Would you buy a used Ferrari or a new Camry?

[kaisen]

Edmunds asked, and they bought a used 308 to evaluate
(Wayne, you missed out on a sale!)


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=121288?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1 .*#2

Why We Bought It
Because everyone should own a Ferrari once. Because life is too short. Because it's a Ferrari for Camry money. Because most soups are better served hot. Because it's Tuesday. Who cares why we bought it? It's a Ferrari. The car that makes women swoon, children point and women swoon.

But there is a method to our madness. Zima Citrus and foie gras may be delicious, but our motivation isn't all about living the P. Diddy lifestyle. We want to know if a $28,000 Ferrari is a dream or a nightmare.

Will the 308 leave us stranded? Will the maintenance costs bury us alive? Is the affordable exotic really affordable? Will women actually swoon? These are the questions we will answer over the next 12 months as we use the 23-year-old Ferrari as basic transportation. Heck, we've already had it detailed for $200 and bought a Ferrari key fob for $11.95, so the bills are already piling up.

Check our long-term blog pages for regular updates from the driver seat and our count of the number of times we hear, "Yo, Magnum!" We'll even try to track the 308's fuel mileage for kicks.

Current Odometer: 46,876
Best Fuel Economy: 16.0 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 13.8 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 14.9 mpg

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Hell yes I'd buy a used Ferrari!

I'm weird like that.

[Jim Richards]

neither

[GO DAWG GO]

I would too. I would love to own one besides my 930. Although, they are not well known as a daily driver like a Porsche, but very appealing. Also a high maintenance B-tch. Very expensive to court. He will have Learn how to tune her up and perform general maintenance periodically. FYI My Porsche key fob was $18.99. His was cheep!

[MRM]

I'll own a Ferrari some day. Probably with the money I save by keeping my Camry daily driver another 100,000 miles.

[legion]

No interest whatsoever in ever owning a Ferrari.

Porsche is my limit fo impracticle vehicles.

[the]

Originally posted by kaisen

(Wayne, you missed out on a sale!)

Wayne did much, much, MUCH better than that with his sale! A textbook example of the effectiveness of a good ebay ad with a lot of pictures.

[pwd72s]

Portland "megadealer" Ron Tonkin was in Washington D.C. on 9-11-01. He was president of the auto dealer's assn., attending one of their gatherings. All airports shut down, he & his wife wanted to get home. So what did this Ferrari dealer choose to do? Buy a car and drive home, of course. Which car did he choose OVER Ferrari for his drive to the West Coast?

You guessed it...soon, a 3,000 miles old Camry was one of the offerings on the lot of Mr. Tonkin's Toyota dealership.

I guess he wanted to be sure he'd make it home....

[kaisen]

Originally posted by pwd72s
...soon, a 3,000 miles old Camry was one of the offerings on the lot of Mr. Tonkin's Toyota dealership.

I guess he wanted to be sure he'd make it home....

Ron is a smart guy. I'd bet it was more about financial risk than mechanical risk.

Do any of you remember the article(s) written several years ago by Peter Egan for Road & Track recounting how he and a friend drove a Ferrari Dino from California to Wisconsin -- in the middle of winter?

[dd74]

I had a neighbor with three Ferraris - one of which was a 308. Not only was he on the bus to work and home much more than he drove the cars, he also could barely make his house payment, and later got divorced - the cars being part of the reason.

One Ferrari mistress is fine. Three and you could spread yourself a bit thin.

As to ownership of one? Sure. I think Ferraris need a certain style of driver and driving to keep them in shape. High revs, good aggressive jaunts, avoiding rush hour traffic...

I don't believe a 308 is as tough as a Carrera of its time period, but I wouldn't shy away from it as daily driver, either.

[kaisen]

Originally posted by dd74
...but I wouldn't shy away from [a 308] as daily driver, either.

Worked for Thomas Magnum

[Tobra]

Originally posted by MRM
I'll own a Ferrari some day. Probably with the money I save by keeping my Camry daily driver another 100,000 miles.

+1
Could not do the Camry, GS-R integra sedan for me. 140,000 miles and still wails when it gets on that cam. Remember the first time I heard it pulling out of a rest area in Texas like it was yesterday...

[sammyg2]

I could drive a camry to vegas without breaking down. next question...

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by sammyg2
I could drive a camry to vegas without breaking down. next question...

Could you guarantee the same with your SC???

[sammyg2]

Um, no guaranty with a 27 year old car but in a pinch I would do it.

I've driven it on many, many 100 mile plus trips with no problems, knock on wood.
I don't think there is anyone here that would say a Ferrari with 100,000 miles on it would be as reliable as a Porsche with 100,000 miles on it.
That is assuming you could fine a Ferrari with 100,000 miles on it. Most of em never reach that point.
At 100,000 miles my SC engine was just getting broke in.

[CJFusco]

I like this long-term test by Edmunds. When I started buying Porsches, many of my relatives thought I was nuts (my then-19-year-old friends understood). My reasoning? What do I want to drive when I'm home from school for the summer? A new Civic or an old Porsche for less money? Sure the Porsche would run more in terms of maintenance and parts, but I wanted to learn how to work on the car myself, and the cost of parts would even out the difference in initial cost

My mother wanted to forbid me from buying a sports car. My father talked her out of it, his reasoning being that I will realize what a money pit they are and come to my senses within a few months (he apparenltly owned a Triumph TR6 for about 3 months back in the mid-1970s).

To everyone's shock (but mine), I never came to my senses.

[notfarnow]

Originally posted by kaisen

Do any of you remember the article(s) written several years ago by Peter Egan for Road & Track recounting how he and a friend drove a Ferrari Dino from California to Wisconsin -- in the middle of winter?

"Dino, car of the north"... one of his best roadtrip essays. I think that's the trip where he was putting ground pepper in his socks in an attempt to keep his feet warm.

[red-beard]

That doesn't sound good...

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Could you guarantee the same with your SC???

I would.

I drive my SC back and forth from Florida to North Carolina all the time the trip, one way, is 730 miles. I have to stop for gas one time during the trip and usually show up at the house in NC with 1/4 of tank left.

Once in NC I log in 100's of miles carving up the local twisties. The 911 stays there for the summer then, after our yearly meet on the Dragon, I drive it 730 miles back to Florida for the winter.

My car has 165K miles on the chassis. Most everything has been replaced on it at one point or another over the last 10 years though. Preventive maintenence is your friend.

[epbrown]

I wouldn't buy a Ferrari, but somewhat like CJFusco, I saved up to buy a brand new Honda Civic for cash, then decided to get a 911SC. If I were to do it again, I'd still get a Porsche, but I'd have gotten a 944S2 or 968 instead; the 4-cylinders remain my favorites.