[ArcticWhite]

I'm looking at an F430 coupe with 27,000miles on it. My questions are:

1. What kind of maintenance could I be looking at on a 27,000 mile F430? What is the typical costs for that maintenance.

2. I'm very much a DIY kind of guy. I do all my own car work from rebuilding engines to engine tuning to body work. Are there places out there where I can buy parts (engine, body, etc) either new or salvaged?

Thanks!

[champagne612]

Originally Posted by ArcticWhite

I'm looking at an F430 coupe with 27,000miles on it. My questions are:

1. What kind of maintenance could I be looking at on a 27,000 mile F430? What is the typical costs for that maintenance.

2. I'm very much a DIY kind of guy. I do all my own car work from rebuilding engines to engine tuning to body work. Are there places out there where I can buy parts (engine, body, etc) either new or salvaged?

Thanks!

Welcome to FLife

Did you order a PPI inspection?

That information along with sharing if the 430 is an F1 or manual would be a good starting point to determine your short term costs.

[tazandjan]

AW- That is a whole lot of different questions. Annual maintenance on an F430 is around $1000 per year if a pro does it, $200-400 if you do it, but the car will be worth a lot less afterwards if you do it. Nobody wants a Ferrari maintained by an amateur, in general, unless the owner is well known as a Ferrari expert.

Parts, major and minor, for Ferraris are available from specialist parts sellers, see Ricambi's ads, and Ferrari breakers. They just are a little more expensive. What do you have in mind?

Welcome to Ferrari Life. Do you have experience working on aluminum frames and bodies? An F430 has both.

[ArcticWhite]

Thanks for the quick replies! No PPI done (yet). The car is a 2005 F1, non ceramic brakes. I'm not too worried about resale on this, if I buy it, I plan to keep it, so it won't bother me if it is worth less because I worked on it vs. professional.

I drive most of my cars around 1000 to 2000 miles per year. This would be my first exotic. That yearly figure is much lower than I would have guessed for an F car.

As for parts, I didn't have anything specific in mind. Just curious if say, if I needed to redo a head on the car, if the gaskets and parts would be available to the average Joe, as well as things like service manuals.

On the aluminum frame and body panels part, I have a TIG, but with not a lot of experience, but have friends that are very good at aluminum. They have built all aluminum hot rods (frame and body) from scratch.

I only want to get into one of these if I can do the work myself b/c:

a. I just simply don't trust anyone. There are too many people out there that are not passionate about their jobs.

b. Part of car ownership for me is working on the car, learning as much about it as possible, and appreciating the engineering that went into it.

[tazandjan]

AW- F430s are relatively low maintenance by Ferrari standards. Mostly fluids, filters and checks. F1 maintenance is not a problem until something happens, then you need a $25K SD3 diagnostic tool. Hopefully, Duram Plummer will have his diagnostic tool available soon for less than $2K. If you have to change a clutch on an F430, an SD3 or equivalant is necessary.

Our sponsor Ricambi can provide any part you need and lots of advice. If the car is not already bent, no aluminum expertise is required.

Tech data is available, if a bit expensive. Workshop manuals for the F430 are occasionally available on E-Bay and I have a source if you get serious.

Doing part of the work yourself is easily possible, but I would work a bit on your trust issues. You may need professional help occasionally, and there are plenty of trustworthy technicians out there.

[colonel1961]

There is a link on a thread I started when I bought my 599 (you should be able to search for the thread) and it provides shop manuals - and many other items - for most Ferraris for free in .pdf format. You may want to look there to see if the maintenance procedures are something you're comfortable with...

Welcome to F-Life and good luck - the F430 is a wonderful machine!

[tazandjan]

Colonel- I will give you odds the only F430 documents on ferraridatabase.com are ones I sent to Ben Deetman, and that did not include a WSM. If you have another source, please let us know.

[Gcalo]

AW

I would not be discouraged from doing your own work.

Terry is a very knowledgeable and valuable contributor who has imparted great advice to you, and I am sure he has turned many a bolt himself.

Many guys on the sites do their own work and I'll bet at better quality than hourly mechanics at dealerships!

If you are a detail person, know tools and the importance of a good torque wrench, you will have no probs.

There is no assurance a Ferrari mechanic is good. Know of a situation in SoCal where a dealer forgot to add oil to a 430 rear end and cust only found out when it got noisey a few days later!

Also have seen invoices for tranny gear oil replacements with 9 pints! Most I have ever gotten in was four (4) pints. How does that happen? I never saw a few extra quarts left in customers trunk either!!!

A Ferrari is just a mechanical object no different from any other. Do your own work. You'll enjoy it.

[Prestiga]

Usally a Ferrari 430 is a great car with no maintenance problems but.... if the person who drive the Ferrari before didn't take much care about your new baby it may make several problems:
- Gear (an klutch if its manual)
- interior staff

the Ferrari 430 engine is a great engine and mostly cannot be any problems with the car engine unless he drove the car with no oil.