High Mileage Exotics

[davidI]

There is a possibility that I will be establishing myself in the UAE in the next couple of years and if I do, I may look at picking up an exotic for fun in the sun. Excellent deals can be found on Ferrari 360s & 430s and Lamborghini Gallardos, especially those with 25,000+ kms.

Obviously, the maintenance on these cars is not cheap so the lower purchase price on higher mileage models will not always translate to a cheaper car once maintenance is considered. I've found lots of different opinions (and cost estimates) online for higher mileage Ferraris and Lambos but I'd like to hear Beyond's opinion on the matter!

[94boosted]

FWIW a good buddy of mine was seriously considering buying an 04-05 Lamborghini Gallardo but once he did some research on the cost of routine maintenance (fluids, brakes, plugs, clutch...) let alone the cost of replacing something more major that breaks (i.e. tranny) he was frightened. He ended up buying a newer 911T and tells me that maintenance & repair costs on that are borderline cheap when compared with the lambo.

[JRSC00LUDE]

I realize they're ultra high performance or whatever, but the fact that a car which costs that much is considered high mileage at 25K is ridiculous lol

[Asian_defender]

Originally posted by 94boosted
FWIW a good buddy of mine was seriously considering buying an 04-05 Lamborghini Gallardo but once he did some research on the cost of routine maintenance (fluids, brakes, plugs, clutch...) let alone the cost of replacing something more major that breaks (i.e. tranny) he was frightened. He ended up buying a newer 911T and tells me that maintenance & repair costs on that are borderline cheap when compared with the lambo.

QFT, I have a good friend with a 2004 Ferrari.
Believe it or not it has trouble starting lol
He tells me when it starts he's afraid to turn it off, not to mention that the support for exotics suck. Pretty sure it was around 13k to get it fixed.
I'd stick to a Porsche if your looking to go that way

[NewLextasy]

Ferrari's at 25k is considered high miliage but its not on a gallardo anymore. There's a lot of cars with more Kms then that on them. My 07 gallardo I have had for 5 years now has 100,000kms on it of extremely hard driving.

My cars looks and drives like it did new. But I will admit Maintenance is very expensive.

[Boosted131]

That's sad if 25k is high mileage on a vehicle with such a high price. What parts start needing replacing ?

[Xtrema]

Relevent:
http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/0...-of-a-problem/

Wonder if you can get one of these abandon gem for real cheap?

Originally posted by Boosted131
That's sad if 25k is high mileage on a vehicle with such a high price. What parts start needing replacing ?

Built to be fast, not to last.

It cost a lot since:

a) exotic materials

b) not enough qualified mechanics.

c) cars are not designed to be serviceable in mind.

[T-Dubbs]

I heard that the exotics with the higher miles generally are in better condition than the cars that don't get driven and they sit, from my buddy who worked at Ferrari.
The ones that sit longer, had more issues in his experience.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[revelations]

From what I have heard about Lambos, the clutch(es?) are only good for about 5 hard launches and then they have to be replaced.

Its about light weight with the Italians, the Germans tend to over build their high end vehicles.

[FunWheelDrive]

I feel I can offer real world feedback as I was a tech at ZR Auto a while ago. Lamborghini's that we saw were pretty problematic right from new. We'd have cars with 3,000-4,000kms on them from new with no start issues. Most Ferrari's I saw had minor or major oil leaks. Cam covers almost always leaked. Most Ferrari's in the shop were in for maintance, and almost all the Lambo's (besides for getting oil changes done) were in because they were broken. Engines, trannys, electrical issues ect.

That being said, there are always bad apples and good apples and they includes cheaper cars as-well. So we might not have seen any of the Lambo's or Ferrari's with no problems. So take it for what it is. However, when anything DID fail, it was big, big dollars. Long wait times and huge shop labour rates. If you think 2500 for one control arm that doesn't include bushings is affordable, a Ferrari is for you! We once had to replace the throw out bearing on a Ferrari 355, they no longer made that specific bearing so we had to order a new input shaft, fork and bearing.... $$$$$$$$$

[Hallowed_point]

Re: post above about insane maintenance costs..

This begs the question: what is the appeal of buying
an exotic again? To stare at it in a garage and put
150 kms on it in a year while praying that nothing
breaks?

It's about as practical as Pamela Anderson

[shakalaka]

You don't buy an exotic to be practical, as you don't bang/be with Pamela Anderson, cause she is the nicest girl out there.

[J.M.]

When money is no issue you probably don't give a shit about practicality.

[Hallowed_point]

^^Oh for sure. I don't dispute that..if your a Saudi Sheikh what's couple grand for a control arm?!

But from what I'm reading here, the initial "cheap" buy-in is the appeal. This cheap buy in doesn't carryover into maintenance at all. As mentioned in OP's post.

I would also second the Porsche suggestion.

[you&me]

One thing people looking only at the price of entry often forget is that the servicing for these cars is still proportional to the original price. Meaning that, while the $60k price on a used Ferrari 360 might seem reasonable, all of the maintenance costs are still befitting of a car that was $200k+ new...

That being said, driven cars are generally better serviced which can go a long way in reducing cost of ownership. The most important part when looking at any exotic, high mileage or not, is to review the service records and get a thorough PPI by a qualified shop. None of these cars are rare, so you really do have your pick and can find good examples, even if it takes a little hunting...

[civic_stylez]

Originally posted by you&me
One thing people looking only at the price of entry often forget is that the servicing for these cars is still proportional to the original price. Meaning that, while the $60k price on a used Ferrari 360 might seem reasonable, all of the maintenance costs are still befitting of a car that was $200k+ new...

That being said, driven cars are generally better serviced which can go a long way in reducing cost of ownership. The most important part when looking at any exotic, high mileage or not, is to review the service records and get a thorough PPI by a qualified shop. None of these cars are rare, so you really do have your pick and can find good examples, even if it takes a little hunting...

THIS!

as a former employee of ferrari of alberta and bentley calgary, I have seen this A LOT. People find a great deal on a US ferrari or something and bring it up here and shit themselves when I told them the clutch was 13K to have done. Youre not going to auto value to find it so you had better be prepared to pay dealer pricing and although the car may depreciate, the parts do not!!!!

Lower mileage is not always better either. I had a customer with an 05 Ferrari 430 with 3500kms on in and the car ran like shit. Seals were all dried out, compression was leaking, blue smoke like crazy on startup etc... cars need to be driven just like thoroughbred horses need to be run.

DO YOUR RESEARCH and make sure you do your PREVENTATIVE maintenance!!! Cheap ass people skipped out on oil changes to save a few hundred bucks and ended up paying a fortune when things would go wrong because of it.

YOU CANT BE A BALLER ON A BUDGET!!!

[davidI]

Thanks for all of the thoughts everyone. What I've read generalizes that you're looking at $1 / mile for maintenance - may be more, may be less. For the Lambo's, it looks like the 30k maintenance is where they have to do a valve job and the clutch is usually ready to be replaced so it may be better to look for a car that has just had all that work done. There are also special GCC specs meant for the hotter weather and those cars seem to cost a bit more, but it's likely worth it.

Realistically, it would just be fun for a year or two for me. I wouldn't plan on living in Dubai for more than that period anyways so if it cost me $15-20k in maintenance / sales loss to drive an exotic and be a 30 year old baller I'd be okay with it. #YOLO.

I'm now reading that the Lamborghini dealer in Dubai is terrible though and hasn't had a good track record in conducting PPIs or maintenance. Not sure if Ferrari is much better. I'll have a lot more reading to do before I make a decision and this is all just speculative anyways as there are a lot of things that would have to happen with my current situation before I'd make the move.

[ddduke]

Seems to me like Dubai would be a place with more young ballers that want to show off then mature car enthusiast that cherish their cars.

This to me would mean that most would be bagged to shit and poorly maintaned.

[davidI]

Originally posted by ddduke
Seems to me like Dubai would be a place with more young ballers that want to show off then mature car enthusiast that cherish their cars.

This to me would mean that most would be bagged to shit and poorly maintaned.

Definitely a concern. Wealthy Emirates who plan to replace there car every couple of years anyways probably don't care too much about maintenance.

That said, there are a bunch of enthusiasts on Lamborghini-Talk who organize meets and such so that's good.

Plus, Dubai is quite transient, so deals can be had just from the constant movement of expats in and out of the city.

It's all a matter of finding a car with good records and that does well on a PPI conducted by a reputable shop.