Will regular oil changes, is there any reason why a 348 shouldn't be perfectly usable all year round doing about 100 miles every weekday? I am weighing up the options of jumping into the Ferrari club and feel that if I am to do so, then I would like to use the car for what is was designed for - driving
I've driven mine to work on a number of occasions and it is a 144 miles round trip, if I didn't mind the miles and frequency of belt changes (if it's a daily driver I'd say 5 year 50K miles is safe) I'd use it every day
Ahh, joining the ranks are we? Terrific! While somewhat of a joke, this is also largely true...so please read on, a great missive from Ken Rentier's on owning a Ferrari: > I know there are a lot of lurkers on the board who dream of someday > getting a Ferrari. If so read these rules, I have been through the > experience of Ferrari ownership. Will I get another - yes, but with my > eyes wide open. My hope is these Tin Commandments serve to give you > some of the same insight I now possess. > > The Tin Commandments > > 1. Ferraris are toy cars. > - Street going Ferraris are intended as playthings for rich gentlemen > with many cars, and someone else to polish them. They are the worst > possible choice as a sole means of transportation. There are people on > this list who use Ferraris as daily drivers. These folks are also > capable of changing their crankshaft bearings after dinner. > > 2. Most buyers pay way too much for Ferraris. > - New Ferraris sell for a quarter million because there are 1,000 > people a year in the USA who will pay that much. If you are not > employed by the NBA, a trust baby and/or don't know what 'bling-bling' > is, your choice will be restricted to used Ferraris. The prices quoted > in Ferrari Market Letter are accurate ASKING prices. Most cars sell for 15 or 20 percent > less and down. There are lots of cars available, right now it's a > buyer's market. If you can't keep the lust under control have someone > else buy the car for you. > > 3. There is no such thing as a Ferrari where everything works. > - On big airliners where all systems have redundancy the pilot keeps a > clipboard of Things To Fix. Often there are a dozen or more items. Get > a small clipboard for you Ferrari. You will need it. > > 4. Old Ferraris are old, unreliable cars. > - IF properly serviced the drive-train is stone, cold dependable. Not > the air con, not the seats or the top or anything electrical or hydraulic > except the brakes. Windows, doors, handles, lights will give you grey > hair. Remember 308s are now 20 - 30 year old cars that weren't reliable > when they were new. > > 5. New Ferraris are new, unreliable cars. > - Why? Because so few are made, they never get all the bugs worked out. > With a list like this, and a year or two, and $5,000 - $10,000 you can > pretty well debug a good car. Double that figure for "garage queens". > > 6. Mileage is good, not bad for a Ferrari. > "1988 328GTS - only 1,500 miles" (GARAGE QUEEN). This car should have marks all over it > from ten foot poles. You will essentially have to rebuild the car and > still there will be surprises. Look for 5,000 miles a year average on > the car of your choice and a GOOD service record. > > 7. If you can find a Ferrari part it will be ex-pen-sive. > - A 328 windshield is over $2,000. Why? Because it's a FERRARI! > > 8. All Ferraris are red. > - Save the less common color schemes for your second or third example. > If you want to get out with your skin intact buy a "resale" red car. > > 9. Ferraris are like trophy wives, they are very expensive to keep. > - You don't hot rod a Ferrari because they are already hot rods as > they leave the factory. With high performance engines, they require > frequent service. A minor service is several thousand dollars every > 15,000 miles, A major service can be 5 - 10 thousand dollars, and more > if you have a 12 cylinder car. Every 30,000 miles. Really. > > 10. If you buy a Ferrari you will need another car as well. > - Unless you just love riding the subway. > > 11. Unless you have an F60/Enzo, someone faster is always out there, but > they are not having anywhere near as much fun. > - If you have never driven a Ferrari this may sound obscure. Beg, > borrow or steal one and drive it right. Your life will never be the > same. > > > -ken- > http://bookofken.blogspot.com/ > today's blog: Reefer Madness
It would work if you have a bicycle also and don't mind carrying groceries on the bike a few times a week, or riding it to work or taking dates on the handlebars after the car breaks or won't start. I don't think Enzo ever envisioned his road cars as daily drivers slugging it out in traffic, they were always toys.
I can't even image driving everyday in traffic. That's not what they were made for. Would you keep a race horse in your back yard?...Same thing. My car is miserable in traffic. It hates it, and so do I.
Mine's a 328, not a 348, but it handles a daily commute just fine. I run about 75 miles round trip. Admittedly, my commute is against the normal traffic flow, so I don't have to deal with much in the way of stop-and-go conditions. I would think a 348 should handle it better, assuming the car was well sorted and had a decent amount of miles on it to begin with. Someone on here has a 348 as his only car, and that seems to work out for him. Can't recall who it is right now, unfortunately.
I have had my 348 spider for exactly 9.5 days so I am hardly an expert. However, with a couple of good drives last weekend, I have already worked out that it is not the right car for a commute. Or at least compared to my other cars. I absolutely love the car and I love driving it in the country on two-lane backroads. But the car doesn't seem to enjoy dealing with city traffic, and if you have "rush hour" (still can't figure out why the call it that) traffic I don't think either you or the car will like it. So if you can avoid city driving/traffic it might be fun to use, but I sure as heck wouldn't have it as my only car. Buy the 348, and then get a beater with a good stereo to commute in. Cheers Kevin
All together, let's say C L U T C H. If the commute is all highway miles, it might be one thing. With stop-n-go stuff as a daily driver, you can probably put $0.05 into a coffee can each time you hit the clutch. Save those nickels, you'll need 'em. Other things a daily driver must contend with: 1. rocks, debris on the freeway that easily smash a $2000 windscreen 2. leaks in the rain. 3. flakey electric system 4. changing oil >1 per month (if you're really driving 500 miles a week) 5. parking worries, speed bumps & curbs in normal city environments. etc. etc. My advice, roll LOTS of miles on a Ferrari -- just don't do it i a 15 year old car during Mon-Fri rush hour. -Daniel 90 348ts. (Having said all that, I'll sell ya mine. I want Martin's 512 BBi)
As far as I am concerned, Ferraris of any kind are made for up to 30 minutes of driving at a stretch and no more. I drove my 348 home from Dallas (about 350 miles) and it seemed like the 24 hours of LeMans. I felt every bump, shifted up and down 1000 times or more, the A/C was woefully inadequate, and the stereo sucks. And when I got home I felt like I had been rode hard and hung up wet. But for those 30 minute snippets of time...the car is pure JOY.
Am sorry to hear you feel that way. Perhaps you need some suspension work or, better still, upgrade it. i can adjust my suspension for ALL DAY/24/7 comfort or stiff for the track. Have driven the car for HOUR upon HOUR and... it's all good baby i WILL not the stock seats leave MUCH to be desired in the 308 here and the Sparco Roadster race seats are MUCH better. Another option is to get a Lincoln/Cadillac/Rolls/etc for long drives, though am sure you have a wonderful comfy couch car already.
I think a properly sorted car will work, just realize that you will pay out your @$$ for maintaince. If you are up for all that, then you will have a very fun car for a daily driver. If not, then try going to a newier model, 96+. Dave, how spot on your post is at times is amazing!
I have bought a 348 that was a daily driver, and it ran awesome. I sold it a year later to get a 355 after I had put 6k miles on her in a year. I believe the 348 had about 84k on the clock when I sold. The more you drive the better they run. Oil changes are not that hard to do if you don't want to pay someone. As far as 30 min. runs, my best drives have been cross country trips in my 348 and 355.
I use my 348 as a daily driver every day the sun shines. It runs great without any problems. However, I would NEVER suggest having one as your only car. It is a comfortable car (I drove from San Diego to Seattle in mine and had a fabulous time), but you can't fit golf clubs or other similarly shaped objects in the car. In my opinion, get a truck or SUV as a workhorse, and the 348 as a toy. You can pick up the workhorse for not much money and you'll never regret having the backup. Also, you probably don't want to drive you 348 when it's raining cats and dogs. It takes the fun out of it because you've got all this power and nothing you can do with it. It also makes a mess of your car and you have to wash it every couple of days lest you be taken away and beaten by the Ferrari Police.
If your commute is fifty miles one way, I assume that a good portion of that is on interstate or multiple lane highways. Therefore it isn't like you'll have bumper to bumper for fifty miles, more like a few miles at stop and go, and the rest above a walking pace. I would say to find a car that already has several thousand miles, the debug portion of the initial car's mileage life will probably be pretty much over, plus you can save on depreciation. You'll be putting 25,000+ miles/year on the car. In four years the former garage queen will be over 100k miles and imagine the resale value or lack thereof. If you bought a car that already had say 50k miles, the difference in value between 50k and 150k miles would be less than 5k and 105k miles, IMO. While the belts would probably go 2 yrs/50k miles, wouldn't things like the valve adjustments still need to be done every 30k? You'd be looking at basically a 30k service every 14 months if you drove it everyday. That would get expensive even if you did it yourself. I like the idea but it would cost big $$$ anyway you look at it. Why not get the 348 with some miles to drive every so often, and a 4-year-old pickup (Ranger, S-10, etc) to drive most of the time that gets decent mileage. You'd spend the same amount for both of these that you would for a low-mileage garage queen. You would save money in the long run. If money is no object, however, I say go for it. I would love to hear stories of a 348 with 200,000 miles in a few years.
I've driven my 348 ts on several lengthy trips around Europe (twice from the UK to Italy, once to Germany and once to Spa with laps of the circuit and an off thrown in). It has cope wonderfully with everything I've thrown at it and I marvel at the wondrous engine and how it copes with everything from a slug around town to a blast on empty roads. However, I have a BMW 5 Series for my daily driving. Although I'm sure the Ferrari could cope I think it would lose some of its sparkle using it every day. I like to use it a little sparingly because it makes every outing that much more special. A fast drive on lightly-trafficed decent roads puts a smile on my face for a week and isn't that how it should be?
I use a 355 as my daily driver. Only use another car when its down. The 355 can be used very easily as a daily. Yes getting in and out is a pain, parking is a pain, the door sills are very wide and made getting in and out difficult, its very low and negotiating curbs is a problem, avoiding parking the car in direct sunlight is a must, as two days in the sun will shrink the dash and turn the plastic into puddy, BUT I love it. And at least for now, am excited everytime I get into the car. It is a blast and simply do not want to deny myself the pleasure that would be denied anytime I have to drive a normal car. My partner has a 348, and he drives it 1/2 the time, and another car half the time. The only thing that makes a 348 more difficult is the AC. It is much worse than my 355, but much better than my 328 (which I've owned for 6 years and used to use as a daily for 8 months). If you live in a very hot climate like New Orleans, a bad AC will make you suffer. The 348 is mediocre. You can get by, but it takes a while to cool down. A 328 will never cool down in temp. above 100F. Other than that, dont let the maintence scare you off. If it is well driven, it will be reliable enouph. It will break, but the lack of depreciation (the 348s will never get any cheaper), will likely offset the maintience. The other thing is that 348s are so cheap you can put a gazillion miles on them without drastically affecting their values.
Most drivers prefer a comfortable car, you are not alone. My attitude towards cars is completely different. I enjoy it if I do not only KNOW that I´m moving forward but when I can actually SENSE it. This is why I prefer open cars and leave the top down even at low temperatures or a bit of rain. If I have to drive long distances I get sleepy in a Merc S-class, a BMW 7 or something alike. But in a loud, open car with a hard ride that reminds me that I am really moving forward and not just sitting in a car I will stay alert for hours. As to the daily driver issue: To each his own. I personally think it is nonsense to have a beautiful car and NOT use it as a daily driver. Just figure: You get up early in the morning to catch the first plane, you are tired and grungy, get to your car that will take you to the airport - and suddenly you rejoice when you open the door, get into the car and start driving. You will not have this experience with some boring 08/15-car, and if you are forced to drive a sluggish SUV your day may end with suicide. The same thing after work, you are tired, have a couple of things still rotating in your mind, and then suddenly you see your car, etc. etc. I spend between in average more than one hour per day in a car and I intend to make the best out if this hour. Remember: Every car is too expensive if you don´t enjoy it!
You get up early in the morning to catch the first plane, you are tired and grungy, get to your car that will take you to the airport - and suddenly you rejoice when you open the door, get into the car and start driving. Perrish the thought of leaving a Ferrari in an airport parking lot. You'd deserve everything you get....I'm sure the response is..."its just a car" right?
Check the post under general, driver or garage queen. 348 challenge, 540.1 previous weekend, 385 last weekend. Pictures under jdavid sighting, sc, nc section as well as trutlands under ga.
What are you talking about? Is your concern that the car might be vandalized? If it is this what you have in mind: Very, very unlikely in Germany. Never heard of a robbed or vandalized car at the Berlin airport. And there are always a couple of really nice cars ...
IF you can afford to run/maintain/take the depreciation hit on one as a daily driver, there's not much question. You probably already know the obvious answers.....it's not going to be as reliable as a Toyota or Honda, but it will surely put a bigger grin on your face the majority of the time. If you can't afford it, don't do it. I say buy a 348 or 355 for daily commuting. Then, buy a 360 or Enzo for weekends. That will make driving on weekends special as well. My only downside response is with regards to safety. I have a Toyota Tundra I use to commute & for my properties. Besides being more practical & reliable, I feel much safer than in an F-car. Considering the amount of time you will spend in the car (based upon your post), you may consider the odds.
I really should have outlined my position better at the beginning. Firstly, thanks for all the replies. The 10 commandments are certainly a sobering read! My drive is rarely in stop-start traffic. It consists of some motorway miles and some back roads. (I'm in England incidentally so the A/C issue is less important). I've had my current car (which is a a bone shaker in itself) to bits and back together again so I'm no stranger to mechanicals and what I've read on this forum has led me to believe that working on a Ferrari is much like any other car - you need the documentation, tools and time (that is, any parts you may need will cost lots of cash). I would certainly have another car available for the times when the Ferrari is off the road or when I'm intending to leave the car in an uncomfortable place.
Hmmm...... My clutch had over 60% of the lining left after 30K miles, the majority of which is to-and-from work city driving.
