Why are 355's dropping?

Summer is over, most of the older Ferraris decrease in both numbers available and price during the fall and winter. Check the prices of the 360, 348, and 550 as well.

 

Here is the Current Forza magazine pricing in this months issue.
348, 355
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They're dropping, but it looks like the rate of depreciation is leveling off...

 

I haven't noticed 'good' cars dropping; maybe some low end cars are dipping into the 50's.

 

I think this is true, as is the post about going into the winter season.

Also, don't forget the real estate money machine is in dire straits right now -- less magic money to blow on expensive used cars.

 

I'm new to the Ferrari scene but from a buyer's perspective there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the 355's and the 360's in price. Factor in the high price of a major service compared to the 360, and the 355 seems like a more expensive long term proposition. I also noticed there are no completed 355 sales on ebay while there are for 348, 328 and 360's so perhaps other buyers are thinking as I am that spending less to get a 348, or spending more to get a 360 makes more sense.

 

Not many people actually purchase cars through an Ebay auction - rather that's normally used to make contact. It takes longer that the auction length to research a car fully and decide to purchase (if you are doing thorough homework - maybe that says more people are blindly jumping in and buying 348's and 360's?)

Pricewise 360's are still a good bit more. Some are in the $100k range, but when I was looking those weren't great cars (maybe has changed in the past year). The major on a 355 runs $5-7k and the price diff between a good 355 and good 360 is still $20-30k.

 

There is a rumour floating around of a possible new dino.

I presume this would see Ferrari competing in a lower price bracket than it has previously. Seeing tha latest productions from Ferrari you can only presume that this is going to be an amazing car. If they can also sort the looks of it will this not negatively impact 360 prices and as a consequence 355 and 348 prices? Rumours are varying from around the 100,000 dollar mark all the way up to 180. Hard to say if it is just the next in the series of the small ferrari or an all new lower model. Why difficult. Rumour has it with only 480 horses yet the 430 apparently is going to be increased to over 500 before it disappears.


Still all rumour at the moment but could be very interesting.

Some rumour pics can be found here.

http://www.autodeclics.com/blog/blog.php?id=428

If all this has been proved very wrong please ignore....

 

A new "Dino" in the low $100K mark would destroy the market for used 360s, which is another reason Ferrari keeps saying they have no plans for this car.

 

Why would Ferrari care much about the value of used 360s, they aren't the people who are trying to sell them!

 

Ferrrari will never bring out a car in the $100,000 range. Thats like saying they are going to start racing go carts. They cant even keep up to production on cars they sell now.

 

Never say never. I hope you're right, but look at what some other marques have done in the last few years. The bottom line is that car manufacturing is a business and lower priced cars from a luxury marque bring in lots of $$$$.

 

Fair question. A few reasons that came to mind straight away:

1. Ferrari produce far fewer new cars than the market demands, making their used cars more important than they might be for a Honda or Volkswagen. The 360 is the "waiting room" Ferrari -- far more affordable than the vintage cars, far more available than the F430, new enough for a CPO program.

2. Ferrari are among the most obsessed of any of the world's marques when it comes to celebrating past models. They had an event for the F40 this year in Monterey, when they haven't been selling those for nearly 20 years. The wouldn't want 360 owners getting burnt in a price collapse. Point being Ferrari have never intended their cars to be disposable. They are intended to 'last forever', and to justify this they must have some inherent monetary worth or no one would bother repairing and restoring them.

3. The Ferrari brand benefits tremendously from the value retained by its older models. They can point to the Daytona and 206/246 right now with pride, and the Boxer/308/328 are inching back up to their original MSRP. It is flattering to a marque to have its obsolete cars adored/sought out, and a more modern entry-level car in the low-mid $100K range would defeat the purpose of the 360, which it would undoubtedly outperform and likely surpass visually (the 360/430 'look' isn't new any more).

 

Here's a sure fire way to frop the value of your 355...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari-F355-Berlinetta-Sim-Window-Louver-Decal-Kit_W0QQitemZ120163499129QQihZ002QQcategoryZ50447QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

LOL.

 

This is a beautiful post, very well written. I too feel that Ferrari doesn't want to make a "Porsche Boxster" mistake (not a financial mistake). To do so would cheapen the mystique of a legendary marquee. Nowadays non-car fans tend to view a Porsche (regardless of model) as something akin to an Audi, Mercedes, or BMW. Montezemolo(spelling?) has said that the only entry level Ferrari is a used Ferrari. I love this philosophy, and as long as they keep it up, Ferrari will be KING forever. I wouldn't be surprised if Lamborghini introduced a car that is at the $100,000 mark, or even less, because they would make an insane amount of money. What 20-35 year-old professional wouldn't realistically think about buying a "Lamborghini," though it might not have the balls of a true bull? F-chat rules!!!

 

+1---Great point Jay!!!! This is exactly what I experienced when I bought my 355 last year....

 

Even if they made a 100K-180K new model.... so what? Try and go buy one! It will be the same old song. Limited numbers, waiting lists, people paying over MSRP, etc. etc.
You can shop till you drop looking at 360s. Lots of them out there now for sale. I don't think a new model would affect (effect?) the price of used Ferraris.

 

Rumours are also floating around that Bugatti are looking to return to the market with a smaller more accessible offering.

For me the Boxster and Cayman didnt lessen the Porsche marque, they are sports cars after all. The Cayenne was the car that achieved that and yet even so Porsche are seen as being a step above BMW and Audi. Although Audi seems to be drawing level very quickly these days with cars like the R8.

As to the Dino hurting the ferrari brand. I disagree. It would help the company to weather better any economic downturn and as spike308 said it doesn't necessarily mean the market has to be flooded by them. A tight control on numbers would increase the value of the marque and an increase in numbers of sales may help to combat one of ferrari's main failings the cost of servicing.

Caymans for example are faster and better sorted cars than the 993 yet the 993 is going up in value faster than the Cayman is coming down.

 

Agreed! I read the same inteview and he also unequivically denied the "new Dino" entry level marque would ever happen. In any case, the 355s are a great car... when I show mine at various events, most people's comments speak to their enjoying the lines and styling of the 355 / 348 cars over the 360 or even 430. The later models, of course, have the benefit of technological advances not seen in the 355 but I plan to drive mine a long time, regardless.

 

The 355 will drop until it's within $10K +\- of the 348. Count on it. The 355 is to the 348 what the 328 was to the 308. All us petrol heads know the dif, but your average joe doesn't. A good portion of F-car buyers are buying brand, not performance. Otherwise, we'd all have Mustang GTs!

 

You mean Z06s

If everyone thinks 355s are slipping, wait if the economy turns alittle more, the 360s will join that crowd.

I think what they are doing with the 599 this year is what they should be doing with the 430 and onward....20% price increase. It saves everyone, including the little old 308 user. If they did come out with another small entry car for 100K...it would sure pee off alot of higher end owners...i dont buy Benx anymore because of it....that B200 is a joke.

 

High supply - 355s were built in relatively large numbers, over 10,000 out there

Low demand - huge potential repairs if something fails

 

If Ferrari wants an entry level vehicle and not dilute the pool: join build a Motorcycle .... BMW gets away with it.