360 360 Maintenancw Video scared hack out of me

The key to lowering your maintenance costs is to get a car that is well sorted already. So if you can get all the boxes checked, like good records that show belts recently changed, coolant being changed at least every two years, oil and transaxle being serviced yearly and the car doesn't make any weird noises when you drive it, you're already off to a good start.

The guy in the video bought a beater that needed everything. He also spent a bundle getting it serviced at the Ferrari dealer instead of an indy and did some things that weren't necessary like swapping the exhaust twice. One key mistake he made was buying a car that needed a heat exchanger changed. That means the transaxle was probably destroyed too. Bummer for him.

The guy in the video was chicken to do his own work. I think that's a mistake. These cars are not very complicated and if you're careful, a lot can be done by the DIY mechanic. I've had good luck doing my own work and have saved myself many thousands by figuring out what is wrong and fixing it myself than I would have if I just sent it to the most expensive place on the planet to have a vehicle serviced.

I suggest before you go any further, you decide how you're going to get the car maintained. If you're doing a DIY, be sure you're up to the task. If you're going to have it serviced, contact the local Ferrari club and go to one of their events. Talk to the people there and ask them who they use and who they DON'T use. That will give you an idea how easily you're going to find service.

That being said, a 360 is not maintenance free. They are expensive to keep running when compared to something like a Honda. You can't just drive it and only bring it to the shop when the CEL lights up. Regular maintenance done properly will go a long way towards keeping a 20 year old car driving nicely. The drivetrain and systems in a 360 can go 100,000 miles without an issue, but maybe not. Be prepared to dump $20k on the car without any notice. If you can't budget that, then get a Porsche.

 

I was going to finish watching the video, but I’m too busy trying to relax after a thrilling driving session today. I got together with a couple other Ferrari owners and went on an epic drive Around Michigan.

Driving with other V8 and V12 Ferrari’s is a priceless experience. As far as I’m concerned it’s worth whatever I have to pay. However, you can easily buy both a tranny and engine for a 360 for under 18 K....If I’m getting an engine rebuild it is getting done At an independent shop who’s going to source a machine shop....Never a dealer!

 

Kim- The main thing to get from that video is to buy the best Ferrari you can afford. If you can only afford one in poor condition, you likely cannot afford to keep her up unless you are already an excellent mechanic. Even then, it will be more expensive than originally buying a nice one.

 

Swapping the compressor should of been a DIY. Dealer for differential probably didn't help his wallet.

 

I'd say plan for 4-5k/yr if you're taking it to an indy and nothing huge goes and have a pleasant surprise if it ends up just being 2 for a bit rather than planning for 2 and having a nasty surprise when multiple things need to be done.

Edit: maybe more if you only drive it 1000 miles a year. What can you expect for medical costs if you never exercise? A lot.

 

I bought an F430 a year ago and I was terrified of the maintenance costs. I went and talked to my local Indy and saw the prices weren’t too bad for maintenance, they were about one half of the dealer costs.

I started watching You Tube videos and spent a lot of time on FerrariChat learning about the car. I realized that it’s just a car, and maintenance is no different than other cars. I had a mechanically inclined friend come over and we looked at the car and decided we could do all the maintenance ourselves.

If you’ve ever done oil changes or gearbox oil changes on your other cars, you can do them on a 360 also. It’s really a no brainer.


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Indy shop maintenance would be a negative to almost no one. Many Ferrari dealers are good with these older cars, but not necessarily all. Many would actually prefer maintenance by a known indy.

Kevin

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Kim- You just have to bring all the required maintenance up to date. Likely all fluids, filters, cambelts/tensioners, and auxiliary belts. She should be fine after that. Some of our pros swear by buying low mileage Ferraris once they are up to standard.

Maintenance costs are not that bad annually, but every three years, the cambelts need to be changed, and every 6 years you need new tires. Those drive up the average annual cost.

 

engines that are rarely used leak like you wouldn't believe. gaskets and seals dry up, rot, crack, and then bam. soon as you fire it up, drippy mcgee rears his ugly head once again.

yeah they look great sitting there in the garage, because they've never been used, so they LOOK brand new. something about "collector value" or some such nonsense, IDK.

I'd rather the 20-year-old car with 40k miles than the 20-year-old car with 8k miles. Unless they have proof ALL gaskets, seals, belts, tensioners, etc were replaced within 6 months.

 

I would not pay attention to this guys particular set of videos. He really doesn't know much about cars and regurgitates general articles on the 360. When he first got his car he did a video and stating there was a bit of oil in his coolant. He says he is going to keep driving it. I wrote in the comments of the video that it was a failure of the heat exchanger and that he should not drive it at all because he would ruin his transmission. He read my comment and replied back basically saying I was wrong and that oil could get into the coolant, but it was impossible to get coolant into the oil due to the pressure of the transmission fluid. Well you can guess what happened. He destroyed his transmission. He also spent a ton of money replacing his capristo exhaust with a stock exhaust because the Capistro was too loud. A couple of months later he removes the stock exhaust and goes back to Capristo. He probably has receipts for paying people to inflate his tires as well.

 

Even a car with a perfect PPI is still a crap shoot. You never know what can happen and they're not going to disassemble the car to look for everything that could possibly go wrong, they're just going to point out the obvious problems.

 

As with any car brand, you need to be careful with whom you listen to. That includes me, that includes anybody on the internet. Ask "why does this person have the experience that they've had with the car?"

In my case I'm going to rail about how great it is and how reliable the 360 is and how it's been less expensive to own than my Boxster. Why? I do alot of work on it myself (like I've replaced a water pump in a 997.. FUN! So the 360 is an easy car to maintain in my eyes) and I know my mechanic and he works with me.

When you have people who don't know much about cars complaining about how much they cost to maintain... it's usually because they a) took it to the dealership and b) the dealership knows they don't know anything about cars so they hose them. This goes for BMWs, Porsches, etc. etc. The service department will take your wallet and shake it empty if you let them. So the people that do the best are the ones with the plan. As above anyone who will tell Mimmo Blue that the oil and coolant can't mix in a 360 hasn't done their homework, doesn't know anything about cars, and is so arrogant that they don't do any research. In essence.. ignore what they fool and the ignorant say.

If you have a good experience with the car I'd say $1-2k year, if more expensive $2-5k. It's seriously not more expensive than a BMW. Unless you abuse it, then all bets are off.

 

I would think any service record would be fine. Just because a mechanic works at a Ferrari dealer, doesn’t mean he gives a crap about your car. The Indy shop near me is owner operated, so I’m willing to bet the Indy would do a better job.

If you want to know for sure you are getting the job done right, do it yourself.

I’ve heard too many horror stories of guys taking their cars to the dealer for service, and the dealer not doing something they were supposed to. There’s an active post in another topic about a guys F1 fluid that looks like mud, but was just at the dealer for a full service.

When it comes time for me to sell my 430, I’m going to have the buyer come help me do whatever service is required. That way he knows it’s done and can learn.


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There are two types of buyers..

1) Wants a perfect car. Obsesses about the maintenance records. Only looks at perfect cars. Will spend six figures on a car that is perfect. Passes on a car that has a gap of 1 month on the records. Gets car and then doesn't drive it because miles kill the resale value. When does sell the car a few years later then whines about how they lost so much money on the car, how owning a Ferrari is so unsatisfying and buys a Porsche.
2) The guy who asks "does it run". Buys car with no records, fixes what needs to be done and drives the heck out of the car. Factors issues into the (cheaper) car and has a collection of cars in the stable. Takes it or a different car to C+C every weekend.

 

I have owned my 360 for 6.5 years. Bought the best I could get. I am averaging $2700+/year (gas and insurance not included), mostly in maintenance (and preventive maintenance) at the dealer. The only major breakdown was when the right ECU conked out 2 years ago. I also had to replace the rotors and brake pads last year after 3 track sessions. My F1 has been flawless. I pay about $1100 a year for an agreed value coverage although my current one is only $952.

 

If that video scares you, never ask about my 360 experience. You'll end up buying a Toyota.

 

For every one of these guys there are 100s if not 1000s of owners that have had little to no drama with their car. but i guess those stories would make for pretty boring videos.

 

A 30 second video entitled "how much did my maintenance cost for this car?!?!?!" and consisting of the guy saying "um, couple hundred for oil and filters and stuff. Bout it really." ain't gonna get ad views.

A lot of youtubers deliberately get raggedy cars so they can clickbait their videos on the car. The car itself is often a tax deduction if theyre getting it FOR their channel, and the costs to "fix it" are all at least in part deductible as well. The worse it is, the more "OMGGGGG!!!" they can put in the title and the more emojis they can squeeze onto the thumbnail, the more they make.

More power to them for finding a niche and making a quite comfy living out of it. But yeah, just because a youtuber has a high maintenance bill,really just means the specific car they bought was crap....and probably intentionally.

 

Or the guy has no idea what the hell he is doing and probably doesn't own a tool box

 

Who do you use for insurance?