buying my first Ferrari - a 458 - tips

[nbot]

Hi all,
I am an avid petrol head having owned a number of super cars in the past - Lambo's, 911's, Aston Martins & a McLaren. I have never owned a Ferrari, and it is time to make this right!

The one for me, i have decided is the 458 - always loved this car, most importantly its naturally aspirated - which is a big deal for me - simply don't like the turbo charged stuff!

Would love to know the key things to look out for in respect to spec - important options which effect resale etc - now i know most people say you shouldn't buy the car for the next owner, but i'm sorry, these things matter to me, so would appreciate if you could let me know the "must have's". and things to look out for / avoid with a 458.

thanks for the help.

Cheers.

[nbot]

hehehe - yeh, i will have a read through these - was trying to get a concise bullet point list of do's and dont's but i guess its not as simple as that. Ferrari's for some reason to inspire a lot more debate i have noticed!

[nbot]

Hi all,
thank you for this very useful advice. I will continue my search and let you know how I get on!!

[nbot]

so I have found a potential car - its done 20k miles, black with some good spec - still has some Ferrari warranty left on it - LED carbon driving zone - front and rear sensors - bucket seats for me are not a must as I do a lot of European road trips, mountain pass and twisty countryside tarmac in Wales - I do some track days, but this is by no means going to be a track only car - it has front and rear sensors and nav - scud shields full main dealer history etc etc.

£135k

what do you guys think? worth a look?

https://www.hertfordshiremotorcompany.co.uk/used-c...

cheers.

Edited by nbot on Tuesday 11th September 14:36

[nbot]

Wow!!! i am extremely impressed by this intelligence! how on earth do you know all this!? A very very useful update on the cars history and movements.

thanks for sharing this with me, much appreciated. I am happy its has largely stayed within the Ferrari dealer network!

Edited by nbot on Tuesday 11th September 17:10

[nbot]

CitySlicker said:

OP it's a buyer's market out there. If I were you I would find several examples which fit the bill (even if the asking price is beyond your budget) and do not be afraid to put in an offer significantly below asking and walk away when they refuse. There is very little liquidity in the market place and now we are approaching the end of the season so you can let them fester and in a couple of weeks I'm sure they will see a bad offer is better than no offer. Works particularly well if the car is on SOR with the dealer.

Good luck!

agree - i will certainly be pushing aggressively on the price! I have a part ex however, so i also need to consider this and getting the right price for that against the next car.

[nbot]

jtremlett said:

don't think it is that abnormal. I have currently picked up 79 458 Italias listed for sale, of which 23 have been listed for 25 weeks or more

haha - i love it! keep up the good work - could i ask a very simple question, what is the official paint colour name for this Ferrari black? do they have different shades of black or just one?

thanks

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Durzel said:

Nero
Nero Daytona (metallic)

Neither are pearlescent to the best of my knowledge.

thanks very much - i was wondering where they got pearlescent from! haha

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PrancingHorses said:

nbot I am trying to send you a private message but your settings wont allow me to.

that is odd - I have received private messages before. let me take a look at my settings.

cheers.

[nbot]

PrancingHorses said:

nbot I am trying to send you a private message but your settings wont allow me to.

ok should be fixed now.

feel free to drop me a line via private message.

[nbot]

MingtheMerciless said:

I started out a long voyage looking for a cheap basic LHD with a rubbish spec if it was cheap enough. The basic car is so fundamentally awesome that none of the expensive tat they sell you makes a whit of a difference to the driving experience. Except maybe the leds and the seats. So if you can save £50k by having a high mileage LHD poverty spec 458 you will have essentially the same experience and can also buy an Atom and some secondhand luxobarge to cover off all bases.

I ended up after multiple scams and meeting the Mafia in Eastern Europe and having to get solicitors involved to get my deposit back from a certain garage of ill repute 9 months later buying a RHD one with carbon buckets, carbon inside everywhere, extra striping and stitching, kick plates, the upgrade JBL stereo (it even has a quite useless DVD player), camera, park distance (oh yeah actually that's useful), really quite lovely 20' upgrade wheels, shields (actually a must), sat nav, ipod, extra leather inside and perhaps more that I've forgotten.

The lesson, just go and bite the bullet and buy one you like with a warranty. Don't overthink it or take too long. If resale is important, buy an easy to sell colour with decent spec. If the experience is all, get a low spec yellow or silver lhd one (with a warranty). I actually wanted yellow even though the dealers will tut tut but the yellow lhd one I wanted to buy in Eastern Europe came with me in a hole in the ground.

hi there - just realised I didn't respond to this to say thank you for the valuable insight and sharing your experience. that was rude of me.

[nbot]

jtremlett said:

nbot said:

thanks very much - i was wondering where they got pearlescent from! haha

This particular car is Nero Daytona. I don't know about pearlescent but it does have little silver flakes in it whereas, IIRC, Nero Stellato has little gold flakes. There are and have been several Ferrari blacks over the years but Nero Daytona is a standard order colour.

thanks - I'm going to speak to the dealer tomorrow and get all the spec - I have my 458 options list to hand for reference!!!

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Hi all
So test drove a 458 - the car has had all its services last one a couple of months ago - I have the report from the dealer and baring a couple of minor cosmetic niggles they mention everything was in the green - most importantly all the engine related items. The car has been in the dealers garage for 2 months not driven - I took it out for a test drive and all was great other than I felt the breaks were extremely stiff.... the dealer rep said it takes time for the cc breaks and the fluids to get up to temperature.... I’ve had carbon ceramic breaks before on a 911 Turbo S and don’t remember them being this stiff.... is this a Ferrari thing... is this common on 458’s. appreciate any views on this.

Cheers.

Edited by nbot on Saturday 29th September 15:54

[nbot]

Hi guys,
thanks all for the comments - very interesting. So the car I am considering is under a Ferrari Power Warranty but seems like that does not cover much. But back to my original question regarding the stiff break pedal - I am assuming this is just a character trait of the car - I drove the car and bloody hell its like nothing else I have ever driven - super responsive - I loved it, but will take some getting used to compared to the other cars I have owned - the issue with the shocks that has been mentioned, I assume is a separate point to note regarding these cars and completely unrelated to the stiff break pedal....

Cheers.

Edited by nbot on Monday 1st October 10:34

[nbot]

hi all - so I am delighted to say that I put down a deposit on my first Ferrari the other day - collecting in a few weeks. Wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who contributed in this thread to my questions. Hopefully I will see some of you guys out and about at some upcoming supercar events in the new season. I will of course send photos of the car once I have collected!

Cheers.