Quote:
Originally Posted by jyl
Long story short, unless Schumi has no problem writing $5K checks and wouldn't wince too badly writing $10K checks, OR has a big-enough garage with tools and lift and whatever special tools you can't borrow for a 348, he shouldn't do it. That seems pretty obvious.
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That's a good summary. Another way of saying it is you have to really, really be in love with a 348. Not just starting to be tempted b/c prices are so low (which this doesn't say, but kind of suggests):
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schumi
I've seen several nice 348's for sale around LA for sub-35 prices.
I told myself that my next car would be a Lotus, but these 348's popping up just keep catching my eye.
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If you "kinda like the looks" of a 348, but are really tempted mainly by the $30K price tag, that's not a good scenario. A common scenario, but not a good one.
As far as service in LA, I have a friend in LA that bought one a couple of years ago. There's a place called "Eugenio's" that many people rave about. He had a 30K service done there, I think it was around $6500 total (with new waterpump. On the earlier 3.2, you can easily change the waterpump without taking everything part, with the 348 the WP is easy to change during a service, but as a "stand alone" repair is very time consuming).
His car is fundamentally sound, but he doesn't drive it much. Mostly because as it turns out, he doesn't really like the way it drives or even looks. And, also, because it does seem like little, but expensive, things pop up. He's had problems with the shocks, which was expensive.
The current "issue" involves the cat temp sensor circuit, something is triggering an "overheat" condition and shutting half the engine down. It's apparently 2 relays or some other kind of "box" in the system (I think you can see one of them in the 348 "engine out" picture above, the green box in the center of the picture). There are 2 of them, both need to be replaced, $700 each. So this current hiccup will be a $2K issue.
Not the end of the world, but for many it takes a lot of the fun out of it, esp. if you aren't head over heels in love with the car, and it happens a few times.