Gift for my wife. Bad idea?

[Mermaidman]

Maybe you can swing some kind of deal in which you can return the car. Some dealers allow overnight test drives, although I'm not sure how this works for an exotic!

After presenting the gift to your wife, let her know it's returnable so she won't be pressured into "liking" it, and both of you get stuck with a white elephant.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Nothing hotter than a woman in a Jaguar XKR convertible - 510HP Supercharged 5.0L V8, reliability is pretty decent. Good sized trunk, not a bad back-seat for a set of golf clubs or luggage.

And silver is a horrible color on a weekend Ferrari.

 

[Apex]

You only live once. Do it.

 

[Brigandier]

You only have one wife, do it.

 

[halik]

You only have to do it once.

 

[Alienwho]

Congrats that this is even a conversation but unless you're a BILLIONAIRE you probably shouldn't spring a quasi-6 figure gift on your wife without consulting her first. There are a lot of things that I would love to have and even could afford to purchase but if I just came home one day and my wife bought it for me without talking to me about it I'd get pretty mad.

 

[slayernine]

I somehow feel she will say something about how you just bought it for yourself.

 

[MagickMan]

Why would it be a bad idea if that's her favorite car and you're aware of potential maintenance costs? It's only bad idea if you can't afford it.

There's quite a difference between maintenance costs, which for these are still way above average, and repair costs, which are stratospheric. I can afford both scenarios, but the former would be easier to swallow, and the latter would mean it's on the shop more than our garage. If she can't drive it most of the time, it isn't much of a gift at all.

If that makes sense. 😉

 

[power_hour]

Nice car, wrong colour. Red one.

But I doubt your wife will care as much as you after a week. If I could make a rather selfish and totally off the wall suggestion. A special romantic trip to her favorite destination with all the trimings will go much further, MUCH FURTHER.

 

[ponyo]

There's quite a difference between maintenance costs, which for these are still way above average, and repair costs, which are stratospheric. I can afford both scenarios, but the former would be easier to swallow, and the latter would mean it's on the shop more than our garage. If she can't drive it most of the time, it isn't much of a gift at all.

If that makes sense. 😉

You're just making excuses. These cars are fairly reliable. Maintenance and repair costs are what they are. It can be expensive but it's all relative. At least you're not eating the initial new car depreciation. As long as you get PPI done at a reputable place, you should have good idea what's needed to bring the service up to date. My cousin recently bought a yellow 360 and he spent ~$10k getting the service up to date like a new clutch, timing belt, etc. But he knew that before he bought the car. PPI won't catch everything and shit can happen but that's just cost of ownership.

 

[MagickMan]

I'd said 1,800. Given the OP's post and paying in cash I'm making the assumption at a minimum they are in their 30's. The one piece I don't know is if a Ferrari has a premium compared to say a 90,000 range rover or a $60,000 S4. Even if it does I can't see it being more than 3k for a full year of coverage. But I don't know how exotics play into effect. I've only had experience with 60-100k cars personally.

But I can tell you I looked at a range of cars recently for 50-65k all high powered and at 28 the highest quote was 1,750 a year full coverage, coverage for no insured, and $100, $200 deductible.

Insurance isn't much of an issue; I'm 42, have never had a reported accident, few tickets, and she (though, considerably younger) hasn't had a wreck since high school. So we get fantastic rates.

Do it, before someone talks you out of it. 😀

Would I daily drive a Ferrari? Only if I get to choose which one. Oh yeah, and only when it isn't snowing (or if I moved to some place it doesn't snow). I've actually considered the Ferrari 355. Some higher mileage examples of those can be found as cheap as around $30k, which is what we paid each for our WRX and Mazdaspeed 6, and thus in the realm of affordable. I've heard those were reasonably reliable for an exotic car. Performance is similar to the WRX, so not shabby but not crazy either. Old enough to have a manual transmission (the non-F1 variants at least) and no traction control. Oh yeah, and pop-up headlights.

The 355 and 360 would be high on my list of favorites, they're epic cars. I used to own a Mondial t coupe a long time ago and it was stupidly fun to drive, but just a little underpowered. I regret getting rid of it.

Nice car, wrong colour. Red one.

But I doubt your wife will care as much as you after a week. If I could make a rather selfish and totally off the wall suggestion. A special romantic trip to her favorite destination with all the trimings will go much further, MUCH FURTHER.

I'm thinking about this, she likes red and over time she'd probably appreciate an iconic red Ferrari more. Thanks. Okay, back into search mode...

 

[MagickMan]

Nice car, wrong colour. Red one.

But I doubt your wife will care as much as you after a week. If I could make a rather selfish and totally off the wall suggestion. A special romantic trip to her favorite destination with all the trimings will go much further, MUCH FURTHER.

We're going on a trip NZ too.

 

[Fenixgoon]

if you can stomach the maintenance, why the hell not?

 

[MagickMan]

if you can stomach the maintenance, why the hell not?

I was only asking to see if anyone knows of issues with that particular model. From my searching though, it seems they're some of the more reliable Ferraris that have been built (specifically the 575M).

 

[Naeeldar]

I was only asking to see if anyone knows of issues with that particular model. From my searching though, it seems they're some of the more reliable Ferraris that have been built (specifically the 575M).

I definitely can understand that. You're obviously in a different spot than I am but part of my issue with the I s4 and more specifically the DSG transmission is the fact that, if the transmission did go, it's a $12,000 repair for a car you shelled out $60k for. I almost went manual because of that single fact alone. Granted for this car I imagine you're talking somewhere around $20-25k for a similiar repair but it's a hard thought to swallow when you shell out $90,000 on it up front.

Best of luck with the purchase. If it really is a concern though look at some of her other favorite cars that might not have as crazy repair costs.

 

[jagec]

I was only asking to see if anyone knows of issues with that particular model. From my searching though, it seems they're some of the more reliable Ferraris that have been built (specifically the 575M).

I just watched the Top Gear on the 575, and you'd be stupid not to get it. In red, of course; it's entirely too common (85% of Ferrari buyers!) but that's because it's the best color for these beasts.

 

[exar333]

Awesome car.

Ferrari yellow is pretty bad-a$$ IMHO. 🙂

 

[MagickMan]

I definitely can understand that. You're obviously in a different spot than I am but part of my issue with the I s4 and more specifically the DSG transmission is the fact that, if the transmission did go, it's a $12,000 repair for a car you shelled out $60k for. I almost went manual because of that single fact alone. Granted for this car I imagine you're talking somewhere around $20-25k for a similiar repair but it's a hard thought to swallow when you shell out $90,000 on it up front.

Best of luck with the purchase. If it really is a concern though look at some of her other favorite cars that might not have as crazy repair costs.

She can drive a stick, but manual Ferraris are a different animal. Heavy clutches, manly-man gearboxes, and she might have an issue with her shorter arms actually reaching the shifter.

I just watched the Top Gear on the 575, and you'd be stupid not to get it. In red, of course; it's entirely too common (85% of Ferrari buyers!) but that's because it's the best color for these beasts.

It's an older clip, but still great. No luck finding the 575 that fits and is nearby. But this is locally available, also exotic, less expensive, and fully serviced. Also it can be a DD, if that's what she wants. Going to check on it.

 

[MagickMan]

So, yeah, I put up the TG video of the 575M while she was sitting on the couch, to catch her reaction. We talked about it a little. It is her favorite car, but it's similar to Siberian Tigers being her favorite cats; they're beautiful to look at, but owning one is entirely a different matter. Soooo, I think the Maserati GT is the better choice. Like I said before, it's still beautiful and exotic, but more accessible and easier to live with. Plus, getting one that's at least 4 years old seems to take care of most of their depreciation.

 

[_Rick_]

Why not a GranCabrio 😉

 

[nerp]

Daily driver. Ready for door dings when she goes to the local Stop and Shop?

 

[angminas]

Consider the color.

Consider whether it will be comfortable for her, not just you. See if you can get a woman her size to ride in the car to judge, especially if she's short or tall.

Be ready to cheerfully live with worst-case costs. If there's any possibility they could cause bitterness or regret, pass. Trying that as on couple purchase could work, but on an exotic gift for a special occasion, absolutely not.

Little things will make the gift more special. When you tell her you have a gift for her, give her some driving gloves and a pass to a performance driving training course. Tell her you've arranged for her to drive a Ferrari 550 (or whatever you choose).

Get a meaningful keychain (like a tiny copy of her Ph.D.), and have someone at the track have the keys, insurance, and registration on them so she can't look at them prematurely. Don't give her the helmet yet- it will obscure some of her reaction for the video, and if she swings around in excitement, she could hit you or the car.

Right when she's about to get in, hand her the keys, insurance card, and registration, and ask her to be careful with her new car. Have a bouquet and reservations to a nice restaurant ready when she gets out of the car. Make sure someone close to her (a sister would be good) is taking a video when you give her the pass, when she gets in, and when she gets out.

Congratulations on having a hard-working wife and plenty of money. I hope you appreciate them.

 

[pauldun170]

For a 1/4 million dollar car, maintenance cost are very reasonable for a 57X
Set aside 3K a year for maintenance. Have 10K set aside for unscheduled service

 

[CraigRT]

Love the 575 myself, always liked the classic layout, front engine rear drive.
I hate silver cars, almost all of them, but if that is what she likes...

 

[phucheneh]

Why is maintenance so expensive, again? I mean, I know there's the 'it's a Ferrari' thing.

But they make the car, not the parts...can you not buy stuff like brakes from some source other than Ferrari? I mean, you're not gonna get them at Autozone obviously...but I somehow doubt the parts manufacturer just did a limited run for Ferrari's warehouse and then called it quits. Especially on something like a 575/550, where I would think they probably used a good bit of off-the-shelf parts, rather than custom-designing everything.

And obviously you'd need to be very confident in your abilities and/or have a mechanic who you absolute trust in.

From my standpoint, I can't see anything requiring a pro Ferrari tech other than dealing with proprietary (and super-expensive) stuff like the engine.

Is there such a thing as a DIY Ferrari community? Heh. I know there are people who work on their own 50-100k BMW's, Benzes, and the like. Ferraris, maybe not...