328 GTS - any known issues?
Discussion
Looking at buying a 328 GTS.
This will be my first venture into Italian sports cars; have only had German cars before but want to buy something where the depreciation is not depressing!
Am looking at a GTS (Feb 1990) with 20K on the clock.
Can anyone tell me what the major issues with a 328 GTS are and also what to look out for or ask about.
Hope someone can help as I would love to own a 328 but don't want to break the bank with repair bills.
The one good point about the German cars I have had before is the reliability
Thanks
This will be my first venture into Italian sports cars; have only had German cars before but want to buy something where the depreciation is not depressing!
Am looking at a GTS (Feb 1990) with 20K on the clock.
Can anyone tell me what the major issues with a 328 GTS are and also what to look out for or ask about.
Hope someone can help as I would love to own a 328 but don't want to break the bank with repair bills.
The one good point about the German cars I have had before is the reliability
Thanks
Edited by The Dog on Friday 28th December 19:29
No real major known problems, Oil Cooler unions can split and electric windows can become a bit slow. I owned one for around 4 Years and 26k miles and total non service, wear & tear costs were £140.
Annual service is around £400, every two (or it may be 3 now) they need a cambelt or two so add £250, if valve clearances need doing then add another £400 or so.
Condition is everything, buy a good one at todays prices and I reckon you'll see no depreciation based on circa £5k miles per annum, get it inspected by a good independant, try Tim Bate at Emblem in Bournmouth for your part of the world
Annual service is around £400, every two (or it may be 3 now) they need a cambelt or two so add £250, if valve clearances need doing then add another £400 or so.
Condition is everything, buy a good one at todays prices and I reckon you'll see no depreciation based on circa £5k miles per annum, get it inspected by a good independant, try Tim Bate at Emblem in Bournmouth for your part of the world
pic below
Look for rust - sills, door bottoms, wheel arch returns, round the electric ariel etc. Check the condition of the front light assemblies below the bumper - they are no longer available.
Look at the picture above - that black line that runs down the side of the car is a groove. The part in front of the front wheeel - above is metal, below is fibreglass bolted up to the metal. Feel along the upper horizontal side of the groove for rust. If its there you need to take the whole front end bumper/valence assembley off to fix it & you would pretty much end up getting the whole front end resprayed.
The car you are looking at will be a later ABS car - there was an update on 328s in Mid '88 where they added the ABS. Actually the most important part of the update was a reworking of the suspension but largely people divide the cars into ABS & Non ABS & you tell the difference by the wheels - the one pictured above has the earlier dished (concave) wheels & is non ABS. The ABS wheels are convex. There are very few non ABS cars that do have the upgraded suspension & these are normally referred to as "88.5s"
There were something like 540 GTS's (of which about 240 were ABS cars so 89/90) & 110 GTBs. The GTB is just a stunning thing, the GTS is probably easier to find and also to sell. Avoid buying modified cars (cars that have had the roof panel painted or the wheels changed etc) - the market for these cars is much smaller I think & so they might be difficult to move on.
Look at the picture above - that black line that runs down the side of the car is a groove. The part in front of the front wheeel - above is metal, below is fibreglass bolted up to the metal. Feel along the upper horizontal side of the groove for rust. If its there you need to take the whole front end bumper/valence assembley off to fix it & you would pretty much end up getting the whole front end resprayed.
The car you are looking at will be a later ABS car - there was an update on 328s in Mid '88 where they added the ABS. Actually the most important part of the update was a reworking of the suspension but largely people divide the cars into ABS & Non ABS & you tell the difference by the wheels - the one pictured above has the earlier dished (concave) wheels & is non ABS. The ABS wheels are convex. There are very few non ABS cars that do have the upgraded suspension & these are normally referred to as "88.5s"
There were something like 540 GTS's (of which about 240 were ABS cars so 89/90) & 110 GTBs. The GTB is just a stunning thing, the GTS is probably easier to find and also to sell. Avoid buying modified cars (cars that have had the roof panel painted or the wheels changed etc) - the market for these cars is much smaller I think & so they might be difficult to move on.
Edited by Iain328 on Sunday 30th December 22:58
Basically everything that Iain328 says is spot-on, based on the responses I've had from the considerable research I've done into 328s - I have every intention of owning one myself one day and spend lots of my spare time investigating them. Address the factors that Iain328 mentions and buy on condition first - age/mileage second. There are planty of under-used 'concours queens' with tiny mileage and a huge price but the need for extensive and expensive re-commissioning before they're useful for anything more energetic than sitting on the grass at Broughton Castle - don't be fooled that low-milers are better - condition, condition, condition! The overall impression I get is that the 328 is the most affordable Ferrari to run and extremely reliable. Earlier Ferraris had issues which were ironed-out by the time the 328 came along, and later Ferraris are more complex and therefore more likely to throw-up issues which are more tricky to sort out. The 328 sits bang-on a relatively affordable spot right between two more costly eras!
I'm a bit late with this but must agree that very low mileage Ferraris can be much less satisfactory to drive than regularly used and higher mileage cars - which makes a bit of a nonsense of the prices asked.
My 328 is fabulous but it certainly has NOT been cheap to run. Minor over-heating issues caused a blown head gasket (£6k) and then the ABS system failed (£3k). Also, so-called Ferrari specialists vry enormously in quality. I cannot recommend Italia Autosport highly enough but A.N.Other that I used seemed to keep adding to the bill without really doing any more work.
Enjoy your car and keep your fingers crossed - the expensive problems I've had are rare apparently, much rarer than on a 348 or some later cars.
The 328 is also generally better made and a more sorted car than 308 - not many of the latter seem to be in genuinely good condition.
My 328 is fabulous but it certainly has NOT been cheap to run. Minor over-heating issues caused a blown head gasket (£6k) and then the ABS system failed (£3k). Also, so-called Ferrari specialists vry enormously in quality. I cannot recommend Italia Autosport highly enough but A.N.Other that I used seemed to keep adding to the bill without really doing any more work.
Enjoy your car and keep your fingers crossed - the expensive problems I've had are rare apparently, much rarer than on a 348 or some later cars.
The 328 is also generally better made and a more sorted car than 308 - not many of the latter seem to be in genuinely good condition.
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