|
They were a shit design, but like everything else, the
aftermarket fixes it. With Ferrari's seat position sensors I was replacing about
one per year. It was an expensive PITA as a DIY project and would have
been prohibitive at a dealer I would think. But there's a guy in Charlotte that
rebuilds the tracks with his own parts. I had that done and have been problem
free for 3 years now with a lifetime warranty on his work.
I agree with Michael based on my experience with my 98
spyder. The headers and interior coatings were complete crap. The cats and shock
actuators were lame but not total crap. Now that I've sorted through those
issues my 355 is pretty much trouble free. Really the only bad thing I can say
about it is that it was the last Ferrari to need engine-out belt services. That
means pretty high long-term maintenance, but not bad enough to where I'd rather
have a 360 or 430.
Subjectively I think the 355 was the last beautiful Ferrari. I
really like the F12 and 458 but wouldn't necessarily call them beautiful. The
550/575 was classically pretty, but not beautiful. Most of the others in between
are far too Asian influenced for me. Kind of like the Gallardo and
Murcielago - I respect the performance, but nobody needed to know what a
German-styled Italian car would look like.
--
charles
________________________________________________________
Charles G Perry IV, DMC-E
Vice-President, Engineering
Carolina Sound Communications – MuzaK
7630 Southrail Road, BLDG B
N. Charleston, SC 29420
(843) 571-4488 x1005
www.carolina-sound.com
Don’t
forget the seat racks that operate the spyder top
They
were such a joy !
Clyde
From: George york
[mailto:yorkgeorge [at] mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 3:47
PM
To: Clyde
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: Re:
[Ferrari] Looking for 355
Michael,
I own a F355 Berlinetta and from my personal
experience and what I have read here is that alot of people are misinformed and
give general opinions without conclusive evidence or information. Unless you
actually own one you don't really know all those comments to be true. Yes some
have valve guide issues but I will tell you where this problem starts. It first
starts in the inferior catalytic converters that break apart inside the housing
and clogs the the flow of the exhaust hot gases. This is hot gas builds up back
pressure into the exhaust manifold which then causes a rupture in the thin steel
the back pressure. The hot gases proceed to heat up and destroy the valve
guides. This where they all say that the valve guides are the problem.
Electronic stand point this car is a tank and can be analyzed by a self
diagnostics onboard computer program (pretty cool) for 2.7 Motronics.Personally
this is what they call a daily driver Ferrari and is considered the most robust
Ferrari out there for the money as they made more of these Ferrari than any
other Ferrari models out there which is why people tend to dislike these cars
with negative opinions etc. I have heard so many problems in the 360's and 430's
much more than the 355.But exclusivity is what people tend to want for what they
can afford..Been there done it... Love my 355 for looks performance and for ease
of indviual repairs etc. the list goes on why these are a great Ferrari to OWN!
My 2 cents
Georgio
On Aug 21, 2012, at 09:39 AM,
Michael James <cavallino_rapante [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
In talking with two owners here locally, the issue
never was build 'quality' - miles above the 348. The issue was
with Materials - valve guide materials, header materials, interior
materials, etc. The cars themselves were built quite well -
various materials wore-out VERY quickly in a motor run
hard.
--- On Tue, 8/21/12, Doug and Terri
Anderson <dnt [at] dock.net>
wrote:
From: Doug and
Terri Anderson <dnt [at] dock.net>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari]
Looking for 355
To: "Michael"
<Cavallino_Rapante [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: "'The FerrariList'"
<ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2012,
11:10 AM
Alas
sometimes the cheapest step in owning a Ferrari is buying the car
itself.
DOUG
From: Peter
Pless [mailto:ferrarilist [at] pless.com.au]
Sent:
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 4:25 AM
To:
DOUG
Cc: 'The
FerrariList'
Subject:
Re: [Ferrari] Looking for 355
Theres more to a 355 than just build quality, which is
crap, of course.
A crap one in Aus is still over $100kand good one, who
knowstheyre hard to find.
You yanks are lucky with car prices.
From: cjromero
[mailto:clyderomerof4 [at] bellsouth.net]
Sent:
Tuesday, 21 August 2012 8:59 PM
To: Peter
Pless
Cc: The
FerrariList
Subject:
Re: [Ferrari] Looking for 355
He should be able to
find a clean late model for around
$50K
If he pays more than
that he is a fool!
355 rate just above
the 348 on the worst Ferrari built
And the reason I say
this is
Check the service
bulletins
The 355 has more than
the space shuttle!
Remember it's your
money!
Clyde
Sent from my
iPhone
I have a neighbor interested in a decent condition 355
spyder, not concourse.
Hopefully at a Clyde price J
Thanks,
Mark Lueker
308 SYSTEMS Inc
Ultra-Agile Communications/Command
www.308systems.com
970-282-7006
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