Originally Posted by MBAtarga (Post 11002064)

Pcar - also if you see a post about "spoons" - they aren't talking about the eating utensil. Spoons are otherwise known as a lead delivery device, which is Craigslist accepted speech for "guns."
And "snow tires" is an always accepted answer for any question. Hang around here a decade or more and you'll pick these things up! :)

Originally Posted by pwd72s (Post 11002075)

Originally Posted by PcarPassion (Post 11001921)

We owned a 2009 LP-560-4 bought new in Jan 2011 for about 5 years and 20k miles.

They made significant updates to the egear clutch in 2009 (I think it was 2009, but maybe 2008 - you should double check). I know for sure 2007 was the older style clutch which wore very quickly. We had less than 10% wear after 20k miles including a year of tracking the car (my husband and I shared it on track days). You can request a report called an e-gear snap which gives the transmission wear. I'd consider it a requirement if not buying the manual transmission.

Because the car was still under warranty, we serviced at an authorized dealer. The closest was over 300 miles and we typically had their transport pick it up and bring it back. This was a pain, it was expensive, and if there were issues it took longer because of the transport. I would NEVER again buy a car that I could not service locally.

It was relatively bulletproof. Remember, when VAG bought Lambo it became 80% an Audi in an italian suit with some bespoke Lambo-only bits. When the car was up on a lift there were plenty of Audi part stickers beneath. The Gallardo is a V-10 that sounds spectacular. Our car had carbon ceramic brakes which were incredible. It also had the nose lift which we used a lot, although I'd guess my GT4 is lower.

The Lambo was fun to drive. The e-gear wasn't the smoothest in that generation but it was fine. Our car was a 3 stage metallic "pearl" white color with "lipstick red" leather interior which was spectacular.

One of the greatest joys of ownership was sharing the car with people. It was the greatest ice-breaker at a show or in the garage at WGI. It drew kids like a magnet but even adults. We loved letting people sit in it, or take folks for a drive if we had a chance. Kids lit up when they sat in the driver's seat for a photo. Many people figured a lambo owner would be an unfriendly snob who didn't want anyone touching their car. We are fairly particular about our cars and found everyone respectful. No one minded taking the keys out of their pocket first before sitting in it. We met lots of great people and had fun with it.

It got too much attention sometimes. People race up on the highway to take a photo and drive like idiots to get close. Sometimes they assume a celebrity is inside and want to see who is in the car. Maybe in a major city it would get less attention, but in western PA during the time we owned it, there weren't a lot of lambs around (or other exotics). We never had a negative experience in terms of anyone vandalizing it when parked overnight.

We took several trips in the car. We had it shipped to AZ for a Lambo factory trip (called GIRO) and we drove from Scottsdale to Sedona to the Grand Canyon and eventually Las Vegas. It included laps at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch with the newly released Aventador factory cars. The weather was severely hot (over 115 F for much of the desert trip) and the car was fine.

We found it quite comfortable for road trips. Obviously luggage space is limited and packing in soft duffles with minimum gear is required. But we travel light, and on the trip they trucked our luggage from hotel to hotel. It was good on gas (not that it mattered) and we ran Michelin Pilot Super Sports once we burned through several sets of Pirelli PZero Corsas on track that chunked despite following the Pirelli engineer recommendations. Pirelli wouldn't do anything for us - so no more Pirelli on our cars. Never had a problem with Michelins.

Service was expensive (as expected). We had our local Mercedes dealer do simple maintenance like oil change, brake fluid flush, or brake pad change (only needed new pads once). Parts were expensive but there were sources for OEM parts that were more reasonable if you searched. We didn't buy much from the dealer network.

We met some truly fun, wonderful people and made some good friends. There were a percentage of "jerks" but you get that with any marque. We found Lambo to be no better or worse than any other. We did some Italian car events run by the Ferrari Club (track was Pocono) and we found the Ferrari folks rather strict with rules and they seemed to want to keep to themselves rather than blend with the other italian marques (Lambo, Pantera to name two). But it was fine and we met lots of nice people including some nice Ferrari folks.

We didn't drive cross country but the AZ-NV trip was over 1000 miles, and we did other road trips ranging from 400 to 1000 miles. Never had an issue. We kept up with basic maintenance and it was bulletproof except for an electrical issue that turned out to be loose battery terminal connections. An easy fix and good as new (but the dash lit up like a Christmas tree while on track and it went into limp mode so we had it trucked to the dealer). This was early in ownership and we probably could have figured it out but with the warranty coverage we wanted it serviced at the dealer.

The A/C started to fail just before we sold it. A charge fixed it and probably would have held it for awhile, but we had already decided to sell and rather than fix it we sold and left that to the next owner (of course highlighting the fault as part of the deal).

It was a fun car and we had some life experiences that we wouldn't otherwise have if it wasn't for that car. In the end, I didn't really miss it once it was gone, but we moved on to other things. It was a fun track car. It's the car I achieved my personal high speed (165 at Pocono) and it was rock solid. The car had more to give but I did not. 165 is WAY faster than I'm comfortable and especially since I was only in my 2nd year of driving and my vision skills hadn't developed. But it was a confidence inspiring car at high speed. I was entering the Bus Stop at WGI as a relatively new driver with a new-to-me instructor and he had no idea how capable the car was until we went through at speeds far higher than he thought possible (for a new driver). It's not that I was going THAT fast - it's that the car handled it with aplomb and no issues whatsoever. Of course the tires had something to do with that.

I'd say buy a solid car with good service history. Know where the Audi dealers are along the way in case you need a specific part (although the earlier cars were not so much Audi so it depends on the year you bought). We had a Performante for 1/2 a day and found the bucket seats very harsh and I wouldn't want to drive long trips in those. But our seats were more like a Porsche 14-way. Very adjustable, very comfortable with padding.

The E-gear had different modes (Street, Sport and Cross). This affected the speed of the shifts and how "harshly" the car handled. Corsa was fun, but on the highway we usually chose Sport.

Best of luck. They are an experience to own and most whom I knew had good ownership experiences with few mechanical problems. Of course the older the car and higher the miles, the more chance of an issue with wear-tear items. A thorough PPI with a reputable knowledgeable shop is highly recommended.

Unfortunately the Lambo Power forum participation has dropped dramatically since they made changes to the format but I'd say introducing yourself and joining Lambo Power might be a good resource. I found it extremely valuable when I was searching for the car, and then as an owner it was a great resource for all types of info.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by wildthing (Post 11002968)

In all seriousness, I would probably just want to rent one for a bit before taking the plunge of ownership.

Originally Posted by HardDrive (Post 11002981)

...Keep in mind that everywhere you go outside of major metropolitan areas, you are going to attract a LOT of attention. Even if it positive attention, that could get annoying after a while.

Originally Posted by stealthn (Post 11003158)

...I would not buy an older one that needs work as it will be much more expensive in the long run. Look into the later LP versions.

Good Luck

Originally Posted by PcarPassion (Post 11003460)

Karl - I agree with stealthhn on egear replacement cost. I recall seeing $7-10K but not $20K. Never dealt with it so I don’t know from first hand experience.

There’s a company called AMH Exotic Parts. The proprietor is Glen (don’t recall last name). Very nice, very helpful and sources/sells OEM parts and probably alternatives. He sells the kevlar egear replacement (or he used to) along with OEM. He might be a good resource for info on actual cost. I believe he is a sponsor on Lambo Power or he used to be. There was another Lambo forum and I was a member of both but gravitated toward LP and forgot about the other. Not sure but it’s worth searching and reading if it’s still out there.

As for budget that’s a tough one but the dealer oil change isn’t that different from Porsche - maybe $5-600 IIRC. If annual maintenance is simply oil and brake flush I’d guess around $1000. Of course tire choice affects how they wear, along with your driving habits and whether you track it. We ran MPSS and were very pleased for street driving. Not sure what your current choices are.

Of course if you have a decent independent shop the costs should be more reasonable that a dealer, and the cars are not that complex so simple service can be DIY if you’re handy and have the tools. I think the tight spaces are some of the biggest challenges. The car has a shroud that covers the entire underside, and the attachments are easily broken so use care when unbuttoning the bottom. You can’t see much until it’s off.

Of course older, higher mileage cars may need more work and costs go up accordingly.

Renting one for a day is a good suggestion if you can find one.

The Huracan is the next generation and much more modern. The shape/lines grew on me and I spent a fair amount of time in them (I was an instructor for XtremeXperience for a few years at PittRace and also Summit Point). At the time I instructed, they had LP550 & LP560-4, and then they graduated to Huracan (plus Mclaren, GT3, GTR and others). I gravitated toward the Huracan and GT3 and strongly disliked the Mclaren and really didn’t like the GTR. They also had 458.

Insurance is individual and depends on many factors so I suggest you shop around to see what it will run. I think our tires lasted at least 10K miles (non-track use) and on the street we do not drive “hard”. We drove it roughly 4000 mi each season with the last season being less because of the A/C issue.

As for seats, I’m not sure what we had or what the options were. We bought it from the dealer inventory. They were reasonably adjustable and padded and I’d compare them to the 14way current Porsche seats.

Just home from trip and still has steering wheel and driver seat cover. Note the red leather door handle surround and hand-brake. We were offered the matching leather trim from a spyder whose owner swapped it all for carbon fiber. We got them at a big discount and preferred the “unbroken” look - although it IS a LOT of red!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1598570977.jpg

This was an e-gear out for service from a Murci that was at the dealer I bought the car from in Sarasota. If you look closely you can see the wear about half-way down the shaft. I believe it was from a 2007 Murci so it was not fitted with the updated, better-wearing clutch.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1598571409.jpg

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11004137)

I've owned a lot of cars, including some exotics, and I have found that the annual operating costs aren't generally a big deal. What you should be concerned with are the big ticket items that might befall you and how likely they might be. Most cars have something that will bite the asses of a certain percentage of owners and that's where owning something like this can be a bad experience, if you're one of the unlucky ones.

I have also traveled in a number of them and the older I got, the more I disliked it. At this point in my life, I'm not going long distance in anything other than a big Benz or Audi. Pick a sporty version of one of those if you want to occasionally bend some corners but I find trips are more about the destinations and the scenery than the conveyance and I like to not wear myself out, just from the miles covered.

For me, exotics are more of a Saturday morning trip in search of a hamburger somewhere, than something to cross the country in...

Good luck.

Originally Posted by MikeSid (Post 11004460)

If you are traveling with a companion, I'd be concerned about storage.

If I was doing this with my wife...well... let's just say that we'd be Fed Ex'ing packages to different hotels along the way. That little front compartment wouldn't cut it.

If you're going alone, all you have to do is figure out where to put the styrofoam cooler.:D

Local to me, you can rent a Gallardo for a month for $9600 with unlimited mileage. That might be the best option.

Originally Posted by wildthing (Post 11002968)

In all seriousness, I would probably just want to rent one for a bit before taking the plunge of ownership.