So, there was a Ferrari at a friend's shop...

A 308 GTSi in for a clutch replacement. I've heard horror stories, but in fact, the job is much easier than my old MR2 Turbo. If you go through the wheel well, it's actually quite easy access. And the cost is less than on either the MR2 or the 944 Turbo. After a closer inspection of all the engine access points, I suppose other than parts prices, it doesn't look all that difficult to maintain. Am I crazy to want one of these now?

Oh, and he basically said time from start to finish on the timing belt was only about 3 hours.

You are not crazy--- but you don't want the GTSi--- those were the slowest of all 308s. An early carbureted car (pre 1981) or a later, Quattrovalve car has much better performance.

Buy one now----- they've already started to jump in price.

My buddy has a 328. Nice cars, the entrance is still 30k+ for a good one.

The biggest issue is this is an 8k rpm engine from the 80's. If you can figure out the adjustments, and changing all the little things, I think you can have a awesome car. I believe that every 20 or 30k is a fairly decent checkup/update/repair schedule that you would want to adhere too.

And no, parts are not cheap.

I've had a ton of Fiats and Alfas in the past, but other than riding in a couple of Ferraris in the past, I haven't had any real experience inspecting one from underneath. I suppose I was expecting it to have magical fairy access only and unicorns for a power plant!

I seem to recall the "cheaper" Ferraris are reaonably DIY-able up through the 348 model. Never worked on one myself, though, so can't confirm that.

I like the 348, I always thought they were a baby Testorosa.

A friend had a 328 V8 car. It was a fun novelty and he didn't have any issues getting parts or maintaining it. It's pretty accessible if you have a lift. It was the little things that went wrong that cost a fortune. I recall a horror story where he paid $1200 for a sensor that came in a Ferrari box he had to order directly from Italy but turned out to really be an $85 Bosch product that he could have gotten at NAPA had he known to look for cars with similar engine management.

So... I think these are feasible for the sort of people who can DIY, and research what will work in place of "genuine" parts for sensors, switches, coils etc.

FWIW, he sold it and bought a Porsche to save money and go faster.

Flight Service wrote: I like the 348, I always thought they were a baby Testorosa. A friend and I rented a 348 in Vegas many years ago. I still smile when I think about it.

I did a full 30K service on a 308GT4 last year and fell in love with it. Not fast or great handling by current standards but the overall package was just something I could drive every day and be a happy man. The subdued styling in a dark gray really added to the appeal to me.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

I think your comment about part searches applies to every brand that some would call a luxury brand. Probably before you were born I owned a 911S. The previous owner had backed it into a column or something like that and didn't just mess up the bumper, he also broke a taillight lens.

I went to my local Porsche dealer and was priced the lens for $32. I then went to my local imported parts warehouse center and found the identical taillight lens went on the VW Beetle of the same year. I bought it for $4 and change. No one could ever tell which one was the actual Porsche lens even after I told them I had replaced one of them with a VW part.

I've had a thing for the unloved F-cars for a while. I could live with a 308gt/4 or mondial coupe

Rupert wrote: Probably before you were born I owned a 911S.

Unfortunately, I pre-date any "S" model 911 by a more than a few years.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Then you wear it well!

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: A friend had a 328 V8 car. It was a fun novelty and he didn't have any issues getting parts or maintaining it. It's pretty accessible if you have a lift. It was the little things that went wrong that cost a fortune. I recall a horror story where he paid $1200 for a sensor that came in a Ferrari box he had to order directly from Italy but turned out to really be an $85 Bosch product that he could have gotten at NAPA had he known to look for cars with similar engine management. So... I think these are feasible for the sort of people who can DIY, and research what will work in place of "genuine" parts for sensors, switches, coils etc. FWIW, he sold it and bought a Porsche to save money and go faster.

There are some good threads on Ferrarichat that show what parts interchange. VERY helpful for the diy guy that doesn't want to pay the Ferrari tax.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I recall a horror story where he paid $1200 for a sensor that came in a Ferrari box he had to order directly from Italy but turned out to really be an $85 Bosch product that he could have gotten at NAPA had he known to look for cars with similar engine management. So... I think these are feasible for the sort of people who can DIY, and research what will work in place of "genuine" parts for sensors, switches, coils etc.

There are all sorts of stories like that. Whenever a Ferrari label gets put on a box, the cost multiplies, sometimes ridiculously.

Same thing with Lamborghini. I needed a turn signal switch for my old Lambo. Available for several hundred dollars from the usual suspects. Did my own research - it is a Lucas part. Came up with an Austin switch that was 1/10 the price new in the box.

Same story on a failed brake light switch (which unaccountably lives in the left rear wheel well rather than where sensible manufacturers would put it, but that may be associated with the twin servo units that live in the trunk). Wanted mucho dinero and would take months from the factory. Checked it out (Girling braking system) and found an Austin Healey part (there are only two basic types, pipe thread or parallel and seal with a copper washer) and got it for less than $10.

eastsidemav wrote: I seem to recall the "cheaper" Ferraris are reaonably DIY-able up through the 348 model. Never worked on one myself, though, so can't confirm that.

My understanding is that it's up TO the 348/Mondial-T, unless you have a lift. That's when the engine turned longitudinal, and the whole rear subframe needs to be dropped in order to do the timing belt changes. Apparently on a car where repairing a blown engine can cost can get into new car territory, timing belt changes are very important and done frequently.

This interests me a lot. I only have a 13 Mile round trip commute and can work from home when I want (usually Wednesdays and Thursdays) Since I drive on average under 3000 miles for work, my thoughts are why do I have a nice but mundane volvo as a daily driver. My wife has her BMW as the good family car and it only has 18K miles on it.

I could sell my cars (4 currently) and just get one I love. P-Car is on the short list. Old ferrari would be cool too. The maintenance always just scared the crap out of me.

Remember, even if you own a "starter" Ferrari, you are required to wear at least two items of branded clothing at all times. This will have to be factored into your budget.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

All I have is just the one hat.

I've also read that some of them have exhaust manifolds will get burned through them every 5 or so years and Ferrari wants to charge 6 or so thousand dollars for a set. Prestige is expensive.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

$6000 buys a lot of custom headers.

Ferrari of that age, like Porsche and Lamborghini were just small time builders and used as many parts as they could from other builders to keep costs down (on their end at least) this is why you find Fiat taillights on many Lamborghini's and switch gear from all over the place. As many cars go to bosch for their fuel injection, it makes sense that they would use their sensors.

A friend of mine owns a 355. He just did the engine out belt service and while the belts, water pump and tensioners and misc parts he bought were oem I think his parts total was around a grand. Took him a few days casually working on it in after work. I gave him a hand one day just because I was curious and wanted to get some experience. Aside from the cost of parts if you mess something up doing it incorrectly and the preconceived idea that Ferraris are delicate and hard to work on, it was no different than any other car but you obviously need to be diligent and studious to avoid pouring more money into than need be.

From what I have seen (just reading about them/looking at pictures of how to repair stuff), they really don't seem complicated. Id probably be the most concerned about windshield glass cost and availability if I was planning to drive one on the street much, windshield glass for many Italian cars is very expensive.

I have a friend in Austin who just finished helping a friend of his install a Honda motor into his 308. Let that sink in for a few minutes.