Hey all,

Now don't get this wrong, i am not bashing Ferrari at all. I was just curious why i see so many older ferraris with so few miles on them. Seems kinda silly to have a car you paid a cool 225 for and have it sit for 8 years and put 4K miles on it total.

Sooooo, i stopped by a dealer that sells them. I asked that question, purely out of curiosity. He says, "well, up until last year, they were pieces of junk. Never sure when the thing would fall apart on you. So people dont drive them". I was quite shocked to say the least. He then tells me about a guy who got 40K, yes a massive 40K miles, on his car (sorry i forget which type) and the guys says Ferrari should fly him out to the factory to give feedback on it. He should get an award for actually putting that many miles on it....

Any of you guys actually have miles on yours?

By the way, he said he got $125K over sticker for a f430.....

 

Not true, There are alot of 360's and 355's with 40k+ miles on them. I have seen a 2002 360 Spyder with 86k on the odometer. Why do most F-car's have such low miles, well people baby them, I would baby a Porsche a Lambo or any other car the same way id baby a Ferrari. Thats just me though, many people have lots of other cars and sports cars they drive and don't really drive the F-car much. Alot are scared of resale, the more miles the less their worth. I knew a gentlemen who had a 360 spyder drove it for a year then got more then he paid for it at the years end.

A few F430's where going close to 300k a few months back, I honestly don't think there worth it, and neither does Ferrari they sell their cars for 180-200k, and the U.S dealers jack up the price, because they know they will get it.

Cars are set up to run under certain parameters.

The Ferrari comes with a thicker oil and spark plugs designed to run in a very hot engine. The car does not like to run hot it is just set up to be run hot as on the track at high RPM and high load conditions. The wheel bearings probably use thicker grease.

There is wear and tear on the engine driving around town. You are starting frequently as in short trips to the restaurant. The engine just gets up to temperature then you shut it off. The spark plugs slowly foul. The cats spend a lot of their life at a lower temperature causing premature wear. The internal friction of the thicker oil takes it's toll - 90% of engine wear occurs at start up.

The car would be fine and last longer if it was driven every day by some old, slow driving lady. This assumes all the parameters were set up for that type of driving - hotter plugs, thinner lubricants, more restrictive cats, et cetera.

Ferrari figures that you will track the car so they set it up for the track. There is nothing you have to do different. You can almost buy the car off the lot and go racing.
The problem is that most cars are actually driven in town. People get in the cars and step on the gas and rev it up before it gets up to temperature reeking havoc on all the internals. This is why cars are so easily ruined with low compression, bad cats and the like. It is the abusive ownership that ruins a car not the milage, high or low. Low milage cars appropriately maintained for that would be fine also.

Some brands of cars (like Ferraris) at least have the stigma of being unreliable, and that is probably due to how they get driven by a lot of the owners, other cars (like Porsches) are proclaimed to have great reliability... probably because they get driven by their owners.

 

i figured resale to be a big issue. I know that there has to be guys out there actually putting miles on them, regardless of resale. I dont see many of them, hear lots of horror stories about maintanance and upkeep, so i had to ask! Besides i was hoping to see the 430 or an Enzo. Last time i stopped by the Enzo had just left....

 

Alot of people who buy used Ferrari's that were garage queens run into serious problems from the reasons I talked about above. Also alot of owners don't properly maintain their cars aswell, people buy the cars for less thinking they are getting a great deal, but then later have to pay more then twice what they expected to pay for the car. Due to the fact that the previous owner did not service the car correctly and did not drive it.

 

my 355 has around 28k miles (approx 44k km) now
its a 99, and i bought it with 25k miles (around 40k km)

it's been a few months now, actually i think i'm nearing 5months

personally (and for many friends who drive Ferraris too), i just keep it for the times i know that i'll remember

stressed out, take it out for a drive..
going to a family gathering, that kind of stuff

over here its sunny and dry, averaging 45 degrees C
it runs great, no problems whatsoever

i agree, it's a shame to own a Ferrari and not drive it, but then again it doesn't suit wherever and whenever

to compare, the Porsche has around 59-60k miles
also a 99

 

not too many Ferrari owners drive their F-cars daily nor they have only one car. not too hard to figure out.

 

Why not just use synthetic oil? Don't they already use synthetic oil anyways? Who cares about plugs, even at $100 a pop, they don't foul every month. Change them every year and it still would not be a big deal. What you are saying makes a lot of sense but I don't recall hearing about issues even related to what you are saying. Specifically, failures due to thicker grease, thicker oil, or cats designed for racing.

Here is a perfect example... Shawn C posted this a while back

"On my way to Shelton Ferrari, Total bill:
14 Thousand Two Hundred dollars!!!!!!!
yes, I said $14,232.00 !!!

After only 15 thousand miles total, Car needed New clutch, Timing belt, Alternator, Throttle bearing, Timing variators, and a Broken Tentioner. I brought it in for a coolant leak, This is what I ended up with! Bill was not supposed to exceed $8,000.00 ....WTF!

Car sat there for over a week and a half, I could puke right now
**** FERRARI!"

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...&highlight=360

If you go to the thread and look specifically at the repair invoice, it looks like a lot of normal maintenance but also some unusually high maintenance costs associated with normal wear and tear.

It's not like he blew seals or had bearing issues or even cat problems. It was a clutch issue and a normal 3 year timing belt replacement + some misc items not related to lubricants.

 

Not to burst your bubble, but I think the Dealer was having a laugh at your expense. My Ferrari Dealer is cool, but there are a lot who are jerks so I would not be surprised.

BTW, most Ferraris are not daily drivers because most people have them as second, third or fourth cars (mine would be my fifth car) - and most are not in the habit of driving them in poor weather (I am in the Northeast and usually take the Rover, the BMW, the.........

Oh, and there is the Ducati......

None of my cars has a ton of miles on them, but in the aggregate, my cars get a lot of use

 

Obviously they are not daily drivers, give me a break. I dont think ive seen one at 7-11 picking up milk in my lifetime. That was not the point. The question i asked him why was it Ferraris are on the market with 10 years and 1800 miles regular? I dont care if you drive it every third blue moon on tuesdays when it is raining, 10 years and 250 miles a year???? And no, the dealer and i spent quite a long time discussing the differences between Porsches,Ferraris, Astin Martin ect. He was hardly having a joke at my expense. He was just answering my question.

 

That's actually a pretty funny statement. My neighbor drives his Gallardo almost exclusively for trips to the local gas station for cigarettes and sodas. For him, it's not a matter of where he goes, he just likes the attention of having it. He's always telling me stories of how people are always trying to snap pictures of his car with their camera phones and stuff. His previous car was a 355 Spyder and he used it for the same stuff. So, yes there are people who use their cars for 7-11 runs.

 

Having owned several Fcars, just recently a 355 Spider, and also not being there biggest fan, ill be the first to say the dealer is full of ****. They are reliable cars, and out of all the cars ive had and driven, the best running ones are the ones with the most miles. I had a 92 348 that when i sold it had over 80K on the clock. Best running 348 i had ever seen.

 

The dealer forgot to tell you how many times the odometer has been rolled back.

 

Ive seen a 575 at good guys picking up his new stereo. My friends neighbor daily drives his Gallardo and his 360, well now F430.

 

Depends on where you live - I see plenty of them in town picking up Starbucks, getting stuff at the bagel shop, Dunking Donuts, etc.

I would hazard to say that very few have only 250 miles per year on them. How many of those have you personally seen?

Fact is, hyperbole aside, your sample group you have does not seem to be large - AND relying on a dealer who openly bashes their own products is not an reliable indicator in my book.

Now, if you said 1500 miles a year, that would be reasonable.

Again, I have several cars - in the aggregate, I put on possible 20,000 miles per year on them all. My 996 TT Cab had only 1400 miles on it last year; my Rover had 13,000; my X5 had 4,000 miles; My Bike had 800 miles.

Oh, My Shelby GT-500 had less than 100. Hmmmmmmm

 

man, everyone chill out. i was just asking a question to a dealer about the milage. i was not disparaging Ferrari or those of you who drive it to 7-11. I personally dont know any ferrari owners so i ask a dealer. It only takes a moment of flippin through autoweek to see what i am talking about. Older cars with exceptionally low miles. good lord....