Good morning and happy new year again to everyone. With all the current buyer frenzy for the 550 I’d like to know from those who used to have one when did they sell it, what did they replace it with and… why. I am thinking if to add a V12 to my 328, maybe a 456 at this point. All the best, Nic
I sold mine for a combinations of reasons: Part of a general reduction in the number of cars I owned at the time - I had a lot of money tied up in "toys" and none of them was getting used as much as it ought to have been, so I decided to concentrate on using fewer cars more often, and liberating cash for other purposes. I had owned my 550 for 8 years and had thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but I was finding increasing frustration with being unable to use a car with the performance of a 550 in the manner its maker intended on UK roads increasingly covered by speed cameras, or blocked by traffic jams. So it seemed like a good time for a change. I had found a very nice Bentley Continental (the Bentley equivalent of a late R-R Corniche convertible) that I wanted to buy, so it seemed sensible to sell the 550 to fund that purchase. The Bentley was a car that I could enjoy more, for different reasons (4 seats, convertible, automatic, etc.). My advice to you would be not to hesitate: buy a 550, and buy one ASAP. It is a most wonderful car - every Ferrari afficianado should own a front-engined V12 once, and for bang per buck, the 550 is at the head of the field. If you need the rear seats, buy a 456, but if you don't, then go for a 550. One thought which might help you to buy one at reasonable cost is that quite a few LHD 550s were brought to the UK when UK prices for 550s were ahead of those in mainland Europe and good RHD 550s were in short supply. For obvious reasons, these sell at a discount to RHD cars in the UK, so you may be able to find a good LHD car here for less than it would cost in Italy (though that may be negated by import duty / VAT now that we are outside the EU - I don't know how that works). And I would volunteer to drive it to Italy for you!
Thank you very much for the time it took you to write all this. I checked few UK websites but on the 550 I couldn't find any price convenience vs. Europe or Italy :-( Are you aware of any specific UK website or organization to scout for Ferrari vintage cars? Thank you again and best regards, Nic
I'm planning on selling my 550 due to the fact that where I have moved to, there is no place to enjoy the car as it was meant to be driven. I have put about 40 miles on it in the last year. This car needs to be driven, not sit as a garage queen. The roads around me just don't lend themselves to driving the car like it should be driven. The roads here are much more appropriate for my Z3 Coupe, it is time to drive it more. After 9 years of ownership, it is time for someone else to enjoy it.
All the 550 are sticks. Sold my 99 last year, just was not driving it much, 10k miles. Great car. Drive the older Ferraris more. But the thing that bugged me the most was the alarm, and a car that locks itself. Just a quirk of the 550 and the alarm system.
That's exactly how I felt with mine, 4,000 miles away! My pleasure. I am a bit out of practice at looking for Ferraris, but when I want to do some window shopping, I usually go to Pistonheads or Car and Classic - most cars for sale in the UK will be listed one one or other of these, and C&C has a more international reach, too. Happy hunting!
John- Fixing that alarm system would have been pretty easy now that we understand how everything in it works.
Thanks for the update BUT the 1st issue was not getting used and wanted to find a good home for it and did
I’m not far away in NC. Am just starting to look for a 550 or manual 575. Would love to know the details when you’re ready to sell. Thanks.
