Thought I knew what year 360 Spider I wanted?????

You've obviously done your homework so there actually isn't much I can add. My sense of this is that except for the earliest cars, mostly they are identical, so look for condition and being well-maintained and sorted, over model year. That said, I'm guessing that most "good" cars regardless of year will be selling for similar prices, but if you get to a point of choosing between two otherwise identical cars and one can be had for less money solely because of model year, then that's what I'd do. Of course, in the real world it hardly ever works out that way. Recognize that no matter which car you buy, you will still find issues that crop up.

 

with the money saved on a older one you might be able to upgrade the TCU and motor mounts are cheap.

But I own a 99 with a upgraded TCU because the old one went bad and Ferrari of SF fixed it by putting in a new one in 04.

 

+1 Very sage advice. I just view, "issues" as things I discover that I can then sort out.

This is a timely thread. Now that I have my '01 456M over 95% sorted, I am starting the first stages of shopping for a 360 stablemate. I'm glacially slow with decisions like this - I looked at 456M's for three years before I bought one - but I've already read through a lot of the threads in this section, so any advice for Kim will apply to me as well.

Just as I think red is the prettiest color for the 456M, I think the 360 looks best in yellow - I had a yellow X-1/9 in high school - and I want a Berlinetta, though that rare removable sunroof might be cool to have. I can take or leave the fender shields, though my 456M has them, and they add a lot to that car, so I suppose I'd prefer to have them rather than not.

Where I'm stuck is on the transmission options: Half of me really wants to try an F1, but I worry about the earlier ones being reliable, and the other half figures no Ferrari would be cooler with a gated six-speed than a 360. I suppose I'm leaning toward the standard.

I'm also a bit torn on what year to get. The really low mileage '04's are at the bleeding edge of what I could afford - and the CS cars are beyond my means - but they have had some updates that would be nice to have. Then again, a gated '99 w/o the pre-cats that has been well sorted out might be good too.

So, as it stands now, I suppose yellow, shields, gated, and sunroof would be my desired configuration, with composite wheels and a Tubi exhaust being nice things to, "find."

What I don't care for is the rear Challenge grill. I much prefer that panel to be the body color instead of black, but I don't think if it had one it would be a deal breaker. Is there really any advantage to the Challenge grill for cooling?

This is the kind of car I might actually track, so I suppose that ought to figure in at least a little.

Oh, made the mistake of checking out a 430. Wow. What an evolutionary advancement. Out of my range for now, however.

Cheers,

George

 

Hi George,

If you do buy a car with a Challenge grill, you will have NO problem selling that grill here. In addition, many folks that installed them (like myself) have the original solid grills around probably for sale cheaply. Don't worry about the grill!

 

There are pros and cons to the Challenge grille. Do they help cool? Yes. But they allow more dust to get drawn back into the engine compartment.

As for Tubis, the Tubi exhausts have nothing to do with eliminating the pre-cats, as they are downstream of them. If you replace your headers with Tubi headers they might not have pre-cats in them, but I don't know that for sure.

 

I have a beautiful 04' Coupe for sale, 9,000 miles, F1, Rosso over black leather. The car is on consignment at F of Tampa Bay and is Ferrari Certified. It has the challenge grilles, three piece modular wheels, IPod, 6 CD, always garaged with clear bra's, paint and interior are in excellent condition. My new 458 is on its way. Check out the F of Tampa Bay web site for pics and if interested lets talk!

 

I wouldn't pass up a good '01 because of the TCU and motor mounts. I've owned an F1 spider from new and have had none of the motor/tranny mount problems after 22k miles. I upgraded the TCU a few years ago for $1500 (it's plug and play with a quick computer adjustment).

However, another cost consideration is the clutch, at least with the F1. Ferrari no longer supports certain parts in the early 360 F1 cars, and several parts require replacement at the first clutch replacement (i.e., not just the clutch plate, pressure plate and throwout bearing) which means you'll have significant additional costs the first time you replace the clutch. How significant? I'm having it done right now and was told to expect $5k best case and $7k worst case.

I don't know when Ferrari adopted this wholesale replacement approach, but I think it was at least as far back as 2007 (meaning clutch replacements before this time may not have resolved this issue). Also, this probably only applies to the older TCU cars, but a call to your local service center should be able to confirm by VIN.

 

Tubi headers (to my knowledge) do NOT have pre-cats... I'm currently replacing my headers and swapping my F1 TCU with the one out of a CS.

 

Well, if a sunroof is on your "must have" list you probably don't get many if any other choices, including color. I have never seen one in real life and I have only seen pictures of a couple of cars with them. Gated is also a very limiting factor; not as bad as sun roof but it will significantly restrict your choices.

I totally agree with the mounts & TCU comments. There has been a lot of good feedback on this thread. Focus on condition no year or cost. Interestingly enough, I suspect that the older cars will start to eclipse the newer ones in condition. Just part of the pendulum swing but they hit a must fix condition before the newer cars.

Clutch comments, HUM??? I have a very early Spider (2000 build date). I had the clutch done recently and there are some changes but nothing that is so significant. The 5K number is about right for a clutch on any year. As I understand it, the biggest issue is that the early Spiders roll hoops restricted access to one of the subframe bolts. That means that you have to pull the top to get the clutch out.

Pulling the top isn't that bad anyway. Once they have it out you can easily fix the fuel gauge issue and the common valve cover gasket leak. Not all bad.

 

Good luck on the 2001 360 spider in the high 60k range that has all the books, keys fobs covers, service up to date, great paint condition, color combo you want with the right options, TUBI, and an excellent interior, you are more in the 85 to 90 range.

On the TCU upgrade it kills me to read everyones concern on this and conversations I have had with perspective buyers who clearly are only influenced by the fear of clutch wear coming from f-chat. Mine is not upgraded and the take up is the same to me as any other year. I have put many hours in a 430 and different year 360's and in first and second gear they all pretty much shift the same chunky and jerky. Once you are in higher rpms I would like to see your average driver tell the difference. (I am an average driver)If you track cars then you will have a different perspective and yes the 430 shifts faster than my 360. Does the older TCU wear the f1 clutch? All depends on the drivers shifting habits and mode selection. JM2C "I am ready for my beating sir"

 

You get what you paid for and cheap cars are cheap for a reason. Also no one seems particularly in a rush to sell a really nice Ferrari in California - that includes individuals and dealers. Good luck finding a nice taken care of Ferrari for mid 60's.

 

+1 futureferrariowner

You get what you pay for... Spend a little more and get something good or don't buy at all!!!

 

I'm glad I DIDN'T heed this advice.

1) It's your money. There are countless threads here that start "I'm looking for a $70k car.." and people still start recommending 430's at $100k. It's easy to spend other peoples money.

2) You CAN find a nice car that meets your needs for the price you want. You may have to search a bit. $60k for a spider at this point in time is probably optimistic.

3) You'll probably have to make a few compromises regarding the car with the less you spend.

4) Find an independent mechanic who can do the work on your car. And who will work with you in owning the car. It sounds like you want an F1.. they are more fickle. A car with one owner that kept it in the garage and didn't drive it probably didn't service it. The more owners a car has had, the greater the opportunity to abuse it, but.. the greater the chance someone in the past has updated the car with required campaigns. I've heard the same thing.. upgrade the TCU to later spec and it pays for itself. Check the ECU when you have the PPI done, factor for it in the price.

5) Like spending years trying to find the perfect woman (tall model who loves star wars, collects ants from south america, likes rap and running around in bikinis, etc.), you can spend years trying to find the perfect car (must be 9/10 condition, red, tan, sunroof with mauve stitching).. if you find a car that you can live with at a price that makes you happy.. go for it. It's more fun to be driving your dream anytime you want, than looking at the pictures. I wanted argento nurburging/nero and ended up with rosso/nero. 3 pedal was my only absolute. Every day I go in the garage and smile.

 

Now that is "Trent approved" journalism at its finest! Well done.

-1; Ants from south america should not be imported domestically. Many species are known to eat the rare and nearly extinct watchanga ant from east india, previously imported by tall models that like Lil Wayne and experimenting sexually..

 

Good on ya, Kim. Congrats.