So a few weeks back a buddy of mine who's owned a few F-cars over the years hooks me up with his sales guy. Invited to the showroom to drive an F430 Spider F1. Came away drooling, but it was not a color I loved. Still love driving my P-car, so it was a fun day, nothing more.

Until I got NO sleep for 3 days in a row!

Yesterday I got a call. Red/Tan F430 6sp arrived, '06, 4k miles, bumper was repainted, but otherwise loaded and pristine. Oh ****.

So I go by to have a look. He tosses me the keys and off we go. Top down, nothing like it. Took me a few shifts to get used to that clutch compared to the Porsche (wow, it engages SO high on the clutch release I was stunned) but I got it down in no time. We blasted through a few side streets and a number of decent twisties, but no full WOT runs.

OK, so having had the 'lecture' about getting into this club, and nealy puking (I'm not that serious about buying this car).....we get to the details.

MSRP on the car was around 225k I think. He sold the car originally. Wants 319k for it. Serious money would get that to 295k.

So I'm losing sleep again. And no, I don't WANT the car THAT badly (well, yeah, I could live with it ) but is there ANY F-car dealer on the planet who will sell these at a reasonable price?

I know the story, buy it now at a premium, they'll buy it back later and next one is at MSRP, yada yada. I don't give a rat's *** about that story. But I wonder, have any of you had an experience in the past few years that was much different from this?

And don't get me wrong, dealer is as nice a guy as they come. Straight up and easy to talk with. But for a used exotic, with repaint, a good amount of micro swirls in the paint (idiot detailer), and high first year miles, I would suspect a better deal could be had.

Oh, a few tongue wagger shots:

 

Many F cars have their front bumpers resprayed yearly - don't let that put you off.

My take. Soon you'll be dead or terrorists will kill you or a bomb will go off or....If it's your dream car, why the heck not? It'll prolly depreciate less than any other car you can buy. Especially since there may be a gap between the '09 and its replacement.

There's a ton of them to be had - buy one that is as close as possible to how you'd order it.

Good luck - it's hard to go wrong buying an F!

 

Absolutely true. I say if you get "the feeling" when you drive it, pull the trigger and never look back.

 

Better cars to be had for 300K IMO...

 

the car is a beauty!!! personally I dont like red...but that´s only my irrelevant opinion....
If I´m gonna spend too much money for a Ferrari I prefer F1 gear box...
if these car is in your dreams go and buy it bro!!! we have only 1 life!!!

 

Love it. Buy it. Red. 6-speed. Topless. It's the perfect Ferrari experience.

What's your worst case scenario? Drive it for a year or two, there won't be a topless replacement out for sure by then, so the hit won't be that big if you re-sell.

Do it Brother.

 

Is this really a question? Buy it, drive it, put a "got plugs" plate on it, deduct it as a R&D vehicle for your new line of F-car bumper plug products, and somehow figure out how to wipe that silly grin off your face.

 

i know a first time buyer who just bought a brand new red tan 430 f1 spyder 07 for 285.

red tan doesnt get as much of a premium
6 speed should also bring the cars price down at least 10k
4k miles is really too high for that price as well

 

Yeah, Hold out, I know you can find them for cheaper...

 

All good things come to those who wait!

 

Here's another thought. As you know, there's usually $10 - $20k worth of profit if don't buy privately. Perhaps you should consider posting a WTB on the General and 430 forums on Fchat.

 

no F1? no purchase.

Thank you come again

 

Where would you get the idea that red/tan doesn't get as much of a premium? That's contrary to what I have been told by 3 dealers.

 

there is a lot more inventory on red/tan than any other color (check ebay)

and that is information that i got from my dealer

also while looking for my car i ran into a red tan for sale every day

 

Perhaps that's because it's the most popular selling combination.