85k to spend on which car? advice, opinions plze

[Smooth Smith]

rosino said:

i would only buy used if from thorney motorsport or possibly a good rep official dealer with a strong warranty.. but even then you are on the hook for all the stuff they will wiggle out of arguing it's consumables or not covered anymore (corrosion etc)

I don't think Thorney would sell a car with corrosion though. They would make the seller have it repaired before offering it for sale. Obviously, should corrosion then happen again in the future, then that will be on you to sort.

[sjc]

TISPKJ said:

Pandalada246 said:

So the 12c with less than 3k miles, is waiting for a PPI by a Indy specialist

What indépendant is checking it over - there are only 2 really.

Three really ?
V,Thorney and XP1.

[robemcdonald]

650S said:

robemcdonald said:

With that sort of budget I d pick a 570GT. They have something about them. In a light colour without the black / carbon side intakes.

A quite simple unfussy design.

Something like this one..

Missing the hydraulic linked Suspension kills these for me, but a lovely looking car, I find the black side strake naff too

Not driven one personally but they’re meant to ride well despite that omission.

[650S]

ajm_ph said:

I agree 100% with the sentiment that condition and history are more important than mileage. A well looked after car is more desirable than a poorly looked after one regardless of mileage. However, due to painful personal experience, I maintain that I would be very cautious of any lack of recent use indicated by extremely low mileage. It might be fine, but it also might not, and the trouble is it's almost impossible to tell.

I bought an F430 a few years ago. It was in good condition, full service history, had a recent service, and drove very well. Picked up, all good, then it broke down on the way home with a transmission failure. Turns out a seal had dried out and hardened, but it only started to leak very slightly when the car was warmed though, and even then the issue only manifested when it had been run at temperature for a long time leading to loss of pressure. Even when I took it to a specialist they couldn't reproduce the issue at first until I got them to take it out for 45 minutes. It took over an hour of taking the transmission system apart to find the problem, and that's only because they were looking for it, not a chance it would have shown up in a PPI. This was just after Covid, so the car hadn't been more than 20 miles from the owners house for a year.

Moral of the story is that some issues only become apparent when a car is driven, and I don't mean a 15 minute run to the garage to get its MOT and service once a year. It's not the low miles per se that worries me, it's that a car hasn't been driven recently.

I'm not saying the hypothetical 2000 mile car in your example will have issues, just that if it does it's possible nobody would know, including the owner, and even a PPI can only check so much. As the saying goes; once bitten twice shy, if I'm presented with a car that spends 363 days a year in the garage, heated or not, I'll pass. That is mitigated if it's from a reputable garage, in which case what I'd do is arrange a 500 mile road trip as soon as possible after collection to properly check it out.

(then there is the issue of how trustworthy mileage readouts are, but that is a whole different can of worms)

I'm really sorry you had that experience. The disappointment is palpable.

What I'd say by way of reply, is, it reflects more on the quality of a F430, than generally on the risk of storage to an oil seal.

The seals in 99.9% of transmissions in cars, vans, trucks, etc are from standard polymer materials such as Nitrile rubber or Viton.
These materials are used by the industry, worldwide. There are standards for the material formulation, and for the seal assembly process.
In use, seals last decades, we see vehicles 20 / 30 and more years old with original gearboxes (and seals).
This is because they were engineered to a good quality standard.
It doesn't matter if the vehicle has 70hp and cost £2000 new or 500hp and cost £200k new. A seal is relatively low tech in recent decades.

The reason for dry storage, and I had this happen with out any storage, is the ground surfaces of a half-shaft where they pass into the diff, can get wet and salt on them at the lip of the seal. This starts corrosion on the steel surface, the corrosion grows very slowly and creeps under the seal. Were talking 0.5mm and the seal will weep, and eventually weep heavily or leak. So for me, if the car is in dry / low humidity storage this type of risk is reduced.

Hey, this does not change your experience, but personally I'd steer clear of that stuff from Maranello.

[650S]

robemcdonald said:

650S said:

robemcdonald said:

With that sort of budget I d pick a 570GT. They have something about them. In a light colour without the black / carbon side intakes.

A quite simple unfussy design.

Something like this one..

Missing the hydraulic linked Suspension kills these for me, but a lovely looking car, I find the black side strake naff too

Not driven one personally but they re meant to ride well despite that omission.

That's interesting, I need to drive a non-hydraulic McLaren, I hear the Artura is superbly sprung and its conventional.
Cars like that 570 with proper headlights look so much better that a 720 or 750

[Frankychops]

Pandalada246 said:

Hi everybody

I have 85k to purchase a nice car this year
Which car would you buy ?
Mainly for summer use and long distance driving


I would like to buy a Ferrari FF, McLaren 12c coupe or 12c spyder,
I have seen for sale
FF 2012, black, 5 owners, FSH, 29k miles , 80k
12c spyder , orange, 7 owners, FSH, 13.5k miles , 81k
And been offered this via my dads contact , who is in the car trade
12c coupe , red , 2 owners, FSH , 5k miles, 85k , showroom condition. Used by both owners in the summer only

Thank you all in advance for your views on the above

This one:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/19441818

[WCZ]

Frankychops said:

This one:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/19441818

agreed, for an extra 15k it's a lot more car imo

[ex-devonpaul]

WCZ said:

agreed, for an extra 15k it's a lot more car imo

That's generally how spending more works (but not always)

[robemcdonald]

Good old Pistonheads.

I have £85k to spend…

Here’s one you can’t afford….

[Pandalada246]

robemcdonald said:

Good old Pistonheads.

I have £85k to spend

Here s one you can t afford .

Am sticking to my budget ..85k max .. that s it

Been there before many times and got the T shirt
where I have started with a budget of 20k and ended up spending 35k !!!

[TISPKJ]

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17321980

GT was mentioned before 2020 car v 9 year older 12c ....... they seem value to me.

Its 5k over budget but is missing a service, and needs a service this year ........ would have thought a deal to be done.

I have no connection with the car

[ajm_ph]

Seems like a decent car but man I wish this trend of lazy dealers using AI to write their ads would die.
You're selling a ninety grand car, spend 10 minutes writing an actual description of it FFS.

/rant

[sjc]

ajm_ph said:

Seems like a decent car but man I wish this trend of lazy dealers using AI to write their ads would die.
You're selling a ninety grand car, spend 10 minutes writing an actual description of it FFS.

/rant

100%.

[JJ77]

Yep! Dont see the correlation for the list of your cars with Ferrari FF. If Ferrari, why not look at Cali T, have not looked recently but they must be 80k from Ferrari with a 2 Year warranty and some interesting invites to events in UK?

[ex-devonpaul]

TISPKJ said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17321980

GT was mentioned before 2020 car v 9 year older 12c ....... they seem value to me.

Its 5k over budget but is missing a service, and needs a service this year ........ would have thought a deal to be done.

I have no connection with the car

Looking on another website that car was initially listed at £115490 last September and has been reduced about a dozen times since, and put up by a fiver on 30/12/24

[Pandalada246]

Car is arriving tomorrow

Purchased a 12c
Two owner
Under 3k
FSH
Got the all clear from the McLaren Indy specialist yesterday
They did 75 miles , test drive and no issues or leaks
Recommended agreed value 100k
Car has zero issues
Just needs to be driven and enjoyed
Roll on April 2026

I wish to thank you all for your opinions, advice and ideas on my post !!

Merry Xmas and happy new year to you all !!

Edited by Pandalada246 on Tuesday 18th November 09:17

[TISPKJ]

well done - had mine for best part of 10 years with no dramas and enjoyed 3 euro tours with the club - enjoy

[robemcdonald]

Result!

[Bispal]

Pandalada246 said:

Car is arriving tomorrow

Purchased a 12c
Two owner
Under 3k
FSH
Got the all clear from the McLaren Indy specialist yesterday
They did 75 miles , test drive and no issues or leaks
Recommended agreed value 100k
Car has zero issues
Just needs to be driven and enjoyed
Roll on April 2026

I wish to thank you all for your opinions, advice and ideas on my post !!

Merry Xmas and happy new year to you all !!

Edited by Pandalada246 on Tuesday 18th November 09:17

Congratulations. Coupe or Spyder? Colour? pics.....

[650S]

Again, Congratulations

Swipe Door?