My wandering eye... (non-P car)

[rzepko6194]

Ok, it's fall and I've started my annual wandering through the car classifieds. I've thought about a buying a 930 and then well, what the hell, why not an Ferrari! Nothing fancy, just an entry level 308. I even joined the Ferrari technical group to see what it takes to maintain these things. Ok, so I have to do timing belts every 30K or 5 years. A complicated job for a do it yourselfer or about $3K at a repair shop. Ok, I'll put away $3k for this. Lots of water pump failures but still no big deal. Suspension bushings disintegrate before 50K miles. Ok, I can do that. Then I read further.. hmmm, a warning about breaking sodium exhaust valves on early 308's. Recommendation; replace the valves. Yikes! Then the stories about corrosion destroying engine blocks. Uh, oh. Transaxle failures before 50k. argghhh!!!

Ok, no more wandering for me, I promise!

[VaSteve]

I love it when we nutty car guys think "nothing fancy" is any Ferrari (or any of our Porsches.) I have been told that I am the envy of most of the guys I know that have zero Porsches, but I still envy those that have more than one Porsche - or a better one than mine.

Crazy isn't it?

[jabb]

Always Greener on the other side...

[masraum]

I NEED lots of Porsches. If anyone has any good ones to donate...

[rzepko6194]

Originally posted by jabb
Always Greener on the other side...

Yeah, and if the other side has Ferrari's, there's lots of green leaving the wallet!

[Zeke]

Originally posted by masraum
I NEED lots of Porsches. If anyone has any good ones to donate...

I think just one would do for you since you don't have any.

[gerry100]

I think Porsche's are the highest rung on the exotic ladder that the middle class can handle.

Parts are somewhat expensive but are durable, and many can be installed by the DIY. Pcars can be expensive if they break, but most thing don't break they wear out.

My mechanic had a yellow 308 that one of his employees bought. Only mileage on the car since spring has been from the flatbed to the corner of the shop. At that rate, belts will last a lot longer than 5 years.

[CarreraS2]

The weirdest thing - every fall (around Oct/November) I also get the urge to buy another car, usually a Ferrari.

Year after year, I don't act on it, and by Spring, I'm glad I didn't.

Except for last year. When I actually bought this '84 308QV.



I too joined the Ferrari technical websites, etc.

Here's the problems with getting and having a 308:

1. It is really hard to find a good one. There are a TON of doggy 308s out there. In fact, bad examples far, far outweigh the good. These cars are pretty expensive for the average "drop it off to the mechanic" guy to maintain. And, they are cheap to buy now, have been for years (less than the cost of an average midsize economy/semi-luxury sedan). Low buy in plus high maintenance is a recipe for disaster for these cars. Most of the ones out there have no records, and have had shockingly little maintenance over the past decade. There are a lot driving around with 10-20 year old belts.

2. There are a LOT of dishonest 308s out there. I think maybe 1 out of 10 has an odometer reading that bears any resemblance to the miles the car has actually traveled. There are a lot of reasons why the 308 has been particularly subject to odo shenanigans.

3. The quality of the cars isn't that great. The 308 is definately the "built to a price" Ferrari. As one who has owned and worked on 911s a lot over the past 15 years, I was pretty shocked by the medicre level of workmanship and materials used in the 308. I guess it's like Enzo Ferrari is reputed to have said "When you buy a Ferrari, you are buying an engine, the rest gets thrown in free." As to the "rest," you get what you pay for! It is kind of cliche, but the 308 is kind of like a Fiat with a nice engine in many ways.

4. The 308s are all pretty slow. I only focused on the 4 valve cars, which are the fastest of the lot. But, my SC kicked the 308's tail from here to Sunday, no problem.

5. 911s have the best sports car steering in the world, 308s have among the worst. Having both cars at the same time made me realize how important steering feel is!

Having both the SC and the 308 in the garage at the same time made it easy to compare the two. When it came down to it, one had to go (I bought the 308 planning to sell the SC).

I found the 308 to be a pretty face, but that's about it.
At the end of the day, the SC stayed, and the 308 went. I was not unhappy to see it go!

[rzepko6194]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
The weirdest thing - every fall (around Oct/November) I also get the urge to buy another car, usually a Ferrari.

Year after year, I don't act on it, and by Spring, I'm glad I didn't.

Except for last year. When I actually bought this '84 308QV.

Whew, for minute there I thought you were going to convince me to get a 308! Thanks for the input.

[Schuey]

there's a reason that so many chevy vettes have the Ferrari body kits like the 308 on them...

THEY'RE BETTER

[italcarguy]

I bought a 308 a little over a year ago from Magnus (runs a Porsche 911 at So. Cal. events) and it has been nothing but good times. There are a lot of beaters out there, be careful. The one I got has 64K miles. There were lots with in the low 30K mile range, but who know how dried up everything is. I feel a good car with service records that has between 50-70K miles logged on the clock is the way to go unless you find a low milage one for a great price.

[david c.]

I bought an 89 Lotus Esprit Turbo last November. It had about 22k original miles at the time. That's a 0-60 in the mid fives, tick over 13 in the 1/4 mile car with great handling, awesome steering feel and most people couldn't discern it from a Ferrari anyway (I couldn't care less, I bought it because it was fun to drive).

The parts are cheaper than a Ferrari. It's more reliable. It's more DIY-friendly. It's faster. It handles better.

Dealership was asking about 22k for it. In the end, I paid $14k +/- for the car. It looked like brand new. It was very, very nice.

If you are willing to learn and fiddle with something other than a Porsche but want a really interesting, "exotic" car, I don't think you should look past an Esprit Turbo. I have since sold it, but I'd like another one someday, probably a few years newer with the intercooled turbo four, like an S4S.