348TS and Mondial 3.4T - Are they worth the asking prices?

[andyman_2006]

I've been considering whether to buy either a Mondial 3.4T or a 348TS and am curious whether the cars on sale are actually worth the money?

Mondial's seem to be up at £40-50K, and early 2.9's are being asked for £30-35k....

348Ts seem to be from £42K for a LHD upto £60K+ for low mile RHD are these realistic? i notice a lot of cars been for sale for a lot of months...

My other question is: Are either cars any good? or should i be looking for something else?

Do any Mondial T and 348 owners have any buying advice?

Many Thanks in Advance.

Andy

[andyman_2006]

Thanks to the replies so far.

I suppose to many the Mondial is odd looking, and far less pretty most if not all other Ferrari cars, but they are getting rare now and very few cars are around, which is the main issue, its much the same with the 348's, and the values are on the up it seems.

On the mondial being slow, 3.4T is 300hp 0-60-6.3 and 158mph, 348 300hp 0-60 5.6 and 170mph. Wouldn't say either are slow.

Haven't driven either (yet) the only Ferrari's I've driven are the 360 and the F430 both manual cars.

I'm leaning towards the 348 (on looks and performance) but cant ignore the £10K price difference between this and the Mondial T's, and 3.2's.

[andyman_2006]

swindler said:

The Mondial is hideous looking, IMHO, and pretty slow. 348 appeals more as a fairly analogue car, much better looking and reasonably quick.

When you say pretty slow? were you referring to the earlier Mondial 2.9 240hp cars? or the 300hp 3.4T cars?

Looks are marmite to many, i get that.

Andy

[andyman_2006]

348Jeff

Really helpful 348 info, thanks for going to the trouble of posting all the points to watch out for, your car looks really nice, and the wheels (355 ones i think) suit the car well. Is it a big job to fit them?

I know what you mean about buying on condition, not on mileage and owners, i enquired about a 38K mile one with low owners, and after getting more pictures emailed to me, close ups on rear arches, wheels and doors the condition was far from acceptable (to me anyway) for a £50K car. And i suppose this will be the issue finding a good one at a price that is acceptable, i'd rather not have one than spend near on £50K on a tatty one i wont be happy with.

I'm hopefully going to look at a 348TB LHD car thats only 66 miles from me, whilst i think i know my preference it will be a good barometer on whether i like the car, and whether i can rule LHD in or out, i'm sure it'll be the latter but i'm open to trying one and go from there. The same dealer has a '90 3.4T Mondial so i'm going to see how that feels/drives as a comparison, and then we can go from there.

Is there anything major during ownership you have had go wrong? and anything (as you put it eye watering) which surprised you and you struggled to find parts wise?

On the TS hood good tip, i'm 6' tall so will give that a try when i view a TS and see if it makes any real difference to the driving position.

Once again, and to all thanks for the info its much appreciated.

Andy

[andyman_2006]

Foundy said:

Hi Andyman, I had a 348 from 2009 till just recently (decided to depart for a V8V)

I initially bought the car to join friends on a European trip where the car covered 2900 miles faultlessly and the intention was to sell when I got back but as you know with cars you can fall in love!!

In that time when I sold I totalled up all the receipts and it came to £13000 in servicing and repairs over 11000 miles. Taking into account the car had belts done when I bought from Foskers, one of the biggest bills was the cambelt service for approx. £2500 iirc when I did it in 2013. I also had the pulleys changed and sourced them cheaper than the agent from Europarts. Another big bill was when the clutch master cylinder failed. I decided to change the clutch at the same time and that also came to approx. £2-2500.

Starter failed and that took a few weeks to source a genuine one £600, Door cable snapped so could open from inside, Aircon rarely works, engine bay struts lost ability to hold lid up, battery failed but apart from those items all the rest was routine servicing (which was done yearly) that you would do on any car.

Biggest bug bear though as mentioned above is the sticky plastics, air vents, steering column etc as get that on your clothes it just wont come out.

So to summarise it worked out approx. £1800 a year or £1.20 a mile to own and drive a Ferrari. Would I do it again..... Hell yes Only ever got positive reactions from people also.

Steve

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback, and it sounds as though you had a great ownership, and overall the upkeep and spend was not that bad - despite many horror stories.

I have been looking at service costs, parts prices, and 348Jeff sent that link to euro parts which is useful, for some things seem very cheap, and others overpriced but this can be how things are its much the same with my E-type Jag. Sites like this are so useful to obtain real world views and ownership truths.

What made you decide to sell? and if you dont mind me asking what price did you sell for? are the dealer asking prices of £50K plus realistic?

Does seem a shame you moved to a V8V but they are a very nice car, just not a Ferrari. did you have the fun you wanted from the 348 and then want something newer?

Andy

[andyman_2006]

davek_964 said:

348 was my first ferrari 5 or 6 years ago. At £28k mine was one of the more expensive for sale at the time but compared to the ones I saw for £5k less was a much much better example (I bought from a well regarded dealer).
It was an excellent car, better built and more reliable than I expected but usually needed something minor fixing every few weeks - or at least once a month. The electrical connectors for the door were a pain and got fixed one by one.

They are an excellent introduction to ferrari. Would I pay £50k - £60k for one? Absolutely not. If that's the way the prices stay then I guess there is little choice - but that puts it in the same ballpark as my 360 is worth and I prefer the 360 in every way. Plus - much as I like Ferraris - £60k gives you a LOT of car choice and I'm pretty sure I'd have a list of choices that wouldn't even have a 25 year old 348 on it.

Hi,

This is why i started this thread, stupidly for a long time i ignored that i could have bought one, and to be fair i bought my E-type over 3 years ago, and could have bought one of these 348/mondials and not spent as much, but this is how things go. I do wish i could get a really good car for £28K now, but it seems these cars are £50K+ and no one is willing to do much of a deal, in fact i cant even get many call backs, or replies to emails which makes me wonder if they are speculating or selling cars that dont exist.

Can you really get a good RHD 360 for £50-60K, although ideally £50K is my budget max in this case, and i do take your point that this money offers a lot of car choice.

I must explain another part of looking for a 90's Ferrari is that i can remain in my local classic car club, so having other cars even a 360 (the norm is years 2001/2/3) and the youngest the car can be to be eligible to stay in my club is 1999. so these cars 348/mondial fit the bill perfectly in this respect being early 90's.

Andy

[andyman_2006]

sparta6 said:

Behemoth said:

No, not at all hideous. There are some gorgeous details, like the chamfered engine cover. I think the car's stance deserves the darker more subtle colours. There are elements of it that reminds me of the 400, another car that's better in darker colours and also much derided but actually quite astonishingly beautiful in the flesh.

+1

Clean lines, not fussy or contrived.
In terms of driving both Mondial T and 348 provide proper analogue experience, even though the T has pas and adjustable dampers. Try both and contemplate your intended main usage before getting your own keys. In 7 years I had a Bosch relay fail on the T. Happy hunting

Edited by sparta6 on Wednesday 18th January 12:58

This looks really nice, loving the colour! i do plan to try both cars when i can find one to go view/drive that exisits and is not a 10 hour drive round trip..

Shaks specialist cars have a RHD cab, and a LHD 348 try as i might they just wont call me back, and i'm not chasing them day in day out, made 3 calls already, shame as its only 1.5 hours to get to their showroom....and would give me a direct comparison, and also rule in/out LHD.

Andy

[andyman_2006]

davek_964 said:

I'm biased obviously but I'd expect my 360 to be worth somewhere in the low 50s and I think it's an excellent example. RHD, manual, full history, about 31k miles I think, pretty immaculate (just had the front resprayed to get rid of some chips).
You'd probably add £10k if you wanted the same in red though (mine is Grigio Alloy - having had a red 348 I intentionally chose non-red)

Sounds a really nice car. So really £10K for red? thats insane. I'd take any colour to be honest, really not that fussed. Its the car i'm more bothered about . oh correction not silver, maybe not black hate black cars!

Really like Ferrari's in Yellow, and blue also. But i'm realistic that i cant be so picky on spec/colours so i'll happily look at nearly anything in my budget thats good condition, and has good history.

Andy