355 F1 reliability?

[NobleLord]

Hi,

I'm considering a 1996-1997 355 F1 (bad knee requires auto) as my new car... I don't do many miles and work away from home all week, so it's really just a weekend luxury but needs to be able to cope with a 200 mile round trip if I decide to drive to work one week.

Can 355 owners please give me some pointers on reliability? Can they cope with busy motorway traffic on a hot summers day? Will they start after being left for a couple of weeks? Basically, would such a car be up to the job?

Thanks,
NL

[Jonty355]

Well I have a 1996 manual F355 spider, and I've left it stood for over 4 weeks and its started just as normal, even though it was really cold weather. Just make sure it has a good battery on it.

As for getting stuck in traffic, they're fine temperature wise. I was stuck for well over 30 mins in the middle of Leeds and it was fine. You may find the semi-automatic a struggle to live with when stuck in traffic. I found it to be very jerky at slow speeds.

[elms]

Ken (Fbloke) on here has had a 355b F1 for a while now. Hopefully he will see this thread and add his experience

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...

[hazy]

I owned one for a year and loved it. The shift was too brutal in sport mode, but great in normal.F1 adds to the whole Ferrari experience IMO, just get the clutch wear checked at a garage before buying, poor technique can wear them out prematurely.

[Fbloke]

I keep mine on an optimate trickle charger because I did have some problems with leaving it for a while, with the optimate its sweet as a nut, starts first hit every time.

Traffic on motorways on a hot day.
I,ve had plenty of that and it grumbles a bit (some sort of beeper goes off ???) but it always keeps going.

But forget about all that JUST GET ONE stand on the loud pedal and .....I still have the grin on my face after two years, the sound, the handling, fantastic.

Ken

[Seasider]

Fbloke said:

the sound,

Ken

See you in the tube again soon

[Fbloke]

Seasider said:

Fbloke said:

the sound,

Ken

See you in the tube again soon

Just fitted a Tubi nudge nudge ..... the tunnel mmmmmmmmm

Look forward to meeting up again soon Del

Ken

[Seasider]

Fbloke said:

Just fitted a Tubi nudge nudge ..... the tunnel mmmmmmmmm

Might hear you next time

Fbloke said:

Look forward to meeting up again soon Del

Ken

Look forward to it

[355f]

Had mine for 2 years and it was reliable BUT watch for costs on these things, the pump and actuator ( which always leaks) costs more than a rebuild of a gearbox. I paid about 7K for a new pump.

Common problems seem to be that the relay cant take the load and sticks 'on' which burns out the motor.

With this kind of technology it dates very quickly- so 355F1 is first generation and compared to later systems isa bit crude.

I would take the manual car everytime but if for leg reasons you want F1 fair enough