What about $30K for a 30,000 mile F355 F1?

I have come across a very clean looking black 1999 F355 F1 with 30,000 miles, the bodywork is almost perfect save for a small bubble of rust near one of the rear buttresses and the engine is running very smoothly. Exhaust manifolds already replaced, valve guides hopefully ok (oil pressure is spot-on).

The seats are surprisingly in excellent condition, while there is some wear and tear as the dashboard leather is scuffed and scratched in places, and the black sill covers are also scratched. The steering wheel leather is fairly worn, normal considering the mileage.

Now, the owner needs to sell and I would offer $30,000 for the car (and I get a feeling my offer could be accepted). My reservation against offering more is that I am worried about the residual life of the F.1 gearbox, considering that this was the first attempt at introducing this technology on a road car. Basically I want to hedge my investment against a potentially very expensive gearbox rebuild sometime in the future. The car looks beautiful and still very elegant, it's ageing very well.

Does anyone have any information about the durability of these early F.1 boxes, and what kind of failures (and repair costs) can be expected?

 

I used to own an F355 (2001-2005). The manifolds cracked. Then a valve spring broke, bending a valve. Then the valve guides went, oil pressure disappeared, and I had to embark in a total engine rebuild. Then the gearbox started leaking oil. I sold the car and bought a 550 Maranello, which never needed anything more than a yearly oil change.

I loved the handling of the 355 and the beauty of its lines, but it was by far the least reliable car I have ever owned and yes, I did have sleepless nights worrying about what would break down next or how much the darn engine rebuild would cost me.

So I consider myself perfectly entitled to worry about the reliability of this car. That's why I wouldn't pay more than $30K for it.

 

The owner really needs the cash... I don't want to talk disrespectfully about other people so I'll leave it at that. If he sells it to a dealer that's what he'll get. If he puts it on ebay or any other website it will take months to sell and in the current market still fetch 35-36K at best...

 

Hi Mark, great to hear from you

I am waiting to see if this guy accepts my offer, there may be some negotiation involved (the car is currently having the cats replaced with free-flow Tubis plus a general tune-up, the owner probably will ask to recover some of this cost).

I'll keep you posted!