Ferrari on porsche budget?

[johnniecarrera]

Next year I was considering purchasing a 355 or 360 as first Ferrari. It would be easier just to upgrade my 911 which has had bullet-proof reliability so far in 5 years. I'm not wealthy and although I could buy one, am I kidding myself about the running/repair costs? I would have to keep it for 5 years. I only do 5k miles pa at most. An engine failure would cripple me!

[walkersport]

I would not be so worried Ferrari's have excellent reliablity, You just need to buy a car with good history, you could easily spend more on a porsche. What you need to ask yourself is what do i want from this car, experience wise,- pure driving experience, high speed, looks etc, then you need to set a budget, you will find great advise on these pages by real owners, Their is an excellent specialist dealer support network and Ferrari do discounted rates for older cars. A lot of our customers have several cars, pending their mood on the day. My main worry would not be reliability or running costs.

[walkersport]

Thanks for private email, I have posted the reply here for other peoples benefit and opinion.

John,
Pending your usage their are probably 5 models to consider, (ie 2nd / 3rd car rather than a primary)
328's handle well, are pretty quick, depreciation proof and cam belt service every two years is £500
348's are a superior handling car and much quicker around a track servicing can be costly cam belt service on later models is three years at a cost of about £1200 but Cat sensors and clutch can easily double that.
355's are a massive leap ahead in terms of speed and handling again but some of the purity is lost through power steering. Servicing costs similar to 348 but without the electrical issues.
360's I do not think are much quicker, I personally prefer the shape of the 355, (you will need to sit in a 355 to see if your comfortable, and the seat needs to be a little forward if you are taking the roof with you - same for 348's).

Edited by walkersport on Thursday 5th June 16:21