348 When does the insane maintenance cost end?

That’s not what is in the often quoted “major” service.

 

Every other 'major', I have every piece of rubber in the engine bay replaced.
Anything in questionable condition, that is hard to reach with the engine in the car, is also renewed.
I have even machined up a couple of small parts when Ferrari-tax seemed of questionable value.

Remember, a 'major' is your opportunity to drive the car for 3-6 years without _anything_ but fluid changes.
If you dilly-dally on what needs to be fixed/addressed, it will come back to bite you--and at a very inconvenient time.

Pretty much just like a real race car being driven in a real race attempting to win.

 

Right…as you say…”mostly includes”. That’s the thing Ferraris are not driven like Toyotas and they don’t have complete maintenance schedules and procedure for doing them. In that 25+ years and the fleet ages we learn more and do more in our majors. You can see that in the post archives on fchat. For example we talked about belt changes and almost never cam timing at the beginning of fchat. Timing for 90% was just matching lines. Later around the mid 90’s we see more posts about belt change with cam timing and Within the last 10 years more of us include fuel injector blue printing and service with major service. This evolution has occurred because we lack guidance from Ferrari and we have been figuring it out ourselves as needed.

 

Ferraris are different from other cars like Toyotas because maintenance occurs based on mileage milestones that are usually attained. On the other hand 95% of Ferraris never get the miles they time out. That’s how you get the controversy in the many belts threads of how many years until you have change belts. You can have a 70k mile 355 from 1996 and that’s a high mile car going on average 2500 per year!

 

I’ve spent a ton on maintenance and restoration over the past 36 months as I shared with you privately. I would say there are four factors at play, in order:

1) deferred maintenance
2) years sitting
3) 30+ year old components aging out
4) my perfectionism

I could have bought a 488, but I wanted a 348 Spider and I wanted it perfect.

 

The only reason these cars turn to lemons is because owners tend to do as little maintenance as possible between two engine out services, which necessarily turn out stupidly precisely because off all the little things that could have been fixed in between and allowed the keep the car in regular use, which is if paramount importance to keep it reliable. This is a vicious circle that can only turn into a virtuous circle if the cars are first driven regularly and then if the issues are fixed just as they come, rather than keep the cars rotting in a garage and get the financial time bomb to explode each time the engine out service bill is handed over. I can't see of another way to "devermin" these cars.

 

It's more than that. The best cars aren't just the best maintained with the thickest set of repair receipts. The best cars have well thought out service done with attention to detail. For example in timing your volvo the manual tells you to line up the marks and you are done. There was a time 95% of Ferrari guys just lined up the marks. Every thread on Fchat that talks about cam locks (and there is still a current thread on cam locks here right now) is lining up marks and often their own nail polish marks not even the ferrari marks on the cams! A small number of people are cam time with degree wheel everytime. Anyone who has used a degree wheel knows how easy it is to be "off the marks." There was a time during major services no thought was given to fuel injectors. Some would add a can of techron. The 348 was fraught with electrical gremlins before it left the factory. We used stablant-22 to clean electrical connectors in the 90's. Mixture control is important! How do we ensure the possibility of engineered mixture control? That's how we got beyond techron and into blue printing and servicing fuel injectors and re-pinning of electrical connectors. That's how the aftermarket took what Montezemolo called the worst car to come out of Maranello and make it the reliable 348 it is today. The OP's car can be saved. It just needs to get sorted from antenna to window motor.

 

I would get those torn boots looked at ASAP. Leaky header blowing hot exhaust gas onto them? That can get expensive very quickly.

 

Wow! There are lemons that just seem cursed. That's way beyond even 355 ownership with engine rebuild. Considering the cost of the car you could have a very nice 430 with money left over to take you wife on a nice vacation.

 

To very bluntly and directly answer your question in a way that I dont believe I saw yet, and for most who own a ferrari will disagree with because of paper trail is to do the work yourself. The parts cost is what it is and this forum is a great source of part replacement alternatives that will be much cheaper, but when you pay someone to work on a Ferrari you are paying top dollar.
I bought mine to drive, to enjoy, and for the experience. I am not saving my car for the next guy but making it mine.

 

What do you mean? We all agree that DIY is the way to own an old Ferrari.

 

exactly, diy as much as possible. When you dont need to pay for the hours, the parts purchasing becomes much more tolerable.

 

I have a similar era car (Lamborghini Diablo) that has required $70k in maintenance over an 11 year span (58% of what I paid). So there have been some trying times. But I never got to the point you seem to be at now. I would recommend you sell it for whatever you can get and resolve to get something else (newer) later, as I feel it will always be a mile until breakdown in your mind....not a good place to be, can't enjoy a car in those terms.