His comments on maintenance costs are ridiculous. He says it's "almost five figures" for headers and they have to be replaced repeatedly. And it's $15K for an F1 pump! For a guy who brags about owning Ferraris, he doesn't know much. I bet his mechanic loves him. "Gaw-lee, time to do headers again! That will be $9,500. Boy these 355's sure are expensive to own!"
This video was on Vimeo for many years. I appreciate he enjoys them and uses them but some of the comments on maintenance are ridiculous. The video was well done and the sound was captured well.
I suppose if you keep fitting unmodified OEM headers, you have to expect the occasional 5 figure maintenance bill. Let's see how much his F430 will cost in the next 10 years when the electronics start breaking down on that.
I began this posting by stating "I think we're spending too much time here criticizing his 30 seconds of maintenance comments." And then I went back and looked it up and its about two minutes. Two minutes out of a 5 minutes 45 seconds long film. Ok that is a little much. Though I see it as furthering the narrative that this guy will do anything for his car. However... I should have began this post by commending him. This man is a hero! He has owned the car since new and appears to have never sold a Ferrari. He understands that they are like having a child and that you can never give up on them- he gets it! And then the worst thing happened- it got wrecked on both ends. A lesser man- many of us- would have walked away and just took the insurance money. He saved her life. He is a hero.
Kevin is his name. He is very active and a true Ferrari enthusiast in the area. He is a hero for saving that car. As far as maintenance, some 355 needs more and some needs less. His sample just happens to be the more needy type. Let's praise the man for saving the car and give him a pass on the maintenance. He drives balls out in his blue Ferrari 430 at the track and also owns a 308QV with 200,000+ miles on it and it is pristine except for that one time when it was smashed up at the front in a front end incident. He has many more cars than the three Ferraris that I know of. Go Kevin.
Maintenance can certainly rack up if you service at a place who isn’t looking out for your best interest or makes questionable decisions. Here’s a perfect example: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-ferrari-f355-berlinetta/ This car spent around $20k in exhaust related issues. 1. At 20k mi, does an engine out service at Ferrari of Beverly Hills. Supposedly, everything is thoroughly inspected in the process. No header change. 2. 200 miles later, a header goes out. They put in a used header for $1200 + $750 labor. Yes, a used header while a brand new pair is $3800 ($1900 per side.) 3. 1800 mi later, the other header goes out. You’d think if one header went out, they’re both due to go out at roughly the same time and it would be wiser to change both while you’re already in there. Nope. So they replace the other header with another used header for $1100 + $750 labor. 4. 5k mi later, both used headers go out and the owner finally bites the bullet and buys a brand new set of headers for $3800 + $900 installation labor. Ferrari of Beverly Hills is not your friend. The 355 definitely isn’t a cheap car for those who solely rely on Ferrari dealerships to look out for the best interest of their cars and their wallets.
What if Beverly Hills Ferrari did recommend a complete set of new headers and the customer declined to spend that much and asked for a used one on that side? Is that not a possibility?
Something that seems unwise to me is owning a 355, or any older expensive high-maintenance car, when you basically have no wrenching skills. If you have to take your 355 to a shop for every little thing, and you are so incurious that you let the shop replace broken shoddy parts with new factory shoddy parts (e.g. headers), you are going to hate ownership. Or at least you're going to regale people with terrifying stories of how much money you spend on your car.
The issue is prospective owners will only hear the maintenance costs, they will not process the comments the way members here do. That hurts the cars I think. "Jaw dropping" and "stunning" and "shocking" comments make it more likely to share with someone with a WTF subject, especially if they go on and on. That video is meant to garner clicks, more shocking the better for the creator in general at least. For the 355, not so much.
It is certainly possible, but considering the trend of the invoices and the amount the owner paid so far, it’s hard to imagine the owner didn’t simply just go with the flow with dealer recommendations. Dealer should’ve simply said, “we don’t advise used headers due to their reputation.” Or, “we don’t source used headers, but bring them on your own at your own risk.” Or “we recommend changing out both headers due to labor costs as both can be changed while we’re already in there.” It appears more to me they had used headers lying around and used it as an opportunity to off them at a high price. 1. Not identifying header condition during service at 20k mi was the first mistake. 2. Not advising both headers get changed out or thoroughly inspecting the other header that is near due is another mistake. 3. Advising OE headers instead of Tubi headers is another. Owner had after-market cats, so he was certainly open to after-market components as long as the reputation of said component was solid. All these mistakes add up to more revenues for Ferrari of Beverly Hills.
