Interesting topic..subscribed. I’ve long thought that my car is worth more to me than the market will bear..at least to 2019. I am 2nd owner, have all records since 2000 when I direct imported it from IT Image Unavailable, Please Login . Since it’s grey mkt, my assumption was that it would get dinged for that if offered. ‘98 GTS -30k mi -gated -painted roof -tubi -fabspeed headers & cat cores -sticky no more -really fast tight & strong -cosmetically 9.8/10 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had a ‘98 B F1 that had a lot of issues. I spent about $24k on it in 2 years and it still wasn’t reliable. Looking back now I understand that I bought the wrong car. After selling that I wanted a manual spider and bought a perfect one. It’s been almost as reliable as a Toyota for 2.5 years. I thought I wanted a spider so I could hear the engine even better but it seems like it doesn’t make a lot of difference. My B with Nouvolari exhaust sounded perhaps better than my spider with capristo. Bottom line, I never track so don’t need the stiffness of the B. I like the looks of the B but love taking the spider out on a nice day. Apparently the one I want is whichever one I don’t currently have. One of each sounds good. Spider vs. B I can’t decide on. I do know that a car that has been maintained and loved all its life is the one to have.
Seems like the perfect car to me. I’ve owned 355s for almost 10 years, seen dozens of them at shops, shows, etc.. I’ve seen probably half a dozen Challenge cars. I’ve never seen one like this in person. Didn’t even attempt to find a manual GTS the two times I’ve been shopping. You just never see them. Real world though I’d probably only pay $10k or so over a Spider in identical condition. I think there are many who would go higher though.
Curious but what makes you say that's the "wrong car"? I assume if you spent $24k on fixing a car, those issues would never really pop up again unless they're consumables like a clutch. Was it primarily F1 issues?
I had very little idea what to look for when I bought my first one. It had almost no records, oil leaks all over the engine, stickies everywhere, etc... After $24k it still left us stranded over and over again. I thought a major and a few other things would make it right but it didn’t. My second one I paid more than most people would consider reasonable because it was extremely well taken care of. It’s been very reliable. I would consider my first car a basket case. I learned to spend a little more and get a good car. I did have F1 issues. Put a 360 pump on it and it failed so had to do it again. A/C was a constant issue. It came through the defrost all the time so the windows were always fogged. Replaced cats, did a major service. Lots of other issues. It was an awesome car when it was running well though. F1 is pretty cool when it doesn’t leave you stranded.
Forgot to mention I watch the Matt Farrah video of your car often. You did a good thing for the 355 letting him drive it.
It belongs to 05elise nowadays but I'm glad it helped. Back then, most Youtube "attention" of the 355 was negative. I didn't want to be in the car with him because I don't wan't that kind of exposure but I regretted not being there to correct his engine out statements. One thing that annoyed me with Doug DeMuro's videos (I'm not sure if Matt did the same) is he would always make a huge deal about the engine out on the 355 but when testing the Testarossa, not even a mention of it.
How did you solve the AC coming through the defrost vents at all times ? I’ve noticed this too. Skipp
I had that same issue early in my ownership of my car. I know this isn't particularly helpful as I don't remember what they did to fix it (I may be able to find it in my records), but I know it was a simple fix and no big deal at all. It seems strange that it's proving hard to solve in some cases.
I have a feeling for the ones I have heard from that Red is not their new Black... hence the answer to your question. Robb
There are vehicles out there, but there are no deals. In December of 18, I bought a vehicle in Canada and after a PPI gave the owner considerably less than he wanted. Unfortunately, the PPI can only tell you so much as to what might be wrong with the car. Many owners (not all) drive the vehicles and ignore, defer or put as little as possible into maintaining the car. As it turned out I did not discount the vehicle price enough to make up for the repairs. With that said and 6 months and lot of work done in Canada where it is cheaper I think I am getting a reasonably sorted car. This included: valve guides, Fabspeed headers and blankets, new O2 sensor offsets, 16 new exhaust valves, 4 new Cylinder sleeves (ouch), all CV joint boots, new seals everywhere and two new shock actuators. Unfortunately, this means I paid about $8000 more the car than I should have if you believe the sorted price for a car is in the mid $90's. I might add it still has stickies to resolve and the rubber is way too old to push hard on the road. I would do this all over again because I got the the gated shifter and the color combinations I wanted and I now have a vehicle that I can have some confidence in. BTW I am still waiting for it to clear importation. In this vehicle market you must pay to be in the dance. Just make sure you pay for items that will increase the reliability of the car. For example, if you don't need a concours vehicle absolutely do not put in Ferrari Headers and Cats they will just fail again.
All old cars are like this. Some more expensive than others, but most suffer from cheapskate previous owners. The only car out of 8 that has only cost me the price of general maintenance is my CS. The rest are endless. Just buy what you like, forget the resale value, and count yourself lucky to be able to afford them.
there are quite a few 355 manal spiders for sale say color white for one what do you guys think of resale for a white 355 ,the coupes are for sure the more favorite ones for buyers
I honestly think white is one of the worst colors for a 355 but I could be an outlier. I would personally never consider one but I have seen a few sell quite fast.
theres a white on tan manual for sale for a while .lots of spiders i had a 97 b in 99 so im leaning towards a coupe or gts