Buying a 550

[ldnajt]

I’ve started looking at 550s alongside 360s and thought I’d flag this up as one that looks good
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1998-ferrari-5...

What do the wise folk of pistonheads think?

No affiliation, but I’m interested to see what it makes. Haven’t yet got my head around the notion of buying the most valuable car I’d buy without viewing it first...

[21ATS]

ldnajt said:

I’ve started looking at 550s alongside 360s and thought I’d flag this up as one that looks good
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1998-ferrari-5...

What do the wise folk of pistonheads think?

No affiliation, but I’m interested to see what it makes. Haven’t yet got my head around the notion of buying the most valuable car I’d buy without viewing it first...

It was for sale at The Hairpin Company for much of last year at £90K, clearly it didn't sell.

[21ATS]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CB_L3pqF7aB/

[SFTWend]

21ATS said:

It was for sale at The Hairpin Company for much of last year at £90K, clearly it didn't sell.

Good recent history.

Prices of most makes/models appear to have risen c.20% in the last year so, in theory, this car should make three figures based on Hairpins valuation.

[Chris722]

I don’t think this will top six figures, although it does look a nice one but has some quite big gaps in servicing it!

[seawise]

Chris722 said:

I don’t think this will top six figures, although it does look a nice one but has some quite big gaps in servicing it!

Sold £73,501 excl fees (+6pcnt on top) - so neither a bargain nor overpriced i would say, about right.

[21ATS]

A little under £78,000 all in seems like where the market is right now.

Love or loathe CC, you get a reasonable feel for what cars actually change hands for. Like Seawise suggests I see this as neither a bargain or expensive. It's the top end of a private sale deal closing in on a real world retail price.

All the dreamers parking their cars at SOR dealers asking £90K, £100K, £125K etc. are simply not representative of real world selling prices. You can ask what you want if it doesn't matter if you sell the car or not.

[SFTWend]

21ATS said:

A little under £78,000 all in seems like where the market is right now.

Love or loathe CC, you get a reasonable feel for what cars actually change hands for. Like Seawise suggests I see this as neither a bargain or expensive. It's the top end of a private sale deal closing in on a real world retail price.

All the dreamers parking their cars at SOR dealers asking £90K, £100K, £125K etc. are simply not representative of real world selling prices. You can ask what you want if it doesn't matter if you sell the car or not.

To be fair to the trade, £78k private would be £85k or so at a respected dealer. On that basis a very low miles example would still be best part of a £100k, but no more I suggest.

[Paracetamol]

Having owned one for four years my only guidance is to ensure you live close to a specialist who really knows them inside out.

They have a few weaknesses and are getting old but when refreshed they are truly wonderful. Some parts are NLA and problematic like

1. Radiator (cooling is weak at the best of times and becomes inefficient - cooked my head gasket!)
2. Airbag ECU (blows when jump starting)
3. Fuel pump holders/associated parts (disintegrate when invariably changing the pumps)
4. Catalytic converters

All this stuff is inevitably needed but you need to trawl ebay etc.

The suspension also really benefits from a refresh. I had Bilstein rebuild the shocks and changed all the wishbone bushings. The shock top sensors were a total PITA and are expensive to replace.

When they are working however, there's nothing like them.

Edited by Paracetamol on Wednesday 2nd June 09:12

[cgt2]

Paracetamol said:

Having owned one for four years my only guidance is to ensure you live close to a specialist who really knows them inside out.

They have a few weaknesses and are getting old but when refreshed they are truly wonderful. Some parts are NLA and problematic like

1. Radiator (cooling is weak at the best of times and becomes inefficient - cooked my head gasket!)
2. Airbag ECU (blows when jump starting)
3. Fuel pump holders/associated parts (disintegrate when invariably changing the pumps)
4. Catalytic converters

All this stuff is inevitably needed but you need to trawl ebay etc.

The suspension also really benefits from a refresh. I had Bilstein rebuild the shocks and changed all the wishbone bushings. The shock top sensors were a total PITA and are expensive to replace.

When they are working however, there's nothing like them.

Edited by Paracetamol on Wednesday 2nd June 09:12

Agreed with all the above. Would also add engine mounts (I upgraded to 575 ones) and also pay close attention to the steering rack. It is a heavy car so all to be expected over time really.

[21ATS]

SFTWend said:

To be fair to the trade, £78k private would be £85k or so at a respected dealer. On that basis a very low miles example would still be best part of a £100k, but no more I suggest.

Your assumtion here is the £78K paid for the recent car is a trade/private sale price when many cars going through CC are reaching and often exceeding forecourt specialist prices.

There's been plenty of 550's for sale in the £80's and £90's for 18 months now - not moving, still available. The odd super low mile, super clean car bucks the trend but I see £78K/£80K as all the money for these right now - from a dealer.

[4rephill]

21ATS said:

.......All the dreamers parking their cars at SOR dealers asking £90K, £100K, £125K etc. are simply not representative of real world selling prices. You can ask what you want if it doesn't matter if you sell the car or not.

I wonder how many of these "dreamers" are actually people who bought their cars 5~6 years ago, when the prices were stupidly high, and are now trying to sell their cars marked up at a high price, hoping to limit their losses in the process?

Chances are they're not going to get the price they're hoping for (unless they're prepared for a long wait), but by the same token, chances are, they're not interested in losing £20K~£30K on the cars either.

[cgt2]

4rephill said:

I wonder how many of these "dreamers" are actually people who bought their cars 5~6 years ago, when the prices were stupidly high, and are now trying to sell their cars marked up at a high price, hoping to limit their losses in the process?

Chances are they're not going to get the price they're hoping for (unless they're prepared for a long wait), but by the same token, chances are, they're not interested in losing £20K~£30K on the cars either.

They jumped over £100k in 2017. I know of only one car that actually sold for £115k, others seem to be advertised at more but who knows what they sell for. All others I know of from prior to 2017 were in the £70-£80k range, which was double the £40k-ish a good one was in 2012-3. When Rardley advertised a nice one in early 2020 for £70k with 50k miles it sold within days, Mike said it took a week to move on. A very nice one was recently offered here for £75k with similar miles but didn't sell and went to px where I believe it still is priced at late £80's though no doubt a deal can be done.

As emphasised above a car that may not be a bad one but needs a few big jobs doing will easily throw out a £10k bill, from experience £5k was always an annual expectation even on a very well maintained car. The bigger problem these days is lack of parts availability.

Edited by cgt2 on Wednesday 2nd June 17:13

[jtremlett]

cgt2 said:

...from experience £5k was always an annual expectation even on a very well maintained car...

I must be very lucky then because in the 13 years I've owned mine I've never had a bill anywhere near that

[kith]

jtremlett said:

must be very lucky then because in the 13 years I've owned mine I've never had a bill anywhere near that

How many miles have you done in that period?

[jtremlett]

kith said:

jtremlett said:

must be very lucky then because in the 13 years I've owned mine I've never had a bill anywhere near that

How many miles have you done in that period?

Circa 20k although not very many of them latterly, it must be said. I've only used the poor thing once so far this year, although I hope that will be changing.

[Notsureaboutthat]

Thoughts on the CC one at the moment?

Probably a dream spec for many on an older V12 Ferrari in terms of interior and exterior colour and with the Fiorano handling package and lowing miles seems like a great car. If any recent car up for sale is worth chunky money getting over 6-figures it could be this one…?

[21ATS]

It's a lovely looking car and with today's madness it would probably hit 6 figures if it had even a half sensible service history, but it hasn't. You only need to look at the MOT history to see this has just sat, and when it failed yet another MOT it was just stuffed back into storage then dealt with some time later.

According to the MOT history it's covered 1,766 miles in the last 14 years.

It could be a belter, but it's more likely it has a lot of rubber that's going to need replacing. The owners responses to questions don't exactly inspire confidence either.

The service history is sparce and sporadic, as it stands now at £92,500 + fees it's already at dealer retail price IMO.

Slades had it for sale July 2018 to June 2019, asking £129,950 then £119,950. Then again, briefly, in May last year asking £102,950.

The tool kit show moisture damage suggesting that has been water ingress in the boot.

[21ATS]

Well it sold for £96,500 + commission (£102,290) as a private sale via an online auction. No warranty, no comebacks.

This could have been bought from Slades at full asking price £102,950 with full dealer facilities, warranty and comeback.

I imagine motor dealers like Slades are watching these auctions and wondering why they're bothering being in business with premises, overheads, coffe machines and the legal obligations of being a motor trader when CC can charge the best part of £6,000 to advertise the same car from an office on a wesbite and have no legal responsibility or obligation whatsoever for it.