I just purchased an 88.5 Testarossa with 9,600 legitimate miles. Black on black with original paint, interior and even the original tires. Full owner history, books, records, jack, tools and everything is in immaculate shape. I paid $120,000. The market is all over the place and I think the best examples are still bringing a premium.....either that or I over paid. This is the exact car I've been looking for and waited for the best example I could find.
No u didnt overpay. This is the right price for such low mileage, specially if u had serviced. Such car with low mileage is advertised for 140-150 sells for 120. A 20k-30k miles will sell anyway between 90-100k with service but will be advertised for 110-120. So i think u paid the right price. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I also believe that a well sorted TR for 100k is a good purchase (even with 30k miles). The repair bills can escalate VERY quickly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I consider that very well bought although IMO the color may not be worth as much as red/tan in the future. Thats just my opinion as a red/tan lover! Haha.
Without a doubt red/tan cars bring a premium but there is nothing more sinister than a black testarossa in my opinion.
Agreed i would put the 69 charger up there as far as black sinister cars but that’s another forum. For TR it would appear most desirable is red/crema (even more so than tan), white miami Vice cars as well as one of colors (i saw a greenish one and a prugna- not my taste but rare) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There was a black/black testarossa at a local auto show here in town last weekend. Super badass looking car!!!
The market is certainly a buyers market right now. I am in the middle of negotiating a trade for my red/tan TR. Still negotiating the overall deal, but I will be getting less than what I paid for the TR back in October. Not to mention that I spent over $30k on the major and other repairs. I realized last week that I am just not enjoying the TR anymore, its a brick for me. Too bad I realized this during a soft market.
I thought that the nostalgia of having a TR would be a great addition to the F430. The nostalgia wore away as I started getting the TR all sorted out. The expensive (and hard to find) parts and labor is not giving me the enjoyment I was hoping. When I am out for a drive, I find myself constantly worrying about what will break next. I am overly anal about my cars, so I want it in good condition. Not getting the same driving and visceral emotion as the F430. Maybe I am not a good candidate for older cars. I'm trying to work out a deal on a 599, I think I need to keep a 12 cylinder in the garage.
It was a life is too short moment. I don't want to wait for the market to turn to unload it, I want to jump into a car that excites me. You will laugh but here was the breaking point. I am in need of door sills as the previous owner put in carbon fiber. The sills come as a frame with rubber insert. I have been to every site (Ferrparts, Eurospares, Ricambi, etc) looking for sills, but they either have the frame or the rubber insert, but not both. So I ordered anything that they had in stock but not able to assemble a complete set for either left or right side. I then started my eBay search and going to European breakers. I started buying anything I could, but some came in damaged. So after spending almost $2k, I have a set of left and right side frames (damaged and from a 512TR), a left frame only (new), a right side rubber insert (new), and a complete left side frame and insert (slightly damaged). I also have a stash of other "just in case" parts. It's becoming maddening. To the point that everyone makes, get a well sorted out TR.
I think it wouldnt hurt for a sticky on what makes for a “sorted” car. Over and over again people talk about the major service. But as an owner you wont know the difference between a car with a major and one without. However, a car whose dash lights dont work properly, or with a trunk that doesnt close correctly, or where the glovebox doesnt open all the way can actually be overlooked easily yet cost a lot of money to repair. What does one define as “sorted out” amongst this group? A check list of things to look for wouldnt be a bad idea to develop for potential owners to consider. The car I bought basically needed the entire interior to be reinstalled because the selling dealer’s re-upholsterer did a pretty terrible job of it. I was able to do it on my own quite effectively so im relieved. But having a list to check would have been nice! PPI caught some but not all of it. T
"What does one define as “sorted out” amongst this group?" That is an EXCELLENT idea!! Enough BS about what somebody thinks a car is or is not worth. Lets focus on the car's actual details folks
Interesting analysis. I came to the same conclusion but from the other way. I've owned my Testarossa for about 14 years now. I've gone way beyond it as I prefer driving Lamborghinis. I love looking at the car but didn't feel any excitement driving it anymore. So, I just let sit in perfect concours condition in the garage as a piece of artwork for the last 5 years. As I moved on to newer and newer Lamborghinis, I found the modern cars had more and more problems and none could be sorted out by myself...as you would always need the dealership computer to plug into. Every little module, warning light would constantly drive me nuts. With the paddle shift, it just takes one little electronic dependency in the chain messing up and leaving you stranded. I decided to put the Testarossa back on the road as I always had piece of mind driving it. It's slow, the interior while concours is boring and...no carbon fiber. But...it's reliable! It never fails to start in Florida heat....always on the first twist, no check engine lights, no paddle shift failure lights, nothing. Even the 27 year old radiators are in perfect condition...not like the $4000.00 9 years old cracked radiators on my Murcielago Roadster. I'm looking to buy an Aventador Roadster but, can it just be reliable like my Testarossa..Please! Shamile Freeze...Miami Vice! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
There are threads on what to check for a PPI one can use on the forum. A mechanically sorted tr is more important than a perfectly working interior. A glove box not working sets you back about 1k, a front hood latch about 1k, same for the rear lid, restretching the leather 3-5k; a fuel gauge sourced and installed 1k etc all this add up but you can still drive the car and do it yourself... A clutch is 3-5k plus labor, a diff 5-7k, a transmission i dont want to even go there, a major 5-7k, CATS a good chunk of money (if you can source them). I completely agree with Riedge55 on how stressful this car can be ... As far as slow... i disagree, its still plenty fast and fun in the twisties... A great mountain road and the tr will come alive, on the highway-not that special... But part of that concern driving it , to me, made sense...if i didnt care about it then i would have been in an amg. I dont care that much to see a scrape or chip on my s63; on the tr it would drive me ocd. But again they are not for everyone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I dont disagree with you there. But a major doesnt mean its mechanically sorted- so can we define what “sorted” is? $1000 for a glovebox? Jeeze someone hire me for that job, I’ll do it for $500. Clutch isnt even an engine out issue, do they really cost $3-5k? Thats crazy!! What is “restretching the leather?” I dont know what that is.
The mechanism for the all glove box can cost up to $800-1000. Of course this can also be done as a diy. The stretching of the leather happens if you have some shrinkage and need to basically sort it out. As far as the clutch- unftly they cost at least that much in my experience. Image Unavailable, Please Login Or check here for orginal parts https://www.eurospares.co.uk/browse/clutch-components?manufacturer=1&model=624 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My glovebox release mechanism still works so I dont know, but the microswitch which is available on ebay for $175 cost me $2 so something tells me $1k for everything might be a bit crazy. Again I am a newb and dont know. So far I’ve been able to fix all sorts of things on this car for not much money. Just have to search hard for the OEM for the parts to avoid paying Ferrari dealer prices
