430 Would you consider a 2006 430 with its original manifolds?

The shop consigning it said they're not cracked and "not a big deal on this car since it only has 4,000 miles"

I know they're notorious for cracking the manifolds, especially the earlier year models, and literally nearly all 430's have looked at have aftermarket headers, and i know the replacement is quite costly.

 

If the rest of maintenance records check out and things like sticky buttons have been taken care of, I wouldn't worry about the manifolds, I would use that as leverage to negotiate the price.

 

All stock F430 manifolds will crack. 2005-2009. Since the car has only 4K miles I wouldn’t worry at all. As long as the car checks out and has been serviced properly, you can buy and enjoy. Then at a service, have headers installed.

 

I have a 2008 F430 spider with only 2,500 miles and my manifolds cracked. It's part of the age as well as miles, so you would want to change them ASAP to avoid the ticking upon startup which is a sign of cracked headers. Get a good quality set like Tubi if that car is mint and you plan to keep for a while. Tubi is my recommendation as its as close to stock as possible with a stock look, sound, and just better quality metal that will not throw a CEL. Simple DIY if you have a way to get under the car. If not, get a good independent shop to put on aftermarket headers as Ferrari dealers will only replace it with OEM and sadly they will crack again. Mark1 or Mark2 headers will crack regardless if Mark2 headers were used for warranty replacement back in the day. Cheap headers with no heat shields will burn up all your wires and hoses with heat escaping and heat blankets just look awful when burned up. F430 Challenge headers are possibly no longer available, but these were a decent price years ago and a good option to replace the factory headers with. I have spoken to a few F430 owners who went with Tubi and no one had any issues with these as an option. Most other header options like Fabspeed or Capristo could be hit or miss with the check engine light warning and that can be a battle to sort out with oxygen sensor extenders or or ECU re-flashes. I did all the work myself, so I went the route of I don't want to do it again or deal with issues later.

 

factor into price and go for it

 

I bought a 2005 with factory manifolds and factored it into the price. It was one of the first things I did once I got the car. If you can’t find used parts, headers will run you $5-$8k and the blankets will cost another $2k. That is for parts. I got a quote for $1,200 for the install before I decided to try and tackle the job myself. I got all but the last bolt out. Figures only one was seized to the point where I was afraid of breaking it. It cost me $450 to have it extracted and have the second header installed!

 

A neighbor in our village bought a mint F430 this summer with original manifolds. He has had the car for 4 months and now has a bill of £20,000 ($25,100) as the manifolds cracked and damaged the engine.

 

There's great info in this thread that he needs to get them changed FAST - but I have to jump in on the point above that my dealer (Continental in Chicagoland) recommended and installed FabSpeed headers and blankets. I don't have anything to compare them to, but FabSpeed has been good for me - and, again, is what the dealer recommended and installed so, at least there, you can go non-stock.

Kevin

 

+1 for Fabspeed headers and blankets. I have them on mine. They sound great and no codes.

 

Absolutely. If you want, just change them out for aftermarket.

 

I would've actually preferred mine had OEM manifolds so I could choose what headers to replace them with (I also would have gone Tubi). They were already replaced, but luckily they were fine and sound great.