Can you use a 550 every day?
Discussion
Thanks, and yes I was looking at Elises too.
Half of me says - save some cash and get an Elise.
The other half says stuff it - you only live once so live the dream and as long as you dont harm anyone have fun and live your life to the full...
Just thinking what to do come spring.. got the car itch to change - maybe I should just keep my current 996 who knows?
So guys should be live for now or plan for tomorrow?
Half of me says - save some cash and get an Elise.
The other half says stuff it - you only live once so live the dream and as long as you dont harm anyone have fun and live your life to the full...
Just thinking what to do come spring.. got the car itch to change - maybe I should just keep my current 996 who knows?
So guys should be live for now or plan for tomorrow?
Hardly anyone I know uses their car every day, though without question they could do so with the later cars. This question gets asked many times and in the end it always goes quiet and the idea gets buried. Maily this is down to fuel cost, residuals and the question of what you drive at the weekend. I used my 360 3-4 times a week for a few months, and within a short time was tossing my bag into the passenger footwell and driving to work without a second thought for the car.
Harry Metcalfe in EVO is running a 550 in the Fast Fleet.
Harry Metcalfe in EVO is running a 550 in the Fast Fleet.
Hi there.
I own & run a 550 (for about a year now).
Perhaps best to break it down into some summary factors for you to consider:
RELIABILITY - I think yes, you can use it every day without any issues.
PRACTICALITY - Question is do you need 2+2, because it isn't. The boot size is pretty good, so if 2 seats are all you need, then yes. (Personally I run a nippy estate car (RS4) for when the dog & misses all come with).
DRIVING - It's not designed to sit in traffic. Big heavy clutch, gets tiring in slow, boring driving conditions. Also, got to be very delecate in the wet. HOWEVER - if you're drive to work is interesting and not to bad traffic wise, I couldn't think of many better ways to get to work each day !!!
Driving on clear open roads, is obviously as droolingly good an experience as you'd expect it to be.
ECONOMY - Err, perhaps shouldn't even be a consideration. If that's what you're after, get a Micra / Hybrid.
Costs about £65-£70 a tank, for approx 180-200 miles urban or 250-300 miles motorway / higher speed driving.
X FACTOR - Not much that beats it in my opinion.
DEPRECIATION - This is the killer factor and argument against daily use I think. If you're gonna put 15k miles on it each year, it's gonna lose value fairly quickly. If you're of the opinion FxxK IT (which I partly am) then fair do's. I can live with about 7k a year.
OR - have a reasonably practical (but quick) car for every day and the 550 for when the drive is interesting or the roads are empty (which is what I do).
Hope that's of use. Fire over other questions if req.
Joel.
I own & run a 550 (for about a year now).
Perhaps best to break it down into some summary factors for you to consider:
RELIABILITY - I think yes, you can use it every day without any issues.
PRACTICALITY - Question is do you need 2+2, because it isn't. The boot size is pretty good, so if 2 seats are all you need, then yes. (Personally I run a nippy estate car (RS4) for when the dog & misses all come with).
DRIVING - It's not designed to sit in traffic. Big heavy clutch, gets tiring in slow, boring driving conditions. Also, got to be very delecate in the wet. HOWEVER - if you're drive to work is interesting and not to bad traffic wise, I couldn't think of many better ways to get to work each day !!!
Driving on clear open roads, is obviously as droolingly good an experience as you'd expect it to be.
ECONOMY - Err, perhaps shouldn't even be a consideration. If that's what you're after, get a Micra / Hybrid.
Costs about £65-£70 a tank, for approx 180-200 miles urban or 250-300 miles motorway / higher speed driving.
X FACTOR - Not much that beats it in my opinion.
DEPRECIATION - This is the killer factor and argument against daily use I think. If you're gonna put 15k miles on it each year, it's gonna lose value fairly quickly. If you're of the opinion FxxK IT (which I partly am) then fair do's. I can live with about 7k a year.
OR - have a reasonably practical (but quick) car for every day and the 550 for when the drive is interesting or the roads are empty (which is what I do).
Hope that's of use. Fire over other questions if req.
Joel.
Hi there TG,
Ball park guess at servicing costs :
£600 for a really basic annual, £800 for basic + a few other oil changes (eg: gear box oil)(every 6k miles)
£1200 for a full service (every 18k miles)
£1800 for a full service inc belts (not sure how often without checking - maybe every three years?)
There's even a fair bit of difference between authorised Ferrari dealerships too - and I have found that the ones further from you are generally happy to put it on a trailer for you at no extra cost, in order to get the work.
Obviously there are plenty of independent specialists who'll do it cheaper (although often not much in it), depending on the value you place on FMDSH.
Have any other cars made it onto your short list?
Joel.
Ball park guess at servicing costs :
£600 for a really basic annual, £800 for basic + a few other oil changes (eg: gear box oil)(every 6k miles)
£1200 for a full service (every 18k miles)
£1800 for a full service inc belts (not sure how often without checking - maybe every three years?)
There's even a fair bit of difference between authorised Ferrari dealerships too - and I have found that the ones further from you are generally happy to put it on a trailer for you at no extra cost, in order to get the work.
Obviously there are plenty of independent specialists who'll do it cheaper (although often not much in it), depending on the value you place on FMDSH.
Have any other cars made it onto your short list?
Joel.
Hi
I ran a 550 everyday (and racked up a lot of mile 10,000+ in 4 months)
Very reliable. I would concur that the biggest coss is 98 RON and new tyres - generally because I kept picking up nails and stuff on my rears - although this is true of all wide, low profile, soft compound tyres.
Great car - just get one!
Anjum
I ran a 550 everyday (and racked up a lot of mile 10,000+ in 4 months)
Very reliable. I would concur that the biggest coss is 98 RON and new tyres - generally because I kept picking up nails and stuff on my rears - although this is true of all wide, low profile, soft compound tyres.
Great car - just get one!
Anjum
Cheers guys, other cars on my short list are a 355 Spider and 360 Coupe. Is anyone of them better to use more than a 550 or cheaper to run?
I know what you mean by nails costing you as I kept picking them up back in the summer in my turbo which being 4wd got stupidly expensive. I found Bracknell Tyre and Battery to be cheapest by far if it happens again to you.
Cheers
TG
I know what you mean by nails costing you as I kept picking them up back in the summer in my turbo which being 4wd got stupidly expensive. I found Bracknell Tyre and Battery to be cheapest by far if it happens again to you.
Cheers
TG
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