8 Months with an Italian - An Update

"SPAMBot - Horse Doctor" (spambot2002) 07/21/2017 at 12:03 • Filed to: Ferrari

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Hey OPPOland,

I figured it had been a long time since I posted some actual content so I decided to give you an update on the 348. Before we get started, I do have a few ideas for posts that I just haven’t finished. I’ve been promising a post on the search process but I accidentally deleted my draft a few months ago and haven’t felt like working on it. I do have a new outline completed so expect that within a month. Anyways, update below:

Last time I took the car out

I picked the car up on November 1 st so I’ve had it about 8 and a half months. Let me tell you, time has flown by. I’ve driven about 2500 really fun miles. Fuel economy is surprisingly good. On a little road trip, I got about 20 MPG on the mostly highway portion. However, if I keep to my local twisty roads and have a very heavy foot for an entire tank, I’m looking at 11-15 MPG. Luckily for me, gas seems to still be priced low, even in the great state of California.

Hit 25k on Xmas Eve

I can hardly remember where all I’ve driven the car. My most notable trip was a weekend in San Diego. I drove down early on a Saturday morning and met a friend at the hotel his employer set up. After a short break to catch up and to take the roof off, we hit all the twisty roads we could find east of the city. I had no plan nor did I know of any twisty roads in the area. I simply headed east. We found the first nice road and we just took any turnoff that looked fun. A full 4-5 hours of aimlessly driving was just what I needed at the time. I let my friend drive for about an hour and he loved it. It was actually kind of nice experiencing the car from the passenger seat too. After that long in the heat/sun, it was time to head back. The car handled the heat and abuse better than the drivers.

Short trip to San Diego

Other than my trip to San Diego, I’ve mostly driven locally; to car shows, or up to the canyons north of Malibu. Every month, I meet up with a group from Ferrari Chat and we do a group drive to a car show in the valley. That is always a good time.

Taking a page out of Doug DeTwittersteer’s book, I’ve let quite a few people drive. Driving an F-car is not an opportunity many are afforded so I love that I am able to provide such an opportunity. In this time, both my brothers came to visit (different occasions) and we took the car about 100 miles north on PCH. Both times the weather was just about life-altering perfect.

First, my middle brother. He historically doesn’t care about sports cars. He’ll like a nice Maserati or Benz, but high-strung machines built for speed were never his thing. After about 25 minutes in the car, I could tell he was looking for opportunities to go faster and push a little harder. I think he had a smile on his face for the next 24 hours. I can pretty much say he gets the appeal of sports cars now.

Second came my oldest brother. He has always liked Ferraris but had never driven one. I took him on pretty much the same route as my other brother but hit a few more twisties as he is a more seasoned driver. His dream car of all time is a 355. In fact, last year, we almost went into split ownership of a 355 spider (story for another time). He loved the raw feedback of the manual steering and heaviness of the other controls. That night, he was sending 348 classifieds to his wife.

I let my roommate and about 5 other friends drive and have given countless rides. 8 months later, I still owe a few rides. I blame busy schedules of all parties involved.

Horse Crossing (car was dusty)

Before I took the plunge into exotic car land, I read many stories of how the attention gets old pretty quick. Owners say they are approached at gas stations, pictures on the freeway, etc. etc. etc. This has not been my experience at all. Not a single person has talked to me at a gas station. I get the occasional “Nice Car!”, a few pictures here and there, and some stares, but nowhere near what I expected. Now that it is summer, I’ve noticed a bit more attention. I’m assuming it’s because we are now in peak tourist season. The locals probably just assume I’m yet another privileged kid or I’m driving my dad’s car. Plus, when 911’s are as common as a Camry, you tend to be desensitized to nicer cars. My favorite bit of attention was when I stopped for coffee and a family was (figuratively) drooling over my car while completely ignoring the two v12 Lambos a few spots down. Respect you elders, I guess. My second favorite was when a lady in a Land Rover blew me a kiss on the 405. I should have asked for her number.

#DailyDriven (not really). The cart kid at TJ’s threw me a complement as I got out.

Now the part you were all hoping to see: Problems and fixes. No one has ever said owning an Italian car is easy. Less so for a 27 year old Italian car. My nose would be longer than it already is if I told you I’ve had a trouble-free 8 months. On my way home from San Diego, the car threw its first code. I checked and reset it and it was very intermittent after that. Then, I started getting a weird intermittent hesitation, almost like it was hitting the rev limiter, above 4500 RPM. It turned out, these were related. After reading through the forums, I narrowed the problem down to the crank sensors. These are several hundred dollars (each) from Ferrari. But, it turns out KIA makes the same part. $25 each with many successful 348 installations. I ordered a pair immediately. The process to swap the sensors was easier than any job on a modern car. 45 min. later, my car ran great again. The other problem I experienced is my driver side door cable was rusted and froze in place. This prevented the latch mechanism from latching so my door wouldn’t shut. I pulled off the door panel and sent the cable to my friend. He runs the service department at a local motorcycle shop. For a case of beer and a Sunday drive, he refurbished the door cable and it works like new. The only downside is that I broke the lock mechanism taking the door apart. But, these are a common item to break and a company makes an upgraded part that is reasonably priced. For now, I just use the passenger side key-hole, if I even lock the car.

Now that the honeymoon period is coming to an end, I caught myself evaluating whether or not I bought the right car. I could ramble about the new connections I made, fulfilling a childhood dream, costs of ownership, other cars I could afford, etc. until the cows came home. None of these metrics really mean anything though. The fact is, while I’m sitting at work or stuck in traffic, I catch myself dreaming of the next time I’ll be gripping the perfect steering wheel and hearing the symphony of 8 Italian cylinders. And nothing else truly matters.

If you have any questions on my ownership thus far, please ask away!

Still one of my favorite pictures of the car

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 12:11

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That part about KIA using the same part and selling it for hundreds less makes you wonder how insane the mark up is on all their parts.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 07/21/2017 at 12:15

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The Ferrari tax is truly insane. You can rebuild the alternator with better, off the shelf, components for ~$100-150. A remanufactured part with a Ferrari logo is at least $600. Luckily, the 348 owner brain-trust has a huge list of similar cross referenced parts. This makes maintenance much easier to swallow.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 12:30

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How long are you intending to keep it? What would you replace it with? Are there mileage limitations on its insurance policy? On that note, are insurance costs reasonable? And finally, have you ever considered taking it to an autocross or track day?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 07/21/2017 at 12:46

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I have no intentions on ever selling it. The smart thing to do would be to hold it for 3-5 years and use the sale to fund a house down-payment. I am not a fan of smart decisions though.

If I were to replace it, it would probably say an Alfa 4C, GT350, or Cayman GT4 (out of my price range). I do want a new DD within 3 years and I would like it to be one of the cars, or a Morgan 3 wheeler, for lolz. But, I’m not sure if I could swing them by then.

My insurance policy has a 6k mi/year limit. I don’t even drive my daily that much but I wanted the flexibility my first year. They also offer a 2k and 4k policy. I might drop it to 4k for next year.

Insurance is shockingly cheap. Agreed value coverage, zero deductible, spare parts coverage, etc. is ~$900/year.

I don’t think it would be much fun at an auto cross. It has manual steering so speed helps enjoyment. I do plan on doing a few track days. I really want to break and fix a few more things first. This is the only way I’ll ever be comfortable enough with the car on the track. I need to know it can handle it first. I bought if from the original owner and he only put a few hundred miles on the car in his last 5 years of ownership. She needs to be driven and driven hard to bring any weaknesses to the surface!

Takuro Spirit > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 12:50

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LOL @ the crank sensor bit. I was checking the price of Crossfire SRT-6 air filters, and they’re $111. EACH (there’s two).

Same filter from WIX, for a set of TWO, is ~$30

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Takuro Spirit 07/21/2017 at 13:00

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Hahahaha, crazy, isn’t it! Everyone I spoke to actually says the KIA sensors last forever whereas the Ferrari sensors fail all the time. They must use better plastic in the manufacturing process for the KIA version. I guess that’s the difference when you building a car for a 100k mi warranty.

6691 zapS > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 13:00

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Kudos for sharing the Joy.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Takuro Spirit 07/21/2017 at 13:01

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Glad you found the cheap filters, too! It’s always a small victory when that happens.

Takuro Spirit > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 13:41

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I was hoping for our customer to say “I want to keep it all Chrysler!” and order the OEMs.... that come in a Mercedes box...

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 13:42

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Wow thanks for the detailed response! I can’t believe the cost of insurance is so low. They must not see it as much of a risk. Does the insurance tolerate track days if you ever go on one?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > 6691 zapS 07/21/2017 at 15:19

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I know how happy it would make me if the circumstances were flipped. And making friends happy makes me happy :)

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Takuro Spirit 07/21/2017 at 15:19

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hahahaha

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 07/21/2017 at 15:23

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I think it has a lot to do with the demographics of the typical owner. Although, I am closer to a BRZ/Mustang owner in terms of age.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 07/21/2017 at 15:23

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Also, I would need separate insurance for the track.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 07/21/2017 at 22:50

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Review and no audio!!!!!!!

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/24/2017 at 11:50

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Stock exhaust (for now). Plus, I currently do not have a good way to record the exhaust. I’ll make a video eventually though!

CaptDale - is secretly British > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 09/22/2017 at 15:39

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Just a beautiful car. Would love to join you in the hills sometime. I can bring my goat.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > CaptDale - is secretly British 09/22/2017 at 16:07

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That would be fun! I am still planning on taking the 348 up the coast but that might be next year :/. If you are down in the LA area we’ll have to put on a mini OPPO drive!

CaptDale - is secretly British > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 09/22/2017 at 16:11

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Well I am planning to move back to Long Beach here in a month or so, so setting up a nice weekend Oppo mountain drive would be great. So would a coast drive as well.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > CaptDale - is secretly British 09/22/2017 at 16:32

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Let’s set it up when you are back!

CaptDale - is secretly British > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 09/22/2017 at 16:39

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Yes lets! It would be quite fun.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 09/29/2017 at 19:04

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Agh I missed this post! Glad you’re enjoying your 348. Seems like you have inherited (yes, I used that word intentionally) a pretty good car as you have been seeing common problems with cheap fixes.

Regarding the attention part, up in NorCal the car culture isn’t as strong but only positive reactions for me. Mostly from little boys.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > CaptDale - is secretly British 09/29/2017 at 19:13

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Goats and horses get along......I think

CaptDale - is secretly British > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/29/2017 at 19:34

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Should

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/29/2017 at 22:42

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I’ve been loving it so far! I’m happy about the attention. The little I get is all positive. I think it helps that it’s obviously not brand new.

I was probably overly cautious when I bought it but that seems to be paying dividends now (knock on wood). I definitely need to replace my O2 sensors now and maybe a few other little things. Any low mileage car is going to have some teething issues getting back to driver condition. I’m mentally prepared and that certainly helps.

I just made a list of maintenance items I want to do this fall. I was planning on doing most or all of it myself but the excited-ness is turning to nervousness. I planned on doing at least one thing at Stoogefest again but I will be out of town. I’m pretty mechanically inclined but I’m always nervous I’ll break something. With the stooges by my side, it gives me a little more confidence.

Did I not see your 355 in the classifieds? Any luck or are you trying to keep it a little longer?

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 09/30/2017 at 01:53

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The stooges are a good group to befriend!!

I’m just taking my time. Not in a hurry to sell but I’m ready for something different.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 10/01/2017 at 23:38

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They definitely are! I’m super lucky a few of them live right down the street from me.

Take your time. That is the best way to buy or sell a car.