Any past or present Ferrari owner(s) on Pelican???

[POORSH]

I've already posted a thread over at the Ferrari forum, but they don't get as much traffic as we do here. Anyway, I am trying to complete my childhood dream of owning a Porsche and a Ferrari. My favorite is the 308/328. I know Wayne has owned a 308 in the past.

I am looking at a 328 with 20k miles. The goods are: low miles, one owner, supposedly all records, no accidents (major, anyway). The car drives well.

The bads: Both doors waviness-wanted to know if this is normal for Ferrari of this generation.
Some dings around the car.
Someone tapped the rear bumper causing a gap in the alignment.
Leather on driver's seat a bit dry.

Any idea if I should pursue the car?
thanks in advance.

[911Rob]

How about us 'future' Ferrari owners?

good luck, I'm with ya on that one!

[Dottore]

Not enough info.

There is a whole different mystique about owning a Ferrari. You have to want it really badly—and like it a lot because it will cost you. I had a Dino for two years in the early '90's. Selling it was one of the sillier mistakes in my life (and there have been many).

Ferraris are often flawed in many annoying ways, but they have such great character that you will put up with a lot of their crap, as long as you can afford it. Like living with a supermodel. (I'm guessing here.)

I don't know about the car you are thinking about. But take it for a serious test drive. Then walk away, have a coffee, and ask yourself "can I live without this?".

[DasBoot]

It's all about the documentation. Are there any receipts for the maintenance?

Spenda a coupla extra bucks and get a TR. Much more "reliable"(relatively speaking). I've been watching this one get re-listed, over & over again. If it weren't in Canada, I'd probably own it now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992-Ferrari-512-TR-Stunning-Example-Only-9-600-Miles_W0QQitemZ310127996607QQihZ021QQcategoryZ6212 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by DasBoot

It's all about the documentation. Are there any receipts for the maintenance?

Spenda a coupla extra bucks and get a TR. Much more "reliable"(relatively speaking). I've been watching this one get re-listed, over & over again. If it weren't in Canada, I'd probably own it now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992-Ferrari-512-TR-Stunning-Example-Only-9-600-Miles_W0QQitemZ310127996607QQihZ021QQcategoryZ6212 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yes. Documentation is key.

This looks like a nice TR, but for my money the TR is the last Ferrari I would buy. It's like driving a submarine. The complete antithesis of my old Dino.

[POORSH]

Dottore,
Good advice. The last time I was at a crossroad about a car was quite a few years back about a '93 300Z convertible. I went for it and paid a premium for it for its low mileage and paid dearly a few years later. Maybe you're right and I should walk away. But it just look so damn good!!

[t951]

This place has some decent buyers guides.

http://www.ferrarilife.com/classified/guides.php

[MattKellett]

Not sure which forum you went to, but http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/ is just as active as Pelican, so if you haven't tried that one, I would give it a go.

[DasBoot]

Originally Posted by Dottore

It's like driving a submarine.

Actually, it's like driving an aircraft carrier, the damn thing is so wide. I need curb feelers to prevent brushing cars in the next lane.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by POORSH

Any idea if I should pursue the car?
thanks in advance.

You mentioned that Wayne had a 308, why not shoot him a PM and ask who he'd recommend as a good mechanic to look it over.

Chris Banning would also probably be a good source for ideas on someone to inspect it... he used to have a TR.

[CJFusco]

You don't see many TRs in that subdued of a color; it makes it look like a very handsome car.

[Carrman]

I have an '87 Mondial 3.2 Cab, which is basically a 4 seater version of the 328 (same drivetrain and most mechanicals).

The Mondial 3.2 and 328 are two of the most reliable Ferraris ever made. They use the same CIS injection system that was used on the 911SC (and about a billion other cars, like VW Rabbits, BMWs, etc. etc.)

The 3.2 Ferrari engine in the Mondi/328 can be fully serviced while in the car, don't need to remove.

It doesn't have any of the MAJOR weaknesses shared by the later "3 series" Ferraris, like the exploding gearbox in the 348/Mondial T, or the weak valve stems like in the 355.

The 3.2/328 don't have a ton of electrical "stuff," like all the Ferraris that followed have. They are the last of the "simple" Ferraris, IMO.

Service manual, etc, are readily available.

The 328 is nothing like the carb'd 308 that Wayne had. Those cars are very hard to get to run correctly, esp. in California, and are not fun when they aren't running correctly, as Wayne found out. The 328 is a completely different beast, a much, much better car, IMO.

In many ways, Ferrari and Porsche followed each other through the 80s and into the 90s. The 328/Mondial 3.2 is a lot like the 84-89 Carrera - the last of the "simple" breed. The 348/Mondial T that followed the 328/Mondi 3.2 is a lot like the 964 - both went to power steering for the first time, went to a new generation of engine/trans that proved to have "issues" that didn't exist in the earlier versions, a lot more electronics.

Door waviness is not normal, but it is not uncommon. It's either from people leaning against the car, or from prior paintless dent removal. The doors should be pretty darn straight.

Can't tell much about the particular one you are looking at, since you give almost no details. Everything you mention is minor cosmetics, all of which can maybe be fixed fairly inexpensively.

The biggest difference between Ferrari and Porsche are:

1. The cam belt system used in Ferrari. Too bad they didn't use chains instead. Much more durable, and you don't need the crazy belt change drama every 5 years.

2. PARTS! For a 911, you can get almost any part new, and fairly reasonable. For a Ferrari, even a "garden variety" one like a 328, there are a lot of parts that are very hard or impossible to get. Or very, very expensive. Eg., a front wheel bearing is $1100. A front fog light is impossible to get, there was one for $4K on ebay once. There aren't many being parted out, so used parts are very hard to come across.

[Carrman]

The "goods" you mention are good things. The others are cosmetics. A PPI is a good idea to give you an idea of the mechanicals. It's pretty risky to buy one of these without a PPI (although I did, lol).

[Carrman]

oh yeah, one other thing, a big issue on price is when the last "major" service was done. This would include a valve adjust, replacement of a bunch of seals, replacing the cam belts and other belts, and some other things. If it hasn't been done in the past 5 years, the car is worth around $6-7K less, b/c that's what it will cost to get it done, and most people will tell you that after 5 years, it is due. If it was done 2.5 years ago, deduct half that, etc.

A lot of the ferraris on the market now are overdue for a major. with the economy, a lot of owners are looking to unload, rather than dump $7K into their car for a service.

[POORSH]

Carman,
You brought up a good point in regards to the waviness of the doors. You may be right in the dentless removal causing the waviness because I did notice quite a bit of scuff/scratch marks. Now that I think about it, it is very likely that either a small hammer was used or something similar that could have caused the scuff marks.
Thanks very much. Passing on the car.
Peter

[dennis in se pa]

When I was loking for a 308/328 a few years ago, and posted in ferrarichat I got emails from board members. They warned me about the maintenance issues and costs of such. They recommended I look at an NSX instead. Which I did. Had a 95 NSX T for awhile. It was as reliable as a Honda. Do you want to deal with the costs of owning a Ferrari? They are attractive to look at, but ugly to own.

[BeyGon]

Didn't Wayne just sell one a year of so ago?

[kaisen]

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175886

EXCERPT:

We get so many threads about what to look for when buying a 308 or 328, it was suggested that we create a STICKY reference. It seems like a good idea, so here it is.

Here are several 308 ONLINE Buyer's Guides available, much of which is also applicable to the 328:

http://users.skynet.be/sky38711/allf...s/fer308bg.htm
http://www.birdmanferrari.com/tutori...yers_guide.htm
http://www.motortrend.com/classic/fe...08_302_gtb_gts
http://www.nwrfca.org/faq/308_buy.html
http://www.fugazi.co.uk/308/buyersguide.htm


FCHAT threads on the same topic. Here are a couple of recent ones:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=175801
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=175511
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=171621

[kaisen]

The general concensus would be to buy the nicest, most recently-serviced, best-documented, best-provenance, newest Ferrari you can afford.

I've never subscribed to that philosophy. Ferrari buyers avoid cars with ANY issues like the plague, so there are great deals on cars that might need something small. Parts can be very expensive, but some Porsche parts are too. Ditto for labor. Ferraris of that vintage were not well thought out in terms of ease-of-service, so some labor ops are ridiculous.

DO NOT forgo a good PPI by a well-versed independent Ferrari mechanic

E

[speeder]

I think the best advice would be to get a PPI from a really respected shop, even if they charge a lot. It could be the best investment possible. I love Ferraris, (but some models a lot more than others), the 308/328 is one of the absolute most beautiful pieces of machinery ever created by man, IMO. A good 328 is a lot of fun to drive as well but you need a good, smooth road to enjoy it. That's where Porsches out-shine them. Even my stiffer and lower than stock 996 still sticks like crazy on Mulholland. An F-car would bounce off the road and over the cliff up there.