355 servicing?
Discussion
hi everyone
am planning on looking at three 355 spiders on monday....
one at furlonger, black one at the ferrari centre and one other....
i have spoken generally to the furlonger guys about their silver one which is their car but i have had any specific discussions about it re service history etc; but the other two i have some more detailed info specifically about the history and i wondered from the guys who in the know what their thoughts might be.....
the black one looks like it was serviced religiously from new to 2009 but then there was 4 year gap to 2013 although MOTS are present, after 2014 its being serviced again, the belt are due in 5 months...... would this 4 year gap sound alarm bells?
the other one (not the the fulonger car) seems to be have being serviced religiously for the first 6 years, but after that they seem to have serviced the cars based on mileage rather than time..... is this acceptable or again is this a no no?
i haven't seen either car in the flesh so obviously theres still a lot to look at, but i have managed to persuade the missus that buying one of these cars is better than having the cash in the bank earning nothing so i need to make sure that at the very least i don't lose money on it (clearly the market could crash lol)
any thoughts, help, opinions appreciated about the above or indeed the cars in question....
cheers
am planning on looking at three 355 spiders on monday....
one at furlonger, black one at the ferrari centre and one other....
i have spoken generally to the furlonger guys about their silver one which is their car but i have had any specific discussions about it re service history etc; but the other two i have some more detailed info specifically about the history and i wondered from the guys who in the know what their thoughts might be.....
the black one looks like it was serviced religiously from new to 2009 but then there was 4 year gap to 2013 although MOTS are present, after 2014 its being serviced again, the belt are due in 5 months...... would this 4 year gap sound alarm bells?
the other one (not the the fulonger car) seems to be have being serviced religiously for the first 6 years, but after that they seem to have serviced the cars based on mileage rather than time..... is this acceptable or again is this a no no?
i haven't seen either car in the flesh so obviously theres still a lot to look at, but i have managed to persuade the missus that buying one of these cars is better than having the cash in the bank earning nothing so i need to make sure that at the very least i don't lose money on it (clearly the market could crash lol)
any thoughts, help, opinions appreciated about the above or indeed the cars in question....
cheers
the one with the 4 year gap seems to have done 12,000 miles in those four years which sounds reasonable..... ?
the one with the spacing seeming to based on mileage is in 2002 was at done 32,000 miles (prior to that very year)..... then was serviced at 33,000 then 34,500 then 39,000 then 2014 it was at 40,500 then again a month ago at 42,000
the one with the spacing seeming to based on mileage is in 2002 was at done 32,000 miles (prior to that very year)..... then was serviced at 33,000 then 34,500 then 39,000 then 2014 it was at 40,500 then again a month ago at 42,000
The latter is a European type schedule ! Another query is which were cambelt changes and when were the cambelt bearings changed
If you are keeping the car a while then neither is a major worry but if you sell in six months the next potential buyer will be back here asking exactly the same questions....
If you are keeping the car a while then neither is a major worry but if you sell in six months the next potential buyer will be back here asking exactly the same questions....
andyleeds said:
Cambelts appear up to date..... Every 3 years?
When do the bearings need to be done?
Cheers mate
You'll find a lot of internet noise about bearings (and belts!) and when they should be changed and how they should be changed and whether the mechanic should use their left or right hands etc... People fitting Hill Engineering bearings seem to change them every other belt change based on the research I did when changing mine. Some people swap them every belt change and some people are still on the OEM bearings... The frequency of the change is probably reflected in the rest of the car's history though. If it's a well documented car with a mass of maintenance invoices and/or photographs then I expect the bearings will have been changed frequently and replaced with HE parts.When do the bearings need to be done?
Cheers mate
On history in general, my car had a lot of its early history missing when I bought it but the last 5-6 years were comprehensive to say the least. I'd be more concerned about a car with no recent history than I would be about one with older history missing, as long as the recent history is good. Obviously you won't want to pay top whack for a car with patchy history and you can't expect to sell it for top whack either.
Hi I have just been through buying a 355 spider.
I did consider the black one, however it's recent service history put me off. I would not be buying one as an investment in a unusual colour, why is it unusual? (Probably not many people liked it) if you are just buying for yourself and like the colour fine.
If you want a copy of what ferrari did on my pdi please let me know, at least it may give you some pointers.
I did consider the black one, however it's recent service history put me off. I would not be buying one as an investment in a unusual colour, why is it unusual? (Probably not many people liked it) if you are just buying for yourself and like the colour fine.
If you want a copy of what ferrari did on my pdi please let me know, at least it may give you some pointers.
This is becoming a bit of a broken record item, but here goes:
1. Common sense applies. Whether the first 5 years of servicing are present is not really worth much on a 20yo car IMHO.
2. Seeing what has been done in the last 5 years tells you a lot more worthwhile information
3. The 'Service History' is largely irrelevant. There's zero proof that anything has been done, ever. Its just a rubber stamp and/or a piece of paper. Buy on condition / gut feel for the vendor.
4. Go in with your eyes open. These are old cars which need work. A shiny, low mileage car with fully stamped book sounds great. Doesn't tell you anything about the actual condition of it. Are all the rubbers original? Hoses? Bushes? Belts etc? How about the radiator cores? Ignition components? the factory hose clamps were all rubbish and tend to pop off. Have they been changed? etc etc.
I bought a fully stamped / historied car. Turned out much of the 'servicing' was probably made up as when I pulled the engine out myself, I found a myriad items which hadn't been done in living memory. I think my first home service I spent over £3k in parts alone. eg, the fuel filter was an original item.
Do your research. You're buying an old car, so go in with your eyes open and your brain on and you'll be fine. I wrote a reasonable guide on here some time back which contained as much useful info as I could gather or had learnt the hard way.
A 355 is a lovely thing to own and drive but can be frustrating if its not properly sorted. And don't be put off by privately serviced cars. As the saying goes, nobody looks after your stuff like you do. Photos and receipts (ie, evidence) are worth 10x as much as a stamp in a book when it comes to classics.
1. Common sense applies. Whether the first 5 years of servicing are present is not really worth much on a 20yo car IMHO.
2. Seeing what has been done in the last 5 years tells you a lot more worthwhile information
3. The 'Service History' is largely irrelevant. There's zero proof that anything has been done, ever. Its just a rubber stamp and/or a piece of paper. Buy on condition / gut feel for the vendor.
4. Go in with your eyes open. These are old cars which need work. A shiny, low mileage car with fully stamped book sounds great. Doesn't tell you anything about the actual condition of it. Are all the rubbers original? Hoses? Bushes? Belts etc? How about the radiator cores? Ignition components? the factory hose clamps were all rubbish and tend to pop off. Have they been changed? etc etc.
I bought a fully stamped / historied car. Turned out much of the 'servicing' was probably made up as when I pulled the engine out myself, I found a myriad items which hadn't been done in living memory. I think my first home service I spent over £3k in parts alone. eg, the fuel filter was an original item.
Do your research. You're buying an old car, so go in with your eyes open and your brain on and you'll be fine. I wrote a reasonable guide on here some time back which contained as much useful info as I could gather or had learnt the hard way.
A 355 is a lovely thing to own and drive but can be frustrating if its not properly sorted. And don't be put off by privately serviced cars. As the saying goes, nobody looks after your stuff like you do. Photos and receipts (ie, evidence) are worth 10x as much as a stamp in a book when it comes to classics.
richard-s88w4 said:
Hi I have just been through buying a 355 spider.
I did consider the black one, however it's recent service history put me off. I would not be buying one as an investment in a unusual colour, why is it unusual? (Probably not many people liked it) if you are just buying for yourself and like the colour fine.
If you want a copy of what ferrari did on my pdi please let me know, at least it may give you some pointers.
Hi ref the PDI your email won't accept incoming could you pm me please I did consider the black one, however it's recent service history put me off. I would not be buying one as an investment in a unusual colour, why is it unusual? (Probably not many people liked it) if you are just buying for yourself and like the colour fine.
If you want a copy of what ferrari did on my pdi please let me know, at least it may give you some pointers.
well i only ended up looking at two of them, the furlonger car and the the ferrari centre one..... i didn't manage to see the blue one..... the silver one looked nice, a couple of bits need doing but they said that they would be happy to run it through the workshop and sort anything... i didn't drive it by the way, the thing that put me off with that car was that they don't allow ppi's on their cars.
the black one i went to see just to see if it changed my mind but it didn't.....
worryingly i came away from the exercise wondering if i even wanted one because i didn't seem to have the excitement that i thought that i would have, it was almost like i was worried about buying a wrong one and then not enjoying it. my 456 has done less than 500 miles in the year that i have owned it and some am wondering if i would be better off buying something thats a bit cheaper and that i don't worry about...... its almost like pre wedding nerves..... help!
richard-s88w4 which one did you buy? the fletchdale one?
the black one i went to see just to see if it changed my mind but it didn't.....
worryingly i came away from the exercise wondering if i even wanted one because i didn't seem to have the excitement that i thought that i would have, it was almost like i was worried about buying a wrong one and then not enjoying it. my 456 has done less than 500 miles in the year that i have owned it and some am wondering if i would be better off buying something thats a bit cheaper and that i don't worry about...... its almost like pre wedding nerves..... help!
richard-s88w4 which one did you buy? the fletchdale one?
Edited by andyleeds on Wednesday 19th August 14:30
Sorry my user name has changed.
No I ended up with a private buy. I went to slades garage and had a look at there's. Nice car but had slow down flashing, also been in storage for a few years. I also saw a yellow one nearby cheap uk car but it was a mess.
I went to see the one bought the next day I new it was the one resale red and creme. A great service record with a folder of receipts. I also checked the service book out with ferrari who confirmed what they had done. I had a ppi who picked up some bits which the owner put right (apart from the airbag ecu)
No I ended up with a private buy. I went to slades garage and had a look at there's. Nice car but had slow down flashing, also been in storage for a few years. I also saw a yellow one nearby cheap uk car but it was a mess.
I went to see the one bought the next day I new it was the one resale red and creme. A great service record with a folder of receipts. I also checked the service book out with ferrari who confirmed what they had done. I had a ppi who picked up some bits which the owner put right (apart from the airbag ecu)
Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff