Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Cost of Ferrari Ownership

[Matt Boyd (ferrari308driver]

Dick,

I'm saying this tongue in cheek, but it all is true.  In early 2004 I
bought my first new car ever, a 2004 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD Limited.
Total purchase price, including an extended 100,000 mile warranty was
well over $40k.

The car comes with run-flats due to the AWD equipment taking up the
space for the spare in a non-AWD, and the run-flats suck....they last
about 15k-20k miles and cost $300 per corner, and if one fails (which
they do), you are required to purchase all four due to potential
issues with the AWD equipment if you run different circumference sized
tires.  At least that's what they tell me.  Just because of these tire
issues that van has been the most maintenance intensive $$$-wise car
I've ever owned, to include an '85 Ferrari and '88 Rolls-Royce.  Now
that issue has completely gone away because I use conventional tires
and carry fix-a-flat.

On top of that, things that have been covered under warranty include:
backup camera ($850), A/C hoses to rear unit ($600), Xenon headlight
assembly with faulty seam (>$1000), driver side seat heater ($850),
leaky radiator (although this ended up being a recall in the end), and
other stuff I can't remember.  Now that I have 108k miles on the van,
I get to pay these repairs from now on, and I can't imagine that
they'll get fewer and farther between.  This late model Toyota,
although perhaps less maintenance intensive than a late model Ferrari,
is much higher maintenance-wise than the 80s vintage British and
Italian cars I've owned!

*sigh*

-Matt
'85 Ferrari
'39 Rolls
'04 Toyota
'78 Mercedes
'91 Volvo
'57 Chevy

On 1/24/08, Dick Petrick <rtpetrick [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> Tom:
>
> Nobody wants to throw money away, but, by most accounts, the confidence
> level in a late model Toyota is typically higher than in a late model
> Ferrari. So, I stand by my major premise which is that IF maintenance cost
> is the buyer's PRIMARY criterion, THEN he should buy a Toyota. I think
> Ferraris are about passion. The cost of maintaining them "goes with the
> territory". I get bored with the inane whining of some Ferrari owners
> regarding the cost of ownership. Clearly, the whiners must own Ferraris for
> reasons other than the love of the marque, and if the cost is as overbearing
> as some would have you believe, the solution is simple...SELL THE CAR, AND
> MOVE ON !!.....and as for the wannabes, who cares????