Advice - 360

[AJI]

Hi guys,
Just wanting to know if I am being unrealistic in my thoughts of owning a 2nd hand 360.
They have depreciated down to around £30K-£35k levels and in a year's time I will have such money to buy one without finance.

But as people always say, buying is the easy part, owning and maintaining is the costly issue.

My disposable income is around £600-£700 per month, is this a realistic figure to run a 360 during summer months and summer driving holiday(s) into Europe?

Car will be mainly used for summer weekend enthusiastic runs, visit to Nurburgring and scenic drives down through Germany/Austria.


(appologies if this topic has been covered before - I did a quick page flick and couldn't find any recent discussions)

[sone]

Like anything you need to be lucky. I think you could run a car on your budget but the older the car the more chance of problems!. Don't let miles put you off, buy on condition and history. I think too many Ferrari owners are hung up on mileage!.
You could catch a cold but check the usual-Clutch, ball joints, tyres, brakes get it inspected and youv'e done as much as you can.
On the down side I think the cars in your budget will be not so popular colour choices or be missing history or be a bit untidy.
I can't see the prices dropping much further personally but thats just my opinion.

Steve

AJI said:

Hi guys,
Just wanting to know if I am being unrealistic in my thoughts of owning a 2nd hand 360.
They have depreciated down to around £30K-£35k levels and in a year's time I will have such money to buy one without finance.

But as people always say, buying is the easy part, owning and maintaining is the costly issue.

My disposable income is around £600-£700 per month, is this a realistic figure to run a 360 during summer months and summer driving holiday(s) into Europe?

Car will be mainly used for summer weekend enthusiastic runs, visit to Nurburgring and scenic drives down through Germany/Austria.


(appologies if this topic has been covered before - I did a quick page flick and couldn't find any recent discussions)

[voicey]

£600 doesn't sound like a lot to run a Ferrari - I have a shade under £4k disposable income (a month) and think my 360 is expensive to run!

You do well to have some cash put aside - I have £5k that is segragated (in my mind) for immediate repairs should the need arise. You'd hate for something big to fail and then have to save up to get it fixed.

I would have thought the cars around the £35k mark would have issues. Far better to spend a little extra and get one that has been looked after - it'll be cheaper in the long run. Head over to Club Scuderia for more info...

ETA: Unless the car you buy has a louder exhaust you're going to need some money to buy one as soon as you hear someone else's!

Edited by voicey on Monday 8th March 08:26

[Mario149]

AJI said:

Hi guys,
Just wanting to know if I am being unrealistic in my thoughts of owning a 2nd hand 360.
They have depreciated down to around £30K-£35k levels and in a year's time I will have such money to buy one without finance.

But as people always say, buying is the easy part, owning and maintaining is the costly issue.

My disposable income is around £600-£700 per month, is this a realistic figure to run a 360 during summer months and summer driving holiday(s) into Europe?

Car will be mainly used for summer weekend enthusiastic runs, visit to Nurburgring and scenic drives down through Germany/Austria.


(appologies if this topic has been covered before - I did a quick page flick and couldn't find any recent discussions)

Judging by the other cars in your garage, I suspect that you're not necessarily after the Ferrari for it's performance. I was in a similar quandary to you budget wise when deciding what to buy, but I've gone for an F355 for that sort of budget as I think they look better, are almost as quick and will prob hold their value better. I'm also told they are more forgiving handling wise than a 360.

If you're not after absolute performance but just the Ferrari "event" for high days and holidays, maybe spend £10k less and get a 348 even? More difficult to drive, still very quick compared to most things on the road, still v pretty, and you'll have £10k in your pocket for servicing etc. That's prob what I'd do.

All in the humble opinion of someone who hasn't even picked up his car yet!

[AJI]

Thanks for the responses so far.

One question that I'd like to ask is that when it comes to maintenance can 'normal' garages do work on a 360?
I mean, if I wanted a clutch change or even basic engine oil or diff oil change, it is always a case of taking to a 'speicialist'...or Ferrari dealership garage?

I do like to tinker with basic maintanence and easy work on cars... ie.brake pads and disc changes, oil changes etc. etc. Have Ferrari made this easy to do without special equipment required?

[AJI]

voicey said:

£600 doesn't sound like a lot to run a Ferrari -

Edited by voicey on Monday 8th March 08:26

But would it be enough to run a 360 during summer only?

I'm guessing if I was lucky then only an oil change each summer is required. Every 3/4 years, tyres.
Every 3 years major service?


Cheers.

[voicey]

Depends on whether there are other things you want to spend your money on!

I've been doing quite a lot of work myself on my car. Fitted an exhaust and challenge grill this weekend. I've got the front bumper off and taken it to my spray shop to have the stone chips taken out. I also plan to change the brake discs and pads myself. I would change the ball joints myself but they are pressed in so I'll take it to a specialist for that. It all depends on how mechanically minded you are and how much research you can do...

[jackal]

strange thread ?

OP has £8400 a year to maintain a 360 and people are saying that's not enough ?
Does a 360 really cost more than that to run pa ?

Edited by jackal on Monday 8th March 14:16

[Bebs]

Budget £3K year for maintenance. That should cover it.
I've gone slightly over that on average during ownership but that is due to the high mileage I've done

[Nish]

I'd agree with 3k a year budget (not including fuel, insurance etc)

A service is very rarely just an oil change, small issues need to be rectified before they become big ones, then again you could be lucky.

Keep 3k on the side, if it doesn't use it all up (unlikely if you aren't doing much mileage) then call it a bonus.

I would be wary about doing servicing/maintenance yourself, regardless of how capable you are. I would never buy a F car that has been maintained by its owner and not a specialist. You may be a very adept mechanic but as a buyer who doesn't know you that doesn't fill me with confidence if you see what I mean.

[Mario149]

jackal said:

strange thread ?

OP has £8400 a year to maintain a 360 and people are saying that's not enough ?
Does a 360 really cost more than that to run pa ?

Edited by jackal on Monday 8th March 14:16

I think it's one of 2 possible issues:

1) that he'd clean out his savings to buy the car, so he'd have to then save for servicing at the rate of £600pcm, which may be a problem if something goes wrong immediately. For what it's worth, I'm basically doing the same buying my F355, but I know I'll have a good chunk of cash available at the beginning of the new FY barring any world ending disaster.

2) the disposable cash available at the end of every month has to cover everything that doesn't keep him fed, warm and able to sleep in shelter i.e. it needs to fund pub money, holidays, meals out, cinema etc. In which case it would seem to be cutting a bit fine on the financial side..

All that said, if the OP genuinely has £600pcm (plus a few £k slush fund) to spank on just the maintenance and servicing of fun car with no repercussions to the other parts of his life financially, it sounds like plenty

[jackal]

Nish said:

I'd agree with 3k a year budget (not including fuel, insurance etc)

A service is very rarely just an oil change, small issues need to be rectified before they become big ones, then again you could be lucky.

Keep 3k on the side, if it doesn't use it all up (unlikely if you aren't doing much mileage) then call it a bonus.

I would be wary about doing servicing/maintenance yourself, regardless of how capable you are. I would never buy a F car that has been maintained by its owner and not a specialist. You may be a very adept mechanic but as a buyer who doesn't know you that doesn't fill me with confidence if you see what I mean.

I hear what you're saying and it makes good sense. If i got a ferrari though first thing i'd do is take it all apart to see how it works

[AJI]

Thanks again for the replies.


Yeah, I am a saver rather than a spender really. I don't spend anything on booze, smoking, clubbing, expensive hotels/restaurants etc. So £600-£700 really is after general living costs are taken off the income.


Well the replies so far have given me plenty to think about.
Cheers.

[jackal]

i get you Mario ... 600pcm plus a 360, prolly won't leave much left over for beer, hookers, champagne, class A and the pig out at Nobu.

[Bebs]

jackal said:

i get you Mario ... 600pcm plus a 360, prolly won't leave much left over for beer, hookers, champagne, class A and the pig out at Nobu.

Don't forget £100 per tank full.. adds up if you're on a budget.. and you really cannot be worrying about fuel consumption in a Fez

[4leks]

You wouldn't get anything for £30k now (maybe Cat C) and I doubt you would get decent looked after 360 for £35k; so you have to be prepared for higher than average maintenance bills.
Despite winter I have not seen anything decent with nice colour combo (red/crema, red/tan, black/crema etc) & full SH for well under £40k for months. I think 360 prices are pretty much stable for past year due to the fact that 430 prices are not going south. I don't think you'll be able to get anything nice within a year for £30k, maybe lucky to get something decent with full SH for circa £35k mark for some unpopular colour combos (silver etc) or high mileage examples

[p4dhu]

jackal said:

i get you Mario ... 600pcm plus a 360, prolly won't leave much left over for beer, hookers, champagne, class A and the pig out at Nobu.

[Erich Stahler]

4leks said:

You wouldn't get anything for £30k now (maybe Cat C) and I doubt you would get decent looked after 360 for £35k; so you have to be prepared for higher than average maintenance bills.
Despite winter I have not seen anything decent with nice colour combo (red/crema, red/tan, black/crema etc) & full SH for well under £40k for months. I think 360 prices are pretty much stable for past year due to the fact that 430 prices are not going south. I don't think you'll be able to get anything nice within a year for £30k, maybe lucky to get something decent with full SH for circa £35k mark for some unpopular colour combos (silver etc) or high mileage examples

Come on, sureley with the 458 hitting the streets 360 prices will only be pushed down further!

[bmad]

jackal said:

i get you Mario ... 600pcm plus a 360, prolly won't leave much left over for beer, hookers, champagne, class A and the pig out at Nobu.

Does it seriously cost circa 600pcm to maintain one of these cars? Are you guys talking just maintenance here, ie service, tyres etc? Surely at 7k + a year you really have to have a lot go wrong with the car or have a serious dud?

My reckoning is about £1500 for the service tops. I also realise that during the time I own this car it will likely need a clutch and tyres and a cambelt change (next year actually!).

For what it's worth my estimates have been pretty good so far. In the year I've owned the car its just had a major with a good independant and it cost £1300. And thats it! The tyres should be good for another 6 months and the clutch well who knows. So far no dodgy signs. I realise there are lots of other expensive bits on the car that could go wrong. Maybe I'm just lucky.

However despite this good fortune I too have contingency available. I'm lucky enough to get a few grand bonus every December which is basically my car fund. If the car costs stay reasonable or my luck rides then we get an extra holiday! Like this year!! I think it would be unwise not to have a contingency available when owning these cars. Mind you the year it does cost me 7K to maintain will be the last year I own it!

[AJI]

Erich Stahler said:

4leks said:

You wouldn't get anything for £30k now (maybe Cat C) and I doubt you would get decent looked after 360 for £35k; so you have to be prepared for higher than average maintenance bills.
Despite winter I have not seen anything decent with nice colour combo (red/crema, red/tan, black/crema etc) & full SH for well under £40k for months. I think 360 prices are pretty much stable for past year due to the fact that 430 prices are not going south. I don't think you'll be able to get anything nice within a year for £30k, maybe lucky to get something decent with full SH for circa £35k mark for some unpopular colour combos (silver etc) or high mileage examples

Come on, sureley with the 458 hitting the streets 360 prices will only be pushed down further!

I'm definitely hoping so!