I've been wanting a Ferrari 599 for over a year now, and actually rented one back in June when I was in Maranello, Italy. Huge fun, stunning looker. But the more I delve into the cost of Ferrari ownership, and the fact that if you actually drive them they lose their value very quickly (40K miles on a Ferrari - forget it, the buyers will hardly touch it). And then I come across these little jewels on the Ferrari forums and think "I'm on my 5th Porsche, and they have all been solid, I'd have a hissy over something like this." I believe these truly are for the 1 % 'ers, with deep pockets and a healthy income stream. And don't even get me started on the cost of a clutch for a 599 and it will last only about 30K miles if driven gently.....


Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Northern Virginia
Full Name: Bob
Posts: 16,958

599 Owners: Are Your Shocks Leaking?

Mine are, all four. According to Ferrari of Washington, it's getting common. And they are $24,000 just in parts to replace. Worse, it'll just happen again. I've been working with Delta Vee to give them my car as a guinea pig to engineer a solution, had it all worked out, but we were thrown a curve last Thursday. Delta Vee does the engineering but the manufacturer needs an order of 10 sets to go to production. This was news as the manufacturer was acquired and changed terms on Delta Vee mid course. Has me in a pickle actually. I'm ready to pony up for one set, which will come in at around $8k, estimated. We need several more owners interested and willing to put down a deposit. Check your cars. I'm willing to bet every 599 out there with more than 15k miles has at least a couple leaking. They cannot be rebuilt. If you're not part of the initial ten sets, could be well over an additional year before there's another production run.

 

You'll get no argument from me about the looks or excitement of the 599.

And I think it's the case that if you own a Ferrari i's best if money either doesn't matter or you hate it (money, not the Ferrari).

A good friend of mine had always wanted a Ferrari and when he was in his 60's was in a position to buy one. When the money was finally in his hands, despite years of dreaming about owning one, he just couldn't do it because if reliability and maintenance worries. Instead he bought a then new 911 and was happy.

 

I sniffed around the 550/575 & 599 world a couple of years ago. I came to the conclusion that the COO could approach $10/mile if bought new. A couple of bucks less if used. But not much.

I remember running across the leaking shock issue as well and then browsing through the on-line store for an F-car parts house for DIYers. Take a part from a Porsche, get the price, then multiply by 5 to 10 for the Ferrari part.

Those things are just stupid expensive. The COO for the V8s seem to be closer to the world of mortals.

 

For years I liked to stop by Squire's just to hang out, visit with the tech's, check out the cars. Mostly Porsches but I remember a few Ferrari's, including the then supposedly state of the art F40. Maybe its just me, but it seems like when you are able to spend a lot of time examining Porsches inside and out, on a lift, in varying stages of assembly, after a while you become accustomed to the Porsche level of engineering. So the first time I saw the F40 it was kind of shocking how amateurish it looked. When the car was just sitting there, body panels open so you can see how its built, the design of suspension components, the quality of the carbon fiber layup, well to me it was just one thing after another: a mess. A joke. If some talented high school kids had cobbled it together, well okay. But this is supposed to be the flagship of the worlds most recognizable exotic car maker. And it is a joke.

A few months later the very same F40 hit the wall at SIR and went up in flames. We're talking fireball, guys barely escape with their lives, magnesium wheels burning craters in the track. I mean yeah, it hit the wall. But c'mon! I was first on the scene when a 996 hit a berm, flew 40 ft through the air, bounced, rolled, going way faster than that F40, not a hint of fuel anywhere. But again, that was a Porsche.

Ferrari it turns out did not use a fuel cell. Not only that, but Ferrari connects the tank to the filler without even a rubber hose to relieve stress, so that in the event of an accident the tank doesn't get torn a big gaping hole that spews fuel everywhere. Which is exactly what happened. Which could just as easily have happened in a routine parking lot collision. The engineering is that incompetent.

Ferrari's are a joke. They don't even look good. But, people with TMM just love them. Oh well.

 

You have to remember that Porsche set out to build the road car he'd always wanted, while Ferrari built the race car he'd always wanted. Road cars, even the F40-class machines, were never more than an afterthought in Ferrari's corporate culture, more of a bothersome necessity. A means to an end.

Good road cars are infinitely harder to engineer than good race cars. A race car has to win races, while a road car has to do everything. So, while both companies have done well for themselves in both areas, Porsche aimed higher, in a sense.

 

So say a bunch of folks who mostly haven't driven a Ferrari. Come on guys, costs are stupid high but we all want one! An F12 is absolutely in my future.

 

Owned two, although sadly they weren't F12s.

And no, you never really stop wanting another, in the sense that only a recovering alcoholic probably understands.

 

Chuck, if you post this in a Ferrari forum, some people there will send you death threats.

 

I had always thought I would buy a Ferrari at this point in my life. But when you can get a brand new GTS for the price of a hammered 10 yr old F430, I took the P car. I am sure however that every drive is not the occasion that it is in an F car. Maybe someday still....
Jim

 

Quite! A race car has to last a few hours before something breaks. A road car - a real road car - needs to be able to last many. many 10s of hours before something breaks.

Remember late in the last century when F1 teams had qualifying cars? Those things only needed to last for 10 minutes.

I didn't say I didn't want one. An F12 or 599 GTO would be sweet. I just need another zero on the right side of the figure on line 37 schedule A.

 

Lol, it's like racecars!

I really want an Fcar... I've owned a bunch of Pcars and racecars...up next is a Ferrrari for sure! Maybe...

 

Such is life! If you had another two or three zeros we'd be talking about Fedships and Ituros.

 

Even with three extra zeros I'd have to 'save up' for several years for something from Fedship. That's ok though. I'm not into boats. Not at least until I've finished the mortgage payments on my hidden tropical island.

 

Yep, but it's fun to think of the future!

 

so, since the discussion is Ferraris, what's the take on McLarens as an alternative?