LHD v RHD advice....

Kersh

Ok, im now (at last) in the market for my Ferrari. So I need some advice - particular to Ireland.
I can get a rhd well serviced 328, an 86/87, or I can get a 91/92 lhd 348. The vrt on both is - 12750 for the 328, and 13650 minus 25% for the 348.
Future saleability is important to me, as a Testarossa is the goal car here.
So, would a lhd more modern 348 sell quicker than a rhd 'classic' 328? Driving a left hooker is no big deal for me, so its just the 'moving it on' aspect I need help with.
Come on guys I know yous can help me....

mustang68

I think that anyone that actually has an interest in the car won't mind lhd as they know that they are going for something different.

ibanezjem

Well if i was to buy a ferrari, Id prefer RHD to be honest.
You'll have a higher rate of buyers for this model when you do sell as opposed to a LHD.

Blue850

RHD 328 yum yum ,LHD 348 Bow wow:D

el tel

Kersh wrote:

Ok, im now (at last) in the market for my Ferrari. So I need some advice - particular to Ireland.
I can get a rhd well serviced 328, an 86/87, or I can get a 91/92 lhd 348. The vrt on both is similar (12k for the 328, and 16k minus 25% for the 348).
Future saleability is important to me, as a Testarossa is the goal car here.
So, would a lhd more modern 348 sell quicker than a rhd 'classic' 328? Driving a left hooker is no big deal for me, so its just the 'moving it on' aspect I need help with.
Come on guys I know yous can help me....

Going here could be useful
http://www.ferrarichat.com/

RobAMerc

328 pref GTS for me RHD or LHD, its a more classic Ferrari better looking in my opinion and wasn't there some talk of the 348 being a bit twitchy ?

I dunno but for me the 348 will never stir the emotions of a classic 308/328 shape.

Did anyone notice the red 308 at Terenure seemed to get more attention than the more desirable and rarer 250 gt beside it ?

BTW : You lucky b*$^!*d

corktina

to be practical....LHD is a pain when it comes to overtaking 4x4's never mind trucks...with a Ferrair being so low, it must be nearly impossible....go for RHD......i dont think LHD will make much difference price wise though...

Kersh

I had to change some details re. vrt in original post, 348 is way cheaper now than 6 months ago!!
Dont worry el tel, i have been on the fchat/fcars forums for a couple of years now...

Eric318

I drive 2 LHD cars in Ireland. I have no problem at all. Speed limits and the conditions of the roads are such that I hardly overtake anyway...

May be the question you should ask yourself is why you are already thinking of selling a car you have not even bought yet... if you are not sure that you want to keep it, may be you should rent one first and see if you like it, or part-buy one with others.

MercMad

IMO the 328 is nicer looking, RHD would possibly command a higher price, though the LHD market would be bigger !

Kersh

Well, I want a testarossa or a countach maybe, in time of course, so the time will come when i have to sell this ferrari im getting now. So would a lhd newer car sell quicker than a rhd older car...

el tel

The question is bit of an imponderable as we're not comparing like for like but the bottom line has got to be the price coupled with condition. If there were people out there just wanting any Ferrari, a good 348 at a substantially cheaper price over a 328 is going to sell first. But I would imagine that most potential buyers know exactly which model of car they want so the issue is more one of which car would be in most demand. From what I read on other forums the 348 does seem to be going through a bit of a popularity renaissance but the 328 always has been more prized and in looks alone that's understandable.

But in terms of owning a LHD Ferrari, at the right price I wouldn't worry about it. Given the limited miles you'd end updoing it would hardly matter. Plus don't they always moan about RHD's having a pronounced pedal offset?

corktina

Eric318 wrote:

I drive 2 LHD cars in Ireland. I have no problem at all. Speed limits and the conditions of the roads are such that I hardly overtake anyway...

.

my daily driver is a LHD '73 taunus ....I would suspect that someone buying a Ferrari will need to overtake if he wants to get out of first gear.....

Kersh

Cheers for the sound advice guys, leaning slightly for a lhd 1992 348 ts....
Vrt office said its 25% less for a lhd, but im sure they wont hold to that.

el tel

Kersh wrote:

Well, I want a testarossa or a countach maybe, in time of course, so the time will come when i have to sell this ferrari im getting now. So would a lhd newer car sell quicker than a rhd older car...

For a Countach - Testarossa head-to-head check out this video clip. It's from a Channel 5 show "No Girls Allowed". The Lambo sounds awesome:

http://rapidshare.de/files/23970148/no_girls_allowed_-_countach_vs_testarossa.zip.html

PaulK_CCI

Kersh wrote:

Cheers for the sound advice guys, leaning slightly for a lhd 1992 348 ts....
Vrt office said its 25% less for a lhd, but im sure they wont hold to that.

That is partly correct.
The Open Market Value for a LHD vehicle is 25% less than for a RHD vehicle. The VRT is then ofcourse 30% of that OMV, so it's not that a LHD vehicle is 25% less VRT, but they knock 25% off the open market value.
This can be a substantial saving on a large valued car.

My two cents worth is that I would aggree with el tel. It's doesn't really matter what you choose: it's the price/condition of the car you DO choose, regardless of wether it's lhd or rhd.

For a lot of people owning a Ferrari is a dream as such, and when it comes to the crunch it's the price that will determine wether people will make the plunge or not, and not wether the steering wheel is on the 'right' or 'wrong' side of the car.

Personally I believe the 308/328 will be better choice from a resale point of view in the longer run, as the 308's are beginning to slowly enter the 30 year VRT Exempt range in Ireland, and on the continent, where the classic status is 25 years or older, they are already very sought after. So their popularity (and therefore price/resale value) is much better the the 348's.

Kersh

Ah right, I see.
So do they (vrt office) actually assess the car properly, like poor/fair/good or do they lump it all together. Do they realise missing service history devalues them a bit, and will they account for it. Or is it like when i got in my 300zx.... '1213eu thats it, cash ok thank you'.

RobAMerc

Would you consider a 208 turbo ?
They are all lhd so it wouldn't matter re resale.
You would also get the benefit of lower road tax / insurance as well as saving on the vrt.

As with any of these cars I would suggest you look into runnign costs, as from my experience of Irish mechanics and non toyota's - I could not bring myself to buying something so exotic.

Re Countach - anyone I read who has driven one says it is best never to have such an experience you'll be left disappointed.

Kersh

Ill get servicing done in Uk, with Verdi or Terry Keys, for 328 a major 18k service + cambelt is 1395stg, and a 348 is same. I have looked in the direction (briefly) of a 208 turbo, but I think both it and a 308 are too old, having owned (and loved) a 79 911 sc. I want something newer, and Im kinda leaning to a lhd 348, as it will be 92 ish.

green-blood

d'ya mind if I throw in some rather random comments.

The 328 ia the last of the 308 family, the "magnum" car as everytwit calls them, to me in good nick this is the better car, the 348 really does not have such a great rep, the engine is in the other way around with the ancillaries up by the bulhead which is a packaging issue but causes problems with heat build up. It also has a terrible handling reputation, the chassis just is not stiff enough and you'll get twisting when any pressure is put on the car, this "whip" apparently leads to unpredicatable loss of grip at the limit.

I'd go for the 328 all day every day.

Now, I know the 328 is the RHD car, but in the Irish market the choice is so limited that I dont think the driving side has a huge impacet on potential purchasers, if your serious about a Ferrari in Ireland you'll accept either.

Its a long time dream of mine too, but I'd be happy with LHD for continental use, I'd want to use it on the continent as much as in Ireland so I'd be very happy with LHD for that purpose.

Ultimate TR the last one before the bubble 512TR in 93/94....Now thats a SUPERCAR.

best of luck, let us know what ya do.

Kersh

Im as lost as I ever was.....

green-blood

sorry

look when I was buying my house my grandfather gave me soem advise (I know its one of those stories) he said ask for advice listen to what people have to say, inform yourself, but at the end of the day its your money, your choice and the best thing you can do is be happy with your choice, so if you want a rubbish 348 go for it ;-)

Kersh

... good one....

PaulK_CCI

Kersh wrote:

Ah right, I see.
So do they (vrt office) actually assess the car properly, like poor/fair/good or do they lump it all together. Do they realise missing service history devalues them a bit, and will they account for it. Or is it like when i got in my 300zx.... '1213eu thats it, cash ok thank you'.

Spot on! That will be the approach they take. You get two or three figures from them, and they generally go for the middle quote....
@e discussing service history, condition of the tyres, paint, roadworthyness, etc. It will be XXXX euro's, cash OK, Thank you!!!

RoboMerc wrote:

Would you consider a 208 turbo ?
They are all lhd so it wouldn't matter re resale.
You would also get the benefit of lower road tax / insurance as well as saving on the vrt.

This will not make a bit of difference: the cutoff point for VRT is 1.9 litres, anything over will have 30% VRT.... same goes for Tax, so you'll still be paying top whack of Road tax anyway, whether you have a 2.0 litre engine or 3.2 litre engine! The 2 litre version was only developed for the Italian market to avoid higher tax band, and to be honest I wouldn;t bother with these engines. They're less powerfull, but most importantly there's fewer of them made and it's trickier to get the right parts for...

Just so that you'll be even more confused, if it was my money, I'd go for an early carburettor/fibre glass 308 from 1976: NO VRT, NO Tax, excellent resale value, no subtantial rust problems, much simpler mechanics and quicker than the steel bodied fuel injected versions. Most importantly it will be a 6-10k saving in trying to get the car onto Irish roads!

Kersh

I cant find any..!!
I even looked for 77 ones and park it up for a while, there are some 78 ones alright....

MercMad

I cant find any..!!
I even looked for 77 ones and park it up for a while, there are some 78 ones alright....

You didn't look very far did you....................?

Squirrel

MercMad wrote:

You didn't look very far did you....................?

That car looks very, very nice.

And on the Testarossa/Countach, the little kid in me says Testarossa, why? Because it's a Ferrari, and also it's a nicer shape.

el tel

MercMad wrote:

You didn't look very far did you....................?

There are at least two for sale in the UK:

1) http://www.castlefords.com/search.cfm
1976 FERRARI 308 GTB FIBREGLASS
47,000 miles. Rosso Corsa With Cream Hide, Black Carpets, Air Conditioning, Electric Windows, 16" Wheels, Alarm/Immobiliser, 3.0 Litre V-8 255 BHP, 4 Owners From New, 1 Of Only 154 UK RHD Cars, 47,000 Recorded Miles £23,990 (~€34,878)

(i.e. 17k miles less and €10,000 cheaper)

2) http://www.cmc-cars.co.uk/39.htm
1977 Ferrari 308 GTB Lightweight
Red, Electric Front Windows, Air Conditioning, Full Leather, Immobiliser, Alarm, Sports Seats, 43,000 miles, Service History, Genuine 43000 miles , Fibreglass body one of only 159 ever made, Fantastic condition inside and out , drives excellent and just had full service including all belts changed
£23,500 (~€34,300)

(i.e. 21k miles less and €10,000 cheaper)

Dades

MercMad wrote:

You didn't look very far did you....................?

OH baby.

Me likey.

green-blood

skip stage one and go straight to TR

for auction with Barrons early August

1989 Ferrari Testarossa-Full Ferrari history-Recent cam belt-£27,000-29,000

green-blood

frick me - I assume the 10K difference is all profit for the dealer...I'm so in the wrong business

Kersh

frick me - I assume the 10K difference is all profit for the dealer...I'm so in the wrong business

Thats why I havent bought that one. Its too high a price, compared to whats available in the UK, I would even get a nice 78 and park it up, but the end price is nothing like 44500euro. The best 308s are available for 22-25k. Any more and its gotta be absolute showroom, as 28-32k buys the very best of the better 328.
So 44000euro is a bit rich for a 308.

Eric318

You should keep an eye on the auctions in the UK. I have seen quite a few 308/328 (and many other supercars) go for excellent prices at Coys in Islington/London.

For the record, Magnum's car was a GTS, easier for filming and only way to get Tom Selleck's 6'4" body in that car... This is why I cant buy either a Ferrari or a E Type

Also, as advised by a close friend of mine, who has had Ferrari gunk on his fingertips for years, when looking for Ferrari parts, start dismantling old Fiats first... that will save you loads of cash.

Eric318

One of these could be for you...:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/FERRARI-308-GTS-QV-DEEP-FRONT-SPOILER-RHD_W0QQitemZ170013680804QQihZ007QQcategoryZ18180QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Ferrari-308-GTSi-1981_W0QQitemZ270014272205QQihZ017QQcategoryZ18180QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Look stunning, RHD and rather "cheap" ... at least at the time I am viewing them...