Ferrari 550 - best dealers?

[jimmyslr]

I am loosely considering a 55o. Always liked them, sound like sensible reliability and I happen to be selling a car that leaves a gap in my garage... I am new to (potential) Ferrari ownership, been a Porsche RS man for 10 years, so not sure who the "go to dealers" are for a Fezza. Recommendations as to the most well known / reliable specialists would be gratefully received!

Thanks, James

[F355GTS]

James

Simon Furlonger in Ashford (Kent) have a couple of nice 550's and Simon's one of he best in the game

[ClaphamGT3]

I've flirted with the whole Fezza thing a number of times (including the whole 550 gig a few years back) and am currently considering a Mondial Cabrio as a family fun car. Most of the places in the South East don't inspire confidence one way or another but I've always found Mike Rardley at Rardleys a refreshing exception to the rule

[rubystone]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Mike Rardley at Rardleys a refreshing exception to the rule

I prefer Mike Wheeler myself:-)

[johnnyreggae]

Walkersport has good 550 buyers guide & reputation - there are several good vendors but you also need also to find a good car of which there are not many so it could be anywhere in the country - where are you ?

[JazzyO]

Can't comment on UK places to buy but as a long-standing 550 owner I can offer some perspective.

1. There aren't many decent 550's out there. Make sure you have seen several and the differences will be obvious.
2. Mileage isn't everything - mine is a great example and has 50k miles on the dial. History is everything, though.
3. 550's are not too bad in maintenance. I did some estimates before I bought the car and it has come below my fears. Major was around EUR3k, and it has had a new ECU (€1.5k) and a failed clutch pressure group (€3k all-in). Not too bad considering the mileage.
4. Depreciation has been worse than expected but I really think you're at the bottom of the curve now.
5. The front lip gets damaged a lot and it is expensive to fix with original parts. It should be satin black, not sprayed in the body colour.
6. Resprays are common - personally I have my 550's nose touched up every couple of years as they are prone to chipping. This, therefore, is not necessarily a sign that the car has had damage.
7. Typical issues are: failing engine mounts ('97/'98 cars), some minor irratic computer behaviour (my car shows a problem with the shocks every couple of months but it always goes away), side windows going out of line causing leaks or wind noise (a 15 min fix at the specialist once every 2 years or so).
8. Standard exhaust is ridiculously quiet. Tubi exhaust sounds good but is a bit droning at idle.
9. Fuel consumption? We don't talk about vulgar things like that.
10. Great handling car for a big GT. Fantastic balance on the limit. But obviously it's not an Elise.

All in all, great cars with very good reliability, still good looking and still quick. I own 4 Ferraris with a 458 on order and I am still not selling the 550.


Onno

[jimmyslr]

Thanks all. The running costs post was very helpful - about as expected I think. I am oh too familiar with the "small service, just need a couple of bits... that's 2 grand sir" school of sportcar ownership, but if you know that then is fine.

I laughed out loud when I googled Rardleys. It's 10 minutes away from me as I live on the Surrey/Hants borders outside Farnham. There's even a 911 RS expert in the same village that I have used and I have never noticed a Ferrari dealer. I can see a little trip out at the weekend.

James

[paulqv]

I drive from glasgow to buy my Ferraris from Mike Wheeler at Rardley. Top guy. Tough business man, but only sold Ferraris for 26 years and knows the product inside out and doesnt allow customers to do the red mist crap. Has two old Maranllo mechanics working as separate business there. Mike Lester knows everything on Ferrari. They dont and wont sell scrap
I have passed on quite a few people to him and they were all as happy as I was with what they bought.
If you buy a car from him, tell remind him he owes me a sandwich and coffee!
Paul

[johnnyreggae]

Chris Evans is now a fan of Forza288 who may stock something appropriate

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-20... - halfway down the page

With all these folk I guess its worth a call before travelling to check they have to view what you seek

[L33]

+1 for Walkersport Ferrari
http://www.walkersport.co.uk/

550 buying guide here:
http://www.walkersport.co.uk/550-buying-coming-soo...

As it happens, Walkersport have a very nice 550 for sale at the minute:
http://www.walkersport.co.uk/cars-for-sale/

Having been a previous customer of Walkersport, I can honestly say I've never bought from a dealer where nothing was too much trouble and what Tim doesn't know about Ferrari's is simply not worth knowing. I can't recommend them enough.

[WCZ]

L33 said:

+1 for Walkersport Ferrari
As it happens, Walkersport have a very nice 550 for sale at the minute:
http://www.walkersport.co.uk/cars-for-sale/

maybe he's looking for a male though

[L33]

???

[WCZ]

L33 said:

???

I thought it was amusing that on Walkersport's listing for the 550 they constantly referred to the car as 'she' and 'her', as if they were advertising a pet of some kind!

[Anjum]

Talk to Karl at Verdi's - he sourced my 550 WSR - and has maintained it for the last 7 years. I've had 3 550's - and am happy to chat offline - see profile for PM.

Cheers

A

[MDahmen]

Tim at Walkersport is great, bought my last car from him - impeccable service and a very nice guy

[jimmyslr]

Thanks all - I'm looking at the sites you mentioned. A few have mentioned "there aren't many good ones". What makes a good one of these? In my naivety I would have thought that there was a limit to what could be wrong with them in that risk of track usage slim, an accident should be spottable, most owners look after them... What's the real story and the idiot's guide?

The Verdi ex Eric Clapton (with "POA"!) looks nice, but clearly I know nothing about these. Red is a bit cliched for my personal tastes (run for cover) so I love these darker ones. Le Mans blue lovely.

[Mario149]

jimmyslr said:

Thanks all - I'm looking at the sites you mentioned. A few have mentioned "there aren't many good ones". What makes a good one of these? In my naivety I would have thought that there was a limit to what could be wrong with them in that risk of track usage slim, an accident should be spottable, most owners look after them... What's the real story and the idiot's guide?

The Verdi ex Eric Clapton (with "POA"!) looks nice, but clearly I know nothing about these. Red is a bit cliched for my personal tastes (run for cover) so I love these darker ones. Le Mans blue lovely.

Once you've established it has a good history with as many receipts as possible listing work *in addition* to regular servicing, I would say that adding a pre purchase inspection from someone independent should be enough to establish whether it is a good enough car. Anything beyond that would require it to be taken to bits which is not really practical. Normal servicing/maintenance/consumables costs on any "regular" Fcar (say £2kish per year on average) does not seem to be a major issue for owners (unless you've bought severely out of what you can afford), it's the extras that can cripple it seems. 550s, 355s, 456s, 348s etc etc are all fundamentally old cars now, menu price servicing costs do not apply now in the majority of cases. Think of it this way: the vast majority of cars on the road this sort of age aren't hand built and aren't supercars, yet they still go wrong reasonably regularly and cost relatively a lot to keep going. A £300 part on them could easily be 5x more expensive (if not more) on an Fcar, plus the extra labour costs.

On the flip side: I like to think of it in terms of (in my case with the 355): show me another car (hand built or not) that's 15+ years old and not Japanese that is as reliable as mine and I'm all ears (or eyes!). You just have to get it in perspective IMHO

[JazzyO]

Good post by Mario149.

I'd like to add that lots of 550's are now really tired looking cosmetically. This is expensive to fix properly. We are all different and some people don't care, but personally I want a beautiful car like the 550 looking perfect.

Just in case anyone wants to do a proper respray of the rear section: the rear window is part of the structural integrity of the car and doesn't come out in 1 piece. It is also ridiculously expensive (€5k I seem to remember when mine went).


Onno

[NarrinRad]

The 550 is a beautiful car, it looks 100% better in the flesh than in photos.

I have a Black/Crema 550 that was sourced by Simon Furlonger - Ashford (Matt) they are highly experianced and have excellent contacts but if you want a particular colour then must be prepared to wait a little while, I am sure a someone will go out of their way to correct me but around 523 were made.

The car was around £150K plus new but I feel servicing is very reasonable, my 18K will be around £1100 and thats quite a big service.

The Ferrari Centre in Maidstsone are another dealer and I have experianced their servicing dept, extremley helpful and friendly.

I am currently changing the exhausts on my 550, Tubi/Novitec were too much for me so I am trialing FC's own Stainless set up which I feel is much more suited to me.

The Front windscreen replacement is just under 4K and the rear around 2.5K both are big jobs so ensure you get windscreen insurance.

Speaking to the dealers and even a friend in Autocar the 550 is a future classic, its the last Manual only Ferrari ever made and people are snapping up good cars.

I have had no probs with mine, as will all Ferrari's and the advice that has already been given to you from the helpful owners on here .... Service History, independant check and buy through a good dealer.

Check on You Tube and you can still find the original Top Gear Clarkson test, its worth looking at just to see his hair.

Good luck

Narrin

[911Thrasher]

Quite a few 550/575 advertised here on PH have been for sale for months:
- either no buyers; or
- not the best cars for the "offer" price