1990 Ferrari 348ts

1990 Ferrari 348 Description

1990 Ferrari 348ts priced correctly for what it is, and also what it needs. Im going to lay it all out on the table so there is nothing surprising, and to be as fair as possible to both of us. Let me start of by saying there is no service history for this car. I have no records because the previous owner obviously didn't realize you don't just NOT keep service records for a Ferrari.
I bought this car last August as a nice present for myself. My plan was to slowly, over pretty much the rest of my life, make every little detail right with this car, and have a concours showroom piece sitting in my garage until my late 70's and MAYBE sell then. Up front, I have no WANT to sell this car. The reason I am selling it, is for two reasons, the first one is easy to understand: There is someone out there that can take better care of this car than me and give it the time it deserves. The second reason is the hard one to swallow... I recently moved, and shipped the vehicle from Hawaii to Kansas. I got a deal on shipping because we knew the superintendent of vehicle shipping for the vessel. Needless to say, hindsight is 20/20, and I would never do this again, but by the time it got to Kansas, and now Conroe, it was no longer in the same condition I left it in. The damage the shipping company did consists of a cracked front bumper (along with breaking the front fog lens), a cracked rear bumper, a chip in the drivers door, and various light scratches that dont come up in pictures. After trying to report and claim these damages, the shipping company denied it fully and has made it clear that they are not paying for any damages because I had gotten a "friends and family discount". I didn't know this is how they treat friends and family, but I guess it is. All the lights on the car worked when I shipped, but there is a loose wire that I have traced to somewhere in one of the tail lights that needs to be respliced to make the electrical system correct. The battery disconnect switch does not exist on the car anymore, so I manually disconnect the battery every time I leave the car.
The car runs like a champion, and pulls strong. You have to turn the key twice to start it because the flywheel is due to be regreased, so the sensors dont like it, but its not something that bothered me enough to pay a Ferrari shop to look at, so mechanically the car is fine. Although there are no service records, I have a very strong mechanical knowledge, am an aviation mechanic, and thoroughly maintained this vehicle myself. The oil and filter are fresh (less than 350 miles, and I also wrote the date and mileage on the oil filter), the gear oil was done at the same time. I drained, flushed and replaced the coolant as well about 200 miles ago. The A/C was disconnected when I bought the car, but I was able to hook it back up, charge it, and it is blowing cold as of today. All spark plugs were replaced with NGK Iridiums. Both coolant temperature sensors are brand new. I cleaned the throttle bodies, MAF sensors, Idle Air Control Valves and inspected the throttle position sensors. I inspected the cam belt and there are no abnormal wear marks. Also the lettering on the belt looks to be fairly new (I would say less than 2000 miles ago). I also did both a compression and leak down test and all cylinders are between 192-195 psi. The car needs 2 lug nuts that are about $6 each on ebay, but I havent bought them yet since I moved. With all this said, because it is a driven car, I recommend the major service to be done anyway, just so a mechanic can look at everything both externally and internally for peace of mind.
The previous owner did some modifications that I don't agree with. One being an HID headlight conversion (both headlights function normally, just have HID bulbs instead of halogen), another mod being a catalytic converter delete. This also deletes the O2 sensors and exhaust thermocouples so there is a check engine light on both banks because of it. This may cause the engine to run rich, but I haven't noticed a problem with performance. The previous owner had the seat bottoms reupholstered, but not the backs, and there is some side bolster wear on the drivers seat, and the seat adjuster track sometimes gets stuck.
The car was in Hawaii for the last 5 years, which has faded some areas of paint. 90% of the paint will buff back to a great shine. Luckily it still has its original single stage paint, but the mirrors would look better with a respray as they are faded the most and are easy to remove, spray and reinstall. Since the bumpers need repair anyway, this would be a great time to spray the mirrors.
Finally, the rear grille is not there. Its not a complete eyesore, and I prefer the open look, but for the Ferrari enthusiast, it's noticeable. If I kept the car, I would either do a 355 circle tail light conversion, as this is a cheap option that MANY people do, or a Serie Speciale grille conversion to keep the rectangular lights on the rear to make it look perfect.
I have described LITERALLY every issue with the car. Now its up to you to see if buying this car at this price is worth it. As you've seen on eBay and other sales sites, these cars have been priced at about $50,000-$60,000 dollars for the average non-driven car. This car has 63,200 DRIVEN miles, so that has been taken into account. The thing you must consider is if you buy a car with 20,000 miles or less, the owner probably hasnt even had enough driving experience to rectify the mechanical problems that show up within the first 30-50k. Since this car drives excellent, I believe the previous owner DID mechanically take care of this car, just not so much cosmetically. This brings us back to price. This car is 80% steel, with the exception of the bumpers and boot, which are fiberglass (bumpers) and carbon fiber (boot). The bumpers are what are damaged, and my 8 year old son can do fiberglass work. You arent banging out dents, or welding new metal or anything, the cost to repair any body work is going to be very low at a body shop. So lets take $4000 off a $50,000 price tag for all the body work it needs (bumpers, paint correction, and any possible rust remediation). So now we are at $46,000. Lets say you want to go crazy and get an original rear grill for the tail lights and spend $1500. We are now at $44,500. Interior dye and seat upholstery, another $1000 subtraction to $43,500. Now the entire exterior and interior are completely restored and its looking beautiful. So it would be fair if you paid $40,000 for it right? Wait! You didn't forget the car doesn't have service history right? Lets be fair and take another $10,000 off for the fact that the previous owner made that BIG mistake. This car should then sell fairly at $30,000 dollars. Im not going to set a reserve, but I want to see if the math is correct. I think someone could put a lot less into it and get more out of it but that person isn't me.
This car still has a lien, so upon a sale, the new owner would properly send the bank the payoff amount of the loan, and then the difference can be paid to me in seperate certified funds. This is to ensure the title gets transferred into the new owners name!
I will offer free open transport shipping to the lower 48 if the price goes over $30,000.00. When the auction ends, the high bidder will send a certified check for the payoff amount with the invoice (which I will supply to the winning bidder) to the lienholder, and take posession of the car. When the clear title arrives, I will sign it over upon receipt of the full remaining payment amount. I am also willing to work with any buyer's bank, but you must have funds available to purchase this car, not all banks will finance a 1990 Ferrari. If you would like the transaction to go even smoother, you can apply to lightstream.com which is the current lienholder, which would make the process easier.
Thank you for taking the time to look at and read this ad. Hopefully you have a great overall picture of this car.