Hello I am considering to buy a Ferrari 348. I have viewed a car for sale. It is a low milage car with full service history and the belt service done last year by a Ferrari dealer. I am not a mechanic, but a skilled hobby mechnic. The car was almost as new with very few stone chips, superb paintwork, toolkit, books and even the original flashlight present. In short the car ticks all boxes. I took a test drive and checked all functions worked properly. After going through the car I have only two concerns. The left hand radiator seemed to have some stains looking like copper corosion (blueish turquise stains) on the part not covered by the fan. The area was not wet and I could see no signs of leakeage even after the test drive. Should I be concerned the radiator is leaking or could it the stains have been generated by water spray from the rear wheel.? I also checked for noises from the flywheel. When stopping the car from warm a little clunking occured. Not like a whole set of spanners is left in the engine though. The car fired up immediately after being stopped with no hesitation. I know it is difficult to judge by my relatively simple descriptions, but should I be concerned or just crack on? I plan to get a PPI in any case . Br Martin
These cars are 25+ years old now so things will come up, if you feel price is right hop on it, if the few issues bug you get a quote on a fix and negotiate it. Then buy and drive! Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using FerrariChat.com mobile app
the rattle/clunking sound you hear when turning off the car is normal. the 355 does it as well. I hate hearing it.. so before I turn off car, I always put the clutch in, no noise occurs.
Thanks for replies to all. To me it looked like a very healthy car. Also got it up on a ramp for checks. All good underneath. Br Martin
Grab the front passenger wheel when its in the air, and shake and see if it wobbles at the tie rod end. The steering rack bushing are 100% failure, its normal but if so rack needs rebuilt. Some people complain the 348 steers funny and when that bushing it gone its wonky as hell downright unstable at speed. The video is not mine but mine was the exact same so I pulled my rack. You can have have it rebuilt for 250 and then reinstall it. More of a pain than anything not hard.
Yes. Buy it if you love it. At some point you have to take a leap of faith. I bought my 348 2 years ago and LOVE IT! A tangential story of why you need to, at some point, take a leap of faith. When I sold my 87 328, I had it listed for 60gs. Guy came and looked at it, loved it but beat around the bush, got caught up with extremly minor issues, gave me a deposit! Then backed out! long story short I wound up a raising the price and selling it for 70!!!!! The guy called me back a day later and I said sorry you missed out. This was a few years ago when the prices were really really going crazy for 308 and 328.
These are great cars if you get the right one. If you love the car still have a PPI and a leakdown test done and the results will tell you what to do.
A lot of great information out here already. I purchased my 348 in late June and took second delivery (after a major) at the end of July. Set aside some budget and expect that a PPI may not catch everything. They are great cars, but they are older and maintain your expectations. In the PPI (someone posted my348.com), even though the belt service was done - make sure they inspect the belt during the PPI. Should have little to no dust when your PPI pulls the inspection cover. Things happen - trust but verify. : ) Can't stress enough the leak-down test. Most of all - enjoy the car! Mine has left me with a near permanent grin and a 'nothing will bring me down' attitude.
#1 Buy the best example you can afford. #2 Get a good PPI. #3 Have money on hand for the "unanticipated". #4 See #1
I would not worry about those simple issues. There is no guarantee in used cars. Buy a decent example and always intend on having to sort something. If you don't have to great! But expect it.
