550 vs 575

[cobra289]

I live in Italy & can buy a 10,000 mile 550 for about £55k. A 575 is about £20k more.

I'm not desperate for the f1 gears so I'm much more tempted by the 550. It must also depreciate less since its already lost bucketloads.

Can anybody tell me from personal experience if there really is a big difference between the two??

Any info would be a great help. Thanks

[amcphillips]

I think F355GTS may be the best person to answer this:

www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=253554&f=63&h=0

[cobra289]

Sorry to waste anybodys time. I should have emailed him before posting. But I am interested to hear everybody's thoughts

[amcphillips]

I wasn't trying to say you shouldn't have posted! Just pointing you to one possible source of help!

[V12AML]

5.5 V12 in the 550 and 5.7 V12 in the 575 I think is the major difference. In my opinion they should have redesigned the 575 visually (not to much, like the DB7 3.2 - DB7 Vantage for example) to set it apart, but as it happens they are very similar and can be difficult to tell apart unless you see the badge at the back.

[jdh1]

I had exactly the same decision at pretty much the same price points three weeks ago. I'm not really qualified to talk about the relative merits of each car, but can tell you why I went for a 575M. It was a more up to date model, had half the miles of the 550 and was 5 years newer...

£20,000 more for a car 5 years newer (and which originally cost over £160k) seemed a more than fair trade off to me. I figured depreciation would probably be a little more, but lower running/repair costs may offset some of it. I'd have probably still done the same if it was a 5 years newer 550.

But if that extra £20k was going to 'hurt' I'd have bought the 550 and probably had no reason to regret it. Visually, it's very difficult to tell the difference.

[cobra289]

amcphillips said:

I wasn't trying to say you shouldn't have posted! Just pointing you to one possible source of help!

Thank you for your help; we've sent a few emails back and forth which is v. useful.

>> Edited by cobra289 on Tuesday 21st March 22:59

[cobra289]

jdh1 said:

I had exactly the same decision at pretty much the same price points three weeks ago. I'm not really qualified to talk about the relative merits of each car, but can tell you why I went for a 575M. It was a more up to date model, had half the miles of the 550 and was 5 years newer... £20,000 more for a car 5 years newer (and which originally cost over £160k) seemed a more than fair trade off to me. I figured depreciation would probably be a little more, but lower running/repair costs may offset some of it. I'd have probably still done the same if it was a 5 years newer 550. But if that extra £20k was going to 'hurt' I'd have bought the 550 and probably had no reason to regret it. Visually, it's very difficult to tell the difference.

I've actually found a 4,000 mile 550 for sort of the right money. £35k more can buy a full spec 575. I just think thatat around £50k it cant succumb to any serious depreciation and the 575 could.

But apart from the price issues and the F1 gearbox is the 575 significantly quicker????? or a nicer car.