anniversary – Love the F355

Here’s the summary of another year’s ownership of a F355. I have been remiss at not getting this out sooner as September was the actual anniversary date. You may want to catch up on previous episodes:

It’s been another year of extended lockdowns and restrictions on movements so comparisons from previous years have gone out the window.

Costs

The normal running costs where about $8,500. This is smaller than average due to lockdowns and an extended time the car was off the road.

I did have a simple coolant repair to take care of.

Outside these, I also had to get the ‘stickies’ taken care of. As part of the process the interior was given a complete make over by Elliot Caras whom you can find at elliotcaras@gmail and @restored_by_elliot on Instagram. The results where AMAZING and worth every penny!

Travel

The car reached the 98,000 kms mark and is all set to break the 100,000 kms mark very soon. I only did a bit over 5,000kms in the car again due to lockdowns and tie off the road for repairs.

Low points

Unfortunately, the year did not end well with the car going into limp mode on a drive and not coming back out after a reset. Even though I have now had work done on the issue I seem to still have a related issue with the ignition that I am trying to get sorted.

I am still trying to get a replacement cog 3D printed to replace the one in the air conditioning timing actuator. Trying to find a business that is interested in actually delivering a product is hard. However, I am working on a solution that I hope will solve this in the not to distant future.

High points

Given the locks downs and issues with the car, there again haven’t been too many I can remember. It is always great to get in the car and go for a trouble free run, and there certainly was plenty of those over the year, but the low points have pushed these to back of my memory unfortunately.

Value

The value remains around the $300K I estimate. Inflation has also played a big part in this I feel.

Summary

Probably the best thing that has happened this year is that I have been able to relocate the car to a secure storage facility. This means that it is no longer in a shared car park. That did not reduce my insurance premium that much but it did reduce the excess from $10K to $1.5K! The car now lives in a dedicated, locked and alarmed facility that I have access to at any time. It also means I can fiddle with the car and do minor repairs such as my alarm light. It also allows me a place to completely detail my car out of the sun and inquisitive eyes.

I’ll be much happier though when I get this reliability issues with starting resolved. Problem is I think they might be a bit tough to troubleshoot. Time will tell.

Do I have any regrets after 10 years of ownership? Nope, not one. Every minute has been enjoyable, even the challenging ones and I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t made the commitment and overcome my fears of buying the car all those years ago (it’d actually be pretty boring I’ll bet).

I look forward to another year’s ownership and hopefully more reliability. The issue have been more annoying than anything. Nothing really that was a show stopper, thank goodness. All things being equal, I should cross the 100K kms barrier in the car soon, which when you think about it isn’t bad. I have a feeling that it is probably the one of the highest kilometred Ferraris in the country me thinks.

Here’s to another 10 years of adventure.

Here’s the summary of another year’s ownership of a F355. You may want to catch up on previous episodes:

One Year Anniversary

Two Year Anniversary

Three Year Anniversary

Four Year Anniversary

Five Year Anniversary

Sixth year Anniversary

Seventh year Anniversary

The eighth year they say is bronze

It’s been a long time between posts but the reason for that is that there’s not been much to report. Let’s cover the major items and then I’ll share some more thoughts at the end.

Costs

The total that was spent on the car for the year was around $9,400. The majority of that was the annual service and the cost of insurance. These two items combined were over 50% of the total costs for the year.

This December will be a major service for the car, with the engine out for the belt change, a new clutch, springs, exhausts and a few other things. All up, it is probably going to be a pretty hefty bill but it is stuff that needs doing and isn’t a surprise, so we’ll see what December brings on that front.

Travel

The car is now not far off the 90,000 kilometre mark. My guess is that sometime in January 2021 it will cross this barrier. I’ve managed to maintain the typical annual kilometres, even the face of the lockdowns that have occurred this year. There was a period about 6 weeks where I didn’t drive the car all due to restrictions. However, some longer drives have apparently made up for that!

Low Points

No major ones this year. Was a shock when I received a letter from my insurance company telling me that their business model had changed and they couldn’t cover me any more. Luckily, I was able to lean on contacts from the Club to find a broker who could help me out and get all that squared away. A tiny bit of bottom clenching until that was all sorted.

I’ve had the odd ‘slow-down’ light appear briefly on the dash, but that has typically been after hitting a bump on the road. Normal stuff.

No major new paint chips or body issues to report. The leather on the driver side seat appears to be wearing a little thin. However, that is expected and something to add to the refurbishment list down the track.

The major low point has simply been the restrictions due to lock downs. This has meant less events and therefore less driving. Hopefully, next years brings improvement on that score.

High Points

Another year of effectively problem free motoring. Enjoyed the Bathurst 12 hours again, with a merry crew of other drivers, but man was it hot this year! Ouchee. Never like standing the car out in 40+ degree C temperatures. But like me, it survived. The drive to and from Bathurst is always very, very enjoyable. Can’t wait to get out there again next year. Just can’t beat the feeling of driving through the country side on a beautiful day in an F355!

Value

The value hasn’t moved much from what I can see. A good F355, manual, red, etc will still set you back around AU$ 250K – 280K it seems. I note there are lots of yellow, blue, black, etc cars out there but red ones are still somewhat rare.

Summary

Given the constraints of lockdown this year, I have no complaints. The car is still magic to drive and I look forward to the experience each and every week.

The big thing that is coming will be the annual service, were the car will have lots done. Luckily, things are quieter this year so it should be easier to accomplish.

Hopefully, I can allocate more time to update this blog more regularly. I kind of fell out of the practice, given the lack of things to write about. However, with things hopefully looking up and the upcoming work on the car, there’ll be more to write about.

Tag: anniversary

The ten year anniversary

The eight year anniversary