ferrari maintenance

ferrari maintenance

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Discussion

bordseye

Original Poster:

1,986 posts

193 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
If you dont want to take a bath on resale, how fussy do you have to be about maintenance on a ferrari? I ask because the ones I have looked at have seemed like brand new cars when 8 or 10 years old. I look after my cars by my terms which means they are mechanically A1 but I am not interested in detailing or even polishing and cleaning is a three monthly job. So if I had a Ferrari for (say) three years, it would maybe have a small dent, a small scratch and some brake dust on the alloys. How bad would this be on resale?

Next question - mileage. The average mileage of the sample of 07 cars I have looked at is 2k pa.I'd expect to double that. So how might the resale price be affected if my car had done 30k and another had done 15k . What would be the typical difference?

I suppose what I am trying to get at is how useable is a Ferrari. The 430 looks beautiful. I love the badge. I appreciate the design. But I want to feel that I can use it without taking a bath and my suspicion when I see cars with a new owner each year of their life is that they have been bought by people who just wanted to be able to say they had owned one but found they didnt / couldnt use it routinely.

Edited by bordseye on Tuesday 27th October 15:40

Wombat3

12,197 posts

207 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye said:
If you dont want to take a bath on resale, how fussy do you have to be about maintenance on a ferrari? I ask because the ones I have looked at have seemed like brand new cars when 8 or 10 years old. I look after my cars by my terms which means they are mechanically A1 but I am not interested in detailing or even polishing and cleaning is a three monthly job. So if I had a Ferrari for (say) three years, it would maybe have a small dent, a small scratch and some brake dust on the alloys. How bad would this be on resale?

Next question - mileage. The average mileage of the sample of 07 cars I have looked at is 2k pa.I'd expect to double that. So how might the resale price be affected if my car had done 30k and another had done 15k . What would be the typical difference?
These are "how long is a piece of string" questions. How much worse than "average" will the condition be? Besides, as long as its not dented all over the place you can always spend a few quid on getting a pro. detailer to sort out before you sell it. Even if there are some dents, there are paintless dent removal people who can work miracles.

What model are you talking about in which spec/colour combination? Some are rarer than others.

The sensitivity to mileage is going to be affected by just how many cars there are. If you want a Yellow or Silver 360 Stradale, there ain't that many to start with. If its a plan Jane Rosso/Crema 430 then the choice will be much greater so mileage & also condition will both weigh heavily.




bordseye

Original Poster:

1,986 posts

193 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
Yes I appreciate that its a piece of string question but I have tried to be as realistic as I can be. I rarely wash cars but always do so by hand when I do. I never polish and I never, for example, remove wheels to clean the inner side of them. So we arent talking shed and we arent talking concours. We are talking typical family car standard.

Take your point about the rarety issue. If I buy it will very likely be the standard rosso/crema 430.

TISPKJ

3,650 posts

208 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
A lot of questions

Service - needs doing once a year
Detailing - generally done on resale by SOR garage
Cleaning - as a general rule I wash mine off with clear water each time I use and probably polish too much but not doing so wont harm the car unless your talking salt / winter use.
Think of mileage in clips of 10k and yes it has a knock on effect to value, miles, colour, number of owners, service history, all have an effect on value.

sorry for short answers but running out the door

Edited by TISPKJ on Tuesday 27th October 17:17

Wombat3

12,197 posts

207 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye said:
Yes I appreciate that its a piece of string question but I have tried to be as realistic as I can be. I rarely wash cars but always do so by hand when I do. I never polish and I never, for example, remove wheels to clean the inner side of them. So we arent talking shed and we arent talking concours. We are talking typical family car standard.

Take your point about the rarety issue. If I buy it will very likely be the standard rosso/crema 430.
Condition & mileage affect values. If you service it right & look after it then mileage is less of a concern (within reason). If it can be brought back to "immaculate" with a good detailing then its not an issue how often you wash it or not. To see the delta on the mileage you just need to look at the classifieds.

I would say the one killer on the condition thing will be if you drive it in the winter & gets covered in salt. There's not much you can do about the effects of salt on aluminium and if you do that it will affect its value quite badly.

Anjum

1,605 posts

285 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye said:
If you dont want to take a bath on resale, how fussy do you have to be about maintenance on a ferrari? I ask because the ones I have looked at have seemed like brand new cars when 8 or 10 years old. I look after my cars by my terms which means they are mechanically A1 but I am not interested in detailing or even polishing and cleaning is a three monthly job. So if I had a Ferrari for (say) three years, it would maybe have a small dent, a small scratch and some brake dust on the alloys. How bad would this be on resale?

Next question - mileage. The average mileage of the sample of 07 cars I have looked at is 2k pa.I'd expect to double that. So how might the resale price be affected if my car had done 30k and another had done 15k . What would be the typical difference?

I suppose what I am trying to get at is how useable is a Ferrari. The 430 looks beautiful. I love the badge. I appreciate the design. But I want to feel that I can use it without taking a bath and my suspicion when I see cars with a new owner each year of their life is that they have been bought by people who just wanted to be able to say they had owned one but found they didnt / couldnt use it routinely.

Edited by bordseye on Tuesday 27th October 15:40
Question for you. When you go looking for your Ferrari, what will you look for? One that has been serviced correctly, is clean with no dents and correct servicing - or would you hope to find a leggy, slightly tired, minor scuffs and dents, priced accordingly?

andrew

9,972 posts

193 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
if you intend to use the car and yet you worry about such things, then just buy a 911
hth

drdel

431 posts

129 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
Depends on your budget but in my experience they can be a bit fragile. The engines need to be 'exercised' to keep them breathing well but use high revs often and the cam-belts can need LCA fairly frequently. Tyres are quite a soft compound so doing many miles will see replacement due, and with their width, its not a good idea to get below 4mm tread if you're likely to use it in the wet.

A 911 is probably better everyday and perhaps an R8 but they don't have the looks or the prancing horse pedigree!!!

bordseye

Original Poster:

1,986 posts

193 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
andrew said:
if you intend to use the car and yet you worry about such things, then just buy a 911
hth
when did you last stand and admire a parked 911?

corinthian

217 posts

134 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
I bought my 430 at 27k miles, I'm now at 39k two and a half years later, this has increased the value of my car immensely........but lowered its price!

Maintainance has been £2k pa. plus tyres with no expense spared and no warranty.

I'd certainly consider a private sale car next time round, in fact, if any one has an early 458 with a bit of miles on it, I'd be interested.

andrew

9,972 posts

193 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye said:
andrew said:
if you intend to use the car and yet you worry about such things, then just buy a 911
hth
when did you last stand and admire a parked 911?
sunday

Durzel

12,276 posts

169 months

Wednesday 28th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye said:
I suppose what I am trying to get at is how useable is a Ferrari.
Very. It's perfectly driveable as an everyday car, with the usual caveats - it's wider than most cars, and you wouldn't necessarily want to park it in a regular bay.

bordseye said:
But I want to feel that I can use it without taking a bath and my suspicion when I see cars with a new owner each year of their life is that they have been bought by people who just wanted to be able to say they had owned one but found they didnt / couldnt use it routinely.
It's the nature of the beast really. There will be a lot of people who buy these cars as occasional playthings. They might even have several supercars, or likely other distractions that take them away from wherever their car is. I don't think it necessarily follows that people don't drive them for fear of resale or whatever, whilst there will be people who think like that these cars are ultimately (for most) an extravagance. There is also the fact that - as you would likely find - driving it too much diminishes the theater of it.

bordseye said:
If you dont want to take a bath on resale, how fussy do you have to be about maintenance on a ferrari?
It really depends on where you enter the market. If you buy a car that's a bit "unloved" you should not really lose anything if you get another ding here or there. If you buy a minter - and pay a premium - you'll obviously lose money if it is no longer mint after you've finished with it.

bordseye said:
Next question - mileage. The average mileage of the sample of 07 cars I have looked at is 2k pa.I'd expect to double that. So how might the resale price be affected if my car had done 30k and another had done 15k . What would be the typical difference?
Bit of a how long is a piece of string question. There's a certain mileage (low thousands, sub 7.5k I'd say) where you're totally in the realm of garage queens and actually driving it at all would really risk losing value on it. If you bought a car that's already done 30k though, I'd wager it's not likely to be too big a deal if it's on 40-45k when you finish with it. It's not that scientific though, because spec plays a big part.


Durzel

12,276 posts

169 months

Wednesday 28th October 2015
quotequote all
Anjum said:
Question for you. When you go looking for your Ferrari, what will you look for? One that has been serviced correctly, is clean with no dents and correct servicing - or would you hope to find a leggy, slightly tired, minor scuffs and dents, priced accordingly?
Pretty much hit the nail on the head really. It's not really much more scientific than putting yourself in the buyers shoes when you're the one selling the car.

F1Sean

207 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th October 2015
quotequote all
bordseye]I look after my cars by my terms which means they are mechanically A1 but I am not interested in detailing or even polishing and cleaning is a three monthly job. [/footnote said:
I thought I must be the only bloke with a Ferrari who thought like this! Seems I'm not alone.....

The problem I find is that when the sun comes out, I just want to get in and drive. then when I get home, I have 1001 other things to do than spend 2 hours giving it the full once over.

Besides, no-one can see a few swirls on your paintwork when you are blasting down the road at.....errrr.... 70 biggrin

I was going to get the front end stone chips done this year, but I got the manifolds done instead, then drove it across Europe :-)

dvb247

270 posts

199 months

Monday 2nd November 2015
quotequote all
Correct me if I'm wrong but the more you wash it the more you damage it. I rarely use my Fez, wright now it needs a wash, or my OCD tells me it does!! but I don't want to get it wet and shove it back in the garage all because of a bit of road dust from the last little dry weekend drive I had in it last month!!
And yes, I know, I need to get out more, I haven't followed other by SORNing it over winter so I'm looking forward to one or 2 nice crisp cold dry winter mornings biggrin

supersport

4,064 posts

228 months

Monday 2nd November 2015
quotequote all
I have every intention of using mine when I get it, that's what I am buying it for. Also going to polish within an inch of its life too though, as I am sad like that hehe

Wouldn't touch one hat gas t been serviced properly, and expect an oil change every year.

sealtt

3,091 posts

159 months

Monday 2nd November 2015
quotequote all
I would not recommend a F430 as a daily driver. It's like a woman using a pair of Louboutins to go to do the weekly shop at Tesco. Sure, you can, but you really aren't enjoying what the car has to offer and just highlighting it's weaknesses. Plus making it less special for those days when you can actually use it properly.

Your depreciation at this stage will just be dealer spread + whatever happens to the market! It's not like regular cars when it just goes down a bit each year, these things have gone UP in the past year or two. If they will stay flat, rise or drop ... who knows! But that is the risk you have got, you definitely have the potential to take a notable loss on it given where they were a couple of years ago and where they are now and the only thing that's happened since then is that the cars have gotten a bit older!! Unlikely to go up any further realistically, well maybe I'll be wrong, but seems unlikely given 458 prices and that the 458 is in another league of car to the F430.

If you don't plan to maintain it full main dealer, then don't buy one with full main dealer history as you will be paying a premium for something you are going to take away.

The F430 is a reasonably modern car, in that it is durable and does the mileage OK. You will be fine with that sort of mileage you are talking, but as I say, much better to buy something else and use the F430 as a second car, than rack up mileage, etc on the F430 as a daily in my opinion.