What would it take...

[Black88GTA]

I was browsing cars on Ebay today, looking at Ferraris (not planning on buying). The highest mileage one I saw had I think about 46k on it. So I got to thinking. If I was filthy rich, and had lots of time on my hands (think lottery winner) I'd like to buy a brand new Ferrari...and drive the shit out of it. In the name of science, of course. All to answer the question:

What would it take to drive a Ferrari into truly "high mileage" territory?

For starters, let's say 250 - 300k, although this could of course be increased. I'm talking like drive the car cross country just for fun, tour the USA, etc. Happily racking up hundreds of thousands of miles on a car designed primarily to spend its life as some rich person's pampered garage queen, rarely even seeing the light of day - let alone rain, winter, and other crappy weather you wouldn't dream of subjecting your Ferrari to if you were normal. I would probably keep some sort of website, and document every cent spent on the car - one category for consumables / maintenance...oil changes, tires, brake pads, etc. would go here. The other category would be necessary repairs that don't qualify as maintenance or expected items.

This would involve a brand new car, fastidiously maintained since day 1 and mile zero. Mainly expressway driven (with proper care given to engine break in, etc) and not driving it like it was stolen. Well, maybe an occasional triple-digit run or hammer on the pedal I'm only human, of course.

So, what do you all think? At what point / mileage would the repairs exceed the original value? Not counting scheduled maintenance, but actual unplanned repairs? What would the dollar amount be to get it up to 250k? 500k? 1 million? At what point (if any) would it just become too far gone to keep running? How much residual value would this car hold with 500k+ on it (with all documentation of work done)?

For discussion purposes, let's use an F430 base model as the test car, as that's the cheapest current Ferrari I could find. MSRP approximately $188k.

I know Edmunds and Car & Driver did something kind of like this, but they didn't put on anywhere near the mileage that I'm talking about. Just kind of curious to see what everyone thinks.

 

[DVad3r]

Interesting question. I don't think the cost to maintain would outweigh the original value though? That's just crazy!

 

[halik]

High compression motors like that aren't exactly built with 200K miles in mind.

There was a guy that put 31K on his enzo before wrecking it...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Depends on the car but it would take a crap load of money in routine maintenance to keep it running in good order.

I have a friend who just bought a 1994 348 Spyder (the car has a little over 12,000 miles on it currently) and that car requires an engine out service ever 15,000 miles and the cost for that service starts at around $7,000 and goes up from there. On that car you would spend over $127,000 just in routine maintenance to get it to 250,000 miles.

Edit-I'd imagine you'd need a couple engine overhauls or replacements to get to that kind of mileage as well. I'd estimate a replacement engine/gearbox to cost $40-50,000 easily.

 

[ponyo]

Ferrari has 3 years/ unlimited miles warranty on brand new car. It would be a fun experiment.

I don't think Ferrari sells new to first time buyer as wait list is like 4-5 years but you should be able to pick up low mileage used one.

 

[Black88GTA]

I know the motors probably aren't built to take that kind of mileage. I kind of wonder how long one would go before requiring a complete rebuild. And yes, the routine scheduled maintenance would kill this right from the get go...I was more concerned with replacement parts that may be necessary. Do the new Ferraris have similar maintenance schedules to the older ones?

Interesting about the unlimited mileage clause in the warranty...I wonder if they'd start denying you once they figured out you were on track to put on 100k / year. Kind of like restaurants shut down the guy at the "all you can eat" buffet when he starts cleaning them out.

 

[big man]

Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't think Ferrari sells new to first time buyer as wait list is like 4-5 years but you should be able to pick up low mileage used one.

False, anyone with money can go into a dealer and order a new Ferrari. First time (new) Ferrari buyers usually pay in cash, and buy more than 1 car during their visit.



As to racking up 300k miles, a cross country trip is only 3k miles . . so you'd have to do hundreds of "trips" to ever put that many miles on any car. The driver would give up before any engine did.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: big man

Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't think Ferrari sells new to first time buyer as wait list is like 4-5 years but you should be able to pick up low mileage used one.

False, anyone with money can go into a dealer and order a new Ferrari. First time (new) Ferrari buyers usually pay in cash, and buy more than 1 car during their visit.

Of course anyone can order a new Ferrari. The question is when will you get it? There's a wait list for new Ferrari. Wait list at Ferrari of Atlanta near my house was 4-5 years couple of years ago. That means you won't likely get new one as new model will come out by the time your name comes up. They give preference to repeat buyers and I've heard you can't buy certain new limited models unless you were prior/current Ferrari owner. That's why most people who want a Ferrari now buy used one to start before placing order for a new one. You can buy and drive home used one today. New Ferrari, good luck.

Here an article that explains Ferrari buying culture. It's like an exclusive club.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: big man

Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't think Ferrari sells new to first time buyer as wait list is like 4-5 years but you should be able to pick up low mileage used one.

False, anyone with money can go into a dealer and order a new Ferrari. First time (new) Ferrari buyers usually pay in cash, and buy more than 1 car during their visit.



As to racking up 300k miles, a cross country trip is only 3k miles . . so you'd have to do hundreds of "trips" to ever put that many miles on any car. The driver would give up before any engine did.

yep, that's how i did it.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: big man
As to racking up 300k miles, a cross country trip is only 3k miles . . so you'd have to do hundreds of "trips" to ever put that many miles on any car. The driver would give up before any engine did.

Ehh, not necessarily. Never underestimate the power of someone who loves driving, is unemployed, has tons of cash...and has a Ferrari at his disposal, to boot. Besides, there are plenty of '02 - '04ish cars out there with 200+ k on them, and those people aren't even on a mission to rack up miles, that just happens naturally as part of their job. Of course it's a chore in these cases, because the high milers tend to be work vans, semi trucks, Corollas, and the like.

Hell, if you get far enough, Ferrari might take notice and start sponsoring you...putting you up in posh hotels, paying your expenses, having you with your car as their guest at Ferrari events, etc. It's good press for them if one of their cars racks up big miles and stays on the road, and people hear about it. Not that that would influence most Ferrari buyers, but it's still good PR for them any way you look at it. Plus, if this happens, this little experiment just turned into the coolest fucking job ever. :laugh:

 

[big man]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: big man

Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't think Ferrari sells new to first time buyer as wait list is like 4-5 years but you should be able to pick up low mileage used one.

False, anyone with money can go into a dealer and order a new Ferrari. First time (new) Ferrari buyers usually pay in cash, and buy more than 1 car during their visit.

Of course anyone can order a new Ferrari. The question is when will you get it? \ New Ferrari, good luck.

No, your statement was that a first time buyer can't buy a new Ferrari. . . . . .

 

[SickBeast]

I would say that Ferarris aren't built with high mileage reliability to that extent, and with a car like that if you have to ask "how much", then I would say you shouldn't bother.

If you're going to do it anyways, I'm sure they will be able to give you a maintenance cost estimate at Ferrari. If you do your research you could figure out if it's actually cheaper to just buy a new one after a certain number of miles.

 

[big man]

How old are you, ten? Normal people rack up a lot of miles because they're forced to drive a long commute to and from work. When my company hired a new CEO, he had to commute 40 miles to work in his Bently Continental, it took him less than a year to have a new branch opened closer to his home.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would say that Ferarris aren't built with high mileage reliability to that extent, and with a car like that if you have to ask "how much", then I would say you shouldn't bother.

If you're going to do it anyways, I'm sure they will be able to give you a maintenance cost estimate at Ferrari. If you do your research you could figure out if it's actually cheaper to just buy a new one after a certain number of miles.

Haha, well I'm not planning on actually doing this, as I don't have that kind of money or time. (unless you're buying ) Just kind of wondering / curious what it would take to keep one rolling for that long.

Originally posted by: big man


How old are you, ten? Normal people rack up a lot of miles because they're forced to drive a long commute to and from work. When my company hired a new CEO, he had to commute 40 miles to work in his Bently Continental, it took him less than a year to have a new branch opened closer to his home.

Really? Thanks for clearing that up for me, Wise One. :roll: I fucking know that. My (purely hypothetical) situation involves someone with a LOT OF TIME on their hands, NO JOB, LOTS OF MONEY, and a FERRARI, who is driving just because he enjoys it and has nothing better to do with his time. I'm fully aware that nobody drives long distances in econoboxes and big rigs for fun. Thanks for your input though.

 

[thomsbrain]

To get to 300,000 miles, I'd expect three engine rebuilds (maybe more), 20 sets of rotors and pads, 40 sets of tires, 10 accessory drive belts, 10 timing belts, 20 intake and cabin air filters, 10 fuel filters, 10 sets of spark plugs, several catalytic converters and mufflers, countless electrical replacements (including coil packs or distributors or whatever they use on the engine, plus window motors, fan blowers, alternators, fuses, etc), replaced emissions equipment, three suspension replacements, three air conditioner compressors (maybe more), several A/C evaporators and/or condensers, etc.

15,000 mile services for a Ferrari involve roughly the same level of replacements and inspections that regular cars get at their giant 100,000+ mile service, with everything of course costing 10 times more due to high shop rates, high labor times, and high part prices. They need their valve clearance checked at every service!

I expect you'd pay the cost of the car several times over in maintenance and repairs.

I also expect you'd have a freaking blast.

 

[ponyo]

I think I remember reading about some rich guy driving his new Ferrari like crazy to rack up miles to test the Ferrari unlimited warranty.

If I was filthy rich, I wouldn't mind doing what Jim Rogers did with his customized Mercedes GLK and traveling around the world. He covered 152,000 miles in 3 years, driving through 116 countries. It could get tricky to with a Ferrari as going offroad would be a problem and getting parts/service in certain parts of the world would be next to impossible. But it would be fun to try!

 

[DivideBYZero]

Money.

 

[big man]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA


I fucking know that. I'm fully aware that nobody drives long distances in econoboxes and big rigs for fun. Thanks for your input though.

I only ask because only kids sit around and ask themselves irrelevant and hypothetical questions about scenarios that will never happen and then take the time to write up a thread about if it's possible or not, this despite the fact that it doesn't even that interesting to talk about.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: big man

Originally posted by: Black88GTA


I fucking know that. I'm fully aware that nobody drives long distances in econoboxes and big rigs for fun. Thanks for your input though.

I only ask because only kids sit around and ask themselves irrelevant and hypothetical questions about scenarios that will never happen and then take the time to write up a thread about if it's possible or not, this despite the fact that it doesn't even that interesting to talk about.

There have been a number of documented cases of cars turning over 1 million miles. As to whether it is possible or not...given enough money, anything is possible. I was just sort of wondering how doing something like this in a Ferrari would compare to doing the same in something like a Suburban. I only started thinking about it because I don't think I've ever seen a Ferrari with over ~60k miles on it.

Yes, it is true that this will never happen with me, as I will probably never have the finances to do it. Guess you got me there. :roll: But like I said...if I had the money, and the time, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Just to say I did it. I'd love to tour the US (or anywhere, for that matter) on a long road trip, stopping at different places along the way, without any real agenda. When I get bored...I move on. To me, that would be an awesome way to spend a year or two. Kind of like this guy did in an Ariel Atom. To you, maybe, not so much.

And if this is such a boring topic to you, then why did you even bother to read it? And write responses?