Glad I haven't had any of these issues with my 't'. My only real repair was the decision to replace the ignition instead of dealing with the "heat soak" issues after driving a while. It's been a great ownership experience for me.
Mine too, and another 20 that I personally know. However, I am talking 21 very nice t's that I have known mostly since new. Maybe some ragged out ones have issues.
At 60,000 miles for the T you'll probably be looking at a valve job in the next 20,000 miles and this can get expensive with 32 valves to deal with - probably not less than $6,500 for the complete job. Also, if you put 20,000 miles on either of these two cars and then want to sell, I think you'll be taking a hit on the resale of the T with 80,000 miles at that point. Given that we're now in 2006, the difference in age between an '89 and an '86 is pretty negligible - the analysis is more about condition of the car than the age. I'm biased (I have a 3.2 cab) but I'll share a few further thoughts. If you're getting a Mondial then you're not going for all out performance anyway. So, why not get the full monty and go with a cab as that's truly a fun and versatile car? On a sunny day there's nothing better than a top down ride with the family.
I use a Friends 71k T regularly and electrically wise it has a sticky starter motor and suffers from battery drain, and apart from an intermittent clutch problem the car is faultless
they are fine cars for long drives the conv. is a dream to have. lots of luggage space, ez to drive around town ( watch out for bumps in the road though) I drove my T for 7 hours straight to Montreal and then 7 hours back...it was gr8t and I didn't want to stop even after 7 hours....I don't think I would last that long in my 308 or if I did, I would need paramedics to lift me out of the seat. usual f-car stuff...belts and clutch -- the T has a very expensive double plate clutch but you do save on labor since it is very easy to r/r. electrics are often a surprise but hey this is a near 20 yr old limited production car and when you realize how little these cars cost ..it is all ok.
from the perspective of someone who has considered buying a mondial 3.2 cab, this is what pushed me in that direction: 1. classy, understated design. doesn't have the "look-at-me" value of 308s/TRs, which is nice to have in a ferrari. 2. decent price for even a very nice car 3. not as expensive to maintain as later ferraris 4. reliable even for daily use 5. mmmmmm convertible i'm this close -><- to deciding i want to park one next to my 308
I've been using my T coupe as a daily driver (with a few snow day exceptions) since October and have been enjoying it. Lots of good points made in this thread but the one that bears repeating is to get whatever you get in the best shape you can afford. Once you do get it, you won't want to be spending time and money to make it run like you wanted it to in the first place. You'll just want to drive it. It's also likely that you won't look back, no matter what version you get, so be prepared to act when you see one in good condition. I was looking for a 3.2 coupe but stumbled across the T and bought it after a quick drive. Good luck! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hey Mark - that's a nice looking colour combo, and looks like it's been lowered slightly - was that done prior to your purchase ?
I hadn't thought through the valve job issue - sounds like the 60K car is out - now I realize why the pricing was low for a "t'. I always planned to the "cab" route - I've already got a faster & stiffer hardtop (Audi S8) if that I can track if I want to. Finally other than here, Hemmings, Forza, and say Ebay - where are good places to look for Mondial's?
There is a nice red Mondial T convertible on Collectorcartraderonline.com with an asking price of $39,900. If he would take $36 it may be in your price range and be a good value. BT
You could try Auto Trader - I believe it's at www.traderonline.com. Good luck - you'll love your Mondial I'm sure.
Beau365 - I thought it was stock when I got it but I did the PPI myself so what do I know? I cannot say whether it was lowered or not. I simply don't know. Mark
Good morning Sam - the t's do sit lower than the others. You have to be careful with speed bumps, parking lot entrances and the like otherwise you end up getting the gas tank repaired. Carol
I wonder if this is a due to the electromagical shock adjustment system. Which on my t doesn't really seem to do anything, even though during the recent major service the service guys swore they checked it and it was operational.
Marks is definately sitting lower than my T. But then I've just had the Bilsteins revalved. I believe the shocks gradually "sink" a little over the years.
Has any of you guys done any seal/gasket change on the Mondials/308QV so far? The one I'm looking @ is an 85 QV, dry, 46000miles, belt change every two years & oil/fluid maintenance every six months. Seldom used in the last 3years but properly maintained. My worry is if I were to start using it daily running around town & highways. Rubber, seals, starter, pumps etc start to give way which means a lot of money. It starts first crank hot & cold & pulls well with an updated fuse box. How often do we need to do valve adjustment on this motor? It sounds awful on stock muffler so maybe a tubi will wake it up a little. The mechanic told me to keep it stock & orig rather than messing with electrics like adding hifi/alarm etc.
Sorry, I haven´t done it personally. Basically the workshop used the threads on the spring struts to bring the car from 12 cm (ground clearance under the door sill) to 13,5 cm. Before the car used to touch ground at speed bumps, now everything is in order (but still requires careful driving ..).
