Would you buy a used Ferrari, why and why not?

chobit

If you were able to save up enough to buy a slightly used Exotic say ($120,000 of saving), would you buy a Ferrari?  Why and why not?  And what alternative would you take if not Ferrari??

A decent Ferrari 360 is now going for $90K
While lamborghini gallardo is around the same
Probably slightly less for a R8

It seems crack headers/manifolds is huge with F355 to early production F430.
I don't know much about Gallardo or R8, but was told it's alot less money to maintain a Lambo than a F car, and the R8 is even cheaper.

Catpiano

Well, yes or no ..   I like to have one .. but then somehow, never pull the triggle...

Few reasons ..
They look good, and used to be very outstanding .. say 10 yr ago, would scare to drive a Ferrari, too much attention, but not anymore, they are everywhere ...

When you drive a F360, it is nice, but it isn't that fast, especially in today's standard, your C4S is actually as fast as a F360, may have advantage off the line, and you probably can drive your C4S faster, other then on a full track ..

Driving/Control is one thing, even they are not that fast anymore (360) but still hard to control, with bad road condition, I did witness a F360 smashed right in front of me at the track, and the driver is a great driver, just because of a little bit of rain ...

Well, service and maintenance is expensive, (in Canada, not so bad in US) and they are not reliable, (F355 and F360 are not bad, compare to 348, but F430 is reliable and fast)

It would be a good add on to your C4S, C4S as daily driving sports car, and F360 as weekend.

I somehow like the F355 more, I guess it sounds much better then the 360, and not much slower. ( ~ 4.6 sec vs 4.3 )

Gallardo is the same story, good that you live in the south, not that un affordable they are 20% less then Canada, and the SE models are good, the early (04/05) Gallardo are problematic ...  they are a bit easlier to drive then Ferrari, and reasonabe reliable. (compare to Diablo!) But the SE model is quite a bit more then the 04/05 and the F360.

R8 is a different story, unless go for the V10, the V8 isn't that quick at all, (F360/C4S/R8, pretty much the same) however, it has the super car look as the Ferrari/Lambo, easy to drive, reliable ..   it is a safe bet ..  

Depends what you want, you want some super car look, they are good choice, you will get the " WOW " factor, but IMO, your C4S is a better car, and you can carry your kids with you ...  

It is no fun to drive a super nice car, but without your love ones, right?

^_^

chobit

hehe.. thanks..!  I kind of feel like one should own a Ferrari once in a life time, but then I hate the fact that those F-Car can be so unreliable....!  The one thing I like is the fact that you can see the engine through the glass..
R8 has that, but not if it's a cab, same with Lambo, the cab doesn't have the see through glass, but yes for the Ferrari.
And no, I am not going to get one anytime soon...haha

Catpiano

If you are not going to get one in the near future, I do suggest to wait for the F430 price goes down ..

I didn't look at US price, but used 360 is around/just under 100K Cad now, but 430 is still 180-200K .. ( weird, even 458 are everywhere now )

But in next 2-3 yr ..  should see the price for F430 drop more ..

I would say the Gallardo SE is the best choice ..  or 997 GT3/GT3 RS if you want something with super car look, and reaonable reliable. (service cost for Lambo is still higher then Porsche)

somewhereintime

why buy an used one if you really want it?
An used one is not cheap either.
No, I cannot afford one and I'm too old to drive one

Prelude

Why not get a used one?
New one is not anymore reliable than old ones.  All Fs have reliability issues.
Also, practice on how to jump out of the Fs as fast as possible in case of internal fire hazards.

librazhy

If you have yearly income of $200,000 or more, buy it.

But if you are still renting a place to live, don't buy Ferrari/Lambo. Maybe an Audi is more suitable for the situation.

tiffiant

no one rich like you are

chobit

It really isn't as bad here in the US.
First. Housing cost is alot less than Vancouver.
Say, my house here bought brand new in 2005 is worth $300K, the same house is probably at least 800K in Vancouver.  Which essentially means I am saving $500K in mortgage payment or investment opportunity.
A used 360 at $90,000, 12 months warranty.  Then you can probably sell it for $80K the following year.  The total lost is $10K+maintenace & insurance which is going to be limited unless you daily drive the car.
The bad things is I hear people that can take it to the shop and repairs can takes weeks if not a month because parts are usually not stock locally...!  So, that kind of suck.. if I get a car that can be driven..!  Or in some cases, people find it risky to take it for any sort of long drive.. say drive from Seattle > Vancouver .... can abit risky...!  That's not fun IMHO.
I do like the F430 better, but it's pretty expensive.. than again... I can't afford anything with 2 small kids anyway. =(