Hello! I just joined this forum a few days ago and have been learning a lot already. I'm planning and researching my first purchase of a high performance sports car and the leading contender is a Ferrari F430. Amazingly beautiful machine! One key aspect of my purchase is that I want to buy something I can drive often without worrying about consuming precious miles of life. This is not intended to be a garage decoration. I don't mind spending $5K per year on maintenance, but the vehicle needs to not be breaking down, needing towed, living in the shop, and otherwise becoming a source of stress and frustration instead of joy. I'd like to drive it 5k miles per year, keep it for 5-10 years, and then sell it for something other than scrap metal. What scares me is that I don't see any Ferrari's for sale with 50k miles on them! There are hundreds of F430s on the used car sites but they are usually 5k to 15k miles, even for 9 year old cars. People just are not driving them much, or something bad is happening to the ones that do get driven! Remember that movie Logan's Run? Where do all the "old" Ferrari's go that are perfectly maintained and still look new after 15 years and 50k miles?? Also, could someone recommend a few high quality Ferrari service shops in the silicon valley area? How do you recommend I choose a mechanic for a ~2007 F430? Since maintenance is such an important aspect of owning this machine I want to establish a connection and make sure I have a good maintenance solution before purchase. This is very exciting. Thanks!
The search function is your friend on this. The issue has been discussed at great length around here so there is plenty of good experience and advice already available. I think youll find the general consensus is that when driven regularly and maintained properly, the F430 is a primo reliable driver easily capable of way more than 50K trouble free miles (more like several times that). Your $5K/year average maintenance cost is pretty close too. As for the mileage thing, many Ferrari buyers and sellers suffer from a serious low mileage obsession. They seem to believe the car is somehow more valuable if it sits unused. They fail to notice the simple reality that (1) sitting to rot is much more abusive than driving the thing, and (2) the value plummets anyway. A 9 year old F430 with 5K miles will likely cost a lot more to get running properly than the meager premium paid to buy it. There are plenty of F430s with more than 50K miles. You dont see them for sale very often because their owners are busy zipping down the freeways and up the canyons with big smiles and hanging one-finger salutes to the low milers. I cant help much with reliable shops in the Silicone Valley area (Brian Crall aka Rifledriver comes to mind) but you shouldnt have any trouble finding plenty of recommendations in the appropriate regional forum below. The F430 has earned an enviable reputation as a thrilling but rock solid exotic driver. Find a good one thats been properly maintained and driven at least 3-5K miles/year and youll wonder why you waited so long.
Routine maintenance has cost well less than 1000. per year average over 8 years of ownership. Tires and brakes are another matter. If you don't track it, brakes should last as on a normal car. Repairs were very few. The car has never broken down but my car has 3 pedals which are definitely more reliable. Dave
Actually, they (me included) understand that higher mileage cars sell for significantly less than lower mileage cars. It's just the reality of owning a Ferrari. Personally, I have decided I'm okay with this and will drive my car when I want.
Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Your description of the situation matches what I am hoping for. It sounds like an F430 is a great choice for me. In this scenario, the mileage obsession is actually a benefit to someone like me. It means I can purchase an F430 with ~20k miles for a substantial discount since it is unfairly unloved by the community and hence undervalued, maybe around $100k. Despite being a vehicle that still looks quite new, operates reliably, has fairly modern features, and a long future life. Then I can drive it for 5-10 years up to 50k miles and sell it for maybe $60k. Or maybe I love it so much I just keep it period and they bury me in it. This would be a very attractive annual cost of ownership to experience the pleasure of owning and driving such a beautiful machine! ~$15K per year including depreciation, maintenance, and insurance. SOLD! For good or bad, I'm the type of person that feels compelled to think about these things regardless of how much money I have. I'll probably always save and use the 20% off coupons mailed to me by Bed Bath Beyond. /sigh I did something similar on a fully loaded 2012 BMW X5 diesel earlier this year (which may be the best SUV in the world, I love it). Found a $75K model that was less than a year old with 10k miles and bought it for $50K. Everything about it still felt and looked new. I used to buy new but the value prop of buying a vehicle after the steep initial depreciation curve but before it gets beat up or obsolete is really compelling. It's time to finish organizing and cleaning up the garage so I can refinish the floor and prepare for a new inhabitant! -Dan
I have seen F430's with higher mileage on the market. There is a red one at a dealer in North Jersey with 40k miles listed for just under $100k, the car is in poor condition, has 3 different tires and did not hold up well to the mileage. About a year ago, another dealer here in NJ had one with 85k miles, and this was was actually very clean and seemed like it was in great condition. These cars depreciate heavily with miles and cost a lot of money to maintain which stops people from logging too many miles on their car. It is also common for F430 owners to have other cars to drive to work / store / mall / etc. These cars gather a lot of attention, so many people don't drive them to the office or even the mall.
I think this has to do with sampling bias most ferrari owners are too busy earning money (opportunity cost is greater for high earners) or have other hobbies. These cars don't get driven in the winter for some part of the country. Hence these toys have less miles than regular cars. then... the folks who drive their ferrari a lot don't tend to sell them. these two conditions result in low # of high-mile ferrari for sale.
My 360 (I know not a 430.. ) has 55,740 miles on it. Mine had a couple owners before me that didn't love the car as much as I do so I've spent the last couple of years perfectionizing the car. In good shape, they're as reliable as a Boxster. Mine is a 3 pedal so I don't have any F1 BS. 1) Don't spend the options all on the car! For god sake man diversify! 2) When you're in the research phase right now, your mind envisions blasting in the sun with the radio blaring to your favorite song with sweet engine noises behind you. You'll envision it like any other car you've had... only more amazing. And then... 3) When you actually get the car you'll go through a phase that you didn't expect, you'll think.. "I can't drive the car there, the parking lot is too small it might get dinged." or "its a rough place to park.. we'll take the other car." All these fears suddenly pop up that differ from your dream. Some get through it and drive to Trader Joes and Lowes. Other people take the Passat and leave the FCar in the garage, talking themselves out of driving it. I agree with above in that people that have these high mile cars are keeping them, perhaps driven by the true dictum that if they sell it.. they'll get nothing for it with those miles. So they drive it on and on until its totalled from "water damage".
I have put 8,000 miles on my 07 in the last 11 months and have done the required routine service and have had no other issues. No check engine or gremlins. I did replace the rear tires. 14,300 on the clock now. Seems like a solid car so far.
Hahaha! That's hilarious. It's pretty important to getting good value for the money that I be willing to drive it around during the routine life activities. So I'll have to get over the fear of use syndrome. I'm not likely to become a track guy and driving it to work would probably result in zero raises, stock, or bonuses for the rest of my life.
I've put 1,000 miles on my 430 Spider in just over 2 months. Only weekend driving, but I'm using it for whatever weekend activities we have and enjoying the hell out of it! This past weekend the mileage concern crossed my mind, but life is short, and I've never enjoyed a car so much. My wife is finding errands for me to do in the car, and I definitely don't mind as much as I did before! I decided I'm just not going to worry about the miles.
Last week, I talked myself into going grocery shopping with my 360 (it has 430 wheels though) Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had an incident a year ago involving tequila, my prior vehicle, and the police. (woops) Just got a quote on insurance from my Farmer's agent for a 2007 F430. Price is $4500 until my record clears in two years and then $2500 after that. This is per year, assuming its a second car with 5k miles per year, for a single male driver in CA SF bay area. How does this sound? I expect to get screwed for a few years due to the points on my records. But it seems like this is the full price to insure the vehicle when its really a second vehicle. I can only drive one vehicle at a time so why am I paying the full liability fee twice, once for each vehicle? What do people do who collect numerous cars? Surely not pay $2K each so they can sit in the garage and look pretty, and be driven a few days a year. I figure some people on this site must collect a number of cars and have figured out how best to handle insurance. Thanks!
Search is again your friend, insurance has been discussed on long threads here. Short answer, those that have a collection of cars often use collectors insurance policies. Others that drive their cars a lot have them on normal policies and shop around for the best rates. I drive my 360 less than 1K per year, so I am one of those low mileage owners. A nice side effect of this is I do save on insurance big time. But, I *did* drive it to Lowe's this year! Have to have a destination somewhere when it gets out on the weekend, right?
You might want to check out my 430. It has miles and she's in great shape. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/ferraris/424776-2005-f430-f1-spider-titanium-blk-loaded-%24118-000-a.html
Rest assured; When you are dead and gone, someone will be driving your 430 and smiling.... Scrap metal they will not become. +1; The 430 is a car for the occasion, many occasions, but not all of them will be suited for the 430. I drive mine every single chance I get, and still ~100 miles/month is all I can seem to accumulate.
Wow, that's a beautiful F430! Pretty much perfect match to what I am looking for, except I'm hoping for red or blue exterior. Silver is usually my first choice so my BMW X5 diesel is silver, but I don't want to be "silver car guy". Variety is the spice of life. My step father is "white car guy" and I've always made fun of his garage full of white cars. I'm also not quite ready to purchase yet. I have to drag out the decision while I refinish the garage so she has a nice home. Work is a zoo so I probably won't finish organizing the garage until the Christmas holiday period, and then I've got to get the floors refinished and maybe cabinets installed. Makes me wish I didn't have a job so I could make more progress on my home projects, but I wouldn't have home projects for long if I didn't have a job. Your F430 is super tempting . . .
