550 Maranello article - they'll be £200k before you know it!

[paul0843]

harry kular said:

In discussions with the dealer today, I discovered that the car had a new front axle at 28000kms!

This seems strange to me, even the dealer wasn't aware of any issue with them- any ideas?

I think you will find quite a few 550s suffered from this..
Paul

[phib]

[quote=roygarth]

I've imported Ferraris from Germany and Holland with no problems at all. Not sure I'd do so from other Euro countries.....

These two look worth further investigation....


Is it as easy to import from france ? is there any colour to avoid or buy ?

Is there a price premium in colours like there is with 355's ? like the black or grey ones are they good bad or indifferent ?

Lastly are the 575 better or worse ?

Sorry for all the questions !!!!

Thanks for any info

Phib

[johnnyreggae]

Read the ph 550 buyers guide http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=2659... , look for mario149's threads about his 550 and then if you fancy F1 look for all the 575 threads

[roygarth]

Hi Phib, importing from all EU countries is the same from a paperwork etc point of view. Personally I just find the Germans and Dutch very straight people to deal with. I've found Belgians and French a bit dodge and the Italians, er, they don't even seem to know when they are lying!

My rule is to buy from Ferrari Main Dealers only - perhaps you pay slightly more, but I felt more comfortable transferring large sums of Euro to them as opposed to an unknown dealer or private individual.

[harry kular]

roygarth said:

Hi Phib, importing from all EU countries is the same from a paperwork etc point of view. Personally I just find the Germans and Dutch very straight people to deal with. I've found Belgians and French a bit dodge and the Italians, er, they don't even seem to know when they are lying!

My rule is to buy from Ferrari Main Dealers only - perhaps you pay slightly more, but I felt more comfortable transferring large sums of Euro to them as opposed to an unknown dealer or private individual.

On the tax front, what will be liable to hmrc before registration? The car I imported from Germany was originally a UK car, so nothing to pay. Will UK VAT be due when bringing in an original NL car then?

[roygarth]

No import duty. No VAT assuming VAT has been paid before in Europe - usually when car originally sold.

[harry kular]

roygarth said:

No import duty. No VAT assuming VAT has been paid before in Europe - usually when car originally sold.

Thanks for the clarification re VAT.

So I've heard back from the dealer regarding the NL car- "the air conditioning needs fixed, and it needs a 50000km service"

Further investigation into the history reveals that it hasn't had an oil change (but has had other items) in 7 years and 16000km!

This has set the alarm bells ringing for me- should I walk at this point?

[phib]

Walk …. I think run would be a better option unless its really cheap ?

Air can can be a re gas for £50 or £5,000 on condensers, pipe work etc etc

Re servicing whilst the do not service ferraris as much on the continent I would expect a bit more that one service in 7 years

Phib

[harry kular]

You're right. It's beyond me how they could run such a car (or any car) for that long without doing it. Of for the dealership who has looked after it for the duration not to pick up on it. Plus, knowing my luck the air-con will be a nightmare...

I'm oot.

The search continues....

[Cool Hand Luke]

Just been through the same thought process. Settled for a LHD 550, which I'm picking up this week. Seems to be a big spread on this model between RHD UK cars vs LHD Euro cars.

Having spoken to many dealers in Germany, it's the 550 that has the following over there as well. It's not just the manual box, but collectors prefer the simpler more retro interior as well.

[roygarth]

Cool Hand Luke said:

Just been through the same thought process. Settled for a LHD 550, which I'm picking up this week. Seems to be a big spread on this model between RHD UK cars vs LHD Euro cars.

Having spoken to many dealers in Germany, it's the 550 that has the following over there as well. It's not just the manual box, but collectors prefer the simpler more retro interior as well.

550 & 575 are essentially the same car. In the long term the Manual 550 will be the car of choice versus the Auto 575. Its basically the last manual boxed Ferrari GT. Look at the madness over in the Porsche world with prices of the last (admittedly rarer) manual boxed GT3RS. Enthusiasts and collectors prefer manual and they will determine future values.

[harry kular]

Congratulations on your purchase, any pictures? it wasn't in Nuremberg, was it?

ETA: because I want it!!!

Edited by harry kular on Monday 25th August 21:11

[phib]

Congrats... Can't wait to see pics.

Hope your driving it back ?

Phib

[Fezzaman]

550 has always been one for the dream garage for me along with a F355 GTS, but has anyone looked at the classifieds recently?! Not that long ago when a 90k+ miler would have been mid-high 30s. Even a very short while ago 90k+ miler was mid 40s. Now there are 2 90k+ cars at 55k! Thread title might not be far off at this rate. I'd be better off aiming for a used F12 than a 550 over the next few years!!

[Cool Hand Luke]

Congratulations on your purchase, any pictures? it wasn't in Nuremberg, was it?

ETA: because I want it!!!


It isn't, but very nearly was. It was a toss up between that one, and the one I'm going for in Frieberg. I initially fell for the bordeaux interior, but eventually went conservative with a black / grey interior. I have a contact in Germany who has looked over all the paper work for the Nuremberg car. PM if interested. It's looks like a good car.

This is the one I'm going for http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/ferrari-550-f...

[harry kular]

Congrats Luke, The Freiburg one was on my shortlist too. Look forward to hearing about it on the thread in due course.

I'll PM you now...

[MDahmen]

harry kular said:

Congratulations on your purchase, any pictures? it wasn't in Nuremberg, was it?

ETA: because I want it!!!

Edited by harry kular on Monday 25th August 21:11

Just as an fyi, I am pretty sure a grey/bordeaux car in Nuernberg (1996) was listed at 49.x (<50k) until about 3-4 weeks ago (and was listed at that price for quite a while) and then the seller increased the price to mid-fifties. So if it is the same car and you decide to make an offer, there should be some room in the price.

[harry kular]

Yes, I had noticed that when I made my first enquiry about 2 weeks ago- this increase led me to the NL car that I've now discarded from the search. I will certainly be using that as a reference point in negotiations.

[AdvocatusD]

roygarth said:

The £200k is just a reference to a famous Challenge Stradale thread from last year...

Didn't realise my thread was famous...

[phib]

Looks amazing !! Hope to be doing the same next week !!!

Did you get it inspected before you bought it and or do the equivalent hpi ?

Phib