is a red flag, especially if nothing shows up on carfax and it looks like there was a good amount of body work done.

 

How major is the leakage?

Someone far more knowledgeable than me will certainly chime in, but isn't major leakage on two cylinders a good enough reason to RUN?

 

Sounds like a $32-$37k car to me.

 

+1

 

From what I gather, a major service *plus* valve guides is closer to $20k than $10k, expecially once you consider the odds of finding other stuff as you go along (like bad cats and headers).

I passed on a 13k mile 97 GTS a while back because when I asked about the results of a compression check (showed up on the carfax report), he also revealed that it had 20% leakdown in one or two cylinders. Saved me a trip to Utah.

That car was purchased by a dealer, and is back on ebay now in another state. No mention of the leakdown problem, of course. Previous owner thought it might be carbon and might clear up. I'm sure it's possible, but if I were the owner and really believed that, I would have done my best to blow the carbon out of it and re-test rather than wonder.

 

+1----All these guys with $40K think they are going to find a great 355---Ain't happening---I have yet to hear of one owner that bought a sub $50K car and not ended up spending another $12-$15k min. to make it right... Spend the money an buy a car that is correct, right and ready to go.... Parts get very expensive and a Ferrari is not something you want to skimp on to save a couple $$...

 

A major + valve guides should not run over 10k otherwise you are getting taken.

 

I have a strange question. What kind of person doesn't change their oil in 6 years or even now when they want to sell it? It's not that expensive to get the issue over with.

They may give you a bit of mindset on the seller or previous owner.

 

Looks to me (E-bay, Autotrader) that this is a buyers market and a great time to purchase your dream car... No need to settle for a subpar 355. With the money you have to spend you should be able to find and purchase a nice example. Happy hunting. J

 

Absolutely +1

 

Let me be perfectly clear... MOVE ON!!!

 

You should not walk away from this...RUN!!!

 

With the repairs I think you could find another. It just doesn't sound like a "deal" for anyone but the seller.

 

I'm with you, Robbie. We can hold on to our "perfect" cars until some of these guys realize that spending $15-$20k after acquisition just doesn't make sense!! I purchased mine with the criteria that I shouldn't have to spend more than $5k to make it absolutely PERFECT. It is

 

Wrong. It is info typically like this on the net which one heard from someone that heard from someone else that scares most would be F355 owners away and subsequently give F355 a bad rap.

A major service *plus* valve guides *plus* water pump CAN be had for about $13K. And this is not from any street corner auto repair shop. It is straight from one of the best and very well known independent service here in SoCal.

BTW, to the OP, pass this one and find another.

 

+355 on this, too, Robbie.

I would sell my 355 to the right buyer today--however, after spending over $20,000 to make mine perfect over the last year, nobody is going to spend a measly $40-50k to take her off my hands. Don't need to sell....but always open to the right buyer.

Besides..after spending all that money, every single thing on the car that could have an issue was fixed and she is running perfect since!

Definitely NOT gonna complain if I have to drive her for another year before the right buyer comes along.

 

I'm with you----I am trying to sell my car and with the bad economy, I think it is priced great for that. It is priced a few $$ less than my mechanic told me to offer it for. He told me to please don't sell it for the price I am asking, but I know the economy sucks. Have noticed alot of guys recently on here trying to buy exotics for next to nothing after seeing a few examples go for below market value.

2-3 years ago, most users would tell guys to buy the best example car they can find with there money--That hasn't changed. If you want to buy a $40K 355, go for it---You might get lucky and only have to spend $10K to make it average. But if you want a great car---you will NOT find it for $50k.....

I would guess there are $50k cars out there and after spending $20k to make them nice--they still can't compare to alot of users well kept cars....

 

Very few are perfect. If everyone continues to pass on sub par cars then that would leave very few to choice from then what should happen to these cars?

if sellers price accordingly then buyer could make the correction and have a good car.

price, shopping around and some DIY is key

 

I agree Robbie.

 

I was thinking the same thing. No oil change in 6 years????

 

This may sound like a dumb question, but could the leakdown numbers improve with a little driving time? What I mean is if it isn't valve guides, instead sticky rings or carbon buildup. Would they loosen up with some running time on the engine?

If it has only covered 4000 miles in six years, I wonder what fresh fluids and new cambelts would do for the car. Of course you have to pull the engine for the belts, so perhaps it make sense to open the head up to diagnose the leakdown problem at the same time...

 

+2

 

I "heard" that number from the service dept at Steve Harris Imports (the Ferrari dealer in Salt Lake City), when I called them. We were talking about a major, plus valve guides, plus QV headers. They said budget about $17k, which *is* closer to $20k than $10k.