The bumpers can be re-positioned pretty easily. side to side gaps can be worked out. What caught my eye is the deflection of the small panel that rubs above the bumper between the headlights. It is twisted up on the drivers left side. Bradan has a rebuild thread here. The amount of damage Dan uncovered in an otherwise decent looking car was remarkable. If you can see deflections or body panel gap issues, the repair was not done correctly. Either run, or get the car very very cheaply. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, I'm sorry for the confusion. That's the trim panel that I meant... so the condition of the car is pretty rough, and I couple that with the reputation of the dealership that it's at. Half of the 66 Google reviews are glowing perfection - a great sales experience. The other half are the most horrible, harassing, swearing, ignorant salespeople; charging for uncompleted repairs, non refundable deposits, lack of communication, etc... It can't be both!
You aren't buying the dealership. Just make sure you understand what the car is before you commit. Lots of resources here to help you repair it....but surprises are never fun. In the Ferrari world surprises are rarely cheap. You seem to be doing your research quite well. Carry on.
Hello Timothy, Here's some free advice from a 20 year 355 GTS F1 owner, Forget this car and put WATSON on "ignore" he is a troll. Welcome to FerrariChat. Spend some time here and you will find that there is a treasure trove of information from owners of these cars, and professional that sell and service them. I highly recommend that you start a conversation with "Dave rocks" Dave Lelonek of stickyRX for real-world information on what it takes to get a Ferrari interior in shape. Dave also knows quite a bit about the rest of the car and what real-world market prices are at this time. I have spent almost 25 years building the Internet. I advise you to take online ratings with a grain of salt. Companies exist to help businesses alter them in their favor. Here is an example. http://wavereview.com/. Go slow and get your learn on here and in no time you will be going fast in your own quality Ferrari. Cheers, Marc
I might as well post this before I get on my next call. WATSON, take a few hours off posting your customary snappy online retorts and misinformation that comprise the majority of your posts on FChat. When I spoke with you on the phone Randy you came off as a much nicer, more intelligent guy than your posts on FChat would suggest. Not an attack, but some friendly advice.
Surprisingly low grade posts from a user that was recently calling for more civil discourse? You might have a problem with a portion of Watson's body of posts, but it's better to address what you disagree with specifically than hang all the pent-up baggage on an otherwise innocuous post.
just went to look at this car today. previous damage to the front from what i could tell. shoddy bodywork, overspray and mismatched paint. numerous body scrapes and scratches throughout. interior not too bad but not great either. separating above cluster and a few bubble spots. driver seat has wear on the side like you would see from a 40k mile car. started right up, belt squealed for a minute, couple rattles,white smoke from exhaust for 10 minutes until warmed up, oil leak that left spots after the 15-20 minutes it ran, ansa marmitte headers probably original, rattled a bit. engine was off just a tick, didn't purr but puffed it seemed. also check engine light on. i did not test window motors or top, maybe second trip. its a 30K ferrari that you would expect to put circa 10Kish to get it sorted right then drive the heck out of it til it needs work again. never gonna be a show stopper. needs tires too
That car looks like it was hit hard in the front to me. Nothing comes close to lining up. Salvage cars, even if they are in good shape have poor resale value after you fix them up and are almost impossible to get agreed value insurance on in Nevada, so count me out. There are too many good cars out there that are a much better deal in the long run IMHO. Cars that have trashed interiors more often than not haven't been maintained at all.
Yuk. That's too far gone. $10K? The seems optimistic. My last major (done correctly) was $9k. I had a quote for another project and a quality paint job with me puling all parts and reinstalling was $20k Interior leather re-do with me dong the worth and sending out for recoveroing was $5k Sticky parts would be $3 - 4K I guess, but Dave will have that number Still have not talked about the body work and crash damage correction....or headers, cats, valve guides, brakes, transaxle boots, top, electrics or anything about the F1 system. Better buy that car cheap.
I apologize to all the 355 guys. I went nuts and disturbed the peace. Has anybody noticed that other than me going crazy, it is much more pleasant here without Jon Von Bon?
Here is a VERY nice car I came across recently. Same color combo as my 575M. https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/listing/1999/ferrari/f355/1876021 IMHO, you will be hard pressed to find a sorted car for under $80K these days. I have no interest in six owner cars with salvage titles, and I am not trying to debate what's out there, but good cars are around if you are willing to pay for one.
Weird photo from that listing. Go look at the full size image. See it? Weird. Not saying it is a bad car. It is quite nice actually. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have been in photography for over 40 years... Dropping backgrounds in Photoshop is one thing. Taking liberties elsewhere is quite another. Look at the picture above and tell me what's wrong.
That front valance is often not very well fitted from the factory. Almost all of them have a larger gap at the ends where it meets the fender.
