[justynb]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.

I am going to look at a 348TS for sale this weekend and wanted some advice as to what to look for.

The car is blue with cream interior and has covered 48k miles. I like the 348 in blue but will I have difficulty when I come to sell the car as people seem to want them in red?

The car is a 1991 RHD UK car and is priced at £29k Sterling. This seems quite reasonable to me, any opinions?

I called a dealer a few weeks ago who had advertised a blue one only to find he had recently sold it, but he said he'd had the car for almost 12 months and had trouble selling it although it was £34k Sterling so £5k more than the one I am going to view.

The dealer told me that I should beware of rust and stone chips with any Ferrari and that I should expect a 348 to have received paintwork during its life because of these reasons.

I would have thought that most owners would have kept their cars garaged (dehumidified even) and that they would rarely drive them in the rain so should I really have to expect all 348s to have been resprayed or was this dealer just trying to scare me?

The owner says it has just had a major service including cambelts which I gather are due every 18k miles or two years.

I am UK based and will be getting the car HPI checked. However, who can I get to check the car mechanically? I would get the RAC or someone similar but how much would they know about a Ferrari? The car is in Kensington, London are there any Ferrari experts I could pay to check her over?

Any advice / comments are gratefully received!

Regards,

Justyn. 8)

 

[Pete04222]

Hey Justyn! Welcome to the forum!

If you want a blue one, get a blue one. Your not thinking of selling it already are you? When you do decide to sell, if you try to sell it yourself it may take awhile. Much easier if you trade it in on a new Ferrari.

I'm not sure what the Ferrari market in the UK but 29k GBP converts to 46k USD and that is low for a 348. For a real nice one I think you would be looking at around $55 - 60k over here.

I'm not sure how susceptible the 348s are to rust, I know the 308s (like mine) had problems with rust on the bottoms of the doors. I have a few small rust bubbles on my car but then again, my car is 24 years old. I wouldn't expect to see any rust on a '91. Although 1 or 2 small bubbles might not bother me. Probably not from driving the car in the rain, but just moisture and humidity finding a place to grab hold. The UK is not exaclty a "dry" land.

Stone chips are a fact of life. The car you are following is picking up every little piece of gravel it can find on the road and tossing it into the air where you can drive into it at over 50 mph. The front spoiler on my car is covered with them. I am thinking about taking the front spoiler off and just having that re-sprayed. This may be the type of paintwork the guy you were talking to was refering to.

The major service is a huge plus when looking at used Ferraris. I don't know of anyone in the London area that can look the car over for you. But there are a few UK guys on this forum, perhaps they can help.

Cheers,
Pete.

 

[simonc]

The fact it has had paintwork is pretty much standard on these cars. Stone chips take their toll, owners like to keep them nice and so they get painted. It's the same with the newer 355s and 360s.

Most imortant point is the service history. Should be there, should be up to date and should be with a main agent or a respected specialist. You can have the car checked out by one of these specialists such as (in no particular order) - they are all in and around London

Kent High Performance Cars (http://www.theferraricentre.co.uk/)
Joe Macari (http://www.joemacari.com/)
QV (http://www.hamletcg.co.uk/qv/)
Verdi (http://www.verdiferrari.co.uk/)

Call Roger or Simon at Kent HPC, nice guys and very helpful with free advice.

You could also try asking in the UK ferrari forum called Pistonhaeds at http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?f=63&h=0

Good luck and do keep us posted.

Simon
1977 400 Auto in London (Paddington)

 

[justynb]

Thanks for your reply and warm welcome Pete.

In my opinion the 348 looks best in Blue and as they are obviously quite rare this makes finding a good one harder than finding a good red one. I also think its nice to be a little different to all the red Ferrari drivers (no offence to anyone here, just my preference :wink: )

The car does seem quite cheap, its privately advertised and the chap selling it says he needs to sell it so hence the low price to enable a quick sale.

I have briefly spoken to the owner on the phone and it does sound like a genuine car but from my experience you never know until you get there and take a look yourself.

BTW, here is the exact advert: >>>1991 FERRARI 348 ts 2dr Coupe
RHD,348TS. Metallic blue, Cream leather, Full Ferrari Service History, (just had full major service with cambelts change), tax/MOT. Excellent condition, the best 348TS around. . . . . . (private) call for more info. 48347 miles. £28995 .<<<

I'm also attaching a picture which he took when he bought the car from a dealer (sorry about the picture quality).

I guess the best way to be sure that this is a good car would be to first satisfy myself that it is 100% and then pay an expert to check it over and give me a second opinion.

I've been reading up on the 348 all day today (sorry boss) and I hear that early models can suffer mechanical and electrical gremlins. Does a 1991 car qualify as an early model as its sort of halfway through that model's production run?

Thanks again for any replies / comments!

Justyn.

 

[justynb]

Hi Simon, thanks for your advice.

For anyone interested, I have just spoken to QV who say they will check the car over for £120 if its brought to them. They also prefer it is taken to them as they can get it up on the ramp to inspect it more thoroughly.

He told me that the engines tend to be bomb-proof providing the service hitory is good. He also said that the gearbox can be a little notchy as it is connected by cables but the thing to beware is a whining transmission as this would be very expensive to put right.

I'm getting excited now , if I like the car I'll be hopefully booking it into QV next week.

Something I haven't considered just yet is insurance. I currently run a 1989 Porsche 928S4 as my "toy" and have found Footman James the most competetive for a 5,000 miles policy. Does anyone have any recommendations for a similar policy for a 348?

Justyn.

 

[modificata]

Good luck with the car. The price sounds very good, as £29K is a very reasonable price for a car that sounds perfect. I disagree about the price though!

Simon mentioned Verdi Ferrari, and I can also recommend them. I know them well, so if you need a second opinion give them a call. In fact call them and speak to Karl. Mention my name if you want and he might remember me (written off 360 Modena in Saudi).

When it comes to servicing Verdi are supposed to be very reputable. Apparently a Verdi stamp in the service book is good enough for a car to be sold through Maranello Concessionaires (Ferrari UK importers).

I remember speaking to someone about 348’s once and they said look out for oil leaks. Anyway good luck with the car, and let us know if you buy it.

Adnaan

 

[Pete04222]

I also think its nice to be a little different to all the red Ferrari drivers (no offence to anyone here, just my preference :wink: )

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Sure - Everyone drives a RED Ferrari.
:green: :green: :green:

 

[simonc]

I think that Carol Nash are very ggod for insurance, £380 a year for my 400 without a garage.