The nicest 355 i've ever seen...

yessir......she is beautiful!

 

Would wanna still look and smell like new after only 8K miles.

But yes, certainly a beauty.

 

One of the most beautiful designs ever, too bad the build quality lets it down

S

 

Build Quality lets it down?? Seriously?

 

One has to wonder, why would the brakes need an "overhaul" at only 8,000 miles.
maybe the calipers seized due to lack of use?

 

Remember you are talking about a car that was designed over 16 years ago. A well maintained F355 can deliver many years of happy driving. I think the build quality is far superior to newer cars being built today. Not many cars that can rev to 8500 RPM. The solution is to drive these cars. Any car that spends it's life rotting in a garage will be problematic.

 

This car does look very nice. I'd venture to say the one I had last summer was in the same league, it had 8k miles also when I picked it up 6/2010.

Where is the guy on here who bought a '95 GTB with 1k miles last year?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

+1000

 

Guys,

Don't gang up on me I had a 355 spider for 5 years, either they give trouble free driving or are PITA, mine was a PITA, having said that, the quality of the interior, the quality of materials (shrinking dashboards and melting plastic???) used were substandard, I've never seen manifolds crack like they do on a 355, once I had a detailed look at them I realized how low quality the materials were, that is why had them sent to QV Ferrari in the UK to have them re-enforced, seat potentiometers, the top, the exhaust valve, the handbrake cable and on and on, I can go on guys

The new Ferraris post 430 take it to another level. Just my 2 humble fils

S

 

Owned my 1995 355 spider for 9ish years, its got over 100k miles on the clock. Its been 100% reliable in the 9 years and the girl still pulls as good as she ever did. The only major parts to be replaced were the headers at 60k miles. Every winter i lay the car up and go over it, this winter i have done a list of things that i enjoy doing, i have great pride in servicing the car my self. I have even had the seats recoverd for its second time in my ownership. For the record my spider roof has not caused me a days problem or indeed the valves or by pass.
IMO its all about preventitive maintainance.
There are good ones out there to

 

Ah...that's all part of the charm

 

Check back with me in 12 years and let me know how the leather dash on that 13 year old 458 is fairing...

So many parts of the 355 are built with such precision, such handmade quality that it's breathtaking when coming from lowlier cars like Porsches and Alfas and Corvettes.. Yet after 10-15 years weak points are exacerbated. Pretty much any "supercar" or super-high end performance car has something that fails prematurely- I agree that Ferraris require an extraordinary amount of patience and cash to keep running reliably, but I do not agree that build quality is a sore spot on 355s.

 

You have not seen mine!

 

True, the sticky interior parts are still a standard feature and you do not have to pay extra for them, headers are failing as well. The 430 is less costly to maintain, but Ferrari just seems to have a problem with sticky interior parts (Good for stickynomore!) and headers... Hopefully the 458 will fair better, I love that car!

 

1998 GTS and for sale...
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

absolutely stunning

 

I can tell you how the leather dash on my 15 year old Porsche is doing, but I doubt you'd want to hear about such a lowly car.

I'm sorry, but precision is hardly the word I would use to describe many parts of any 90s ferrari. They have handbuilt flair and charm...but especially the interiors are not terribly high quality.

The mechanical parts are generally quite good, but there are issues there as well.

 

Lovely...

 

Stunning and it's a manual...

 

Lowlier or less expensive? Ferrari's are unique cars indeed and as far as I am concerned the car is the highest expression of the term sports car. However, I find it remarkable the cost of the cars and how unreliable they can be. As you said, "Ferraris require an extraordinary amount of patience and cash to keep running reliably". That in itself makes one question the quality. For what it may cost "to keep running reliably" one may be able to have a spare Corvette in his stable. I think the F355 is one of the most exciting cars Ferrari has ever produced and that it will continue to age well...

 

Wow, very nice.
There looks to be a nice 355 at Ferrari of New England that I have my eye on with similar mileage, but it's a 1996. The only problem is it has the "bubbling" console part above the ash tray.
I was going to replace all of the console parts with carbon fiber but this car in Florida already has that done.
The one in MA already has a Tubi exhaust that I would have wanted to put on anyway.

I tried to get up to MA this weekend to test drive it but could not due to the crappy weather.

I will call J7 and ask them to email me the service records. It this car already has the manifold and cat issues ironed out, then I may have to make a trip to Florida.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I don't know which Ferrari you own- so it's hard for me to square my own experiences with yours. I've had a wrench on many different types of cars and the ferraris are typically beautifully built. Of course they are ridiculously low production in the grand scheme of things- and their quirky italian-ness makes them a bit needier than a vette.