Test drove F355 today. Need advice on purchase.

Definitely check the Check Engine light for function. I missed that the light was pulled on mine, which caused me to miss some really basic stuff that I would have otherwise caught. The valve guides are a big, big deal. The only way to know is to have a leak down test done. Get one done, and if the motor is leaking past the guides excessively, walk away unless you are feeling VERY adventurous.

These cars can be expensive to keep, but if you do your own work you can keep costs to a minimum. Head work, with 40 valves, on these cars is a minimum $5,000 proposition without counting anything other than replacing the guides and basic reconditioning of the heads, assuming you deliver the bare heads to the rebuilder and count all the parts replaced in doing the job correctly (including any dead valves).

 

I absolutely love this car's color combo. If you get it, and decide to sell at some point in the future, please shoot me a pm. My F355 purchase is probably still a couple of years in the future.

 

WHat color blue is your car? Mine is TDF blue with the crema interior, but I guess not listed in the registry. I understand that this combination is less common in the U.S.

 

When the leather shrinks a lot you will see the staples the factory used on the dash parts to aid in holding down the leather.

 

The cost to do.the guides can be done for less its just 5k is a good number to have in your head for the job.

 

Yes, the headwork itself, in my case is just about 3k, but when you add in gaskets, fluids, replacing 30k service parts, etc then 5k is a lowball estimate.

I have realistically budgeted about 10k overall for everything involved in getting the heads out and back in, and this is doing all the general labor myself.

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Did you make your own head tool or buy the tool?

 

Purchased it because I was thought I was going to pull the heads in Guam, but ended up deciding against it. The tool works well.

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You pulled the heads yourself? What is the tool you need ?

 

Yes, it's just a frickin' car. I have rebuilt the CV joints, flywheel, replaced the headers, etc. I even changed the spark plugs and oil myself. I will concede, working on the Ferrari is harder than working on an F-15 fighter, but not by enough to scare me away from turning a wrench.


Hill Engineering makes the tool or you can get it from Ricambi.
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I test drove this Monaco blue/Crema spider about a month ago. I was close to pulling the trigger, but my wife said it did not provide enough of a "thrill factor" for $5x.k dollars. I did not perform a compression or other tests, but I would figure about $20.k for repairs. In my estimation I would say it is a good car.

 

My f355 is a night/day difference when it is cold and when it's warmed up.

Shifter feels way better, throttle input way better. I always wait until oil temp is right in the middle before I go anywhere near redline or a lot of throttle input.