Next car - Ferrari??

[mjannusch]

So a few friends of mine have been seriously eyeing Ferraris over the last several months. One of them just bought a 430 F1 coupe last weekend and drove it home from PA to MN. The other friend is still looking, but is basically looking for the same sort of car.

The big thing that was holding me back from even considering a Ferrari was that there are a fair number of maintenance things that can only be done by a Ferrari mechanic as their software interfaces with the car to adjust various items like clutch throw, clutch disc thickness/wear, and logs a shitload of variables.

Well, I guess my friends were able to get their hands on the software, so now they can do maintenance like clutch changes (which apparently are needed fairly often on these cars), which brings down the maintenance costs substantially as you wouldn't have to bring it to a dealer or specialty mechanic just for "simple" maintenance.

So starting to think - a F430 Spider would be a pretty sweet ride... Hmmm.

[DCIV]

"What's the retail on that?"
"More than you can afford pal, Ferrari"



Coop

[mjannusch]

F430 Spiders are around the $100k mark now, so not totally out of the realm of possibility - though I'd have a tough time paying that much for a car for sure. I suppose especially with the C8 Corvette around the corner.

[Jeff V.]

I'd wait on the C8 at a minimum. Hopefully we'll hear something in January.

Another thing to consider is access to tools and information. Having the tranny software is a great start, but how about service procedures and special tools?

Ferraris are also hyper-sensitive to resale value. For a car that costs this much and actually has a chance of appreciating, this is worth considering. As soon as some Ferrari snob hears you actually dared to put your own hands inside of The Masterpiece, as opposed to trusting to to the Anointed (and overpriced) Chosen of Maranello, it could potentially hurt your resale.

[Chris GTO TT]

I agree with Jeff. I remember reading some of stuff Doug DeMuero talk about with his F360 and how records of maintenance items can have a HUGE impact on the resale value of the car. Doug is kind of a dumbass based on his past on Jalopnik and now with auto trader but he really didn't like living with his Ferrari.

[Jeff V.]

Let's be honest. Is it really going to do anything your Stingray doesn't do?

If it's really just the idea of 'owning a Ferrari' I can get that. Cars are the 2nd most expensive thing most of us will purchase besides a home, and there's a lot of emotion involved. It's not just about performance statistics.

But if the data is close, then all we're left with is emotion and perception of the experience. Is that emotional experience really going to be worth the cost of entry and ownership. Will it be worth the stress of worrying about how, when and where you can drive it? A parking lot accident in the Vette would be a bad day. In an F430?

If you're honest with yourself, and that's what you really want, then cheers to you! We can't take it with us, so a life well lived is a good one.

[ChargerX3]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Let's be honest. Is it really going to do anything your Stingray doesn't do?

If it's really just the idea of 'owning a Ferrari' I can get that. Cars are the 2nd most expensive thing most of us will purchase besides a home, and there's a lot of emotion involved. It's not just about performance statistics.

But if the data is close, then all we're left with is emotion and perception of the experience. Is that emotional experience really going to be worth the cost of entry and ownership. Will it be worth the stress of worrying about how, when and where you can drive it? A parking lot accident in the Vette would be a bad day. In an F430? :afraid:

If you're honest with yourself, and that's what you really want, then cheers to you! We can't take it with us, so a life well lived is a good one. [/quote]

Are we still talking about Ferrari’s.

[happygeek]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Will it be worth the stress of worrying about how, when and where you can drive it? A parking lot accident in the Vette would be a bad day. In an F430?
[/quote]

What's the ballpark insurance on a car that pricey?

[mjannusch]

Well, I tried to quote it on my Progressive policy and they don't even have Ferrari in the drop-down menu, so.......

[Jeff V.]

Why spend the money on a Gallardo when you can get an R8 for less?

[DCIV]

You are married right? Why own a Ferrari again? I mean, yeah I would drive one...but only because I would want the attention.


Coop

[Duck Vader]

Because he can. What other excuse do you need? :d ontknow:

[DCIV]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]Because he can. What other excuse do you need? :d ontknow:[/quote]

honestly none. Thats pretty much how I live my life "because I can" so I am not one to judge. Thats just a shit ton of money for not that great of a vehicle. Shit a kit cobra! twin turbo your vette! 4.0L your spyder! All sound like more fun ideas to me though.


Coop

[mjannusch]

Yeah, I'm married - so this isn't a "picking up ladies" kind of thing. I've just kind of always wanted to experience one firsthand. I guess I'll sit back and watch how it goes for my two friends and live vicariously through them. I'm sure they'll let me drive theirs, so I can get that experience.

I don't really have much interest in doing 1/2 mile events. There's no track anywhere near here that does them, though I suppose BIR could potentially set their track up (1/4 mile dragstrip, on the 1-mile front straight of the roadcourse), though they haven't done that before as far as I'm aware.

As far as twin turbo C7 or 4.0L Spyder, well - probably doing a Procharger of some sort (i1 has my eye) on the Vette, and I'm already putting a 3.5L stroker with 16Gs into the Spyder. Going bigger than 6G72 seems to require a lot of work and finding parts, so I doubt I would go more displacement than 3.5L - I also want to keep the trans in one piece and more torque from displacement won't help that.

So those two are already in the works.


...but yeah, I'm kind of talking myself out of the Ferrari idea. I'd probably enjoy a GT-R or a Zora (when it comes out) much more anyways.

[Jeff V.]

There's that new "pure" edition GT-R. $90,900

[mjannusch]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]There's that new "pure" edition GT-R. $90,900 [/quote]
I think you left a 9 out of there... $99,990 base MSRP.

[Jeff V.]

All I remember is it was 10k cheaper than the next model.

That car is getting long in the tooth. It'll be interesting to see how much longer they run with this iteration.

[mjannusch]

Yeah, GT-R needs an update badly. People keep buying them, though...