are new Ferrari's overserviced?

[lvporschepilot]

Hello enthusiasts,
I was doing some browsing today regarding new Ferrari(since 1995) servicing and noticed they have all sorts of mundane items they replace and/or check at seemingly very low mileage.

At 15k, they renew brake fluid, motor oil(obviously), transaxle oil, coolant (not a bad idea), a/c is recharged, brake pads, brake rotors, replace camshaft seals, replace camshaft "o" rings, timing belt, accesory belts, most coolant hoses, and a few other items I cannot remember.

I don't know about you but, this sounds like Ferrari is taking their customers to the cleaners. I cannot imagine doing even half the work in a 15k service if it were not required. I am a,"fix it if it is broken or leaking" kind of guy. Am I crazy or do Ferrari's really need this garbage done so frequently?


John

[silverc4s]

15K miles is 2 or 3 years for most F cars. They don't seem to get driven like our beloved Porsches. This may be why Ferrari specifies such low miles for the change intervals.

[lvporschepilot]

Even if they are not driven that much I still have yet to make sense for the "Tomfoolery" Ferrari is putting their customers through. Replacing tranny oil at 15k? Come on. Replacing cam seals at 15k? Don't make me gag if they are not leaking. Dont even get me started on the hoses. heh.
I used to own a couple of classic Maserati's. A Merak SS and a Bora. They were driven very sparingly and never required anything other than the occasional electrical gremlin. These two Maserati's were defined as extremely high mainenance vehicles. /chuckle

[Dantilla]

Ferrari owners are proud of how few miles their cars have.

Porsche owners are proud of how many miles their cars have.

[lvporschepilot]

nice post dantilla! you speak the truth

[buster73]

If I remember right, you have to take the engine out to replace the timing belt on most models, so I guess they take the chance to replace everything that might cause trouble down the road, to avoid pulling the engine for some a leaking gasket or other small stuff. As mentioned above most Ferraris are not driven that much, so 15k miles might span 2-3 years for the average owner. And having the maintenance done is quite important regarding the resale value of these cars.

[Harlan Chinn]

I have several friends that own Ferraris. One owns a 455 spyder and one a 360 Modena, they have no problem writing checks of +5k for a regular interval service. For what they pay, I can have my car for the entire year and still have enough for a couple of weeks in Hawaii.

[HardDrive]

I had set out looking for a carbureted 308 GTB, and ended up with a 911.

At the end of the day, I wanted a car I could drive and enjoy, not fret over the inane maintainance (This from a man that just passed $2300 to Mr. Walker ).

Ferraris do speak to the ladies though. They scream "small dick".

[Dixie]

It's done to help generate a revenue stream for the dealers.

But why do you think it's unique to Ferrari? (Granted, Ferrari is worse about it.) You should see what 98% of a "Service 1" for my BMW entails. I don't have the service manual in front of me right now, but it reads something like this:

Check tire pressure
Check door hinges
Check light bulbs
Check washer fluid
.
.

.
.
.
Reset light

And then you're presented with a hefty charge for the service.

[Dixie]

If I remember right, you have to take the engine out to replace the timing belt on most models

Lots of people believe this myth about the transverse V8 Ferraris. The truth is you can R&R the timing belts without taking the motor out.

[legion]

I thought in many of the longitudinally engines had to be pulled to get at the spark plugs.

I got a look at an F40 engine once, and it looked to me like the oil filter was underneath the intake manifold.

[Tervuren]

The F40 is 308 based. The 348 is a different style design.

[Rick Lee]

I don't think many Ferrari's se 15k miles in less than 5 yrs. That kind of mileage in 2-3 yrs. is high for Ferraris. There are some hardcore DIY'ers on Ferrarichat, but not many. One guy posted about DIY'ing the timing belt service on his 348 and it looked very doable. Whenever I have the engine out of one of my 911's, I replace anything that might be bad, especially on the 993, where each engine R&R requires a $300 alignment afterwards. So I'd do a lot of while-you're-in-there stuff on a Ferrari too, WHEN I get one.

[kaisen]

Originally posted by Capt. Carrera
Lots of people believe this myth about the transverse V8 Ferraris. The truth is you can R&R the timing belts without taking the motor out.

The 512BB Flat 12 needed to have the engine removed to do belts. I THINK the Testarossa and 512TR were the same.

E

[motion]

Originally posted by HardDrive
I had set out looking for a carbureted 308 GTB, and ended up with a 911.

At the end of the day, I wanted a car I could drive and enjoy, not fret over the inane maintainance (This from a man that just passed $2300 to Mr. Walker ).

Ferraris do speak to the ladies though. They scream "small dick".

The TRUTH is that many Ferrari owners are afraid to put miles on their cars because of potential depreciation and maintenance costs. The reality is that 99 and newer cars (360s) are very reliable. There are several running around with 40,000 miles that have only required oil changes and gas. Maintenance is no more than on a Porsche.

My '95 993 has 46,000 miles and is sitting in my garage puking oil into a pan. The top is having electrical problems. The tail's curtain disintegrated and departed the car. The mass air flow sensor is defunct, causing a CEL.

For myself, I'm driving the crap out of my new Ferrari and have probably lost $20k in value due to the 2400 miles I've put on it in the past 3 months. Guess what? I don't care. I'm enjoying the hell out of the car and will continue to do so. I have a friend with a 700HP F40 that has 30,000 plus miles. Plenty of us do enjoy the cars and aren't afraid of the downsides. Just my $.02

[Rick Lee]

Good for you, Motion - honestly. Maybe your 993 needs more miles on her. Mine only gets better the more I abuse her.