Which used Ferrari to buy?

I know neither of these cars are on your "Wish List", but with your budget, I would personally be looking for either: (i) a well-sorted F355 Berlinetta of GTS or (ii) a well-sorted 308 GTB carburated, preferably a 1976 fiberglass model and have money left-over.

Why, you may be asking. If you talk with most knowledgeable people in the industry, e.g., Dave Helms, he believes that the F355 will become a highly sought after car, much more so than the 360 and 430. Similarly, the carburated 308s are iconic - the looks, the intake sound, etc., a real drivers car.

Mark my words, in the not too distant future, many Ferrari owners will become disenchanted with this current gee-whiz techno-fest, where the driver plays a ever-decreasing role in driving the car, well. Moreover, once off factory warranty, the cost to repair these digital, multi-function instrument panels, launch controls, photochromatic roof panels and the like, will quickly become onerous. I predict there will be a slow, but inexorable return to the "roots" of Ferrari - making beautiful, fast cars that are technologically sophisticated without relying upon Buck Rodgers gimmicks. Just my two-cents.

Of the two cars you mention above, I would suggest the 550 or, even better, the 575. A much better daily driver and long distance highway cruiser.

 

Suggest you PM Dr Who about tracking a 550! Be ready to get an ear full.

Love my 360, but suggest you find a well sorted 355 Spyder for a 1st car.

 

Gino:

You're not ignorant at all! You really seem to have done some homework. Yes, you are correct the 360 does not have Launch Control. It does, however, have all aluminum construction (which limits you to authorized $$$ repair facilities), variable cam timing, etc. In addition, as it ages, it also seems to have many problems inherent to the F355 (e.g., manifolds, cats, etc.).

I certainly realize that we each have different tastes, but I have just not ever warmed-up to the styling of the 360 and 430 - too bulbous, IMHO. They were also made in much greater numbers than the F355.

Before buying you MUST drive each car, even if it means traveling. Buying a Ferrari without driving it, is like marrying a women without having sex with her. You might be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Take your time and don't be in a rush. It's a buyer's market. Spend the money on a really complete PPI, including compression and leak down. You know bikes and are mechanically inclined so you know what to look for. Just for the Hell of it, I attached a PPI list from Forza for a 348 purchase.
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Both very different cars (550 and 360). You're answer lies in the drive. They are both fantastic but different driving experiences.
550: V12 power is glorious, the interior is a bit dated, which may be rectified by a cool aftermarket stereo, the design is indeed timeless and classy, it will be nice for cruising on extended trips
360: like driving a go cart, thrilling and can be a bit tricky to keep under control, a bit less comfortable on extended drives, interior and exterior just beautiful, and will always be admired!
360 spider: all of the above but more of a cool factor, there's nothing like a dive in a top down Ferrari (especially with that V8 wailing behind you!!)

Drive them and enjoy.
Good luck.

 

In the USA cars the 360 and f430 don't have launch control, only the CHallenge Stradale and the Scuderia version of those two.

I'll have to say that both cars are real drivers cars and if you want the hardcore experience then shut off the the helping electronics things, in the F430 you can control this with the little knob on the steering wheel.

Now if what youre looking for is of an olde car feel and more let's say "analog" feel then you have to stop at the 348 and I would shop for a SS version of that model.

 

My choice would be the 550. More torque. A bit less attention.

But very different cars... drive both. The answer will then be obvious...

 

ha, go a little heavy on the bordeau this evening? No a modern ferrari should not be in the shop every 3 weeks, but to call them reliable is a bit silly. There are parts failures on a ferrari that no porsche owner would tolerate, just like there are parts failures on porsches that a toyota owner would be shocked and appalled at.


The 550 is a glorious car and extremely good looking. That said, its too much of a GT car for me. It would be a second ferrari for me. For the true screaming mid mounted v8 ferrari experience, I'd go with the 360.

 

A well sorted 328 and a lifetime supply of belts.

 

Would an F40 be more attention than a 550? LOL!

I have always loved the F40, but I'm not a track guy (lack of close access), and therefore never thought it was realistic to get one. It would be too much drama to go out with it, whether a restaurant or the mall...

And, I like to DRIVE my F-cars!

 

I have driven several Ferraris as daily. One example was a Testarossa and drove it for three years and over forty thousand miles, another was a 328gts to about seventy thousand miles and was as reliable as a 3.2 Targa that I had.

If I wanted to I could of had by now thirty thousand on my F430 no problem, it was sharing garage with a '85 3.2 coupe and a 996.

 

and? anecdotes don't have much value my good man

 

They do have a lot of value to those who know little and want to know the truth by those who have driven their Ferraris daily like me. In reality if any of the Ferraris that I have owned couldn't keep up with daily duties then I would be the first one to say that Ferraris are junk, but they have proven the contrary.

 

Drive a new Camry with your FOOT TO FLOOR every single time you drive it...till you can smell the cat glowing cherry red and the brakes burning and the wheels wells are caked with rubber...let me know how that works out for you.

Some of my employees drive Subaru Turbos and these things are blowing up constantly...cause they're lead footed kids.

Plenty of tame boxster owners are getting to 100K without anything major breaking- cause they drive like the car is "fragile'.

I think Ferrari owners drive their cars very, very hard... and usually for very, very brief periods... which is not really that great for anything mechanical. When I bought my 11 year old 355 with 30K on the clock (2700 miles /yr) I negotiated with the seller cause the car had "Extremely high miles".

When I bought my 2002 996 with 30K on the clock in 2008 (5,000 miles/yr) I paid a premium because the car had "Extremely low miles".

There are dozens and dozens of 6-8 year old 360's on the market right now with less than 10,000 miles. I was looking at a 2004 with 17K and a forumite here advised me to "Steer away from such high mileage examples".

 

I tend to disagree. I'd argue that most people who don't regularly drive their cars are more likely to "cruise" without being WOT constantly.

And yes, I would argue that you could drive a camry equally as hard (i.e. as much time at wot, reaching and exceeding the limits of tire adhesion) and it would have less failures.

 

Well given that a new Camry is not capable of the sort of performance that a new Ferrari is- it's sort of Apples to oranges. But I think all the 355/360/430 owners I know drive fairly aggressively- heck if you don't hammer an F1 car it just does not shift correctly.

Certainly the Italian electronics are not as robust and reliable as Porsche stuff- but in my own personal experience a Ferrari is just as robust a machine as a Porsche of equal vintage-Currently I have a 99 355 and an 02 996 and I find their day to day livability to be similar... I have an 88 911 and had an 87 328, and same for my old Targa and my long-gone 308- The newer the Ferrari the more "normal" the electronics and fuel system seem to be.

I certainly agree that as a daily driver almost anything is going to be less expensive to run and more reliable than any high strung Italian supercar.

 

Why are you bringing up owners' tolerances of Porshe vs a Ferrari?

 

I think the only way to truly prove this is with statistics. Statistics that will be hard to find. However, from what I gather Ferraris in general are not terribly reliable.

because I knew it would annoy you? More likely is that I'm making a point. Given the level of passion most owners have for ferraris and the lust that they create, owners are more willing to accept parts failures that would be revolting for the average porsche or ford owner.

 

I only would do so because for me those two are the most important sports car manufacturers in the world and will only include "Lamborghini" in a different tone 'cause their influence in sports car history is phenomenal.

But why this guy comparing a Camry or some of his posts views are just off, his views, but I can't take them seriously unless more input is given.

 

In one year the exhaust in my 996 broke twice and in the Ferrari once, lol.

I have done all of the following things that I will question you on,

1)Have you ever owned a Ferrari?

2)Have you ever owned one and drove it daily?

3)Have you ever owned one, drove daily and also tracked it?

 

So you want statistics, but "from what you gather" Ferraris are not reliable??

Go over to Rennlist and see how many posts (Some from me) are on there about 996 issues, 997 issues, 987 issues etc.

Most of the issues people have with Ferraris are on the older cars- 348's and 355s are older now- I also own a 928- while I consider it "Bulletproof" I have spent exactly as much in maintenance as I did on my 328- almost to the penny.

The 928 stranded me on the Mass Pike- The 328 never did.

It's OK to be ignorant- but to be ignorant and obnoxious about it another.

No doubt a Ferrari is A VERY BAD commuting car if operating expenses are your primary concern. Few Ferrari owners buy them as daily drivers- yet many Porsche owners (yours Truly) use theirs as daily drivers. Spend a few minutes with any Porsche indie and you'll find out quick enough how many things on Porsches go bad. How many seals were poor designs, electrical gremlins etc. On a high performance car- things break. There's a 125K 348 on ebay right now...I think if more of us drove our cars every single day that famed "Ferrari cost per mile" would be substantially lower.

 

Teacher- can i answer??

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes

On my Third Ferrari...shopping for the fourth now. Love those unreliable "glorified Fiats". (Quote taken from the Rennlist 928 forum)

 

Gino,

I dont mean to sound rude, but my curiosity needs to have an answer. How do you do it man? What kind of work are you involved in? Is being wealthy really all in the mind?

Whats your best bit of inspirational advice? I need wealth, without wealth I can not do the mission God has sent me here to do.

thanks in advance

 

No to all three. I'm simply not willing to accept the repair cost to driving pleasure equation that most ferraris provide. For instance, I find the 355 to be the most pleasing to look at, both inside and out, but valve guides toast in as little as 5k miles, cracked exhaust headers, 10k mile clutches, f1 issues, sticky interior bits, etc etc make the pretty face not worth it.

yes, the modern models are getting better, but its clear that ferrari releases cars without the same testing that other higher volume cars get, resulting in silly problems.

Yes, as stated, statistics will be hard to find. From the research that I did, Ferraris in general are less reliable than other vehicles that deliver similar performance. You argue the opposite. However, your owning one adds little value. I could have a ferrari that needs no repairs, and a camry that needs everything fixed. But when you look at the averages, that is not a good overall picture.

The 996/986 etc etc have issues, primarily the IMS. However, that is easy enough to fix. Then again, that is only an issue on NA 996s. The 996 Turbo, the primary competitor to the 360 doesn't have ims issues due to the M64 powerplant.

If you consider a 928 to be bulletproof, I can see why you think the ferrari is reliable.

The 928 stranded you but the ferrari didn't? So what. Again, anecdotes are of little value.

I, as a porsche owner (993TT) realize that they are not perfect. But then you won't typically find things like lets say the oil pump chain tensioner problems on a porsche.

Without statistics, we are all speculating. To call me ignorant is just plain silly, because we are both offering opinions. Your having a ferrari title with your name on it doesn't make you opinion any more valid than mine when considering the reliability of ferraris in general. On the other hand, you would be very qualified to talk about the reliability of your serial number.