Ok, just got off the phone with John, a friend of mine in Portland. He has a friend who happens to have a friend ( I know but it happens ) who has a F355 that wants to sell it! Coolness. So, Monday I am heading down to meet John and go see this beastie. Who knows maybe by Tuesday back in the saddle, but it sounds like this guy wants too much and it has too many miles for me, but we will see.

It looks like this car here ( Note: it is not this exact car ) but it is Rossa Barchetta with the Tan interior just like this one. I don’t have a picture of this guy’s car.

Ferrari F355

UPDATE: Well, I was right, he wanted too much and worse yet, he does NOT have service records. Ouch! Never, ever buy a car like this without service records or at least a current major maintenance.

There are many Ferrari service vendors around, but not all are good so an even better win would be if the major service was done by a good mechanic, like Eugenio’s Ferrari Service in Glendora, California. Major service on the F355 costs around $7000 and is done every 20,000 miles or so. If you don’t have service records you HAVE to assume this has not been done and need to budget that into your purchase. Ferrari’s have a low tolerance for, uh, bad maintenance. Second big issue with the F355 is that some years were made with bad valve guides from the factory. This manifests in a very bad thing–your heads break or bend. Ouch! So, again, if someone does not have receipts showing these were replaces ( around another $6000 ) you better beware as your heads have a ticking time bomb.

Even though here we are talking about fancy cars, this kind of advice is just as good for a Honda or GM vehicle as well. Car shopping can be fun and exciting, but one needs to keep an eye out for hidden costs. While a Honda or Ford might be cheaper, all brands have issues one needs to be aware of and deal with :)

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