Time to purchase A 360 Spider

[italyciccia76]

Hi All

Call it mid life crisis but I prefer to refer to it a fulfilling a dream, I am now in the position where I have £55k-£60k to purchase a red 360 Spider.

I'm guessing it is unlikely that I can buy a approved ferrari from an approved ferrari dealer for this price so I assume I will need to go to a trusted dealer or private seller. Unfortunately my knowledge is limited on cars so I would prefer to use someone who is respected and I can trust so can anyone recommend some good independent dealers.

Also in terms of bargaining from the quoted price what should I be looking to achieve in terms of discount and added benefits, and what sort of car should I be looking for in terms of mileage etc.

I'm sorry if some of these have been answered previously but I would appreciate any help and guidance anyone could give.

Thanks again.

Trav

[Bebs]

Give Tim Walker a call - he'll run you through it all.

http://www.walkersport.co.uk/360-buying-guide.htm

[Cerberaherts]

Where are you based?

[italyciccia76]

I'm based in London

[TISPKJ]

You have plenty of choice then
Tim at walkersport
Matt and Dave at The Ferrari Center
Autofinicia ?

And plenty of advice on here as well

[johnnyreggae]

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=2764...

[italyciccia76]

thanks the guides are excellent thank you. Autoficina have one at the moment - anyone had a look at it ?

[TISPKJ]

I don't know anything about Autofinicia but don't recall anything bad.
If you are London / Essex based as per your profile I would start with a trip to TFC in Maidstone, a reasonably nice ride out, they have a few flavours in stock at one time and you can get a feel for what you like don't like etc and more importantly what a good one should look like (please tell them I sent you).
Tim at walkersport gets nothing but praise also on here and more so on clubscuderia.
Be aware that these cars are very mileage number of owners and colour sensitive regards price.
The one you have linked looks nice on the face of it if a touch heavy on miles, these things go in clips of ten so will soon be 40k miles

P.s ...... I know a bloke with a nice TDF car for sale soon. :-)

[italyciccia76]

Thanks TISPKJ

forgive my ignorance whats a TDF ?

[TISPKJ]

Firstly apologies for the Autofinicia or whatever spelling, being lazy and can't be bothered to look up but we all know who/ what we mean.

TDF is the colour Tour De France, darkish metallic blue.

[Mike Brown]

Well I would go for red all day long, it will be easier to sell later should you so wish, as our other friends on here have pointed out,, buy with care Tim The Fcentre Kent Nick Cartright, etc
Do not be afraid to get an independent inspection done, although to be fair with the above guys you really do not need one, Fwiw mines red cream red calipers challenge rear grille 31k and just two owners, with ffsh,
If you can source similar you will never regret it, they are great cars, good luck and keep us all up todate , regards Mike

[Cerberaherts]

Always get an inspection done. Doesn't matter how trusted the vendor is, things get missed. I've seen it many times over many years. I'd certainly vouch for giving Tim a call..

[likesachange]

The 360 has also come onto my radar...

Maybe I'm aiming a bit high...

I currently have a c63 and had a Tuscan 2s before that and by the start of next year I will hopefully be in a position to stretch to 45k... Was looking at the Nissan GTR's purely for its outstanding performance... But of course I'd rather have a ferrari in the garage.
But I'm guessing 45k will only get you a ropey one... I'd probably up the budget if the prices were on the climb, but no one can assure that... Can they??

I read on the buyers guide on the walkersport website and the running costs seem to be very affordable...?

Realistically can they be run on a budget of 2-3k a year maintaince (obviously keeping miles down)

Sorry for all the questions.

[italyciccia76]

Some great advice thank you

How about insurance - should i use money supermarket etc or something else ? Had a quick look and it's about £800 from normal sources.

Also do they come fitted with trackers as standard ?

[Cerberaherts]

You'll need a bit of money pugged away for emergencies. Come service time, throw in a few knackered ball joints, an oil leak or a buggered oil cooler you could be well north of your 2-3 k. Some years you will pay nothing over and above a basic service, others way, way more. Early cars suffer with things that later cars don't, cracked chassis, poor F1 shifting and electrical issues amongst others. Many of the issues they suffer from are caused by differed maintenance, so look for evidence of additional work outside basic stamps in the book. Very low mileage cars are subject to their own problems, and are sometimes more problematic than well used examples.

[TISPKJ]

Yes they have been on the move price wise for the past couple of years, if they continue to do so is the subject of some debate lately however most agree they won't come down very much for a nice one.
Interesting the car you referred to would have been circa 40k ? 2 years ago like for like.
Insurance, I do for circa £500 on a limited mile classic policy through A Manning.

[Kyodo]

Just to throw in my two pence worth. As mentioned above the car at Autofficina would've indeed have been 10k less last year (we gathered info, made spreadsheets and looked at many cars last summer when we bought ours). We found Tim at Walkersport a lovely guy to deal with for advice, even though we weren't buying from him and we spent a couple of hours at Autofficina looking at and test driving the Spider/Modena/Manual/F1. They were very helpful too - perhaps speak to Dougal MacDonald, I assume he's still there. 55-60k would've easily landed you a main dealer car last year but it seems there are very few now that pass through their hands.

Regarding insurance etc for us: 2000 Modena = £225 road tax and with it sat on a multi car policy at the moment, the price is 400 odd but with our other two cars being reduced, it equates to about 100 quid

Our first year of ownership: annual service at a very reputable independent specialist: £500ish, crank oil seal at the same place for similar money.

Overall, do lots of homework, try not to be too worried about stuff and consider the mileage of prospective purchases and how you plan to use the car. It's pointless buying a 10,000 miler if you plan to wipe off the premium paid by doubling that mileage in the first eighteen months of ownership.

A final thought - If you buy one also buy yourself a hat and scarf. Not because of the wind in the hair motoring, but because you'll spend a lot of time in or around your garage staring at it, especially if it's red :-)

[italyciccia76]

Thanks to everyone. Had a chat with Tim Walker who was excellent and also Nick cartwright who has this for sale - http://www.nickcartwright.com/carsales/showroom/vi... which looks decent IMO. Anyone seen it ?

Also do can I expect any sort of warranty ?

Thanks again

[AmoCS]

This checklist will help in your search.

http://www.challengestradale.co.uk/cs21.htm

Buyers guide.

http://www.challengestradale.co.uk/downloads/360Bu...

[Mike Brown]

The car at Nicks looks quite good, and it's manual which I reckon is best,the prices have certainly firmed up though, 55/56k for a 2001, if it had red calipers it would have been pretty spot on, has it got all the history, and how many owners, ,Mike