THE Ferrari Thread

[nsxguy7]

1) Have a thorough inspection done before you even THINK of buying a specific car. An independent, highly reputable Ferrari shop is the only place to go.
2) see if you qualify for a limited use insurance policy. Most of them limit you to 2500 or 5000 miles annually. Trust me, you won't go over that.
3) you need to budget $3000-5000 annually for upkeep and repairs. These cars are best when DRIVEN. The more they sit, the more they deteriorate. I have seen 30 year old 308s with 20k miles on them that need literally EVERYTHING.
4) don't assume that "I can fix that for 100 bucks and a little elbow grease." Not going to happen. EVERYTHING is an expensive fix on a Ferrari. Check intervals for items like cam belt replacements. Not only are they amazingly expensive, sometimes they must be done at 15k or 30k intervals. Don't even think of buying a car without complete service records.
5) that said, DO IT...you won't regret it!

[ELVA164]

testarossa? yes, those are really nice.

i would say ferrari has made quite a few muscle cars. 275 gtb/4's were around 300hp. that was in the 60's when the cars only weighed 2800ish lbs. daytona's had great power to weight ratio. what about the 550/575? front engine v12 around 500 hp. yes, they do weigh close to 4k lb, but 0-60 in 4.2 sec. thats fast enough to make someone who is faint of heart piss their pants.

on another note, i opened up an account on ferrarichat last week. i have spent lots of time over there learning and reading. i have to say that their forum is boring as hell. its dryer than s14. the members are stuffy old bastards. reading it makes me miss r3v.:eeek:

Haven't been in here in a while. Sorry to hear you missed out on the other one, but you're probably right it's for the best. Just convince yourself that car probably needed a rebuild :mrgreen:

What I was getting at is the 512 was not fun to take out to a track without significant modification, just like most muscle cars. The 275GTB/4 is a much more compliant and friendly car. And full disclosure, I'm not speaking first-hand, but I am speaking second-hand. My Dad is fairly experienced with older Ferraris (a story for another day) and he's driven both of those on a track when they were almost new.

And the 550/575 are both fast AND nimble! Definitely not what I meant! :)

[flyboyx]

1) Have a thorough inspection done before you even THINK of buying a specific car. An independent, highly reputable Ferrari shop is the only place to go.

Man...thank you for taking the time to post all of this advice. for the car i was supposed to look at today, i called dan bradan of braden group. he is active on the fchat forum and has a shop in long island. i quickly built a good report with him. seems he has an e30 m3 too. i talked to him on the phone for about 30 mins. half was talking about bmw's. he said that because he liked me, he would do a complete workup on the car for 300.00 including compression and leak down.

2) see if you qualify for a limited use insurance policy. Most of them limit you to 2500 or 5000 miles annually. Trust me, you won't go over that.

i think i might have mentioned it previously but i got a quote from haggarty for around 1500/yr. there has been some advice posted in this thread about other options that may be cheaper. your are right, i plan to drive it around 2000mi/yr

3) you need to budget $3000-5000 annually for upkeep and repairs. These cars are best when DRIVEN. The more they sit, the more they deteriorate. I have seen 30 year old 308s with 20k miles on them that need literally EVERYTHING.

4) don't assume that "I can fix that for 100 bucks and a little elbow grease." Not going to happen. EVERYTHING is an expensive fix on a Ferrari. Check intervals for items like cam belt replacements. Not only are they amazingly expensive, sometimes they must be done at 15k or 30k intervals.

no doubt parts are expensive as hell. i have been reading my eyeballs off on their forum. there seem to be plenty of issues to keep owners busy. mid engine cars are a lot more expensive to fix than front engine cars because you have to take the engine out to do anything to them. i think the manufacturer recommends timing belts at 20k miles these days. they are now made from kevlar. major service on a vehicle with the engine behind the seat costs over 20 grand. major service on a front engine car is usually around $2000.00 i am told. this is one of the reasons i have targeted the 550. dan braden mentioned that clutch replacement on a maranello will set you back over 7 thousand to have it done by a reputable shop. he said just the clutch disk, pressure plate, and throwout cost 5k!

i have been told that because maranello's are one of the most reliable ferraris and have the engine in the front, i should be able to budget 1500-2500 a year for maintenance. thats actually pretty feasible for my budget.

Don't even think of buying a car without complete service records.

i've heard this from plenty of ferrari people. someone told me a car without records or one that wasn't serviced in a reputable shop is probably worth 20% less.

5) that said, DO IT...you won't regret it!

Haven't been in here in a while. Sorry to hear you missed out on the other one, but you're probably right it's for the best. Just convince yourself that car probably needed a rebuild :mrgreen:

What I was getting at is the 512 was not fun to take out to a track without significant modification, just like most muscle cars. The 275GTB/4 is a much more compliant and friendly car. And full disclosure, I'm not speaking first-hand, but I am speaking second-hand. My Dad is fairly experienced with older Ferraris (a story for another day) and he's driven both of those on a track when they were almost new.

And the 550/575 are both fast AND nimble! Definitely not what I meant! :)

ah.....i appreciate you clarifying. i can't imagine how amazing it would be to drive a 275. i would be too scared most likely. i have been watching the auction results. nice ones cost 2-3 million now days.

[bikerbill2021]

Ive been daydreaming of owning an F40 since I was a child, but lately I've realized that even if I could afford one, I don't think I'd want one, b/c I would never be able to drive it like I would want to, and be too paranoid to take it out on the public streets for fear of some bimbo plowing into me with her Cobalt. Oh well, thats what Forza is for ;)

[LateFan]

Jalop on used Ferraris…

http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/why-buy-a-jaguar-f-type-when-you-can-get-this-v12-ferra-1687775738/+travis

[flyboyx]

haha! i went to look at this very car in san luis obispo about 3 weeks ago. i probably would have bought it then, but "amazing shape" it is not. did you know that a new clutch for this thing costs 9 grand? just the parts alone are 6k. i mention this because when you are sitting at a light with the clutch pushed in, the throwout bearing makes a nice little annoying whiney noise. most of the service history is missing. the records only go back to about 2008 or so. some of the records that are there mention that the wiring harness melted on the engine and had to be replaced. there is a receipt from ferrari of atlanta where the owner complains about high oil temperature and low oil pressure. there is no receipt to mitigate the complaint. the oil pressure at idle is only about 10psi once it is warmed up......i could go on and on...to make a long story short, the car needs about 20-30k worth of work(assuming no major internal engine issues) since you can buy a really nice low mile 550 for 80 grand, it seems like a better investment to just do that instead.


here is a pic the salesman took of me driving it.

[LateFan]

You don't look excited.

[ELVA164]

GUYS. I'm getting a chance to drive a Tour de France blue 550 Maranello tomorrow! I'm sure it'll just be like toodling around the pits or something but I'm pretty excited! :)

[F34R]

GUYS. I'm getting a chance to drive a Tour de France blue 550 Maranello tomorrow! I'm sure it'll just be like toodling around the pits or something but I'm pretty excited! :)

Make sure you take pictures!

[ELVA164]

Make sure you take pictures!

You bet! :D

[flyboyx]

You don't look excited.

that is my "negotiation game face!"

[flyboyx]

You bet! :D

once the car is warmed up, make a note of the oil pressure at idle.

also i am interested to know how much clutch pressure that car has. the black one had a super heavy ass clutch(i think from a bad throw out). from muscle memory, i just about put my foot through the floor when i drove my bmw after this one.

[ELVA164]

Wow, there really is a whole other world out there. And I thought the Ginetta was fast...


First, here's the car:




What an unbelievable car. I'll readily admit it's the first real performance car I've ever driven, but still! I mean, completely well-behaved in the pits just above idle in first gear, and WOW is there power. I used maybe three-quarter throttle in second and third gear, never went above 4,500rpm. It didn't matter. What a surge. And smooooooth, holy crap. Comfortable, great noise....I guess I see why people like them, haha.

Anyway, oil pressure was ~10-15psi at idle when warm (the gauge isn't super detailed) and immediately shot up to 70psi off idle. The clutch was heavy but extremely easy to modulate. Consistent bite and not hard to get used to. Gearbox worked very well, too. Man, if only I could have the time to get comfortable with that car...whew.

[Vedubin01]

a Miami car at Sebring?

[E30 Wagen]

OP is not allowed to buy a Ferrari until the e30 in his sig is finished with a Mtech II front valence on it. It's driving me insane.