The latest R&T arrived yesterday (new Boss 302 on the cover). In this month's Side Glances, Egan mentions he's sold his Elan and is looking for a new 'toy'. Eventually, he meanders to Ferraris... 308's and 328's specifically... and has discussions with friends who own them... and learns they may not be as DIY-unfriendly as previous suspected...
I'm sure parts are still more expensive than average... but still...
Damn you Peter Egan... damn you...
In reply to Ian F:
I saw the same article and it got me thinking too. Ferraris have always appealed to me and frightened me at the same time. Horror stories of many thousands of dollars for routine maintenance and expensive parts from the dealer have kept me from pulling the trigger in the past. Right now I am casually shopping for an NSX which is priced in the same general neighborhood as a 308/328 but should be more reliable and cheaper to maintain. I'm second guessing myself right now.
A little fuel for the fire - there's quite a few DIYers on the ferrari chat site - at least in the 308/328 section
I have had a few V8 Ferrari cars and a few V12 Ferrari cars. The V8 cars can be serviced by someone who knows how to work on cars and can follow directions to the letter. They do not work well with shortcuts or cut rate parts. That being said, I have never found a car that delivered more on its promise as Ferrari cars have delivered for me.
308 car prices are most definitely on the rise. The best bets are the GTS cars though the GTB is to me a prettier car. The GT4 is a good value but has not and will not likely appreciate at anywhere near the rate of the GTB and GTS will. Also contrary to popular belief, I think the 328 is going to long term be outperformed appreciation wise by the 308 cars. They have a few more modern features but are also more complex and are not as clean a styling exercise, being a derivative of a great original design.
I have honestly never known anyone who has bought a Ferrari with eyes wide open who has not thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I'd buy a NSX in a heart beat if I had room, this pseudo super car offers good looks, great performance, and ah yes.....reliability that can't be beat for the price. These are very under valued, and offer a big bang for the buck.
Dougie
While I agree the NSX is by far the better car - and I've loved them since new - a prancing horse on the hood can make up for a lot of other pit-falls.
Following directions to the letter. I'm pretty good at that... it sounds similar to owning a TDI: follow the maintenence schedule and parts & fluids specs to the letter and they'll last a long time. take short-cuts and decide that you know better than VAG engineers, then a TDI can put you in a world of $$$ hurt.
I recently got to spend a bit of time with a 400i. Interesting car. Not sure I'd say I liked it, but it was interesting. Somehow an automatic Ferrari is just wrong, and the seats sat very high. Of course Ricardo Montelban would have loved the gathered leather headliner! It was also much smaller inside than it's outside porportions would lead you to believe.
However, it was still a Ferrari and I can think of far worse ways to spend a little time! 
In reply to Ian F:
I agree with Egan. I personally wouldn't touch a 308. I've only known one guy who owned one and it was anything but DIY friendly not to mention expensive to maintain. That's probably why he hardly ever drove it.
On the otherhand I recently drove a NSX. What a great car. It'll do everything the 308 can do and probably more, not to mention being ultra reliable. Plus you can get it serviced at your local Honda dealer.
No brainer IMHO.
TR8owner wrote: I agree with Egan. I personally wouldn't touch a 308. I've only known one guy who owned one and it was anything but DIY friendly not to mention expensive to maintain. That's probably why he hardly ever drove it.
Agree with who? Re-read the thread, please... 
I haven't actually read Egan's article so assume he wasn't keen on 308's based on my interpretation of your OP.
I'd really suggest you talk to as many 308 owners as possible and get their opinions. What I've been told is that quite a few owners don't seem to hang on to them for very long, probably based on maintenance cost issues. They're priced low enough that people can entry level the Ferrari market, but for many it can become a car you can afford to buy but not drive.
I'm no 308 expert, but as mentioned, I'd personally step over one for a NSX based on the reasons previously posted.
I didn't say read the article, I said re-read the thread... 
Nope. As I (apparently poorly) paraphrased in the first post, the article article starts out with your line of thinking... and then he does talk to owners and discovers real life may be different.
The 308 owners I've talked to have said to a man that the cars aren't that difficult to work on. "if you can work on a Fiat, you can work on a 308" is commonly heard.
I've had a jones for an early carbed one for a while. (Navy or black please!)
Yeah, the NSX is a great car, but the one I drove felt so ordinary and pedestrian that it just didn't feel "special". It felt like an Accord until you revved the bejesus out of it. I guess the things that make it a great daily, also make it less flavorful. I'd take an early 308 over a NSX in a heartbeat. Our hobby isn't a logical one, it is a passionate one!
I can certainly understand the love for a 308. In my mind, they're both the most approachable and among the most attractive modern Ferraris. The fact that my Subaru or Miata would trounce them in nearly any contest of speed doesn't help, though.
The NSX, on the other hand, appeals to me for very different reasons. Dougie called it right— they're pseudo-supercars that my mother could enjoy without any more danger than she'd have in her Accord. Reliable, safe, probably even fuel efficient. If I were going to pony up $25k or more for a toy, a reliable toy makes a lot of sense.
In reply to Tom Heath:
"The fact that my Subaru or Miata would trounce them in nearly any contest of speed doesn't help, though"
LOL!! I remember dusting off a 308 back in the late 1980's in my hotted up TR8. I was expecting an ass whuppin' so was quite surprised. After all, this was a Ferrari. The guy took three runs at me and he got easily dropped every time. Maybe thats when Ferrari's lost some of their mystique to me.
Joe Gearin wrote: I'd take an early 308 over a NSX in a heartbeat. Our hobby isn't a logical one, it is a passionate one!
Ding!
I've had great fun racing this Dino on several occasions (somewhere, I have a great video of him spinning in front of me). Nice cars, but I'm a Brit-car fan. If I wanted an affordable, "working man's" exotic, it'd be a TVR, Europa or Ginetta. A Sebring Sprite replica would be the bee's knees.
No need for an NSX...we already have a new Accord.
In reply to aeronca65t:
The Dino was the first Ferrari I ever sat in. A friend's dad had one back in the day. He gave us the keys to go for a spin only once, but it was a great ride I'll always remember. Of course a Fiero GT would be quicker and handle better, but a Dino is still a Dino.
I have to chime in again about the 308 cars. They vary quite a bit in performance, some are not so fast while others are legitimate 13.0 second 1/4 mile 150 MPH top speed cars. I know that a lot of cars go that fast these days but that is anything but slow.
Also you buy a Ferrari for many reasons besides outright performance.
These are very neat cars and beg to be driven. They can even function as a good transportation car if properly serviced. The NSX is a nice car but as a few others have said a bit sterile. The 308 is a Ferrari in its sounds, looks, driving experience and history. You get a lot when you have one. I own 1 currently and somehow never seem to be without one for long.
Many cars are special but no other marque, without exception, has been able to replace the feeling I get when I see a Ferrari in my garage that I actually own. It feels like I have reached a sort of sports car nirvana. I know that sounds silly and of course there are more reliable and faster cars out there, 911's, C5/C6 Z06 Corvette, Mercedes SL55 AMG, Aston martin Vanquish, but no car to me can come close to delivering what a Ferrari does for me nor can it replace a Ferrari for me. If you have always wanted to try one out and can afford it, I recommend that you do your research and get one. As I said above, I doubt you will regret it.
I have to chime in again about the 308 cars. They vary quite a bit in performance, some are not so fast while others offer legitimate sub 14 second 1/4 mile times and 150 MPH top speeds. I know that a lot of cars go that fast these days, but that is anything but slow.
Also you buy a Ferrari for many reasons besides outright performance.
These are very neat cars and beg to be driven. They can even function as a good transportation car if properly serviced. The NSX is a nice car but as a few others have said a bit sterile. The 308 is a Ferrari in its sounds, looks, driving experience and history. You get a lot when you have one. I own 1 currently and somehow never seem to be without one for long.
Many cars are special but no other marque, without exception, has been able to replace the feeling I get when I see a Ferrari in my garage that I actually own. It feels like I have reached a sort of sports car nirvana. I know that sounds silly and of course there are more reliable and faster cars out there, 911's, C5/C6 Z06 Corvette, Mercedes SL55 AMG, Aston Martin Vanquish, but no car to me can come close to delivering what a Ferrari does for me nor can it replace a Ferrari for me. If you have always wanted to try one out and can afford it, I recommend that you do your research and get one. As I said above, I doubt you will regret it.
I've never owned a Ferrari, but have driven a few, and riden in a few others. It's the only car marque I've ever been in where it just feels special even sitting still. Even the 400i I commented on above that I didn't really care for, had that wonderful V12 and the sound that goes with it.
A local club guy had a 308 years ago, and did almost all the work himself. I remember him saying that was similar to working on the GTV6 in that you followed the book and torque specs to the letter. While today's standards say it isn't that fast, it was back in the day. His version was an '85 I believe, and there weren't too many cars at the time that were as fast as the 308 without taking a huge jump in price.
In reply to Andy Reid:
I remember the owner I knew once saying that his 308 took the "Fix it again Tony" concept to a higher lever. :-)
In a very real car-guy sense, anything but a V-12 is not really a proper supercar.
wspohn wrote: In a very real car-guy sense, anything but a V-12 is not really a proper supercar.
While that may be true, the 308 is the quintessential Ferrari to many people.
I saw a Biography special on Tom Selleck yesterday.
That did not help.....
Damn you Magnum!
wspohn wrote: In a very real car-guy sense, anything but a V-12 is not really a proper supercar.
What a load of you know what! Come clean, I know you don't really believe that in a "very real car-guy sense".
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