458 prices / potential private buyer

[les5709]

Hi All,
I have just sold my v10 R8 and looking into McLaren's and Ferrari's to replace it. I am not here to get into the Ferrari McLaren battle but rather to find out if you believe I have any chance of picking up a used 458 for around 120-130k (right hand drive). I guess knowning rough trade in values would help? If dealers are offering this then I know I won't have a hope, but if dealers are offering sub 120k for 458's at trade in then maybe I have a chance?

This sort of value really is pushing the budget out for me, but I would love to push the boat out and own one now for a few years before children come along. I want to be able to use it quite regularly, I like to own my cars to enjoy the driving in them, plus if I am paying this much making sacrifices financially else where, then I really have to be using it to justify it.

Any comments welcome. Also anyone who wants to find a private buyer for a red/white 458 also welcome to comment 😊

Thanks
Steve

[PrancingHorses]

They are great cars and you won't regret buying one for a minute. The issue is you won't find a RHD car for £120k in the UK at the moment. No matter how many people come on here and tell you that you will the fact is that you won't.Prices are pretty strong right now. The cheaper dealer 10 reg dealer cars come up for between £140-145k and sell within days. 11 reg cars are fetching anywhere between £150k and £165k.

You have taken the right approach though as there may be someone looking to trade in and may be able to sell to you for around £130k but as far as I know trade in for even the earliest cars are over £120k right now.

It won't be long before the insecure Mclaren brigade are on here telling you how better their cars are with the carbon tub etc and that you can get yourself in to a 12C at that money - have you considered one of those instead?

[les5709]

PrancingHorses said:

They are great cars and you won't regret buying one for a minute. The issue is you won't find a RHD car for £120k in the UK at the moment. No matter how many people come on here and tell you that you will the fact is that you won't.Prices are pretty strong right now. The cheaper dealer 10 reg dealer cars come up for between £140-145k and sell within days. 11 reg cars are fetching anywhere between £150k and £165k.

You have taken the right approach though as there may be someone looking to trade in and may be able to sell to you for around £130k but as far as I know trade in for even the earliest cars are over £120k right now.

It won't be long before the insecure Mclaren brigade are on here telling you how better their cars are with the carbon tub etc and that you can get yourself in to a 12C at that money - have you considered one of those instead?

Thanks for your response. Yes indeed a 12C is very much possible and the other option I have been looking at. It's much more in budget as I could likely get a very good 12C for around 105-110k from a private seller. I haven't drove a 12C nor a 458 (from Northern Ireland so a difficult task) so I cannot comment on the better one, plus there are so many other McLaren V Ferrari threads I can read up on - so trying to stay away from that lol. I think it's everyone's personal preference and having the opportunity to own either really is living the dream!

[PrancingHorses]

les5709 said:

Thanks for your response. Yes indeed a 12C is very much possible and the other option I have been looking at. It's much more in budget as I could likely get a very good 12C for around 105-110k from a private seller. I haven't drove a 12C nor a 458 (from Northern Ireland so a difficult task) so I cannot comment on the better one, plus there are so many other McLaren V Ferrari threads I can read up on - so trying to stay away from that lol. I think it's everyone's personal preference and having the opportunity to own either really is living the dream!

You are very welcome. It is indeed a living the dream moment so make sure you drive all the options before making your mind up. When I drove the 458 I fell in love with it instantly and knew it was the one!

[MrVert]

From a dealer, as said above I think you'll struggle, privately I think you'll still be in for £130+

I'm thinking of selling, 2011 low miles, fully specced and I've had two trade bids both well above that.

[rosino]

I think the 458 will remain sought after as the last mainstream V8, its pretty obvious. The 488 might be a fabulous car and faster and everything. But it's probably too fast and too crazy for our roads..

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/...

And not to mention the 458 sounds a million times better

I say go for it.. you won't regret it.. I have a Speciale and love it.. only issue is the roads in this Country are just poor and you need to travel quite a bit to find proper ones.

I support your view that going private might be the best route.. too few people do it because they are scared but if you go with your eyes wide open, remain rational and get it inspected then you should be fine and avoid a bid-offer spreads which is borderline ridiculous at times. Scour the forums to find potential sellers and also chat with petrolheads and detailers which are typically in the know.

[MingtheMerciless]

I bought my 458 last year after 6 months of stumbling around trying to buy first an LHD one from every crook in Europe then giving up and deciding to pay more for a proper RHD one and then having the misfortune to run into dealing with people like Motorhub and finally ending up with the perfect car with the perfect spec and I'm happy as a pig in $hit. I also looked at a McLaren 12C but decided I liked the 458 just a little more (it is in fairness a very close thing and I totally get why anyone could swing the other way). One deciding factor though for me was servicing - I am in Ireland (south) so my ability to get a McLaren serviced is even worse than yours - at least you have Charles Hurst in Belfast so local servicing is easy enough. It would get old pretty soon to have to send the car over for servicing in mainland UK wherever there is a McLaren dealership. And inevitably there is some part that is needed so the car is kept longer than you expect and you don't get to drive it back the day you want etc. I even find this to be a pain in Belfast so would hate to have to go further.

[les5709]

Thanks everyone for their comments. I will see if any private ones come up over the next month or so and work from there. With regards to the McLaren local issue for maintenance, I do know of a local independent who can get parts through McLaren so I would hope that would rule out the running around, however it could harm resale value of course...

[Durzel]

les5709 said:

If dealers are offering this then I know I won't have a hope, but if dealers are offering sub 120k for 458's at trade in then maybe I have a chance?

Assume a spread of roughly £15k-£25k on main dealer buy and sell prices, and look at the classifieds.. that will give you your answer Higher spec cars will be closer to the lower value.

Good luck with your search - they are amazing cars

[Bunk]

les5709 said:

Thanks everyone for their comments. I will see if any private ones come up over the next month or so and work from there. With regards to the McLaren local issue for maintenance, I do know of a local independent who can get parts through McLaren so I would hope that would rule out the running around, however it could harm resale value of course...

Les am a friend of Mings in Dublin, and have recently been through all of this as well and ended up going 458. I was actually completely 50:50 in terms of Ferrari/McClaren preference until a perfect car came along for me.

One thing I would advise though if its important to you is not to rely on "I know a guy who can get parts". From the investigations I have done thats only true to a certain extent; mechanically there is a lot can be done by a competent mechanic but if anything goes wrong that involves the computers, only McClaren can access those. I understand that there are one or two independents who will be made official McClaren servicing partners soon and will have access to the software but for the moment, anything like that is back to mothership.

Now this might not be important as I said, but having been through this issue with a Lamborghini here in Dublin, these niggly problems that require someone to interrogate the OBC can literally give you a nervous breakdown trying to resolve and you end up putting the thing back on a trailer to the UK which significantly adds to running costs.

[les5709]

Hi All,
Just coming back on this thread, I am now really looking to try and source a Ferrari 458. From owners experiences what extras are the key things that I should be looking for? Is the likes of the lifting system a must have?

Thanks
Steve

[MingtheMerciless]

Nothing is essential. A base spec 458 is still a fantastic Italian thoroughbred supercar. However, in my opinion, the following on my car are rated in terms of essentialness dropping to nice to have to don't care:

leds/driving zone stuff 10 (essential)
carbon backed race seats 8
shields 8
20' forged rims 7
parking sensors 6
nav 6 (it's a bit $hit anyway)
iPod connection 5
carbon interior bits 5
TPMS 5
JBL stereo 4
Parking camera 3
coloured rev counter (Y) 3
leather headlining/shelf 2
Electroblah mirrors 1
carbon sill 0


Personally I don't think you need the lifter unless you have a particularly sloped storage or driving situation regularly.

[MingtheMerciless]

I know I have just contradicted myself but I love the leds. Trouble is if you look for one with leds it is likely to have a lot of other stuff too.

[TISPKJ]

les5709 said:

Hi All,
Just coming back on this thread, I am now really looking to try and source a Ferrari 458. From owners experiences what extras are the key things that I should be looking for? Is the likes of the lifting system a must have?

Thanks
Steve

Hi Mate, I am good friends with them but that aside if I were looking give Dave / Matt a call in sales at The Ferrari Center who maybe able to source something or know of something coming up, they don't have anything like the mark up of most dealers as its nearly all SOR ...... worth a 5 minute call .... tell him Paul said to call

[les5709]

Thanks guys for the posts as always!

At my hockey ground where i play i have quite a ramp to get over. My Noble and my R8's (that i had previously) just about cleared it, but wasn't sure if the longer noise on a 458 would clear it without a lift.

[PrancingHorses]

les5709 said:

Thanks guys for the posts as always!

At my hockey ground where i play i have quite a ramp to get over. My Noble and my R8's (that i had previously) just about cleared it, but wasn't sure if the longer noise on a 458 would clear it without a lift.

IMHO should be no problem at all without the lift. I have quite a bit of a slant on my driveway. My Maserati GTS and Aston Martin DB9 would scrape if not bought in at an angle but so far the 458 has never touched and I was very worried before buying it! Just to be clear...I don't have a suspension lift on mine.

[RamboLambo]

Yeah they sit pretty high off the ground ( look at wheel arch to tyre gaps ) as stock so lift not really necessary unless you want to or its been already lowered to look right

[spareparts]

Given the intro of the 488 Spider, where do we think a 458 Spider will be at in 2/3 years time? Significantly less than where we are? Or are the merits of the NA 458 really going to offset significant depreciation? The 458 has been rock solid, and it's all a bit crystal ball...

Also, do we think Ferrari will release an extended service plan for the 2011/2012 cars leaving their 7y service plan?

[andymc]

MingtheMerciless said:

I bought my 458 last year after 6 months of stumbling around trying to buy first an LHD one from every crook in Europe then giving up and deciding to pay more for a proper RHD one and then having the misfortune to run into dealing with people like Motorhub and finally ending up with the perfect car with the perfect spec and I'm happy as a pig in $hit. I also looked at a McLaren 12C but decided I liked the 458 just a little more (it is in fairness a very close thing and I totally get why anyone could swing the other way). One deciding factor though for me was servicing - I am in Ireland (south) so my ability to get a McLaren serviced is even worse than yours - at least you have Charles Hurst in Belfast so local servicing is easy enough. It would get old pretty soon to have to send the car over for servicing in mainland UK wherever there is a McLaren dealership. And inevitably there is some part that is needed so the car is kept longer than you expect and you don't get to drive it back the day you want etc. I even find this to be a pain in Belfast so would hate to have to go further.

what happened with Motorhub if you don't mind me asking?

[MingtheMerciless]

There was an issue with a repair to a vehicle outside the F network which could not be explained (e.g. light bulb or whole front end?). I declined to proceed. They said they would like to keep my deposit. I had to get solicitors involved to resolve it.