Which 458 is better?

I don't think one is objectively better than the other, it's really personal preference.
I'd consider them pretty close in mileage and white is not an uncommon color, so unless you prefer one color over the other, I'd take the one with front lifting since that's much harder to retrofit than interior trim, and I need front lift to get in/out of my condo's driveway.

 

Alot of that comes down to personal preference. Personally I think the LED makes the car look dated now. Same thing with the carbon, its in everything now and I feel like it makes the car look more like a racey honda civic. Lots of people love both of those though and there are people who won't even consider a car unless its got the LED wheel. Red vs White, red cars are worth a bit more, but I think that is coming down. But really its whatever you like. Mileage wise the 39000 km car would be worth $10-15k less than the 26000km car at least in the US. As for the lifter, the 458 is pretty high and you generally won't need it. However there are certainly situations where you might need it and so for me it was a must have. Probably depends somewhat on how the roads/parking lots are where you live.

The bigger question is the condition of the two cars though. Do they both have up to date service? (or any service records at all) Have they been regularly driven recently? If one has spent the last 5 years sitting in a garage, you're likely have alot of issues with it when you start driving it. Keep in mind that they are both 14 year old cars, and they should have had all of their fluids changed in the last few years. Not just oil, but DTF fluid, coolant, brake fluid, transaxle, etc.. Individually none of that is particularly expensive but it can add up quickly.

 

A car without the LED steering wheel is exceptionally difficult to sell. I wouldn't even consider a 458 without one. Its also very practical because the tach can be difficult to read at times but you can see where you are in the rev range with the LED's, even peripherally. It will be the first thing a broker or dealer will ask you, does it have the LED steering wheel? The lift is a nice to have, but I'd rather have a reverse camera than the lift if I had to choose. Many people want the power seats as well, but I'd prefer the race seats, which is an expensive option.

For me, I'd take the higher mileage one. The other without the LED steering wheel would be DOA.

 

That's not at all true. I've been tracking the listings of 458s (Coupes and Spiders) for the last 6 months or so. On average cars with an LED wheel sell in 19.8 days, while cars without a LED wheel sell in 19.2 days. Also cars with an LED are far more likely to need a price cut to sell. 76% of cars with a wheel had their price cut before selling (or haven't sold) while only 18% of cars without a wheel needed a price cut to sell. That says dealers are substantially over valuing the LED wheel (and probably carbon in general as they tend to go together)

 

Dealers know the market. The market has always liked those options. I love the wheel and the lift.

 

LED wheel or bust.

 

That sounds like some pretty specific statistical analysis. Care to share your data and collection methods? It certainly runs completely counter to my experience so I'm very interested in it.

 

I have shift lights on another car I own (Ford GT) and I love that feature....I wouldn't buy an exotic without them.

 

I've been tracking the Ferrari listings on a couple sites for the last few months, including the how long they take to sell, colors, options, price changes, etc. I don't want to hijack bryant's thread (anymore than I already have) and I'm still working on graphing/summarizing the data. So I'll share more about it in another thread soon.

 

I would opt for the car with LED/carbon wheel and lift. If the condition of the car (sticky buttons etc) was not up to scratch, I’d pass completely and continue my search. jmo

 

Condition, records, maintenance matters as much as options you want.

my decision criteria for 458’s is always (in order): carbon race seats, condition/etc, LED wheel, ext color, interior spec, mileage.

I bypass 100% that do not have race seats or LED. Owned my first 458 with the Daytona sofas and the other 4 all race seats.

Same for F12, 296 and 812.

 

Oddly enough, I find the race seats just as comfortable as the std seats.

 

Race seats significantly more comfortable in my experience.

 

Mine has these, but I couldn't help but laugh at how you described them!

 

Also with Daytonas, I feel like I’m sitting “on” the car. With the lower seating position of the race seats, I feel like I’m “in” the car.

 

My F12 race seats broke up a marriage lol.

 

So that’s a win win

 

yours or someone else’s?

 

Mine. But onwards and upwards!

 

Just returned from a 90 min spirited drive thru the forests in the 458s….zero back soreness. Race seats in large.

 

When I had my 2011 458, it sounded great and had just the right amount of gurgles and pops when slowing down engine breaking. I was told by a Ferrari mechanic and also saw here in FC, that once they update the software, those reduce. I always made sure that on service, they did not update the software. Might be interesting to see between the two which software they have.

 

Those can be programmed back in along with a host of other improvements.

 

As others have said, a lot of this is personal preference/priorities and everyone is different.

- With that number of miles on each, #1 thing would be make sure you get a warm fuzzy feeling about the car. Service records, general condition of the vehicle etc. would be paramount. I'm also firmly in the camp of not wanting anybody messing around with the car mechanically with after market exhausts, lowering, tunes or anything that can be hidden etc.
- Front Lifts : Potentially important to some due to driveways of locale so can effect the ability to sell. I think the stat is something like only 50% of 458's got them. Personally it wasn't a requirement for me (there is a whole thread on it) and personally prefer one less thing to go wrong and less weight in the front. If you go the no lift route, make sure it has a sacrificial plate to protect the front bumper (or have one added if you get that one)
- Racing seats: some folks are adamant about them and they were an expensive option and somewhat rare. I found all of the seats comfortable. The one area where they are a necessity are if you're well past 6' tall and need the extra headroom to fit (they give you a couple extra inches). I'm 6'1" and fit just fine on Daytona's. I have a spyder prefer the heated seats. If you change drivers, you prob don't want them as they're a hassle to change height etc. (need an allen key)
- Carbon wheel seems to be a common ask...although I find the LED a gimmick. No problem knowing the rpm by hearing the engine/look at the big tacho. Again read the comments to gauge importance on re-sale to you.

Personally as I was in a similar position, I chose low mileage, color and a better deal over spec. Potentially if you get lower miles and a good deal you could drive the car more before you're are at mileage parity. And isn't that the point of the car...being able to drive it? My opinion is that once a Ferrari gets over a certain mileage, they can be really hard to sell...a lot higher barrier to resale than lack of a specific option..So again, my pref is the lower mileage one.

My take, everybody will see the color of the car when you drive it, carbon is really for your own personal enjoyment. Race seats/lift per above.