What to look out for when buying a 355 Spider?

[Juber]

As above, what are the common faults and what do you look out for?

[andrew]

red paint

[Davo456gt]

http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-guid...

http://www.the355.com/mambo/content/blogsection/8/...

[F355GTS]

Cracked front hubs
roof operation - try it loads of times
heater and air con working correctly- try all variations inc hot/ cold
No oil/ fluid leak from clutch housing

[tomtom]

F355GTS said:

No oil/ fluid leak from clutch housing

On this point, if the car still has the clutch housing cover fitted (a fibreglass shroud that covers the pretty (ish) metal housing with the Ferrari writing on it) then make sure you feel inside it, or get it removed to check, as the brake fluid will just pool inside that if there is a leak and it's easy to miss. /voice of experience when my release bearing went

PS If anyone wants to buy a clutch housing cover I have one for sale

[cgt2]

Make sure it hasn't been clocked, plenty of 355's running around with dubiously low mileages for 20+ years old that appear to have not increased in years!

Before the current market madness I fancied getting back into a 355 a couple of years ago, gave up looking after six months as nearly every car I looked at had some questionable aspects to the history and none was as good as the car I had in 2007. Don't let pretty paintwork blind you into not questioning every detail of where a car has been over the years. Big gaps in the history set all the alarm bells ringing.

[red_slr]

Same been hunting for ages. Many dogs out there at the moment.
I am still thinking about it, but I think my budget is too small to get a good one now.

[rubystone]

red_slr said:

Same been hunting for ages. Many dogs out there at the moment.
I am still thinking about it, but I think my budget is too small to get a good one now.

Don't be afraid of a higher mileage car, Simon. A lot of the '49,000 mile' cars will have been clocked anyway...one of the best cars I looked at (and turned down) had 61,000 on the clock and there were no 'gaps' in its history. I didn't buy it because we couldn't get together with on price. But that was the only reason.

My 575 has 69,000 on the clock. Runs as sweetly as my 15,000 mile SA.

Oh and if anyone wants to buy the 575, it'll be going up for sale soon :-)

[red_slr]

Its not so much the mileage but the general condition and quality of repairs. Cars are going up in value so quickly in value people are neglecting to look after them properly. (IMHO!)

[rubystone]

red_slr said:

Its not so much the mileage but the general condition and quality of repairs. Cars are going up in value so quickly in value people are neglecting to look after them properly. (IMHO!)

Surely the legacy of the lower value cars is indeed the scrimping in maintenance in their past. But a 355 at £70k is surely going to present immaculately isn't it? Or are people not even polishing turds well nowadays?

[denzil]

Not necessarily. I think you're right that people aren't even bothering to polish a turd properly. From what I can see, it would seem that some people are seeing the market going bonkers and are jumping in to try cash in, even though their car's history is patchy to say the least! I'm in Europe and looking to buy very soon and I've been watching for a while. I've contacted a couple of "FFSH" owners and asked for copies of the service history and been quite surprised at what they've sent. One car, reg in 2001, had been serviced for first time in 2006, then 2009 and in 2015 prior to sale. Three times in 14 years! And then he stuck another 10 grand on the price overnight. Amazing.