Ferrari Mailing List: 328 Assessment

[Charles Perry (charles]

There's pretty much a consensus that the 328 is the best first Ferrari out there. As far as Ferraris go, it was well-sorted from the factory and is reasonable to operate & maintain. I still think it's one of the best looking cars of all time and the Grigio is particularly pretty on it, as well as being less of a ticket magnet.

 

We will always warn you about very low mile cars. You get great cosmetics, but you can open yourself up to a lot of operating costs if you intend to put significant mileage on the car. Based on the AutoCheck the car has had pretty consistent use, which is better. Some cars got lots of miles their first decade or so and then sit for long periods, which is bad for any machine. But any 24 year old car with only 34k miles may have issues you will need to budget for - corroded electricals, dried out belts & seals, damage from infrequent fluid changes. Nothing that I would ditch the car for, but you need to budget 15-20% of the purchase price for things that will pop up over the first year of ownership. Even though the car is decades old, the parts cost can be ugly and in some cases difficult to find. Having that cushion will be the difference between enjoying your Ferrari experience and not. Thereafter, things are still more expensive than an average car. Most people budget $2-3k / yr unless you do a lot of work yourself.

 

I don't know anything about Oregon's emissions testing, but I'm not sure I think a rollback actually happened here. It looks like the inspection stations may just round the mileage up, and if the tech rounded it to the nearest 10k in 2005 that would explain it. The rest of the readings seem consistent. That may be why the report indicates that some records weren't used in rollback calculations, although I don't know that for sure. You could check with the Oregon DMV and the seller to see what their stories are. Maybe OR emissions are done on a mileage basis and the tech was doing the owner a "favor" to extend his next check requirement.

 

This car says it has all the service records, which is a big plus. Ask for them to be faxed to you and read them carefully - especially the last few years. They will give you a pretty good indication of whether the previous owners did the minimum necessary or maintained it the way you would. Due to parts/labor costs, people tend to start deferring maintenance if they know they're not keeping the car long.

If you move forward with it, have a pre-purchase inspection done by a knowledgeable Ferrari shop near the car. It won't find everything, but it will let you go into the transaction a little more "eyes open" about possible stumbles, and could provide some leverage for negotiating if anything is found. I also would find a good independent Ferrari tech in your area and check out their references. Having a good, reasonably priced mechanic locally is one of the best pieces of advice I got before buying my first Ferrari.

I haven't been in the 3-series market for a long time, but I think $42 is a little high for this car. Most decent 328s run in the $37-42k range last I checked, except for the '89s which command a significant premium. The low mileage can bump up the asking price, but as I noted, it's not always a plus.

 

If you want a well-sorted driver, you might also see if Robert Rehkopf (from this list) responds to you. He had an 88.5 red/tan that was for sale earlier in the year. It's a well-loved higher mileage car but Robert has taken good care of it.

 

Good luck!

 

-- charles

-- 87 Testarossa

-- 98 F355 spider

-- 99 Diablo

 

 

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From: Mallory, Chris [mailto:chris.mallory [at] mlb.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 11:16 AM
To: Charles Perry
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: RE: Fender Bender, Monaco Style...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Belt-service-DONE-All-Service-Records-Rare-Color-/270785360832?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f0c10b3c0

 

 

Hi Ferrari ethusiasts. I am a first time Ferrari buyer and love the 328. The above car looks enticing and clean but there are indications the odometer has been rolled back. Would anyone be kind enough to have a look at this and offer their opinion

On whether or not this could be a “good” risk? Any help would be greatly appreciated! My sincere thanks for any feedback! This is the second listing of this car it didn’t sell the first time.