wonka12_98

Love my car but sorry, I'd take a Ferrari any day over my car given it was a similar year and comparable performance. I'd even make a sacrifice on the performance for the right car.

JerryU

Not at all, before becoming our CEO he was CEO of a leading spark plug company! I'd agree with him and the writer of that article, a Ferrari is a great car for weekend use but requires a good mechanic to keep that fine tuned machine in proper shape.

Just like Dale Inman told me when we worked with the Petty Race Team and I asked about their use of very light weight oil, 00 zero or some such rating! He said the engine lasts fine for the 500 miles we need! Yep Ferrari engines etc can run a long race, but no way will they operate as long as a Vette engine without an overhaul!

If you read it properly he said: "Chevrolet makes hundreds of thousands of Corvette engines each year, since several Chevrolet cars use the Corvette engine: Camaro, Silverado, Escalade, etc.
The Corvette engine is simply fine tuned a bit to increase horsepower, noise, and efficiency, but the tuning process isn’t too difficult." Guess he covered trucks that use the 6.2 liter engine with etc! Agree he is simplistic in this short article but has a point.

The Tonawanda engine plant is probably one of the most sophisticated, automated plant in the world! They have invested billions in advanced state of the art machinery to make a precision product at low cost. My understanding is they have kept the same bore spacing in the small block engines partly for that reason.

Also the 3LT has Napa leather in the seat seat section only! All other and 1 LT and 2LT do not use the high quality glove leather found in a very high end car! The C7 interior is definitely better than my C6, '08, '93 or "88 Vettes but it's not a Ferrari! Perfectly fine for me, they have all been my exclusive DD as will the Grand Sport on order!

4thC4at60

Since I'm an old guy with a good driving record it's reasonable. I'm with USAA and have three cars insured with them as well as my household goods.

This photo was shot last October (2016) on a road trip to New Mexico - about 2,000 miles in all....

witch hunt

come on HPT---everybody agrees the Ferrari is a higher end vehicle, but is it 5x better? Also everybody should agree that Ferrari's are notoriously pricey to service and maintain.

Instead of a new Ferrari, get 4 or 5 Stingrays, keep one to drive yourself & give the others out to friends. I guarantee you'll have a LOT MORE FUN!! BTW--Walmart socks ain't too bad and they're a Levi's distributor too, so what more do you want?

4thC4at60

I paid close to 70 grand for my C7 two years ago. Today it'll bring mid-40s, maybe - I drive my cars so I have miles on mine - about 20K per year...

I paid mid 40s for my Ferrari, today's its worth around 90... I drive it about 10K miles a year.... bought it with 23K miles, today it has about 56K....

jimmyb

^^^^

SO...you're comparing the depreciation of a 2 year old Corvette to that of a 30 year old Ferrari?
And if your Ferrari was such a value holder, how did you buy it for $40K? Because you bought it while it was DE-preciating.

Cars like Ferraris/Porsches/and to a lesser extent, Corvettes go through the similar depreciation/appreciation curves. My next door neighbor bought his 2006 Carrera Cab 4S in 2014 for $50K. The car stickered at $130K (in 2006) and had 17,000 miles on it. He made a GREAT buy, no telling what that car will be worth in 15 years.

PS. While I applaud you for actually driving your Ferrari, 328's with the miles you have are not sniffing $90K, more like $65K. And like most cars, the owners think the value is a lot more than reality. Anyone that thinks they are going to get $130K today (as a few below are being offered) for a 328 is dreaming.

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds...Facet=Vehicles for Sale&makeFacet=Ferrari&modelFacet[]=328GTS&sort=sort_time_desc&page_size=15 &start=0

PSS. In closing, I'm still confused how these Ferrari/Corvette comparisons come up anyway. I am a fan of both, owned 5 Corvettes and 0 Ferraris, and I never, ONCE, considered them to be competitors. Now, if GM wants to bring Corvette down to Ferrari V8 level production, and raise the prices 5 times, then we would have an apples/apples comparison. For the most part, the ONLY modern Ferraris (disregarding the "specials" like LaFerrari/Enzo) that seem to REALLY hold their value are the mid-engine V8 cars. The front engine V12 GT's certainly don't drop like a rock, but they definitely depreciate in the near term. Ten year old 599's are selling at about 50% of their MSRP. Ten year old 612's (with REAL miles on them...say 40K) are under $100K now, basically 1/3rd of their original MSRP.

stevebz06

I watched a program on TV about the Ferrari factory and I've taken the Corvette factory tour, and I'm sorry, but I don't think the two are even remotely similar. The Corvette factory basically assembles parts and the Ferrari factory pours engine blocks and sews together interiors. If I come back as an auto mechanic in my next life I could do a lot worse than to work at the Ferrari factory.

4thC4at60

Jimmy, you need to check GTB values.... not GTS values. A reasonably clean GTS can be found, if one searches, for as low as $65.... but those are, still, pretty rare, even in a soft market.

GTB cars are not common - 89 US spec B-models were imported - out of a total 1344 cars of all variations including Japanese, Brit, Swedish, Italian, and other models. One thing that adds to mine is the rarity of the color combo - silver/red (argento/rosso) - only two such cars exist in the US. Off color cars (not red or black) bring additional monies too.

I've turned down $80K twice.... and that was two years ago.

At 75 I harbor few illusions about much of anything....

Best....

Joel

KEZ06

It is interesting to me how folks bag on other cars. I am a purist-complete car nut. I love my C6 and C7 as well as cls63 trucks American cars Italian jobs Asian cars English rides German rides small cars big cars old cars. To me the most important thing is the rich variety. I love how cars are functional art and the myriad of ways that functionality is or has been executed.

Ferrari is a great house with great heritage. So too is corvette being the near supercar for the masses. Both excite me to be around.

What I do not care for is those who make it about ego and status to say I am better than you-if you are relying on a car for that-that is sad.

chefcg1

Driven both and I agree. 650s is a great car and works great as a daily driver in my opinion.

Maxie2U

Thanks for sharing

marcouvo

Great article, thanx.

sunsalem

I have seen the program too and completely agree with your opinion.
BTW, there was also a tour of BG in that series as well.

One of the big differences is just how much modern Corvettes are assembled by robots...I don't think a lot of people realize this.
According to the program I saw, very little of the car ISN'T.
By contrast, the Ferraris had very little robotics involved.

Seventy years ago this week, the first Ferrari hit the road.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/13/14...i-aperta-125-s

To mark the event, the company released this video the other day:

Tally Ho

I had a 2007 F430 for two years. I had a lot of fun with the car but if you own one you need to live in an area that can support it. I do not. There is one independent mechanic in the area and he is 1.5 hours away. He's good and his labour rates are fair but you are on his schedule. If I lived in south FL I would have kept it.

The biggest problem with Ferraris in the US is there is a mileage stigma. Cars with mileage drop in value at a severely non-linear rate. I bought my car in 2014. It had two prior owners and only 8200 miles. I bought it to drive. Not as a DD but I did manage to put 5000 miles on it in two years. That put it at 13K miles when I traded it in. I paid $130K and got $119K trade in.

As for maintenance if you're handy with a wrench, you can do a lot of the basic stuff. I changed out the stock exhaust for headers and new muffler and exit pipes. I also changed out the brake pads. I installed factory air horns which required front bumper removal. An oil change kit will set you back $100 not including oil. For non-scheduled repairs I had a water/oil pump go bad. It was leaking coolant at the weep hole seal caused by lack of use from the prior owners and me driving it regularly. Total cost parts and labour = $5K. The F1 clutch will wear out and the cost to replace runs anywhere from $6500 to $9K.

I enjoyed my time with it and miss it some days. If I ever buy another it will have a warranty and I will live closer than 6 hours to the nearest Ferrari dealer. I traded it for a 2016 Jaguar F Type R convertible. I also added a 2017 Z06. Here's a pic of my former F430.

sunsalem

It's the only way.
Last I checked, the warranty on the California T is 36 months, 50k miles.

For any car owner, it's crazy not having a dealer nearby.
Being in a state with ONE Ferrari dealer and none for many other exotics has made my car ownership choices somewhat limited.

4thC4at60

TALLY HO - thanks for the write up on your F430....

I full-well know of what you speak re: techs close by - until recently my "go to guy" (one of the best in the US) was 287 miles - one way. My new guy is but 45 miles.

I chose a 328 rather than some other model F-car in that the 3x8 series cars are the least expensive for ownership maintenance wise, plus they had about bottomed out on depreciation about the time I bought mine. Also the 3x8 cars, when sorted, are extremely dependable - the first F-cars actually suitable for DD duties.

Then the "Wow! B-models are rare" bug caught up and drove the value of the B-models up - which, even with the market soft, continue to rise.

As I mentioned previously I've been daily driving Corvettes for 27 years... and I love the cars - but as you know there's that "thing" with the F-cars...

Thanks again for sharing your experience....

Joel

falconhulk

They definitely are going up in price. 10 years ago I was at a gas station with a guy who broke down in a red one. He paid 27k for it. He was in his 20's. It's funny how people just woke up to these cars.

Maxpowers

The article doesn't have much substance. But at least they weren't too negative on the mass produced Vette.

Vette_Pilot

I liked reading the article very pro vette!!!!

rikhek

Not sure what you guys are whining about. Did you read the article? It was very complimentary to the Corvette. Only issue I have is they should have compared the C7Z to the Ferrari as it will blow it away in the performance category.

Pretty accurate article for the intended audience and accurate to the cars as well.