355 and 360 annual running costs and advice
Discussion
theRossatron said:
All you really need is:
1 pair of testicles
Spot on! I'm on my second 355. Both bought without a test drive and both cars have been perfect. Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling. I learned to change the clutch by following on line guides and did the job for a fraction of the dealer cost. Also look on eBay and forums for consumables that may fail in future and just keep them in stock. Bought a set of new cats and front shocks for less than £500. So no headaches if these fail in the future. At the end of the day it's just a car and in many ways much easier to work on than others. I could change a 355 clutch on the roadside in a couple of hours now but wouldn't even attempt the job on my 850CSi. 1 pair of testicles
Outrun said:
theRossatron said:
All you really need is:
1 pair of testicles
Spot on! I'm on my second 355. Both bought without a test drive and both cars have been perfect. Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling. I learned to change the clutch by following on line guides and did the job for a fraction of the dealer cost. Also look on eBay and forums for consumables that may fail in future and just keep them in stock. Bought a set of new cats and front shocks for less than £500. So no headaches if these fail in the future. At the end of the day it's just a car and in many ways much easier to work on than others. I could change a 355 clutch on the roadside in a couple of hours now but wouldn't even attempt the job on my 850CSi. 1 pair of testicles
This, of course, is the view no Ferrari dealer or trader wants to hear....
I always enjoy these threads they make me feel smug ( I got a good one) and depressed ( have I spent that much money on it) in equal measure. This is a cut and paste from a previous one but I've updated it.
Into 5th year of ownership of my 355GTS thus have seen 2 belt services. These are the big ones as once the engine is out, there is always more to do that you (I've) saved up or makes sense to do. However I wrote a list of previous work and expenses back in April which I have copied and pasted below:
Anyway here are all my costs since purchase in July 2008. I purchased a 355GTS through Rardley, who sourced it and inspected it for me, although it was a bought as a private sale, for £31K. It is standard except it came de-catted with a Tubi and a Challenge grill and and out 32k miles (I cannot remember exactly). It also has full main dealer history from new with most recently Joe Macari before my purchase.
All my costs are here in rough order:
Tracker inspection + registration £110
Tracker subscription (for whole of ownership) £350
2 front Pirelli £386
Terminal block cover engine bay £16.68
New battery £97.75 Old died but now on trickle charger
Ferrari horn push £20.48 for Momo wheel to replace airbagged one
Radiator fan sensor £13.39 fitted by me
Momo steering wheel £50 ish from ebay - cannot remember exactly
Belts service 2009 £3482 inc various gaskets, hoses etc whilst engine out
Annual service 2010 £670
Annual service 2011 £1150
Hill engineering suspension actuator gear £22.16 to clear suspension fault rebuilt by me
Hill engineering HVAC panel £50.04
Re-trim of instrument pod £100 removed and refitted by me
Fuel manifold / hose recall £free
Bills I cannot find are:
2 rear Pirelli tyres
Hill Engineering wheel boss to move wheel closer
Resistor to clear airbag fault light
Tax currently £220/ year (I think)
Insurance 3K mile limit protected, £500ish
All the service work is done at Carrs, whose prices I cannot beat even when getting quotes from independents and specialists. They even collected and returned the car to my garage whilst I was unexpectedly away for 3 months last summer. All other work I have done myself with parts either through Marannello Egham, Eurospares or Hill Engineering.
The car gets driven all year round (when I'm about), LM twice and to the supermarket, B&Q etc when the weather is suitable.
The car has never let me down (God, I should never have said that) and is now about to turn 40K miles (so only has scrap value in some eyes). However I think that these costs are reasonable for a £100K new car and factoring in nil depreciation, has looked after me OK. I certainly am not a millionaire, working in HM Forces, but it has been affordable.
Since then I have had one further service from Carrs. This was £5k plus but was a full belt service plus:
Hill engineering tensioners £220
2 recored radiators £191 each by Rayson Radiators Yeovil(had been putting this off for 18 months but made sense now)
2 refurb Manifolds £1100 from JP Exhausts, Macclesfield (25% reduction as bought both sides)
Rebuilt clutch £360 from Mad Dog clutches
Other bits were new handbrake cable, accelerator cable etc.
Carrs happy to courrier the parts to be refurbished then fit non OEM bits and even sliced some of the labour costs off.
As you can see, it has not been cheap but I've tried to keep up the preventative maintainance rather than just the bare minimum to keep the car reliable. Unfortunately, I have not driven it this year as I'm stuk in Afghanistan but my kind neighbour has taken it out occasionally to give it a run. Something about a business meeting in Aberdeen, we live in Somerset! Joking aside, I do believe regular use reduces the maintainance burden despite destroying its value in the eyes of the 'tiny mileage, polish it only' crowd.
Just buy it, drive it, enjoy it (eyes open, though). Lets face it, not many people get the chance and it is pretty cool.
Into 5th year of ownership of my 355GTS thus have seen 2 belt services. These are the big ones as once the engine is out, there is always more to do that you (I've) saved up or makes sense to do. However I wrote a list of previous work and expenses back in April which I have copied and pasted below:
Anyway here are all my costs since purchase in July 2008. I purchased a 355GTS through Rardley, who sourced it and inspected it for me, although it was a bought as a private sale, for £31K. It is standard except it came de-catted with a Tubi and a Challenge grill and and out 32k miles (I cannot remember exactly). It also has full main dealer history from new with most recently Joe Macari before my purchase.
All my costs are here in rough order:
Tracker inspection + registration £110
Tracker subscription (for whole of ownership) £350
2 front Pirelli £386
Terminal block cover engine bay £16.68
New battery £97.75 Old died but now on trickle charger
Ferrari horn push £20.48 for Momo wheel to replace airbagged one
Radiator fan sensor £13.39 fitted by me
Momo steering wheel £50 ish from ebay - cannot remember exactly
Belts service 2009 £3482 inc various gaskets, hoses etc whilst engine out
Annual service 2010 £670
Annual service 2011 £1150
Hill engineering suspension actuator gear £22.16 to clear suspension fault rebuilt by me
Hill engineering HVAC panel £50.04
Re-trim of instrument pod £100 removed and refitted by me
Fuel manifold / hose recall £free
Bills I cannot find are:
2 rear Pirelli tyres
Hill Engineering wheel boss to move wheel closer
Resistor to clear airbag fault light
Tax currently £220/ year (I think)
Insurance 3K mile limit protected, £500ish
All the service work is done at Carrs, whose prices I cannot beat even when getting quotes from independents and specialists. They even collected and returned the car to my garage whilst I was unexpectedly away for 3 months last summer. All other work I have done myself with parts either through Marannello Egham, Eurospares or Hill Engineering.
The car gets driven all year round (when I'm about), LM twice and to the supermarket, B&Q etc when the weather is suitable.
The car has never let me down (God, I should never have said that) and is now about to turn 40K miles (so only has scrap value in some eyes). However I think that these costs are reasonable for a £100K new car and factoring in nil depreciation, has looked after me OK. I certainly am not a millionaire, working in HM Forces, but it has been affordable.
Since then I have had one further service from Carrs. This was £5k plus but was a full belt service plus:
Hill engineering tensioners £220
2 recored radiators £191 each by Rayson Radiators Yeovil(had been putting this off for 18 months but made sense now)
2 refurb Manifolds £1100 from JP Exhausts, Macclesfield (25% reduction as bought both sides)
Rebuilt clutch £360 from Mad Dog clutches
Other bits were new handbrake cable, accelerator cable etc.
Carrs happy to courrier the parts to be refurbished then fit non OEM bits and even sliced some of the labour costs off.
As you can see, it has not been cheap but I've tried to keep up the preventative maintainance rather than just the bare minimum to keep the car reliable. Unfortunately, I have not driven it this year as I'm stuk in Afghanistan but my kind neighbour has taken it out occasionally to give it a run. Something about a business meeting in Aberdeen, we live in Somerset! Joking aside, I do believe regular use reduces the maintainance burden despite destroying its value in the eyes of the 'tiny mileage, polish it only' crowd.
Just buy it, drive it, enjoy it (eyes open, though). Lets face it, not many people get the chance and it is pretty cool.
ric p said:
Joking aside, I do believe regular use reduces the maintainance burden despite destroying its value in the eyes of the 'tiny mileage, polish it only' crowd.
Just buy it, drive it, enjoy it (eyes open, though). Lets face it, not many people get the chance and it is pretty cool.
well said!Just buy it, drive it, enjoy it (eyes open, though). Lets face it, not many people get the chance and it is pretty cool.
Its also nice when you do your research and circumnavigate the 'throw money at it' mentality.
For instance I picked up a brand new throttle potentiometer as a spare for £10 on ebay the other week - I have no idea what the Ferrari price is for the same item (its Bosch of course) - same goes for MAFS, Lambdas, exhaust valves etc etc. By all professional accounts the gearboxes and engines are thoroughly robust if they've been serviced regularly and not abused when cold (who buys a Ferrari and thrashes it from cold???).
If you are a hobbyist/enthusiast these can be great cars to look after which makes them all the more satisfying and adds to the ownership experience IMHO.
You may be the only 355 owner I've come across that may genuinely have suffered no depreciation if your car is now only on 40k miles 
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