Indeed, and one of the most beautiful too IMO. I saw one in black back in 2002/2003, it got stuck in my head - just so majestic when moving. Always wanted one ever since and I will have one some day. Spotting V8 Ferraris is O.K. (except for the almighty 288 GTO and F40), but every time I see one 550 Maranello (or a 575) I just smile for a long time after I saw it. Easily my favorite Ferrari after the F50!
great to hear cause i just picked up a 04 575 with 26K miles in Feb...over 30K now. hoping to catch my 993 turbo that has 297K...
That comment just made my day. I had a 97 Carrera S and it was the best car I've ever owned. Bought 3 years old with 16k on it and sold years later with only 22k. Didn't drive it enough. 297k is something to be proud of.
The seller is right. In many ways a good, nice driver is better than a garage queen. My winterbeater/daily driver is a nice example - since I live mostly in the center of Amsterdam it's no use at all to have an immaculate car. Being an Alfa Romeo with a 7k revving 16v engine, you could argue it compares to 1/3 of an Italian V12. At 200k miles everything still works and it's running as if it was new, even the gears. Things like clutch, shocks and suspension do wear, but those aren't expensive. They say never to throw out your old shoes until you've got proven good new ones, so I did. Anticipating on issues, I got a Busso 24v V6 version with 40k miles as a future replacement; apart from flat spotted tyres (...) it was great. However sofar it has been collecting dust since the car it's meant to replace is still doing so well and nobody seems interested in buying it. Guess what, I drove the replacement car few times. It's leaking oil now. And the AC stopped working. Old shoes are the best.
my 2000 has 12,500 as of today and that my be part of the little function problems. i think if it were not in a controlled climate all the time i would really have a serious problem
Gosh this is great! My next car is a 550 and its nice to hear of its reliablity. I plan on driving the heck out of it, as I do my 308.
my steering rack leaks on one side. dealer wants 5,000 for the 20hr. or less job! still hunting a step by step r & r thread. anybody?
I bought a 550 to replace a 328; haven't gotten around to selling the 328. Now both have over 70k miles on them. The daily driver (Range Rover) is pretty much the garage queen
I think you should make a thread regarding your issue here: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4 That's the spirit!
90k miles on the clutch is encouraging to any potential future owner who reads about horror stories of a $5k clutch job every 20,000 miles. Did Ferrari do anything different on the 550 compared to the 456 or 355 to extend the life, or is the owner just very easy on clutches?
dealer ask me 8,500 for my 02 Maserati cc clutch, rip off for sure. they said it was 90% gone a year ago and after 875mi. yr. later 100% gone. but i am still driving the thing, not a problem
My pressure bearing failed after around 35,000 miles. So they are not failsafe. A little luck goes a long way. But generally, 50k miles on a clutch should be fine. And it should not be a $5k job, 1 - 2k less. Onno
BTW, what I like about this ad is: That is what I am going to treat my baby to this winter. I want her looking like new again. Got the brand new 458 a couple of weeks ago, but the 550 is not going anywhere. She's special. Onno
Please make a thread about it Onno! Love the 250K kms F40. 270 kms daily trip, dedication! I'd buy this 550 in a flash over most others.
I don't know if this is a myth... But I recall a story about a certain German McLaren F1 owner who had made it a daily routine to exceed 300+ kmh. When the car was in on service and the service team read the data, they thought the log system was broken because of the average speed! (I don't know, does that kind of logging system exist in the F1? Peloton 25, can you confirm?)
Great story! The 550 is a very reliable car. But changing the clutch at 90.000 miles out of curiosity sounds a bit like wishful thinking to me. I am looking forward to the thread about the 550 respray Onno. Last week I visited my specialist and they had a 360 Modena with 223.000km on the clock. The car looked like a dog, but it was still up and running.
The story is true - it refers to Dr Thomas Bscher (one time President of the current Bugatti) who at the time was a banker and would commute from his home in Koln to the city of Frankfurt (~120 miles) in his F1 topping speeds of 200 mph every day. It might have helped that he also raced the F1 GTRs in the BPR GT and FIA GT Series from 1995 through 1998. In fact he was one of the two men who was instrumental in convincing Ron Dennis to build the F1 GTRs in the first place. His F1 road car was chassis #022. He sold it in the early part of the last decade and it was owned by Wyclef Jean. The after several years in his possession it was picked up by Miles Collier who still has it in his Naples, Florida collection today. Here's a shot of Thomas with the car. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
