how can i buy a ferrari?

[kazste]

first off let me start by stating this is not a put down of the brand or anything like that i would really love one. that said went to the local dealer the other day and test drove a F430 F1, the gearbox was absolutely awful. car would not set off so would sit there building up the revs and then at just under 3k would jump of the line like it had been stung by a hornet. tried to cut the test drive short as no way could i live with it, only for the salesman to state that the car must be faulty and had noticed this earlier, this begs the question why did he let a known to be faulty car on the road let alone to be driven for a demo! after playing about around the glove box and under the bonnet the gearbox had been reset apprently but by then was already thrown by it and could not settle. cue me asking about a manual one only to be told there would be no point in buying a new manual F430 as come resale time i would come up very short.

so apart from buying a used manual F430 which i would not want to do are there any options open to me. to be perfectly honest i want a ferrari doesnt have to be a F430 but would very much prefer new, manual, and not to lose a national debt in 2/3 years. any thoughts?

[cappsy]

ull be pushed to get a brand new 430 manual as theyve stopped making the model! only choice wud be to scour the dealers for a pre reg or sumthing,

[kazste]

maybe this was why he was trying to disuade me! to be honest went in there with a view to test driving and looking at the 612, but they had moved that on so after speaking to them advised to try out the 430 instead. with them stopping the manual is that due to lack of want for the car or are they winding up production for a newer model?

any thoughts on whether stopping making the manual is likely to drive prices back up or is there really no demand for them, if not any ideas as to why not?

[Sarnie]

kazste said:

i want a ferrari doesnt have to be a F430 but would very much prefer new, manual, and not to lose a national debt in 2/3 years. any thoughts?

Impossible. Just be happy that your not taking the hit and by a rarely used one..............

[rbolesworth]

You are only going to take a hit if you pay similar money for a manual as a f1.
I know for a fact (as i am one of these people) that sometimes only a manual will do and i would seek out those cars as i love manual cars. There is lots of people like me, but admitadly not as many who likes f1 gearboxes, but there isn't many manual cars....your choice.

[andrew.]

if you're using the ferrari dealer local to you, then the best of luck : from my profile you can probably guess how helpful they were

[kazste]

The problem I have with getting a used one is that if I was buying used would really be tempted with a 612,456 or a 355 instead. A bit worried about how the 355 and 456 would hold up to regular use for long distance runs. Is there a reason the 612 is so low in value second hand as have seen a red one for 100k!

I do understand what you are saying about the dealer as was very surprised that they either took me out in a car known to be faulty or lied to me that it was when it wasn't. Wondered if it was just me as all others seem to think there great.

[cappsy]

thyeve stopped making the 430 all together, as for comments on the 355,ive had mine for 2 months nearly and done over 4k in it!

[kazste]

Cheers for that I did ask the dealer when be thought a new version would be out to which I got the response of don't know but suggested a few years also making me concerned about this dealer. Is the 355 comfortable for 500 mile road trips as this could be a good option as thinking prices have probably bottomed out. Also any thoughts on reliability as would prefer not to break down in Europe to much

[cappsy]

the 355 is one of the most reliable ferraris ever! i had a boxster 987 aswell and that was terrible on long journeys im 6ft3,the ferreri has loads of room and the seats are comfortable in the gtb anyway, i cudnt fit comfortably in the gts or spider when the roof was off hence why i went gtb

[kazste]

Cheers for that I think I'll start the search and keep you posted. I assume the gtb is the hard top? If so this is the one for me manual and yellow , black leather or red , cream leather. Anyones know a good one for sale let me know