a 1yr £40k adventure with a Ferrari - thoughts & advice?

[village idiot]

I'm just in the process of liquidising an asset which should return me circa £40k. I will want to re-invest it in due course, so need to get back as much as possible at the end of the ownership period (I wouldn't keep the car for more than 1yr).

My options seem to be:-

348
355
308/328

I need to factor in one annual service (I would expect to buy it freshly serviced and then sell it freshly serviced).

Any ideas on which would be the safest option... I am veering towards a 355.

As I said above, I'm not looking for a keeper (if I was, that rather nice 3.5 litre Alfa SZ in the classifieds would be in my garage!), just an opportunity to 'tick a box' whilst I can.

cheers

[132]

If you buy the right car, all of these are a fairly safe bet. The 348 will possibly rise in the next 12 months, but I would go for a 355...

Edited by 132 on Monday 14th February 17:05

[larrylamb11]

I would probably also go 355... but would make sure it had had all the known big-expense items done, like valve guides and exhaust headers. There is always the possibility of a hefty garage bill with these, probably less so with 308/328 variants. Really though, if you want a 355, buy one of those - if you are going to scratch the itch, do it properly! Buying something like a Ferrari is something you do with your heart, not your head, so listen to its beat and go with your guts...

[Jonty355]

I only wanted a 355 for 6 months........ Its been 3 years and 6 months since I bought mine!

And dont even think about asking if I'll consider selling it!!!!

[yellowgriff]

355 here as well. Take your time finding one & as said before the latter the model the better for the head problems on early models..

[Kickstart]

550 - why buy a V8 when you can get the real deal.

Being serious for a moment I would almost certainly buy a car from a specialist who would fully prepare the car for sale which should take out most of the worry.

The most important thing is to plan some decent trips in Europe and have a run through the alps and a blast down an empty autobahn.

Have fun

[rubystone]

You'd need a big Kenwood Chef to liquidise any Ferrari...If you want to have the experience and want to move the car on without losing money, play safe. Rosso Crema 355 GTB - less than 3,000 miles per year of its life, genuine mileage, low number of owners...buy from a dealer if you want to be 100% sure...pay the right money, buy now, sell in the summer of 2012...

Don't buy anything else on the basis of potential upside...nothing is going to move by more than 5% in the next year...not in your price-range, anyway...

just IMHO....328 is a good buy too - classic Ferrari, modernish drive, not too many about...and Nick Cartwright would probably buy it back...

[SpeedYellow]

355 definitely, now where is there a loved example near you available for sensible money.... Hum...

[SpeedYellow]

yellowgriff said:

355 here as well. Take your time finding one & as said before the latter the model the better for the head problems on early models..

Head problems, this one makes me smile, chance of a car with crap guides/seats still running after 15 years without signs of issues before are next to zero unless you are dumb enough to buy a 3k mile car... Would love to hear of a genuine case of a car owned on here that has more than say 15k miles on it suffering the build issue within the last year. Having built lots of engines over the years an issue like this shows up fast,

Early cars, faster lighter, newer cars heavier, slower but safer to crash... Very little real difference.

Edited by SpeedYellow on Tuesday 15th February 00:01

[Mario149]

rubystone said:

You'd need a big Kenwood Chef to liquidise any Ferrari...If you want to have the experience and want to move the car on without losing money, play safe. Rosso Crema 355 GTB - less than 3,000 miles per year of its life, genuine mileage, low number of owners...buy from a dealer if you want to be 100% sure...pay the right money, buy now, sell in the summer of 2012...

Don't buy anything else on the basis of potential upside...nothing is going to move by more than 5% in the next year...not in your price-range, anyway...

just IMHO....328 is a good buy too - classic Ferrari, modernish drive, not too many about...and Nick Cartwright would probably buy it back...

Sounds about right Although I think you'd get a "better quality" 328 than 355 for your £40k. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably go for this: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2335820.htm though it might be a bit more tricky to sell on. B ut then my judgement is not completely objective as I've had the 355 experience already. Also personally, I'd go for a Targa/Spider of whatever if at all possible since you're only wanting it for a short time and over a summer really

[ticketmaster123]

Why not consider a Super Car club?

About 10k and you will have 0 worry...won't have to waste time finding the right car...won't have the agro of selling it...insurance paid for...maintenance paid for...and you would get to drive the cream of the crop of modern Supercars...

If I had a windfall I would certainly treat myself to that rather than buy a 355.

[The Milfman]

SpeedYellow said:

Head problems, this one makes me smile, chance of a car with crap guides/seats still running after 15 years without signs of issues before are next to zero unless you are dumb enough to buy a 3k mile car... Would love to hear of a genuine case of a car owned on here that has more than say 15k miles on it suffering the build issue within the last year. Having built lots of engines over the years an issue like this shows up fast,

Early cars, faster lighter, newer cars heavier, slower but safer to crash... Very little real difference.

+1

Thanks for posting SpeedYellow, saved me a few words of typing!

[matc]

ticketmaster123 said:

Why not consider a Super Car club?

About 10k and you will have 0 worry...won't have to waste time finding the right car...won't have the agro of selling it...insurance paid for...maintenance paid for...and you would get to drive the cream of the crop of modern Supercars...

If I had a windfall I would certainly treat myself to that rather than buy a 355.

I don't see this as a sensible alternative at all, supercar ownership is all about exactly that, owning a supercar.

How would being the member of one of these clubs compare to waking up early on a Sunday morning to find the sun has made a rare appearance, so you pop down, open the garage and go and drive your own Ferrari wherever you want, for as long as you want.

I do understand the principle, but I believe they're aimed more towards the showy city boys who live in the centre of London and fancy a nice car for the odd weekend. If you live miles away, then getting to the collection/drop-off point would be enough to ruin most of the enjoyment for me; plus the up-keep/cleaning etc of a supercar, for most petrol heads adds to the ownership experience.

Regardless of all of that, it's the OP's intention to realise most of his outlay in 12 months, so a Supercar Club would definitely be out of the window!

OP I did pretty much what you're thinking of doing now last year, I pickep up a 360 Spider in April and sold it on in November, I managed to make a profit out of it, although I will admit I was pretty lucky! I think it's a fantastic way to tie up a bit of cash and actually have some fum with it for a short period of time, so far for me nothing has come close to Ferrari ownership and I can't wait till I'm in a position to do it again!

[ticketmaster123]

matc said:

I don't see this as a sensible alternative at all, supercar ownership is all about exactly that, owning a supercar.

How would being the member of one of these clubs compare to waking up early on a Sunday morning to find the sun has made a rare appearance, so you pop down, open the garage and go and drive your own Ferrari wherever you want, for as long as you want.

I do understand the principle, but I believe they're aimed more towards the showy city boys who live in the centre of London and fancy a nice car for the odd weekend. If you live miles away, then getting to the collection/drop-off point would be enough to ruin most of the enjoyment for me; plus the up-keep/cleaning etc of a supercar, for most petrol heads adds to the ownership experience.

Regardless of all of that, it's the OP's intention to realise most of his outlay in 12 months, so a Supercar Club would definitely be out of the window!

Ownership is all relative - if he has already decided he is going to sell it in a year then he is merely looking after it for the next person IMO.

There are plenty of people who will have lost 10k+ in a year with all running/insurance costs on a car like an F355. All it takes is something small to go wrong and it will completely taint the short experience you have of the car - and will cost you.

At least with the Super Car club option you know it will cost you exactly £10k and you have no other costs. You also get to drive things like 458's, 599 GTO's, Ford GT et al. Whilst I love the 355 - it doesn't compare to these.

Sure if the OP lives miles away from London or the other locations why you can pick up cars from then I agree it may not make sense - but if you are close then I think it would be a fantastic option.

[Cactussed]

If its just for a year, the club might be a good option.
On the other hand, actually owning the thing is something to be enjoyed.

Horses for courses.

Oh, and personally I think I'd take a 355 over a Ford GT, a 599 or a 458 in terms of driver enjoyment.

[ticketmaster123]

Cactussed said:

If its just for a year, the club might be a good option.
On the other hand, actually owning the thing is something to be enjoyed.

Horses for courses.

Oh, and personally I think I'd take a 355 over a Ford GT, a 599 or a 458 in terms of driver enjoyment.

Whilst you might do - if someone offered you a 599 GTO for £100k I am sure you would sell your arms and legs to raise the money to buy it. I guess my point is that because of the £150k+ price tag most of the cars carry they are more "unobtainable" and to have the memories of driving them all would be very special indeed.

[golfer99]

Buy a 355 in the winter months and sell it hopefully for more or flat in the Summer

[ClaphamGT3]

I wouldn't liquidise the asset if I were you; unless you're a soup wholesaler, it'll probably be worth more in one piece

[jdw1234]

golfer99 said:

Buy a 355 in the winter months and sell it hopefully for more or flat in the Summer

Pick any 355 in the classifieds and watch how long it takes to sell.

I really dont think it is possible to time a sale that well in this climate.

I am sure people have example of them selling in 2 days, but my general impression (with experience) is that the F355 isn't very easy to sell.

In my opinion, as you wish to sell quick, only look at rosso corsa/crema GTB late manual.

[Pat H]

About five years ago I bought a 1989 F328 GTS privately.

It had done 1600 miles from new (yep, one thousand six hundred...) and I paid £37,000.

I kept it about 18 months, covered six or seven thousand miles and sold it privately for £33,000.

As the car had been a garage queen, I treated it to fresh fluids, pads, filters and cambelts and tensioners and then just used it.

The car never missed a beat and was a delight to own.

Asking prices seem to be creeping steadily upwards for 328s, but there are plenty that have been for sale for a very long time, especially anything that is not Rosso/Crema.

Given dealer margins, I'm not sure that buying a Ferrari from the trade makes any financial sense if you are only going to keep it for 12 months.

And if you want an outright sale rather than PXing it, then you need to expect it to take a while to sell.

Viewed as a four or five year prospect, I would suggest that anything pre F360 would be a safe bet.

As a 12 month exercise, I'm not sure it makes much sense.