Harrys 550 in EVO
Discussion
Been following the progress of Lord Metcalfes Ferrari 550 Maranello in EVO with interest. It' seems to have had it's fair share if niggles (gearbox replacement etc 
).
So, any of you lot who've owned on - is the experience of the great man pretty much par for the course, or is he really unlucky?
). So, any of you lot who've owned on - is the experience of the great man pretty much par for the course, or is he really unlucky?
Funny thing is, as a Cerb veteren I'm not even remotely bothered by his running costs, which to use a car like a 550 all the time seem pretty good to me. If I could get those running costs, I'm more likely to get one....
When I saw that he was hinting at a scary bill I was expecting something approaching 10k .. that's when I get scared.. a grand or two here and there, not an issue.
When I saw that he was hinting at a scary bill I was expecting something approaching 10k .. that's when I get scared.. a grand or two here and there, not an issue.
Guy - understand your point and as a verteran of some eye watering Maserati bills I doubt 550 ownership would be any cheaper than my past exploits!
Reliability wise though - I'm planning a summer of driving in Europe - 2weeks in france, week in germany, weekend in france, 1+week to norway and back. I need some faith that the car will hold together - not a fan of limping from dealer to dealer.. I'd rather get put off the idea now and save myself a nightmare if it really is a daft idea...
Been offered a 60k 99T 550 with 1 owner with 15k on the clock, TDF Blue, Crema interior. Will come fully serviced belts etc...
Bargain?
Reliability wise though - I'm planning a summer of driving in Europe - 2weeks in france, week in germany, weekend in france, 1+week to norway and back. I need some faith that the car will hold together - not a fan of limping from dealer to dealer.. I'd rather get put off the idea now and save myself a nightmare if it really is a daft idea...
Been offered a 60k 99T 550 with 1 owner with 15k on the clock, TDF Blue, Crema interior. Will come fully serviced belts etc...
Bargain?
If you can get a Power Warranty, then you should be sheltered from most of the expensive goings-wrong (available even if you didn't buy a car from Ferrari dealer, so long as you have FFSH)
Metcalfe claims all the miles he's done has depreciated his car by £6000.. I would say that was very conservative.
That said, unlike my 360, the 550 always felt like it was going to get expensive any time soon.
>> Edited by GT2man-2 on Monday 30th January 16:20
Metcalfe claims all the miles he's done has depreciated his car by £6000.. I would say that was very conservative.
That said, unlike my 360, the 550 always felt like it was going to get expensive any time soon.
>> Edited by GT2man-2 on Monday 30th January 16:20
mr_tony said:
Guy - understand your point and as a verteran of some eye watering Maserati bills I doubt 550 ownership would be any cheaper than my past exploits!
Reliability wise though - I'm planning a summer of driving in Europe - 2weeks in france, week in germany, weekend in france, 1+week to norway and back. I need some faith that the car will hold together - not a fan of limping from dealer to dealer.. I'd rather get put off the idea now and save myself a nightmare if it really is a daft idea...
Been offered a 60k 99T 550 with 1 owner with 15k on the clock, TDF Blue, Crema interior. Will come fully serviced belts etc...
Bargain?
I sold my 00W 550 with 18k for 54k. And it was a good one too. Proper FFSH. I'd say 60k for a 99T is a lot.
Yes it's true, the 550 is the first everyday Ferrari, but it's now up to 8 years old and, well, I wouldn't want to have a V12 expire on me outside of the warranty period. My car did always feel fragile, but then again I've not heard any horror stories.
Thanks for the information Blow_Dog - v handy.
60k car is at an independent so figure they picked it up for 50 something and they're punting it on after a belt service...
Back to main point though - was your 550 reliable? Would a 3 week european tour have made you break out in a cold sweat?
60k car is at an independent so figure they picked it up for 50 something and they're punting it on after a belt service...
Back to main point though - was your 550 reliable? Would a 3 week european tour have made you break out in a cold sweat?
Yep agree with all of this; you get a Power One warranty up to 6 years old, and then you get a Power Train warranty for an extra 2 years up to 8 years old. As long as you have this, then the really monster bills should be avoided, such as the recent transmission problem Harry's car had. I haven't seen March's Evo magazine yet, but February's issue suggested the car completely died a death on the Fast Fleet annual beano. Anyone shed any light??
60k for a 99T seems very toppy, maybe ok if buying from a main dealer with Power Warranty, but not from an independant. My 00V car with 18k on the clock was £63k in July of last year from a main dealer. Actually may be for sale as I am trying to swap it for a World Speed Record version.......
As to your point about long journeys, I am planning a 2000 mile trip in Europe in June with the UK Ferrari mob - I certainly hope I'm not asking too much for it to survive that!
Roger
>> Edited by rogerb on Monday 30th January 17:59
60k for a 99T seems very toppy, maybe ok if buying from a main dealer with Power Warranty, but not from an independant. My 00V car with 18k on the clock was £63k in July of last year from a main dealer. Actually may be for sale as I am trying to swap it for a World Speed Record version.......
As to your point about long journeys, I am planning a 2000 mile trip in Europe in June with the UK Ferrari mob - I certainly hope I'm not asking too much for it to survive that!
Roger
>> Edited by rogerb on Monday 30th January 17:59
simonspider said:
Thing is Harry loves his 550 and does massive miles in it - so the problems he has are reflected in the amount of use it gets. I've driven it a few times and its gearbox and engine are really smooth. I know he reads pistonheads so he might just have a few comments himself..
In that case......
CLEAN YOUR CAR HARRY
It looks disgracefull in the current mag, cant even read the number plate
tsk tsk. Mind you, at least your 550 works, unlike the V8 in the fleet :lolsimonspider said:
Thing is Harry loves his 550 and does massive miles in it - so the problems he has are reflected in the amount of use it gets. I've driven it a few times and its gearbox and engine are really smooth. I know he reads pistonheads so he might just have a few comments himself..
That's a good point Simon. Harry are you out there?? It will be interesting to see if he reduces the mileage given the recent problems he's had. I keep hoping to see him on my numerous visits to Dick Lovett, but he's never there!
Thanks for the info Roger - very useful. Agreed that at 60+ from an indy it's expensive. Still I've got plenty of time to lok, no pressure on me and frankly I'm not 100% that I'll swap the Aero at this point - it is after all a very capable car!
My only concern with any replacement is that it spends time on the road and not off it getting fixed - bills don't scare me, but unreliability would be a complete pain. To be fair the EVO 550 has hardly been unreliable - harry's obviously put serious miles on it which is great - cars like the 550 should be driven.
I'm constantly amazed regarding the low mileages on the cars I've seen - (Still given various comments on the other thread recently of people disconnecting their mileometer I'll be checking histories with a fine tooth comb if I go for it!)
My only concern with any replacement is that it spends time on the road and not off it getting fixed - bills don't scare me, but unreliability would be a complete pain. To be fair the EVO 550 has hardly been unreliable - harry's obviously put serious miles on it which is great - cars like the 550 should be driven.
I'm constantly amazed regarding the low mileages on the cars I've seen - (Still given various comments on the other thread recently of people disconnecting their mileometer I'll be checking histories with a fine tooth comb if I go for it!)
Only had mine for 2 months but its great. Had a 355 before for 3 years adn to be honest you want to drive one of those before you refer to the 550 as fragile.I think it is anything but. It has oodles of grunt which menas that you are not always belting around at the redline (unlike the 355) so in my opinion as long as you look after it in terms of servicing and care then this car will be a lot less fragile than you think.
A quick note on warranties.... you will tend to find that the warranty is more a question of who is fighting your corner than who supplied it. You cna get as good warranties from Motorplan etc...than you can get from Ferrari adn it si the delaer / Independant who fights your corner that matters...... I know of a certain independant who gets a lot of main dealer warranty work adn servicing work which is why i am always reticent to go to a mian dealer (witht the exception of Lancaster in Colchester)..... a good independant and a good warranty are a great combination.......
I am planning a 5 day trip to France in the summer and I ahve no qualms at all about goig in the 550...after all i have gone in a Griff, a cerb twice adn a 355 twice - i feel most confident in the 550 over all of the others..... IMHO....
A quick note on warranties.... you will tend to find that the warranty is more a question of who is fighting your corner than who supplied it. You cna get as good warranties from Motorplan etc...than you can get from Ferrari adn it si the delaer / Independant who fights your corner that matters...... I know of a certain independant who gets a lot of main dealer warranty work adn servicing work which is why i am always reticent to go to a mian dealer (witht the exception of Lancaster in Colchester)..... a good independant and a good warranty are a great combination.......
I am planning a 5 day trip to France in the summer and I ahve no qualms at all about goig in the 550...after all i have gone in a Griff, a cerb twice adn a 355 twice - i feel most confident in the 550 over all of the others..... IMHO....
exactly what I wanted to hear chaps.
As Carl at Verdis said to me yesterday - at 70mph in top it's barely ticking over so not as if you're stressing the engine most of the time!
The gearbox issue the EVO 550 had seems to be a known fault according to a couple of people in the trade - their advice - if 2-3 change gets stiff or baulks then get it in and get it sorted before it causes damage to the rest of the gearbox.
However thats the only issue I'm aware of and it's pretty rare so 550s seem more and more tempting...
As Carl at Verdis said to me yesterday - at 70mph in top it's barely ticking over so not as if you're stressing the engine most of the time!
The gearbox issue the EVO 550 had seems to be a known fault according to a couple of people in the trade - their advice - if 2-3 change gets stiff or baulks then get it in and get it sorted before it causes damage to the rest of the gearbox.
However thats the only issue I'm aware of and it's pretty rare so 550s seem more and more tempting...
simonspider said:
Thing is Harry loves his 550 and does massive miles in it
Massive miles ? He's done sub-50K miles IIRC no ? Not exactly massive on a modern car.
Problems my car had, which are common to all/most.. rear window seals cracking, bonnet rusting, discs warping, leather coming-away from dash, heater control writing peeling off, strong smell of fuel in cabin, headlight rubbers split/perishing. For a garaged car with just 20-odd-thousand miles on it which cost £150K new, that's quite annoying.
Maybe I got lucky, fuel-pump aside, my F355 was in much better condition and had fewer niggles than my 550, and my 360 was leagues ahead of them all.. as I guess it should be, given the chronology of development.
Given the 550 is a GT.. it's long legged, and I found it doesn't lend itself as much as the V8 cars to backroad hustling, even with the Fiorano pack fitted.
Oh, and if you think you know what a thirsty car is.. get ready to have that redefined !
>> Edited by GT2man-2 on Tuesday 31st January 11:16
From where I'm standing, I still say the 550 is a fantastic car and very useable and reliable for what it is (a supercar). I would say that if you wanted a reasonably price car (and a 550 for <60 is that) that can handle big miles effortlessly, I can't think of a better contender.
Again, the odd 1-1.5k bill is just part of using the car properly, and to many Cerb owners wouldn't even cause a sweat (my biggest Cerb bill was 5K, and I did 18k miles per year). Just make sure you are protected against the really big things (but then that's obvious...)
As far as the car being dirty - excellent, I love to see a dirty car that is getting used - why wash it when you can drive it ?
;-)
Again, the odd 1-1.5k bill is just part of using the car properly, and to many Cerb owners wouldn't even cause a sweat (my biggest Cerb bill was 5K, and I did 18k miles per year). Just make sure you are protected against the really big things (but then that's obvious...)
As far as the car being dirty - excellent, I love to see a dirty car that is getting used - why wash it when you can drive it ?
;-)
I think all the comments here are valid; at the end of the day it is a £150,000 car and the running costs reflect that. The niggles are function of it being Italian and largely hand made. Whilst they are annoying, I think most people go in with their eyes open before buying one of these.
GT2Man-2's problems are not uncommon, but not outrageously expensive to fix (bar the rusted bonnet, but that's the first time I've heard of that happening) either, so tend not to get raised that often. On the brake point, when my front brakes warped, the dealer replaced them FOC, so a lot depends on your relationship with the dealer as to how much you can get out of them.
What was disappointing about Harry's gearbox problem was that it had been bulletproof up to that point, and so the copybook was blotted after 20k miles of no doubt serious thrashing. A £10k bill like that would be a real deterrent to buying one for most people, so Mr Tony, make sure you get that warranty, and hopefully you will be ok!
GT2Man-2's problems are not uncommon, but not outrageously expensive to fix (bar the rusted bonnet, but that's the first time I've heard of that happening) either, so tend not to get raised that often. On the brake point, when my front brakes warped, the dealer replaced them FOC, so a lot depends on your relationship with the dealer as to how much you can get out of them.
What was disappointing about Harry's gearbox problem was that it had been bulletproof up to that point, and so the copybook was blotted after 20k miles of no doubt serious thrashing. A £10k bill like that would be a real deterrent to buying one for most people, so Mr Tony, make sure you get that warranty, and hopefully you will be ok!
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff