Another 348 or 328
Discussion
OK the insurance have decided to write off my 348 as they can't locate the parts in a reasonable amount of time. The question is now what to buy.
I do love the 348 so I am on the look out for another however I have also fancied a 328, but I don't know anyone who has ever owned one, or much about them.
So basically after a few opinions on what would be a better buy. The 348 does look more modern, and I love the look. The 328 was a childhood wall poster for me so also has a bit of my heart.
Nice position to be in but the budget is about £25k (so does rule out the 355 which in my eyes is the ultimate modern Ferrari). A little less would be better.
Steve.
I do love the 348 so I am on the look out for another however I have also fancied a 328, but I don't know anyone who has ever owned one, or much about them.
So basically after a few opinions on what would be a better buy. The 348 does look more modern, and I love the look. The 328 was a childhood wall poster for me so also has a bit of my heart.
Nice position to be in but the budget is about £25k (so does rule out the 355 which in my eyes is the ultimate modern Ferrari). A little less would be better.
Steve.
Surely it all depends on what you want from your car in terms fo "Drive Vs Experience"?
I would *imagine* (awaits correction! lol) that the 348 is faster and drives better BUT if the 328 is the one which really gets your pulse beating then it will always give you 'that buzz' on that basis alone
Nice dilemma (shame how you came to be in it!)
I would *imagine* (awaits correction! lol) that the 348 is faster and drives better BUT if the 328 is the one which really gets your pulse beating then it will always give you 'that buzz' on that basis alone
Nice dilemma
(shame how you came to be in it!)hi
just bought a 328 after my beloved 308GT4. It is a nice car, reasonably fast, quite simple in mechanics and layout.
I have abs late GTS model and have also driven the none ABS models. they drive quite differently and feel a lot heavier in the steering at all times. Very planted on the road with loads of grip. with the roof on is quite refined and off is nice with not as much buffeting as you get in a wholly open car.
they are old though and all are prone to some rusting.
I have seena lot of these cars and the condition varies massivley as perhpas one would expect over 20 plus years. The doors overhand the cills so are proe to chipping and possible rust. All post 1982 308 or 328 had same rust treatment so are ok but is still 80's italian so dont expect miracles!
They are tight for room inside more so than the 308's as seats are thicker
Mine is a 'high' mileage car at now 43000. However these cars are extreamly easy to fiddle the mileage on by disconecting one wire and had pretty crap speedo drives anyway. I would look more at condition to gauge mileage than what it says on the oddometer.
I have ordered a sports silencer for mine as the standard one sounds absolutley crap and is too baffled to accomodate american noise regs!
so far to be honest i prefer my GT4, but am working with this car to get it better.
the interior on mine was dry as a biscuit and just statred feeding the hide to get it back and smell like hide, but will take weeks.
Quality of interior is not great but adequate. I had to spend a lot getting my air con working again.
Mine was a well looked after and maintianed car with £16000 spent in last 10 years of 500 miles a year motoring. Howevr it felt like that, that is little mileage so tight as hell and needing to be loosend up a lot and actually used as it was intended to be driven. It feels better now but I would be wary of very low mileage cars as i doubt they will ever be truly useable unless you put a lot of effort and money into them. A mate bought a 'very low mileage' car and has spent a lot on it, mainly as it seems to be have been standing for ages resulting in many components failing, eg dampers tyres etc.
Overall, it's a nice car, useable, quite refined and reasonably fast. But do your homework and checka s many as you can as not everything out there is as they seem!
Paul
may sell mine to a sympathetic home!
just bought a 328 after my beloved 308GT4. It is a nice car, reasonably fast, quite simple in mechanics and layout.
I have abs late GTS model and have also driven the none ABS models. they drive quite differently and feel a lot heavier in the steering at all times. Very planted on the road with loads of grip. with the roof on is quite refined and off is nice with not as much buffeting as you get in a wholly open car.
they are old though and all are prone to some rusting.
I have seena lot of these cars and the condition varies massivley as perhpas one would expect over 20 plus years. The doors overhand the cills so are proe to chipping and possible rust. All post 1982 308 or 328 had same rust treatment so are ok but is still 80's italian so dont expect miracles!
They are tight for room inside more so than the 308's as seats are thicker
Mine is a 'high' mileage car at now 43000. However these cars are extreamly easy to fiddle the mileage on by disconecting one wire and had pretty crap speedo drives anyway. I would look more at condition to gauge mileage than what it says on the oddometer.
I have ordered a sports silencer for mine as the standard one sounds absolutley crap and is too baffled to accomodate american noise regs!
so far to be honest i prefer my GT4, but am working with this car to get it better.
the interior on mine was dry as a biscuit and just statred feeding the hide to get it back and smell like hide, but will take weeks.
Quality of interior is not great but adequate. I had to spend a lot getting my air con working again.
Mine was a well looked after and maintianed car with £16000 spent in last 10 years of 500 miles a year motoring. Howevr it felt like that, that is little mileage so tight as hell and needing to be loosend up a lot and actually used as it was intended to be driven. It feels better now but I would be wary of very low mileage cars as i doubt they will ever be truly useable unless you put a lot of effort and money into them. A mate bought a 'very low mileage' car and has spent a lot on it, mainly as it seems to be have been standing for ages resulting in many components failing, eg dampers tyres etc.
Overall, it's a nice car, useable, quite refined and reasonably fast. But do your homework and checka s many as you can as not everything out there is as they seem!
Paul
may sell mine to a sympathetic home!
^^ What he said ^^ Especially the stuff about gauging it by its mileage by the condition rather than the odo!
paulqv said:
I have ordered a sports silencer for mine as the standard one sounds absolutley crap and is too baffled to accomodate american noise regs!
Is yours a US spec car then? I know the US had its own version of the 328 - identified by its larger, squarer door mirrors, bodyside reflectors and bulkier grille area surrounding the exhaust pipes, so unless yours is a US car then its likely that the crap sound is down to the fact that the 328's standard system was rather naff and is better replaced with one of the aftermarket options. A non-US car wouldn't need to accommodate US noise regs because, as I mentioned, the US had its own version of the 328.paulqv said:
may sell mine to a sympathetic home!
I'm keeping an eye on 328s for sale - I'd be interested to know what you might want for it... as long as it's a Euro spec car.Hi
No mine is a euro spec car, i had understood that the rear silencers were the same for euro and US cars? Perhps I have been wrongly informed?
The exhaust sounds awful. In normal driving it sounds like any other car and even when pushed very hard it doenst sound that great. I think they should sound like an 8 all the time, but not be droning or obtrusive at motorway cruising speeds. Am buying one form Stialess systems in Nottingham and should be here in next three weeks. Even My VW passat W8 sounds better just now!
Paul
No mine is a euro spec car, i had understood that the rear silencers were the same for euro and US cars? Perhps I have been wrongly informed?
The exhaust sounds awful. In normal driving it sounds like any other car and even when pushed very hard it doenst sound that great. I think they should sound like an 8 all the time, but not be droning or obtrusive at motorway cruising speeds. Am buying one form Stialess systems in Nottingham and should be here in next three weeks. Even My VW passat W8 sounds better just now!
Paul
paulqv said:
I had understood that the rear silencers were the same for euro and US cars? Perhps I have been wrongly informed?
There's certainly a difference in the grill around the exhaust pipes. On the US version it's bigger and protrudes outwards. On the non-US/Euro version it sits neatly flush with the black skirts at the bottom of the bumper. My understanding is that there were, indeed, stricter emissions regs for US cars at the time of the 328's manufacture and that is the reason for the visual difference that I've pointed out, which itself was the result of something hidden just inside the bumper which is to do with those regs. Whether that's a different silencer, or a catalytic converter, or something else, I'm not sure. The pics below illustrate the difference...US version
Non-US/Euro version
Edited by MitchT on Saturday 28th February 22:50
Foundy said:
OK the insurance have decided to write off my 348 as they can't locate the parts in a reasonable amount of time.
Is it possible to negotiate a repair settlement pay out so that the car can be not written off but instead you get some money to pay for you to fix it as and when you can get the bits you need, or aren't insurance companies that flexible? Reading your other thread it doesn't sound like a lot of damage would have been caused, more that the time taken to get parts is what's making the insurance company nervous. I once heard about a 328 being written off because the owner had 'like for like' courtesy car on his policy and the insurance company couldn't get a front light cluster - that was all that was holding up what happened to be a very minor repair! Mindful of the hire car cost racking-up they paid out for the car rather than wait while they tried to get what is accepted to be an extremely difficult part to source.Need For Speed said:
I'd personally take a 328 over a 348. The 348 is known to be a bit of a runt.
Christ some people spout some crap 
Yep, that's right, it's such a "known" runt that I'm surprised it has such a large and passionate following of owners who actually drive the things. I had a pretty good Spider, did about 13000 miles in the first year including the Alps and southern Spain ... it is now owned by Sletti (Stig) on ClubScuderia.
Two years later, I looked to go back to Ferrari and considered 328 as well as another 348 (355s do nothing for me I'm afraid).
I eventually went for another 348 as I knew I couldn't live with the lesser performance of the 328. Anyone who says it is not noticeable is wearing rose tinted glasses.
This one did Le Mans twice last year, will be going again this year as well as on MegaHoon to Spain and France and regularly gets driven hard and fast across open sweeping roads as well as twisties.
I really don't know how I put up with such a runt.
Sorry to hear about the write off by the way. Always sad to lose a car that way.
Edited by burriana on Sunday 1st March 18:24
Hi, I have a 1989 F plated 328GTS with 43k on the clock and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's great to drive and was a childhood dream of mine to own!Go for it! Speak to Nick Cartwright in Tansley, Derbyshire.Good luck and post pics when you make your purchase!! Above all - enjoy!
In fairness, i remember one of Nick Carwrights boys ( Ben possibly) telling me that the 328 was the best Ferrari to own! I had lots of childhood dreams, in particular after seeing the film Cannonball Run, most of these didn't involve cars, but hey I did buy a countach!
Go for what floats your boat! Ther are better cars etc, but so what! A 2004 Audi RS6 demolishes and outperformes virtually any Ferrari made in the real world, but that isn't why we buy cars!
Paul
Go for what floats your boat! Ther are better cars etc, but so what! A 2004 Audi RS6 demolishes and outperformes virtually any Ferrari made in the real world, but that isn't why we buy cars!
Paul
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