now that the 360s are 10 years old, i'm seeing a number of them with 20-30k miles fall into the $60k range. If i were to a buy a 360 it would be a weekend car, and i would not plan to put many miles on it (especially since its winter here for 6 months). so i thought high miles would help keep cost down. but at what point does it make sense to pay more for less miles, as the higher price offsets pending maintance?

i guess my quick question is, whats the sweet spot on these cars where you get great value, without volunteering for major mechanical repairs?

 

Remember, I'd venture out and say the ones with higher miles, 25k+, will probably run better than the ones that have been sitting around and only have like 3k miles on it...

 

Remember 360 service and the timing belt has to be done ! thats a must . to me 360 weak link is that timing belt ..

 

Its a $3,000 service, not that big of a deal?

I guess my bigger concern is after 30k, what other problems do people have?

I'd hate to buy a $65k car, then have $20k in repairs, when I could buy an $85k car, newer, less miles, no repairs....

 

As long as you do the timing belt in the right time / mileage frames I haven't heard of any major problems. I have heard from many owners the belts can go a lot longer than the scheduled Ferrari service interval anyway, and you can get the change done for way less than 3k.

I'm considering a 360 as well, the prices are so low, why not?

 

how many miles can these cars get out of them? for 2 years i've been comparing the 996tt to a 360, and the prices are damn near even.

Ferrari has the looks, but porsche has the reliability, 4 seats, and with a few mods better performance....

 

my experience has been that anything at the bottom end of the price range is going to eat up your initial savings in a heartbeat and then some. this holds for every single ferrari, its not a 360 specific statement. things dont come cheap on these and any corner cutting bites you on the *** in a major way. its bad enough when its your own fault, less nice when its someone elses. get the best one you possibly can always holds true here and get it as close to how you want it as possible. changing it after words is an expensive pastime.

the one caveat is that all this is assuming you care about your cars. if you want to just run it around and drive it into the ground then this can be done on the relative cheap, if of course you ignore the depreciation in as much as it will be essentially worthless after and youve lost 60k.

high miles isnt an issue, its a car and its meant to be run. they will do just as many as any other but the cost of running is high per mile. sticking more on doesnt seem to offset this for some reason in the same way it does with other cars but ive not seen it cause extra. if you buy a high miles example , then it will always be a high miles example and your driving it wont make any difference to this on a depreciation scale. the worst you can do is pay premium for a super low miles, say only a few k, then drive it and see all this premium evaporate.
it always interests me how the perspective is so different with ferrari. a 9 year old car with 25k miles would be killer low everywhere but ferrariland.

as for belt services, try 6k for one done properly, more if you want a main dealer in on the action. no matter what anyone tries to tell you a ferrari cannot be run cheaply. can it be run affordably....most definately but it cannot be run cheaply.
i once heard someone use this phrase as wisdom when thinking about purchasing one. if you cant afford to pay cash for the car, you cant afford to run it.
this might be overly dramatic but theres sense in there. it eats you with incidentals, throw away costs on other cars hit your wallet hard when its ferrari. with a loan payment coming off and you already stretching to drive one, a nice 3k repair bill for what seems like nothing and would have been a few hundred elsewhere can hit hard.

my friend had his Z06 transmission rebuilt and his car tuned/prepped for 2.5k. what would that get you on a ferrari. a rear challenge grill fitted with a little change left over.

as for your comparo with the 996 TT. the price is the only place in which theres a comparison there and even that one is a stretch assuming you were looking at good examples of each. i love porsche, i cant imagine not having one in my garage but its a car for the head, beauty through function and perfection... a ferrari is a car for the heart. get in one and drive it and you will see what i mean instantly. you may not like it but you will see theres nothing similar in any way between the two.

i love having mine, im thinking of moving it on so i can race my cup car properly but ill def have another when time allows.
if you do get one, and you choose well then you will have a car experience few ever get to enjoy and one you will certainly remember.

a ferrari is a ferrari and is something everyone with a love of cars wants to experience owning just once. nothing compares.
hopefully you take the plunge and get to have some fun for a while.

 

the 360 needs to be run, i'd be more worried about a car that had been sitting. the thing to see is service history, make sure everything that should've been done has been and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. If not, walk away, 360's aren't exactly a rare commodity on the used market and waiting for the right car will always be worth it. Good Luck anyway, and keep us up to date!

 

this is why i'm leaning towards a 20-30k mile car. sounds like it may actually be more reliable, and cheaper. hence, a better value.

i would pay cash for the car, I always think toys (cars, boats, bikes) should be paid cash, since there are other expenses (maintenance, storage, gas, repairs) that will be in the budget.

bad news is this purchase will wait until spring, no sense buying a car I can't drive in the winter

but hopefully the options will be greater in 6 months...

 

Sounds like you really want a ferrari and if you dont plan to drive it so often I would not realyl care about more miles on the car. If you planned to drive the car 5-8k miles per year then I owuld say to get a lower mileage example. In your case you are not planning to do it so why not get a cheaper car? While I have never owned a ferrari my logic above comes from selling cars for over 8 years. I give that same advice to customers all the time and it seems to have worked well for me and my clients.

 

25k miles is nothing and i'm looking for a higher miles 360 mainly because they sell for a lot less. 65k is still overpriced IMO in this market I'd probably not even want to pay 60k for that car. I see a ton of 360s for sale in the 70,80,90k range and none of them ever sell. I've seen some lower mileage 360s that end up selling in the 60k range so be patient and stay firm on your price.

 

3 years ago you couldn't convince me a 360 was possible, but between my job going well and the market tanking, its very possible. heck, for $60k, thats the price of a loaded new 3 series..

 

guys,
with all due respect its clear you are simply internet shopping for 360s right now. many are doing it and theres threads similar to this all over ferrari forums.

if you had started a serious search with a view to buying one, that is been to drive and inspect a few cars and looked at both ends of the price range so as to gauge where you want to be price wise you would rapidly realise that the cheap cars are not the good cars. heck the cheap cars are not even the decent cars. missing paperwork, missing keys and remotes, road rash everywhere, electrical gremlins, tatty interior or exterior, worn interior, missing trim, missing badges, missing tools, missing books, off colour combinations. these are all common findings on those cars and if you care about your cars then your saving will evaporate correcting these things and then some.
you might find a hidden diamond in there but anyone selling that low either knows their car isnt a good example or needs to sell badly. a need to sell badly would give me concern over maintenance being kept up.

theres plenty available for low prices right now and some of these seem to be selling but the higher ones are selling too, they just arent all over ebay so its not obvious. the lower ones are all on ebay and the like so have a high visibility. theres plenty of unsolds on there for relative peanuts.

i looked at a $60k 99 that someone had at a dealer for a pre purchase inspection when i was over few weeks ago. 17k miles. it is a ferrari so obviously looks exciting from 20 yards. the car was a dog though and was clearly one if you actually had experience of them in any way.
the buyer was looking at this for his first ferrari and just the trip to the dealer and actually seeing it sat next to other models of a similar year through the back being serviced that were actually in good condition was enough to make him realise he was wasting his money. they didnt even do the inspection. he just chatted to the techs and decided he needed to rethink and spend much more if he wanted one.
this car he had brought in was the best of 5 he had looked at over a few months all in that price range.

as always, YMMV but that was his experience and confirmed everything i see with the cheap cars as an owner of a good one. if even a decent example could be had for 60k id buy a second one and just drive the *** out of it everywhere. to the mall, to the store and use it as a daily when weather was good. its a ton of car for that money and more than makes up for what it lacks in practicality. id ship my GT3 out in a flash and use it everywhere but theres none that id touch that ive seen....and i do keep my eyes open.

you are right to be looking in higher mileage examples though. only pay premium for super low miles if you are a collector or wont drive it much. if you do then the hit will be all yours for mileage depreciation and its pointless taking it if you have no need to.

 

i agree with alot of what you've said, but in all fairness, you area also trying to feel the market on selling a car, so i think you carry a slight bias (as we as prospective buyers are biased as well). The point of my thread was to find a target car, and the consensus seems to be the 20-30k cars offer the best value, no issues of rotting in a garage, while still having many miles left in it.

again, I hear you, but let's not assume all $60k 360s are bad, the market will ultimately determine fair market value, and I'm confident when I pull the trigger in the spring, I'll be able to get a great car, in great shape, for a great price. maybe i pay $60k, $70k, or $80k, but either way buyers are benefiting right now.

 

absolutely, if you are a buyer and have cash then its your market 100%. no doubt about it, the one caveat being that a good many ferrari owners dont need to sell their cars so once the chaff is sorted out supply will strangle i suspect.
this happened with the gallardos when they tanked. a ton of them were everywhere for ridiculously low for a while. these all disappeared and theres not any about at that value now. whether the spring will bring this for the 360 is questionable but its very much a possibility.

i actually thought long and hard before posting due entirely to the fact that i do have a FS feeler out there and for many this would invalidate my experiences. im glad it did not you. i bought my car outright for cash and as with all my sports cars, it comes with the possibility that it might be here for a very long time or that i set it up in such a way that it becomes unsaleable.


in some ways im also an active buyer. theres a lot id like to do to my car but wont butcher it to do so, think challenge car (but with improvements) on a road shell making it legal for highway driving.
i keep an active eye out incase there is a good one going for the low values mentioned. at that value, if i stripped it and parted out the bits i dont need i could end up even almost i suspect. as my mind is on this path, the interior is mostly insignificant for me which should open up cars in way that may be closed to others however body and mechanics need to be sound. ive not seen anything yet and ive been following this since june and personally looked at 9 cars in this time. cars are just cars so most anything can be fixed. the cost associated with doing so is all that factors in but this still shuts down alot of the cars ive seen. murky mechanical history is the biggest deal breaker i see. you cant assume with these cars. if someone says they had their belts done for example and dont have the receipt or the dealer cannot verify exactly then you have to take the view that it hasnt been done. its the only prudent course open. you cant run on unverifiable belts and sleep at night.

i hope you find something you like, looking at the more driven examples is a good place to be i think for what seems like your needs. you dont need a museum piece. i still hold that your view will shift rather radically once you start getting into them and looking at a few physically. make sure you look at a few high value ones (a dealer can be a good place to see them as you arent putting anyone out) just to get an idea of where both the highs and lows sit. like most i suspect you will end up pulled towards a good car. what this price will be in the spring i wouldnt like to guess but i bet it wont be the same quality of cars we are seeing advertised at 60k right now that you end up in.