^^^ lol lmao ... You both have the highly desirable gated manual shift... Awesome!

 

I don't know about the black on black on black. lol

 

Matt, take care of that sweet machine! btw, I thought it was a 2006? Spent many a drive following right behind that bad boy!...my favorite car to follow on drives!...Capristo exhaust FTW! Please take care of it...please, please...lmao

 

Haha yeah man.. this isn't a daily driver so I consider the rules to be a little different for this exotic. The history shows it's been driven about 2500miles a year so I'm going to try to keep it low as well. It'll be garaged and well taken care of. I'd feel too guilty not taking care of it since it was so special to the previous owner.

 

Saw it on Facebook! Gorgeous car! Congrats!

 

For some reason I thought it was an '06 as well but nope.. definitely an '05. The attention this car gets is nuts... a bit overwhelming.

 

Drive the damn car man! Don't baby it...don't "save" miles...the depreciation/maintenance you'll suffer is equal...might as well do it while driving it. I'm averaging 620 miles/month since I bought mine. Before I bought it, it had been averaging 100 miles/month across 3 previous owners. Guess who took all the depreciation hit and enjoyed non of the miles?

What story would you rather tell when old:

1. I owned a Ferrari once. I sat in a garage for most of the time I had it, but damn it looked good sitting still. Almost like it was moving just sitting there. I'd drive it 10 miles to a local parking lot and let it sit there some more. Others would comment on how beautiful it was and how it must be to drive one. Too bad I never got the chance to really drive it to its potential.

2. I owned a Ferrari once. I drove it frequently. Got to know every sound it made, every vibration, every shiver. We danced together. Giving each other the pleasure we deserved. It was like knowing the essence of a woman. Something I'll never regret or forget. When I'd take it to car shows, I would tell the people what it really felt like to drive one for more than 10 miles at a time.

 

+1 keep up the maintenance but don't let the thought "I can't put miles on it" stop you from driving it! Can't wait to see it at fraggle rock or earlier if we connect somewhere.

 

This is why I don't mind seeing rock chips or "imperfections" in an exotic. It gives it character, and it means it's been driven.

I'll never forget the Testarossa owner that I randomly met in Lutherville back in 2008. I told him about a cruise that had been scheduled to go from Rockville to a restaurant on the other side of the Kent Narrows Bridge. He said that he doesn't go on long drives because it costs him $20/mile when you factor in maintenance/tires/depreciation/etc.

I guess to him he was ok just looking at it and taking it on short drives because he couldn't (or didn't want to) afford to drive it more. Seems like a waste to me but to each their own.

 

Congrats again Matt, did you work the wheels in the deal or previous owner kept the wheel?

 

$20/mile! Ha! He's got to drive it MORE and push that depreciation cost over more distance. bozo!

 

I got the stock wheels, brakes, front/rear diffuser, side view mirrors and engine vents in this deal as well as the modded car.

 

Definitely a good point and it has been on my mind. I don't want to leave it in the garage but I don't want to put 12k miles on it a year. I think I'm going to savor it for car events (meets, shows, cruises, taking the girlyfriend out for dinner) as opposed to running to the grocery store or the post office.

Also some have even mentioned that the car might appreciate in value because of the rarity. I'm highly doubtful of that.. but I think it might help on resale value if I ever decide to sell it? What do you guys think? Ferrari of Washington mentioned they've only ever serviced 2 manual trans F430's.

I can already tell owning an exotic is quite an experience and I'm only 1 week into having it. It's definitely fun.

 

Matt, bring that black beauty out tomorrow to Kohl's!

lol, welcome to the Italian exotic world! It's like the mafia...once you're in, you are in for life...can't leave, man...or else....

And there is a "reasonable" amount of miles to put on these cars when you're a "one-exotic" owner like most people (i.e. when you don't have 20 exotics to pick from based on your mood that day)...seems to be the sweet spot is around 7,500 miles/year (give or take 1000 miles) for driving. Have talked to many people about this, including mechanics/exotic salespeople and it seems to be a good range of where you're driving it enough to have fun, yet not driving it anywhere and everywhere where the general wear and tear items seem to accumulate faster.

So roughly around 150 miles/week on average. Trust me, Omar drove that 430 a lot...he's the one who put the miles on that car, so he was probably averaging close to the range I mentioned.

 

Hey Matt, Congratulations on the F car. We will see you this summer.