testarossa reliabilityand future collectability

reliability - Reliable enough, but its no Honda/Toyota. Watch the electrics, fuses etc. Also, the rear differential does not like peal outs/dropped clutches. Make sure it is properly serviced.

future collectability - not that much, there are simply too many of them (7000+). If you a collectible flat 12 get a BB or a later 512TR/F512M

 

You MUST get a trustworthy independent mechanic look at any TR. It will cost a ton of $ to restore so you want to avoid that

The weak points are the transmission & some electronics, the AC, the starter

The rest is pretty sturdy, you can ask the mechanic inspecting to check the clutch. You cant see the main shaft without several hours of work & the owner probably wont be too happy about removing the trans main shaft

If the car has ever been drag raced that will be the 1st part to go & it could destroy the whole trans so its realitevly cheap insurance to have that magnafluxed after you buy the car to see if its cracked at all

I wouldnt get 1 as an investment unless you can find 1 very cheap in good shape, Not likely

A much better investment is a 60s muscle car, Its not a Ferrari but its not too bad

 

Go for 512TR IMO.

 

512TR was built from 92-94. Many people belive it is the Ultimate TR.
It is much improved structurally over the earlier TR, more power, less weight & looks better than the last TR the 512M

I recently saw a 512TR asking $75k which is a fantastic deal for an amazing car

 

As a TR owner/lover I wholeheartedly support getting a TR....but I am terribly biased. In my opinion if you have reasonable mechanical knowledge, you can do most if not all of your own work on these cars. The only complex system is the CIS fuel injection....there are lots of potential gremlins in this system that can give you headaches. As has been said previously, the electrics can be a problem as can the transaxle. But if you maintain the car it will be quite reliable. I have a "driver" TR that has had a rough life. I've spent the past 3 years fixing little things here and there, as well as doing the major service myself. I have also driven the heck out of the car and it has NEVER let me down, it's never failed to start, or stranded me anywhere. In fact it has been MORE reliable than my Caddy Seville STS !!! Like William says the trans main shaft is a potential bomb IF the car has been subjected to burn-outs and clutch-drops. In my opinion hard accelerations up through the gears does not hurt things much. I have raced a couple of times with my TR even though I knew better. I have a buddy with a '68 Charger 440 six-pack motor with an automatic. I once raced him from a 5mph roll and actually BEAT him by about a car length in the quarter mile !! All the musclecar guys could not believe this heavy Italian car with a little 300 cubic inch motor that was NOT designed for drag racing beat that heavy hitting mopar! I was soooo proud of the ol'e girl !! (Sorry to get off on a tangent here)

I believe like William H says that the 92-94 512TR is the ultimate TR. The best looking of the bunch with upgrades all around. That is my dream car for sure. For just plain driving around town you won't notice much difference between any year of TR. If you are going to explore the performance aspects then a 512TR is the only way to go. Lastly...I feel that TRs are the MOST under-rated Ferrari and are THE bargain in the market right now. The maintenance costs and pitfalls of these car has been so blown out of proportion that this "myth" has caused a decline in the desirability of these cars. Of course this was helped along by unworthy owners who didn't perform the proper services, as well as dealers "scaring" owners into authorizing huge amounts of unnecessary work to be done. It always seems to boil down to the all mighty dollar. Dealers trying to get all they can and owners trying to save all they can. Too bad as the cars and future owners are the ones who suffer. You can do your own service on these cars for about $1500 to $2000 for EVERYTHING. You will need a parts manual and a shop manual, cheapie copies are fine here. And the wealth of information on this and other Ferrari websites is a great comfort. If this site didn't exist then I probably would never have bought my TR.....you can't put a price on the good people and sharing of information that fchat provides.

Sorry so "talky" but as you can see I'm "TR-enthusiastic" almost to the point of being unhealthy.......Great Cars!

 

Jeff,

What a great post! No apologies necessary for being "talky" - you've renewed my enthusiasm for one day owning a redhead. I started out not knowing anything, just that I wanted a TR. Then I got scared off by the maintenance "myths" as you described them. Then I got *back* the desire, but decided to maybe get a "starter Ferrari" first just to learn the ropes. Now, eff it. I'm gettin' a TR for my first. Done. I have always loved 'em, and I always will...nothing should get in the way of that.

 

I also will back up Jeff's comments about it being reliable. My 88.5 has never let me down and I think that's because I drive it almost daily. These cars don't like to sit too long. They are drivers. For the money, there is no better way to get the true Ferrari mystique with that 12 cylinder purring behind you. I may be biased on the TR, but I have owned and driven many different models, the TR will impress you, not to mention impress everyone else on the streets.


Stephane
Scaledetails

 

My experience with my TR (1990) was similar to Jeff's. I bought it with the mind set that it was going to be a weekend car, perhaps even a garage queen to enjoy and appreciate on my free time, but it soon almost became my daily driver. I used it for everything and to go anywhere. It was so much fun that my other undeserving three cars nearly became garage queens themselves. I performed nearly all maintenance and repairs on the car myself. Repairs where minimal in over 2.5 years of ownership and over 20K miles. The car's most noticable issues where with the aging of parts such as seals, and o-rings, and the notorius fuse box. Once these issues were solved and the major service was done, the car performed flawlessly for over a year and a half, after which time it was sold. Never heard again from the buyer, so I suppose the car continued its great service after the sale. I performed the Major service right on my garage and the cost of all parts was about $1500.00 including work not normally covered in the major by the regular Ferrari dealer. The car was tough and reliable, and wouldn't mind getting into another one in the future, although to be honest, I will definitely give the 512TR a first look because of the improvements over the original TR.

 

the only expense you will have with a tr over a 348 355 360 is you will need to buy four more sparkplugs and boy does it make it go lots betterthan the eight cylinder cars
once you own a tr you will find it difficult to replace it with any other ferrari i had a 1990 tr sold it bought a 348gts then a 355 and was dissapointed with both of them easier to drive but not as much power so now i have a f512m which is the happy ending to my little story

 

Whats the deal with improving the fuse box? Is it just the fuse box and relays that need replacing/upgrading or is it also part of the wiring harness?

Also, on a test drive is it possible to detect any impending gearbox or diff problems by listening for noises while going on and off the gas for instance?

I also think the Testa is great value for money at the moment but other peoples experience with expensive problems (Wolfgang for instance) is making me hang back a bit.

Cheers
Simon

 

Simon,
the fusebox problem is not a big deal! Yes, the wiring harnes should be also changed for thicker/biggre/stronger ones.
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54728
Gearbox/Differencial need a revision at around 50.000km.
Yes, you can HEAR & FEEL it while driving slowly (less rpm`s ) in each gear.
Well, thats a 10K deal
BUT, its still the most amazing supercar Ferrari ever built (to me) and worth each $. I have never regret it.
....and the prices are going up and up - go for it buddy! I know you are hungry for a 12 cylinder

 

Simon,

The fusebox issues in my case were not a big deal to solve, just an annoyance until I got rid of the problem. I didn't have to replace harnesses or the like. The problems I experienced where related to the poor design of the connectors to the Fusebox panel. With time the clamp like connector looses its strength and tends to open up. On high Amp connections this produces electrical arching which tends to fry the connector and surrounding material. Nevertheless, the problem was easy to solve. I believe it cost me less than $20.00 to take care of it. I bought quick connectors from an auto part store and wrapped each pin coming out of the fusebox panel with these connectors (after some tweaking). That resulted in a longer and thicker pin which created a proper interface between the fusebox's pins and connectors. Not very elegant, but straight to the point.
In fact, all issues I had with the TR were not more costly to solve than issues with any of my other cars. If you are mechanically incline, you will find that the TR has a very simple design (some might say, pure!). Also, its engine compartment is so expansive that makes it a pleasure to work with it. The car was definitely designed with maintenance in mind.
If your concerns are maintenance or repairs related, make sure that the PPI is as thorough as you can make it, because most of upcoming stories for the car will be revealed at that point. Maintenance, and repair records are a must. The least info on the car over its entire lifetime, the more thorough your PPI must be. Having the major done prior to the purchase is not an indicator of the car condition. Actually, perhaps having it done as a condition of the purchase with the option to terminate the purchase per negative findings while this process is completed might be a better way to go. Which basically means, make sure the mechanic has no ties to the seller. I guess this is just common sense, but hopefully you will find it worth repeating.
Good luck!

 

I think the TRs will have their day within the next decade. By 2015, many of the cars that trade hands now at 40-55k will be destroyed or neglected so as to reduce the number of good TRs to 4,000 or so. Sure, that's still a large number and far more than, say, the number of BB's in this country. But, the BBs tend to have almsot no miles for a reason: it's hard to keep them emissions legal and they're a little less comfortable to sit in. The TR is undoutedly a faster and more comfortable car. In fact its the first 12 cylinder car to hit a real 180 and with a/c to boot. Further, the guys who dreamed of owning them in high school, can and will be able to afford them over the next few years. With Daytonas moving from 110 a few years ago to 140 now and likely up to 200 over the next few years, a decent used but maintained TR at 60 to 100 will look quite good.

 

1) The subject on the Testarossa series has been discussed many times here on the forum. Try the search engine and read as much as you can before your pass out. You can go with the original design (Testarossa), transitional model (512TR) or the last ride (512M).

2) Whichever model you decide on, take your time, locate the car you want as in exterior/interior combination. Make sure that you are buying because you really want to own a Ferrari, not as an "investment". Make sure you have PPI done and know what you are getting into as in possible repair/service bills etc.

3) Keep in mind, each one of us has an opinion, and in your case, it is your opinion that really counts. A lot of people like to point out how many Testarossas were made during her production years etc. Fact is, any Ferrari in its first and original incarnation will have the greatest production numbers, the transitional models are there to "buy" extra time and made that extra buck until the replacement model is released. The 512TRs and the 512Ms were released because of sales/marketing pressures from Lamborghini as they came out with the Diablo in 1991. There are a little over 2,000 Testarossas, roughtly about 200/year that were imported into the US, that is not a lot at all. And no one has any idea how many well maintained examples are left. Living here in the States will make me shy away from the gray market cars as they can have a lot of potential issues.

4) Find and buy the car you want, don't use it as a museum piece or a flower pot, driver the car and enjoy what is known as Ferrarism. Best of luck.