Which 355 to buy?
Discussion
Dear Gents,
I am looking to take the plunge and get a 355. Likely to keep for 2-3 years but a bit confused about which car to go for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It has been a dream car for me and want to try as best as possible that I get the right car.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...
My head is saying this car for the reason that it is offered by an authorised dealer, would have a Ferrari warranty, serviced, and due to it having 32000 miles on the clock it has been driven rather than kept as a garage queen. Hence likely to be a better maintained car. Also since it is priced in an around where the market seems to have the most available options when it does come to sell, the hit, it any, I take would be in line with other cars.
The second option is this car:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...
I do want the car to feel as "new" as possible but then the very low miles (4500) also concern me as tempting as that is, it has hardly been driven and may have some issues lurking due to lack of being used. Electrics etc. And being the highest priced car, when it did come to sell, I'd have a much smaller target market who would be prepared to pay over the odds.
Thank you for reading
I am looking to take the plunge and get a 355. Likely to keep for 2-3 years but a bit confused about which car to go for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It has been a dream car for me and want to try as best as possible that I get the right car.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...
My head is saying this car for the reason that it is offered by an authorised dealer, would have a Ferrari warranty, serviced, and due to it having 32000 miles on the clock it has been driven rather than kept as a garage queen. Hence likely to be a better maintained car. Also since it is priced in an around where the market seems to have the most available options when it does come to sell, the hit, it any, I take would be in line with other cars.
The second option is this car:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...
I do want the car to feel as "new" as possible but then the very low miles (4500) also concern me as tempting as that is, it has hardly been driven and may have some issues lurking due to lack of being used. Electrics etc. And being the highest priced car, when it did come to sell, I'd have a much smaller target market who would be prepared to pay over the odds.
Thank you for reading
any particular reason you going for F1? I got a 355 manual last year and am incredibly happy with it (although I have recently developed a cracked buttress issue which I am sure will be expensive when I come to fix it). I think the premium you pay over the F1 is worth it personally, fewer things to go wrong and more of a "pure" experience - gut feel is that will outperform F1 value wise too.
as for those two models, I prefer the 32k mile one. 30%+ Is a huge premium for the low mileage and as you point out there can be gremlins due to that.
as for those two models, I prefer the 32k mile one. 30%+ Is a huge premium for the low mileage and as you point out there can be gremlins due to that.
Hi, you wont go far wrong with a manual Rosso / Cremma coupe, if I were buying again I would go for the black or tan interior as it wears so much better even with mild use.
Mileage really depends on your intended use for the car, if you are not going to use much then obviously low miles lovely, but I wouldn't pay nearly a 50% premium for the second car, if you are going to use again that low miles soon becomes normal miles, IMO you need to think of miles in 10's in Ferrari world, ie 10, 20, 30,brackets.
It seems to be widely reported that a lot of cars mileage never changes, read into that what you will but buy on condition also if not more so than miles.
Go and talk to Dave or Matt in sales at The Ferrari Centre, both really helpful guys, tell them I sent you.
Also bear in mind that the main dealer will have the most mark up both buying and selling.
Mileage really depends on your intended use for the car, if you are not going to use much then obviously low miles lovely, but I wouldn't pay nearly a 50% premium for the second car, if you are going to use again that low miles soon becomes normal miles, IMO you need to think of miles in 10's in Ferrari world, ie 10, 20, 30,brackets.
It seems to be widely reported that a lot of cars mileage never changes, read into that what you will but buy on condition also if not more so than miles.
Go and talk to Dave or Matt in sales at The Ferrari Centre, both really helpful guys, tell them I sent you.
Also bear in mind that the main dealer will have the most mark up both buying and selling.
Fair enough, like all technology the F1 box slowly got better over the years, never driven one but 430 a lot better than 355, others can confirm but not sure if any change early to late 355, one of the popular upgrades is to map with the CS software, that said I am not sure how that will work out in proper auto driving.
A 430 maybe better suited to the kind of use you have in mind, unless it really has to be a 355.
A 430 maybe better suited to the kind of use you have in mind, unless it really has to be a 355.
TISPKJ said:
Fair enough, like all technology the F1 box slowly got better over the years, never driven one but 430 a lot better than 355, others can confirm but not sure if any change early to late 355, one of the popular upgrades is to map with the CS software, that said I am not sure how that will work out in proper auto driving.
A 430 maybe better suited to the kind of use you have in mind, unless it really has to be a 355.
355 F1 box is pretty jerky in auto mode but s fine if she'll use the paddles. 430 was a bit of an improvement but true auto driving only really got better with the dual clutch in California/ 458 onwardsA 430 maybe better suited to the kind of use you have in mind, unless it really has to be a 355.
I'd love another 355 F1 just for the looks but I just can't get my head around these prices and why somebody would choose one over a 458 at similar money
F355GTS said:
I'd love another 355 F1 just for the looks but I just can't get my head around these prices and why somebody would choose one over a 458 at similar money
From someone that paid 30k for his I have to agree, crazy prices currently and apart from looks and sound with a capristo I wasn't really overly impressed, 458 being last non turbo blah blah blah will probably hold its value fairly well, I cant help thinking though with current Ferrari prices of 348 - 355 - 456 etc that your not better spending £80k on a California.Speaking as somebody who paid somewhere between 30k and what is currently being quoted (disappointingly closer to current quotes!) I think the charm of the 355 is that it is the type of analogue car that is never coming back.
Sure the 458 is the last naturally aspirated blah but if you have ever driven one (and I have) it has the feel of a playstation more than a car. This is the same with most modern cars with 10 different modes on the steering wheel and a lot of electrical wizardry. Cars like the 355 on the other hand I think are a lot more engaging. Easier to form a mechanical sympathy.
Each to their own though, just buy what you like. But that's my feeling and I think that is why the 355 price wise will hold its value relative to the 458. Views?
Sure the 458 is the last naturally aspirated blah but if you have ever driven one (and I have) it has the feel of a playstation more than a car. This is the same with most modern cars with 10 different modes on the steering wheel and a lot of electrical wizardry. Cars like the 355 on the other hand I think are a lot more engaging. Easier to form a mechanical sympathy.
Each to their own though, just buy what you like. But that's my feeling and I think that is why the 355 price wise will hold its value relative to the 458. Views?
Just get a manual, your wife will never drive it, it will be too noisy for her I guarantee it! If you want a car to use look at the ones at the Ferrari Center for around £80k with average miles, if you buy one at £100k+ you will be afraid to use it, you won't lose money on one with average miles and you will be able to drive it more.
frenmor said:
Speaking as somebody who paid somewhere between 30k and what is currently being quoted (disappointingly closer to current quotes!) I think the charm of the 355 is that it is the type of analogue car that is never coming back.
Sure the 458 is the last naturally aspirated blah but if you have ever driven one (and I have) it has the feel of a playstation more than a car. This is the same with most modern cars with 10 different modes on the steering wheel and a lot of electrical wizardry. Cars like the 355 on the other hand I think are a lot more engaging. Easier to form a mechanical sympathy.
Each to their own though, just buy what you like. But that's my feeling and I think that is why the 355 price wise will hold its value relative to the 458. Views?
355 is the next Dino, price wise.....IMHO.....Sure the 458 is the last naturally aspirated blah but if you have ever driven one (and I have) it has the feel of a playstation more than a car. This is the same with most modern cars with 10 different modes on the steering wheel and a lot of electrical wizardry. Cars like the 355 on the other hand I think are a lot more engaging. Easier to form a mechanical sympathy.
Each to their own though, just buy what you like. But that's my feeling and I think that is why the 355 price wise will hold its value relative to the 458. Views?
frenmor said:
Why do you think that? Would love to believe it clearly but so many more were made. Then again it is a historically very important car... it's not implausible...
Ever since i can remember the Jaguar e type was always around £25k, have you seen the prices now? Up to 200k plus.Yes so many more 355s made than Dinos, heres food for thought regarding numbers. The average Jaguar E type cost s more than the top 355s at the moment.
F355s were made = 11,300.
Jaguar E type's were made = 70,000
I dont think any one knows the formula regarding the next best thing. I remember 12 years ago before i sold my 328GTS for an F355, i went to look at two 246 Dinos at £40k each. But opted for the 355 instead, yes I dropped a b
k 
I also remember there was quite a few self appointed experts back then who shouted from the roof tops that no 355 would ever make £80k plus........ever. I have an agreed valuation of £90k with footman james, and thats with 50 miles on it. I would never have thought that over a decade ago when i bought it. No one know siht for sure what the future holds.
Couldn't agree more that no one knows s--t.
So clearly the "in demand" cars at the moment are the 1980s-1990s cars we had on our walls when we were kids... Taking out stuff like the F40, what do people think are the most "historically" important cars that can still be bought for < 100k? And is the 355 the best of those?
- 355?
- 993?
What else?
So clearly the "in demand" cars at the moment are the 1980s-1990s cars we had on our walls when we were kids... Taking out stuff like the F40, what do people think are the most "historically" important cars that can still be bought for < 100k? And is the 355 the best of those?
- 355?
- 993?
What else?
frenmor said:
Couldn't agree more that no one knows s--t.
So clearly the "in demand" cars at the moment are the 1980s-1990s cars we had on our walls when we were kids... Taking out stuff like the F40, what do people think are the most "historically" important cars that can still be bought for < 100k? And is the 355 the best of those?
- 355?
- 993?
What else?
It works in generations and disposable income. So chaps born in the 1950's lusted after E Types and DB6's when they were teenagers and its easy to see why, when they got to 50 and and some spare cash they all wanted one and so up they went. The guys in the 60's they lusted after Countach's and Testarossa's so up they go. So what did you lust after? What was on your wall? You need to look at what the poster cars were in the 70's & 80's. For me hearing an F355 when I was 25 was enough to plant the seed and the F40 is way past my pay grade so F355 it was.....So clearly the "in demand" cars at the moment are the 1980s-1990s cars we had on our walls when we were kids... Taking out stuff like the F40, what do people think are the most "historically" important cars that can still be bought for < 100k? And is the 355 the best of those?
- 355?
- 993?
What else?
Mmmm, all of the above is relevant but I feel that extrapolating the performance of the modern classic car market is tricky given that a lot of investors have bought because of ultra low interest rates and no CGT on cars. Interest rates are not going lower and there's already pressure for rate rises, this would prompt the speculators to exit the market leaving just the enthusiasts.
Good quality rare cars will always hold up but the other, more mass produced cars will move more inline with the cost of a restoration. People forget, it wasn't so long ago that classics were a major expense to own and really didn't rise in value but they owned them because they loved them and bugger the expense. Who knows, maybe they'll be like houses, because they only go up in value don't they??
Good quality rare cars will always hold up but the other, more mass produced cars will move more inline with the cost of a restoration. People forget, it wasn't so long ago that classics were a major expense to own and really didn't rise in value but they owned them because they loved them and bugger the expense. Who knows, maybe they'll be like houses, because they only go up in value don't they??
Car at JCT600 was lovely. Dealer was also very patient with all my many questions. However, and this is my personal opinion, I have now shifted away from thinking that the car should be red and actually think it looks less aged in a darker colour- so that is where the search goes.
All comments from enthusiasts above have been greatly appreciated and I will keep All posted on how the search continues.
All comments from enthusiasts above have been greatly appreciated and I will keep All posted on how the search continues.
Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff