What do you guys think?

I suspect your pool of potential buyers will be much larger if the major has been done. Not many buyers want to deal with the time and hassle even if you do adjust the price accordingly.

 

What are you going to buy?

 

360=Boring. That would be a step down from your 355 in my opinion...

 

Would it be possible to test the waters with, "car can be sold with the service or without" ?

 

In my experience, cars with a recent major service done sell a lot easier than a car that needs a service. Sure there are a few potential buyers that would like to have their local service shop do the work and know the car, but not many buyers want to deal with the time or hassle. They just want to enjoy their new car.

Not many buyers want to buy a car that has to go right in the shop for a service. Plus whoever buys your car is gonna want a PPI done and if it just had a fresh major, it will pass a mechanical PPI with flying colors.

Your car has really low miles too. So do the major if you can, you will get the money back in the sale.

That's my opinion anyways

Jake

 

He is a novel idea form someone who has been looking for the right 355 for a couple of years. Have a Ferrari dealer do a compression and lead down test just prior to putting the car on the market. I have found the biggest deterrent for me was always dealing long distance with that stuff. I'm not talking about a complete PPI, just the leak down and compression tests. It would at least give a potential buyer the sense that the car was basically sound engine wise, particularly with an earlier car such as yours. A buyer can alway verify it if he feels it is necessary.

By the way, when you say major due in a few months, just how long has it been?

 

I respect your decision but personally I will be buying my next Ferrari as soon as I can afford to. I would never sell my 355...the goal is to collect these cars for me, not swap them.

 

Do the major and take that part of the equation off the table. The prospective buyer will ultimately want to or try to negotiate a price way lower than what the major will cost. Make it easy on the both of you. (majors are from 4-6500 usd) from what I have seen.

 

I had a 355 Spider that was a year away from a major. After driving a 430, I ended up trading in the 355 for a 430 Spider stick that my local Ferrari dealer found for me. I avoided the cost of a major and saved on taxes, but more importantly for me, avoided any issues with selling and built a relationship with my dealer. The 355 is a great car that I sometimes miss, but the 430 is just sooo solid.

Good luck!

 

Jeff, you are one funny dude. Remember me? The guy who bought your last car, the 348? hahahah. It would be funny if I bought this one off you as well but I, too, am toying with the idea of a nice 360 spider. It's mainly just a dream now as I am still enjoying the 348. Except for Dec, Jan and Feb, I take her out every weekend. If you remember, my dad was very ill when I bought it. I want to thank you for selling it to me. I took him for a ride in it a couple of times and I saw a nice smile on his face as I revved it. I will always have that memory with him. He passed away a short time after I bought it. He always wanted a Ferrari. He could have purchased 10 of them if he wanted but he always took care of family first and purchased houses as an investment instead. Ferrari should change it's slogan to read, "You only live once". I hope you and your family are well, Jeff.

 

Personally I would rather buy a an Fcar without the major. I would do it with my mechanic, knowing it was done and what was involved. If something did some come up in the service and they asked me if I would also like to also replace an item because it looked half okay, I would get it done. But a guy just selling a car might get whats enough done to sell the car with "major just done". But thats me and everyone is different. Thats how I did it when I bought my 348. That way after purchase and with my service done, I was sure it was ready to go.

As for trading it up, I also have a Scud, and I would like to think the Scud and F430 have the same build quality and the 348 and 355 have pretty much the same. It is night and day between the Scud and the 348 in just how solid the Scud is in comparison, just like yronZFF said. Im not talking about performance or handling. Im talking about everything else. There are times I dont take the 348 out to places because its more difficult to park, more fragil(in the cabin, leather is soft... etc...) and the just easier to drive.

 

I bought my car knowing that it needed a major service right away. I haggled on price accordingly. I knew I had a good shop close by that could do the major and I liked the fact that I could watch and could make decisions on what needed to be done myself. If you have the major done be sure and document it extensively. The new owner will essentially be paying for that service and will want to know exactly what he's getting.

 

If that was me I would prefer to get a discount and do everything myself because I wouldn't expect too much from someone who's intention is to sell a car.

 

Hi Joseph, sorry to hear about your father passing away and can picture him as you described the smile on his face when he was in your car.

You're spot on about Ferrari changing its slogan to you only live once, I'm a great believer of making the most of it while we can. Thats what drove me to buy my Mondial 3.2 and am now thinking of selling to buy a 348. I hear many stories about the early ones having problems and not sure what to look for

Cheers.