430 Warning about 430 on the market

umm no one is assessing your character at all - we are just commenting that your ask is somewhat unreasonable. it foreshadows possible litigation. "no known mechanical issues with the car as of the date of this agreement" are words no ferrari (maybe car) owner can ever utter with complete confidence, never mind agree to in writing...which is why dealers needs to sell cars with 30 day warranties etc.

 

posting a "warning" and the guys vin number is actually pretty absurd. You just doing that, means anyone googling the vin from now on will think something is wrong with that car, when really there is no proof or reason to think that from what you went through..As someone who goes to the lengths of posting a warning along with a vin (when you didn't see anything wrong with the car) that indicates the seller probably felt you will be a headache or a nightmare to deal with and decided to avoid the situation all together.

your intentions are fine, but you have now sullied that vin# forever..and for what reason? Now if the seller way lying about something or you had a PPI and found out major issues that weren't disclosed afterwards when you walked away, thats a diff story.

Personally i would not buy the car without a PPI or talking to the mechanic where the car is serviced first, but that would be discussed before making a deal and agreeing on a price (or at least say "contingent on ppi results)

 

Nobody said anything about your character. You’re free to buy another car. If the seller won’t allow a PPI, that’s what you should do. 430s are great cars. Enjoy when you get!

 

As echoed by many here, the "no known issues" wording is unorthodox, and I would not be comfortable with anything than standard practice - that is, an "As-Is" sale. That said, I do find it odd and suspect that he was not willing to have a PPI done on your dime. That would be a show stopper for me as well.
Best wishes on your search.

 

Hi Dan, I would like to message you about this car, but I cannot seem to be able to do so. I have interest in this car and stumbled upon this post. It is still available. Is there a way to reach you privately on here? thx

 

The car was on CL in the Orlando FL section. Seems like a lot of car for the $$$

 

Good for you and enjoy the car

 

Glad to hear you found a great 430! I would not buy one without a PPI either. Did you actually look at the car in person or no? Just wondering if you had seen the car to assess the condition in person.

 

I was seriously interested in the car and had a very good conversation with the owner I felt good about. I followed up again and unfortunately, the OP is right and he will not allow a PPI by anyone. This was a pre-offer question not related to any terms or conditions. Looks like a nice vehicle, but too many out there and more to come. I am shopping if anyone knows of any 430's not listed. Red coupe ideally.....clean but not too perfect I won't feel bad tracking it a bit and running around the city.

 

I wound't even consider a car where the owner wouldn't allow a PPI to be performed. Huge red flag.

 

No reason to buy any Ferrari without the ability to do a PPI. That seller is on crack.

Robb

 

I think you have to be careful when accusing someone. Did the prospective buyer ask why the seller would not allow a PPI? Assuming the seller is hiding something and is a crook is unfair. Is it a red flag, not to allow a PPI? Yes and it requires clarification. I would have said "May I ask why you won't allow a PPI?". The resulting answer in this case was insufficient and it was wise to walk away. To avoid the pitfalls of finding and buying a car from a private party, it may pay to but it from a place like yellow compass or some similar outfit.

 

Has it crossed anyone's mind that the ad and seller may have been a scam hence the reason the guy won't commit to a PPI? The car appears to be for sale in California now for $66,000 and original Florida CL ad had it's post removed.

 

The reason given was that he did not trust any of the places in his area to look at the car. My gut feeling says it is not any kind of scam, but without a PPI I had no further reason to pursue.

 

Buy my car that's for sale. More expensive? Yes, but faster than a F430, newer, still under warranty and maintenance and you can PPI it all day for all I care.

-Adam

 

I flew out, drove it, bought it and it's with me in Colorado hence why the ad was taken down. You can find my thread in the 360/430 section detailing the research I did prior to flying out.

The seller is an Fchat member folks. You can search the phone number, find their name and spouses name, and coupled with the CarFax the info snowballs from there. The CarFax shows where it was maintained by Owner #3 for most of its miles. I talked with the service advisors both at Prestige and The Collection so the car was real.

And in person, it was immediately clear why he was hesitant in dealing with people.

Two people flew out before me weeks prior. One a rich "shot caller" who backed out due to wife permission issues so they claim and the other went cold which a ring to the insurance company found out it was cancelled and they fessed up a divorce situation looming and apologized.

It's his 4th Ferrari and had mediocre experiences at the stealerships. He is overly meticulous and resprayed the front bumper to perfection. He was jumping out of his skin the moment I put it in 1st to pull out of a parking lot to start my test drive. May have been afraid of both my younger age and tire kickers.

I put him at ease and started a casual to frisky controlled test drive.

It starts flawlessly, no discoloration around either manifold, no strange noises, leaks, paint or interior issues, sings to redline easily, with a fresh clutch and new tires with service records.

The only issues of note are it's due for an oil change, both front windows need a slight realignment against the seal a common issue, and I notice one of the passenger tail lights has a slight vibration also common. I found a previous owner at some point put touch up over the factory clear bra but the paint was pristine under. It's now getting a full clear bra, tint, and exhaust.

I didn't intend my first Ferrari being a "red, tan, shields." It's a win in my book.

 

Me too! I am looking for a driver, so the CarFax bothers me none and works to my favor. He insisted on loading it onto the enclosed transport and the driver issued me the instruction only I am to unload it. I was much less worried.

 

nice, well done! i love acquiring assets that are misunderstood or unloved

 

After purchase inspection (minus leakdown/compression) is complete and thought I would check in.

It needs motor mounts, a brake wear sensor wire was split on driver front caliper, and when they replaced the clutch they didn't reset the wear percentage as it shows 100% worn. It has recent MKII manifolds. It's also been lowered about 3/4 inch in the rear. No leaks of any kind.

 

I thought I would post a little update since it's been 3 years!

Right after taking delivery the battery drain issue the car had was traced to a faulty microswitch in the passenger door lock.

Performed a major 30K mile service, smoke tested manifolds for leaks, and did a cold compression check. 145psi with less than 5psi variance cold across all cylinders. Corrected for elevation this is 165psi cold.

At 34,xxx miles it was necessary to replace the driver's side fuel pump weeping from the top hat.

At 39,xxx miles I had a pinhole leak develop from in one of the F1 hoses in close proximity to the pump. The line was rubbing against something that vibration eventually wore away the braided insulation and damaged the rubber. This left me stranded on a 100F day in a shopping center parking lot. Even AAA was having problems with tow trucks in demand that day but luckily found one after waiting a total of 3 hours. Also did major service #2 since it was in the shop.

Now at 42,xxx miles and about to wake him this weekend from a four month winter slumber thanks to a wave of 40F temperature days to melt the last of the ice clinging to the driveway.

And Italian cars even leak in "Italian." The little bit of humor from the F1 leak fiasco left in the parking lot.
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I also added ceramic tint and put Llumar Platinum PPF over the entire car before I put a mile on it. Yes, the entire car because mileage and I will be no stranger.

We also discovered that someone at some point applied touch up paint of Rosso Corsa (wrong color) to the factory clear bra sections along the lower rear of the sills. Hilarious.
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