The car needs to be sorted before you buy it:

Soft valve guides (sound familiar?)- $7,500 to fix

Bad OEM headers which will crack - $5,000 for after market fix

Rubber belts need to be chnaged every 3 years for $4,000

Interior is notorius for having its rubber melt and become sticky in certain parts

As such,. a good one can be bought cheap at $@ $50K

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360 (after year 2000) is a much better car, but you are stuck with the rubber timing belt chnage every 3 years.

Low milage car can be had for $70K
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430 is even better - timing is done by chains, much better car

$110K+

 

A few members at Porsche Club Taiwan have owned both the 993 and F355. According to them, they can drive the 993 everyday, rain or shine, and drive real hard, and don't have to worry about its condition, while they never dare to do the same on the F355, because the 993 is a much more reliable car than the F355 and its cost of maintenance/repair is much much cheaper than that of the F355.

 

Neighbor bought one brand new a few years back...Fly Yellow. Picked it up from the local dealer, drove it home but stopped at the end of his long, sloping driveway. Car was too low so I let him borrow a couple of 2x12's for ramps. Instructed a student at VIR a couple of years back in his 355. Two days riding in his car cured me of wanting one. Kinda like looking at a beautiful Italian woman...Awesome body but high maintenance!

 

The weaknesses of the 355 have been described well above. That said, I believe a lot of the issues arise because people don't use the cars regularly.

If you buy a sorted car (including valve guides, headers, sticky interior, recent major, etc) drive it for a few years, and sell it, you'll likely have a decent experience.

If you click buy it now on the cheapest 355 to appear on ebay, you'll likely curse the day enzo was born.

You have to go into it knowing that you could be in for a $30k repair bill and be happy if you never see it.

 

F355 GTS with manual tranny
Rarest and best looking
You get the clean lines of the coupe with the targa top so you can play Magnum
As far as maintenance parts are available and a well maintained under 20K car will serve you well
Ferraris are more prone to developing issues from not been driven than 993s
Either way as the brethren already addressed budget accordingly and for sure get a PPI done by a dealer

 

I love the looks and sounds of the F355. But for reliability and cost issues, I'd go for Honda's version. It was good enough for Senna, right?

 

Personally I love the F355 as it was my favorite Ferrari when I first got into cars in my teenage years, but with all that is mentioned in this thread (which is dead on accurate per F-Chat browsing the past couple years) I am going to hold off on the Ferrari urge til the F430 is in the $70k range. And even then, I doubt I'd own it for long. Just want to own one once.

 

Re your interest in an F355:

No one has brought up this angle: I think you sort of become a target. Not only for cops, but in general. A friend once thought of buying a used Rolls Royce. I mentioned to him (he lives in a nice neighborhood): "aren't you afraid of attracting attention - you know someone following you home to see where you live - with the idea of perhaps doing a B&E?" His wife nixed his idea strictly based on this type of fear.

I also concur from other friends who've owned a 308 - that if you don't regularly use these cars you can expect more than your fair share of problems.

 

I have owned a 355, 360 and a 430 and the best bang for your buck is the 360. The 430 is far and away the best car but the price of entry is $120k+. You can buy a very nice no issues 360 for ~$75k. A nice well sorted 355 would run low $50's so by the time you deal with some of the maintenance headaches on a 355 you will have spent 360 money and had a frustrating ownership experience and you still have a $50k car. On a 360 they have stopped depreciating so your only cost is maintenance which has gotten MUCH cheaper. My local F-car store (Ron Tonkin-Portland) will do a full major 30k with belts) for ~$3200. So over 3 years that's $1100/year, not bad.

With that all said a Ferrari is a bucket list item but 90% of the time I walk into the garage I jump in a Porsche. They just fit like a broken in pair of jeans. The Ferrari feels more fragile and causes a ruckus wherever you take it. Fun sometimes but can become tiring. I never tire of the 993.

 

Nope.

But an Italian who lives in Italy and one who owned an auto parts store till he retired (the other brother retired as a mechanic and service manager) once told me, "Ferraris are nice to look at, but if you want a sports car that works, buy a Porsche".

 

360s are fine, but have their own issues with headers cracking, cam variators, etc. Not to mention much harder to find a manual tranny. Many would argue, myself included, that the f355 is a much prettier car as well.

360s have stopped depreciating until they start again. There are no guarantees.

Further, 360 maintenance has always been cheaper than 355 because of the access hole cut into the cabin that allows you to do the service engine in.

That said, 360s still will experience the sticky interior bits, the shrinking leather dashes, crappy timing belt tensioners, etc.

Finally, as a dealer, how long did you own these vehicles for?

 

Anyone serious needs to spend time on Ferrari Chat honestly. It's a great forum, as good as Rennlist, and any question will be answered. The 355 owners crew over there is fantastic and of course a huge number of them own, or have owned, Porsche's as well.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355/

 

Digging all the comments that Ferrari $$$$ maintenance is because of owners not driving them enough. Uh-huh. Get a 355 and use it as your commuter and get back to me with your theory....

 

Over a 5 year period if a Clutch replacement is needed the 360 will most likely cost you the same or more to service versus a 355. This is assuming both the 355 and the 360 are in the same condition at year one of ownership. I have a 993, a 996 and a 355. I have had a 355 since the spring of 2004 and love it for what it is. It has never let me down, it has been tracked plenty and I am looking forward to driving it this weekend.
As others have said as long as you buy one that is well sorted with the known issues addressed it will serve you well. The 355 and the 993 will hold their value much better then the 360 and the 996 if that matters to anyone. My 355 is a GTS with three pedals

 

Since I'm single and live in Los Angeles, I already have as much good looking, high maintenance and unreliable as I need since I usually end up dating mostly actresses.