scared of buying a F40

I've had friends that have had them and seen major service bills that ranged from high teens to low 40's. I'm not kidding.

They're not for everyone...

 

DITTO !

Also, I'm in the market and and a few conclusions I've drawn thus far are:

1 - The raw-boned power of an F40 is worth the price eventually paid.

2 - It takes about 15 seconds to unplug the speedometer on an F40 without any resulting performance problem with the ECUs. Look down at the left side of the tranny in the back and you will find the connection. The point is - mileage on many cars is questionable.

3 - You absolutely must have access to a trustworthy and qualified individual who knows the engineering of the car inside and out or you will spend a LOT of money and still not have a car that is acceptable.

4 - When you trace the history on a particular F40, it seems previous F40 owners are an interesting lot. I'm amazed how an asset that is worth anywhere from 290K to 375K does not have all the books and records. This is true of everyone of them I have seen for sale. My daily driver is a '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Colorado kind of car) and I have all the records from the day it was new, including the window sticker.

My two cents worth.

 

Amazing car that one should own at least once in a lifetime. It will not depreciate any further so very sound investment.

Find a proper one and it will be well worth it. One drawbacks of new ferraris like the 430 is that they are too damn good, super comfy, great air con, easy to drive super fast, it feels almost like a video game.

F40 is one of the rawest super high performance ferrari you can buy, even the f50 feels tame next to F40.

All depends on your appettite.

 

If you can in any way afford and F40 you must buy it. Best car ever. So what if you can't maintian it, it'll still look hot in the garage.

 

True the F40 will never go down in value. However they may go up in price. The 430 will drop in price, in a similar pattern of the 355 etc..... If it means anything to you, the 430 will be as common as the 360 in a year or two (dime a dozen on fun runs/quite common at "events").

Of course with the F40, you want to find the very best mechanical car you can locate. You're only overhead is underpants and maintainance.

A drivers car

 

I thank my lucky stars every day that I am fortunate enough to own one. You will never regret owning one.

 

Hey Steve, remember me??

Nice to see you have an F40....that is the king of F cars!! This car singlehandedly can sum up the Ferrari marque of late.....it's to die for!

You still got the other Ferraris? I wouldn't know since you took down pics on your website.....

How's the Diablo and Murcielago search coming along?

 

What's up, FG? Yes, I've still got a few horses in the stable, but the F40 is the stud. But how on earth did you get the idea I was looking for a Diablo and/or a Murcielago? You couldn't pay me enough to be seen in one of those.

SteveJ

 

Well, I personally love them both. But Lamborghinis are not everyone's cup of tea.

But certainly you can't deny the performance and driving excitement of those two cars? They're like a mix of your 512 TR & F40, IMHO.

If I recall correctly, I think you had eyes for a Countach...

 

I'm in the market for an F40 also. I'm also thinking the same thing you are-trading in the 430 spider. If I could have only one Ferrari car sitting in my garage it would be the F40.

 

What I can never understand are guys who can afford F40 or F50 but am scared of service cost. If you factor in 10% of purchase for servicing then it shouldn't be such a mental roadblock. If you can afford one of these cars you can certainly afford servicing them.

 

i think that is a fair comment.
all of us boxer owners are mentally well suite to step up into an f-40 as we are already used to the maint costs!

when my new house closes, i guess i will be in the market also.

 

The F40 is like a pusy cat around town, as long as you are gentle with the throttle. If you are not a confident driver, I once heard a suggestion to treat the accelerator pedal like you are treading on an egg shell. The thing is that when the turbos spool up, which may take a few moments when driving slowly around town, there is such a rush of power, that a driver can have the tail come out in a corner, especially in the wet. So for a less experienced or confident driver, I suggest gentle with the accelerator pedal going into and around a corner, and don't put the power on untill you are out of the corner.

As far as hard riding, all the Ferrari's tend to have firm suspension. I don't think it is too bad in the F40, given what it was designed to do.

As far as maintenance goes, the F40 does not have to be as expensive as many people obviously find it. Many aspects of the design are fairly simple. Parts tend to be expensive, like all Ferrari parts, but labour costs should not be that high. I do lots of jobs on my F40 myself. Sometimes I get trusted (been using for many years) non factory mechanics. If I had to do a major repair, such as a gearbox or engine overhaul, I would go to a non factory but Ferrari specialist mechanic. I suppose that I am lucky that where I live there is no shortage of good people. From what I see locally, most Ferrari owners have little mechanical knowledge, and just hand there cars over. Some interest in the mechanicals allows an owner to accurately judge if he is being charged excessively, or if a seemingly small job did take a lot of hours of labour.

Finally, if you like the F40, you owe it to yourself to have one at least once in your life. If it turns out not to your liking, you can always sell it without loosing too much money, if any.

 

ouch....biting words !!!!!

 

If you are getting an F430 spyder at retail, flip it for an F40. They are only going up in price.
An F40 can be very gentle or a beast, depending on the amount of throttle you apply.
I am very comfortable in mine. I am 5'9" 180lbs.
The cars are not that tough to maintain. It is basically a 308 with turbos. At 20,000+ miles you may need a valve job and clutches in the Diff. Do it when you do the major service. The bottom end is about bulletproof. An alternator or fuel pump may go out but those are the only big items. Both can be had for $1000 each or you can get a Bosch pump for $200 and have the Alt. rebuilt for $100. Use your head....
Most guys pick up H.P. with a Tubi exhaust. If that's not enough there is a turbo upgrade.
Have a PPI done by an independent that you trust. If you like, Rod at FAI is famous for pissing off sellers because he tells the buyer like it is..... his # is 949 631-6373.


Good luck,
Rick

 

Yes. You're making the mistake of convenience. It might be convenient to trade your 430 for an F40, but that's a $90,000 fee for the priviledge.

You see, 20 year old imported cars are U.S. DOT exempt. F40's began production for 1987.

This means that you can import your F40 from Europe or Asia where it hasn't had a U.S. DOT conversion by using a Temporary Import Bond.

You can have up to 4 TIB's per car, and each TIB is good for a year.

Ergo, you can import a 1987 through 1989 F40 under a TIB right now and then you'll NEVER have to pay for the otherwise mandated $90,000 U.S. DOT conversion fee.

That $300,000 U.S. F40 can now be had for $210,000...

...but you only get to save that $90k if you import your F40. The ones already here have that DOT conversion priced in.

Let me break this down for you:
1. Import a 1988 F40 under a TIB in 2005
2. Renew your TIB 3 times
3. It is now 2008. Your F40 is 20 years old. It's just become EXEMPT from DOT conversion mandates.
4. You just saved the $90k fee for a DOT conversion.

 

Since there are several F40 owners on here, I will just give my thoughts...

First of all, I have owned or currently own a 1977 308GTB, 1991 348TB, 1995 F355, 1973 365GTB/4. 1972 Dino GT and a 1991 F40..

Now I ownly mention this to show I do have a certain track record on this subject.... Of all of the Ferrari's I have owned, my F40 has been the most reliable and cheapest Ferrari to maintain, and that is being said after, 4 years and 12,000 miles.

So high maintenance bills are not the norm on a F40, at least no more than any other Ferrari...


Now, driving one is a different matter....

I have alot of street and track time in my F40... unlike a F355 or a 430, which are a bit more predictable, an F40 will bite you.

Roland gave me the best advice I ever got on driving a F40 safely, and it is the opposite of a comment made earlier on here, NEVER drive a F40 below 4,000rpm, keep the revs up and in the boost. You ***** foot these things and the boost comes on and you are not prepared you will literally run over the car in front of you...

Roland Linder was my driving coach, as well as Grant Maiman... For those who have come over to my house to play we have an assortment of 4 cycle karts, 80 shifters and now 125 shifter karts, these are the best training you can get... I know I am not a great driver, I am slow but I am technically a very correct driver and that keeps me out of trouble. William H on here, a F40 owner, and someone I consider a friend, is a very good driver (he likes to pass me) he may give some other opinions than I do...

I love my F40, but I do not believe they are for everyone, I think alot of these cars get parked because they scared the hell out of their new owners because they never took the time to get lessons or they were too arrogant to admit they needed help...

I am not proud, I needed the help and still need it, there is not one person on this board that can get 100% out of a F40 and that includes Roland... (per Roland) he gets close i think.

My advice to anyone that buys one, allocate $5,000 for racing school and a few private lessons, if they think they do not need it, don't buy it.

If you are not going to drive the car hard, you will never enjoy it.

A F430 is just as fast, but it is an easy car to drive, much more predictable and neutral. I would a love a F430 Stradale, if it ever comes out.

Being scared of buying a F40 is smart, but they are reliable and fun, just take the time to get with Roland or Grant Maiman with Skip Barber, these 2 guys have alot of F40 seat time...

You can drive a F430 all day and get out relaxed and clean, 30 minutes to an hour in a F40 and you are ready for a nap! And forget talking on your cell phone!

You will either love it or hate it, you have owned some great cars and you currently own a FANTASTIC Ferrari, I would not hesitate reccomending a F40 to you, just call Grant or Roland for an appointment!

 

WOW..... I never new this info on the F40.....
Sounds like the new F430 spider is the way to go..

 

Well said Chris.

 

Where is the savings ? I looked on mobile.de the F40s have an asking price in the low to mid 200s. With the exchange rate of the Euro vs the Dollar, I do not see any real economic benefit, to import a vehicle into the USA. If the dollar were strong, it would be economically viable.

 

Steve, you may have a point, or you may have just missed a very important fact, the mileage on most of these cars is correct, hence the lack of service records.

How many times has a 3,000 to 5,000 mile F40 been in the shop? Records should show oil changes and at least one belt change, but these cars are not 308's that reguire alot of regular maintenance. In many cases they have been polished to death, but rarely driven...

My car came with all the books, including the window sticker, but had no service records. It was purchased new from Continental and always serviced there, a quick check at Continental showed regular oil services, a Tubi exhaust and a belt service. The car had no repairs required throughout its life other than a new battery. In other words, only 3 tickets in 10 years...

This situation of little to no records seems common among F40 owners, I can always tell a non-F40 owner from an owner, because non-owners make wild claims of mythical repair bills that simply are baseless.

The ironic thing is thing is, a F40 requires less skills to work on than most Ferrari's. I rarely have turned a wrench on my other Ferrari's, but working on a F40 is easy. I have installed new Turbo's (twice), numerous exhaust changes, and a alternator replaced at the track. The F40 is extremely basic, and actually pretty easy to work on.

The cars should come with books, records or at least the name of the shop that performed the services.

No disrespect, but I am sure your Jeep has been in the shop alot more than my F40, so your pile of records is more an indication of you driving a Jeep on a daily basis than driving a F40. (I say that only because I have a H2 that has been in the shop more times than my F40 as well).

I am sure there are more than one F40 (substitute the name of any late model Ferrari here) that has had the odometer unplugged, but I suspect as a group, the F40's are more likely to be reflecting the actual mileage.

 

I agree, his post is baseless. You do not see euro F40's in the US. In fact , it wa always my understanding that non-US spec F40's have been banned from being imported and converted. unless EPA/DOT has changed its rules, that ban is still inforce.

 

I'll be the little guy that stands on your shoulder, "BUY IT BUY IT!"

 

No, F40's aren't banned from being imported to the U.S. Any foreign car may be imported under a Temporary Import Bond (TIB). The TIB exempts a car from DOT conversion requirements for one year periods of time. Any car may have 4 TIB's.

Further, federal DOT rules exempt all foreign cars that are 20 years old or older.