Considering buying a 360...

[Mark355]

Hi all,

After some advice on 360s.

Currently driving a 911 C4 with a 355 prior to that, and now thinking about a 360. I'd almost certainly be looking at a 1999 model year firstly as that fits better with my budget and secondly to avoid significant depreciation.

I bought my 355 from a dealer with the 1 year Power warranty (at least I think that's what it was called) so I had risk free ownership for my ~9 months with the car. I grudgingly let it go after 9 months as, rightly or wrongly, the 355 seemed too delicate to leave outside for the duration of a harsh winter. Hence the 911.

However, the Ferrari bug has now returned after ~18 months and the Ferrari dealer prices on 360s seem to be pushing me down the private/trader routes.

A few questions I have are:

- how reliable are the earlier 360s? what are the more common problems?
- difficult question to answer but... realistically, worse case scenario what is the maximum something going wrong is going to cost me?
- do you guys have aftermarket warranties/Power warranties/no warranty?
- who are your warranties through and how much?

I expect to do ~7000 miles a year, NOT commuting to and from work if that influences any answers to the above.

Thanks for your help.

[I HATE GATSO]

If you go onto search, then forums. You'll find everything you need there from past posts.

[mark355]

Hi There. I have done quite a number of searches but really can't find the answers to my questions... any help would be much appraciated.

I'm basically trying to work out how robust 360s are on the whole, what warranty options are available and whether the warranty options are worth taking. Whilst I can stand the cost of the car/insurance/servicing/some repair work, an engine re-build covered solely by my wallet with no warranty could and would cause me a bit of problem.

Again, any help from those in the know would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[MJK 24]

Come on - someone help this man out!

[Mr_C]

I can't really help, as I'll probably never have the money for such a gorgeous car, but I'm led to believe that F360s are quite nice to own, with relatively few problems. Ferrari wanted to make a car that was useable, and liveable with. I'd have one...

[andy355]

try the fcars.co.uk or ferrarichat.co.uk forums if theres not enough on here. or give the nice people at Verdi a call, usually very helpful and should be able to give an idea on running costs plus they sell cars, do pre purchase inspections etc

[Mark355]

Thanks for your replies.

I had a post on fcars running concurrently and have had some info from there indicating that engine rebuilds on 360s are unheard of so that's at least some piece of mind.

So all bodes well... if I can find the right car for the right price.

[ProPlus]

One of my mates has done exactly the same upgrade, have just emailed him to give some more advice.

[weepee]

Hi i bought my 360F1 4 years ago and to date i have had no probs. if you are looking at one you need to make sure it has a fsh. ask when belts and service where last done.with all cars you should be able to tell a good one from a bag of bolts. ie has it been looked after. is a track car only. if the car is a f1 the dealer should be able to tell you what wear,and what is left. ie milage, to replace a 360 f1 clutch is about £850 ISH apart from that the 360 is prob the best car i have owned.

[beaver]

I went from a GT3RS to a 360, bought from Verdi with 36,000 miles on the clock.

2nd gear was a problem from when I collected it, but was sorted out reasonably quickly and has been trouble free since.

You simply can't compare 360 build quality to anything Porsche, it's really an emotional purchase and as such it delivers. For me, it's better to open the garage door and see a red Ferrari bonnet than a Porsche one, and as a driving experience it's not far off the 911, although I won't be taking it on a track (where the GT3Rs excels)

Noise is the best thing, of course, especially with the passenger window open (and that's with a standard exhaust. Big smiles everytime you use it, and the shape really grows on you (I used to prefer F355).

I almost bought a car from Graypaul last year, half the miles but 20K more...glad I didn't. Independents like Verdi are the best bet.

I think that if the car has decent service history (annual plus belts evry 3 years) you can't really go too wrong.

[mikial]

I echo the two previous posts, I`ve owned my F1 for two years , 20 thousand miles on the original clutch with 77% wear. Very reliable and with a tubi the noise is mesmorising and addictive.
Top car.

[tezza]

I've had an early 2000 F1 for 2yrs. Look for upgraded F1 software, 2002 or 03 is the latest I think. Just had mine done at Verdi. Chat with Carl there, what he doesn't know isn't worth knowing! In the 2yrs I've had belts done,new clutch,software upgrade & Tubi exhaust.
Regrets? Absolutely none, still have a grin on my face every time I walk up to it

[okey]

- how reliable are the earlier 360s? what are the more common problems? /////////////////////////////////////////////////////
pretty reliable
43k miles on a 00 360 M
wet weather running problem (damp plugs / water ingress ??)
split coolant pipe (.4k)
dash lights failed (1k)
second gear syncro / linkage problems some people had new gear boxes (.4k to 8k)
Timing belt variator broke (check this as if this goes neccitates a new engine or complete engine rebuild. ) best get the latest version (2k ???? cannot remember)
P zero rear tyres every 6k miles if tracked / driven hard
P zero front tyres every 12k miles irrespective
Change oils every 6k miles (makes the car fly)
15k Miles on a 01 360 F1
new clutch every 7k miles.. (did a lot of track days / hard driving)

- difficult question to answer but... realistically, worse case scenario what is the maximum something going wrong is going to cost me? //////////////////////////////////////
A new engine if the timing belt variator fails....or rebuild

- do you guys have aftermarket warranties/Power warranties/no warranty? //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Get a power warranty 1.8k but check the small print.