Hello Ferrari Chat! New to the forum, but not new to Ferraris. I'm considering bidding on this 92 512. I was wondering if any experienced owners might have any insight on it. Thanks in advance! https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1992-ferrari-512tr?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=evergreen&utm_campaign=1992-ferrari-512tr
Dang there are a lot of new auction sites popping up.....which would be my LEAST favorite way to buy. The best way to protect yourself is to get a proper and extensive PPI prior to hitting the bid button.
I personally don’t know about the car. I would start with calling the dealership who did the last major back in 2018 and see if I could speak to the service advisor and or technician to get insight into its condition. They would have a lot of insight. If I was able to talk to them and that provided positive info then I would fly out there and do further investigation ie my own ppi as well as my own inspection. I would look at and test everything. I would closely look at all the cosmetic details etc. Determine how perfect it is at 12k miles. I bet it’s pretty nice.
this car will sell for close to 200k. probably worth your time and money to go see it yourself with an expert and do a ppi on the spot.
What a beauty! My only thought with any of the 512TRs is that if you go for a '94, the carrier gear is fixed so you don't have to worry about blowing your transmission apart. The earlier cars, in my opinion, should be discounted if the carrier has not been upgraded.
wrong thread title under only 512 I understand a boxer, carb or injected, not a 512 TR would be great to introduce yourself a little even you write here not new to ferraris
They shouldn't be discounted. I have owned 4 that never had a single problem. Abuse is the main culprit but everyone here by now knows my opinion.
I'm going to take a guess at the issue with the lights. Chances are, someone had some burned terminals on the fuse board as a result of motors (fuel pump, fans) sitting and drawing tremendous current through the aging circuit board. It wasn't a good design when new and the connectors are not really up to the task. Bypassing those terminals is well documented online and common, and I learned the hard way that you can damage the multilayer board inside if you overheat points inside for the "fix". I'm quite competent at circuit repair, but these boards are fragile and it didn't take much to make my lights stay on permanently. It is evident when you see the 5 layers all laid out where it connected together. In short, the car likely needs a new fuse board. They are 1200-1500 range and add a few hundred extra if your connectors are all melted. New ones are printed using 3D additive technology (stronger than the originals). I'd argue no wiring is damaged at all, and just a swap of a common-fail part will fix that. Remember that it still likely has slow window motors (grease is 30 years old), 30 year old heater core hoses, likely the original engine hoses, fuel lines, steel injectors (they don't like ethanol fuel, so you'd want to swap to modern injectors) and a host of little annoyances. This one certainly looks like a nice car overall. I flew down to drive mine before I invested in it and never regretted doing that.
Funny thing is nobody and I mean nobody is going to discount their car because the diff wasn’t upgraded. If it isn’t broke at the time the car is being sold then there would be no argument to discount. I know it doesn’t break on every car. Otherwise you would here everyone complain on this site that theirs broke and they need to upgrade. I do think abuse plays a big part/ driving style.
I fear you are correct. My biggest issue with this car is the clear lack of maintenance when needed. If they wouldn’t spend the $2k to fix the headlights or have a dent properly repaired, what else has aged and gone I repaired that we don’t see easily or know. I love to buy cars and do all the service myself so I know what is there, but when they approach the top of the market in price - it makes it difficult. Again, I fear you are correct simply because there are so few 512TRs coming on the market lately.
There might be a silver lining in that type of situation - I love buying cars with these type of small defects. They are relatively easy to repair, and might give you some small leverage in the buying negotiation. The main things for me are accident history and engine condition (compression and leak down numbers). Those are deal breakers, not $2k repairs. And agreed of course the $2k stuff could be indicative of much bigger issues hiding, which your PPI should catch. Edit: sold for $220 wow. 10 year old tires, woof.
Still hard to believe these cars did not follow through with a stratospheric increase. So underrated in Value. Image Unavailable, Please Login