Ferrari is one of the most prestigious and special marques of all time. Even if those who aren't gearheads get excited when they see a car with the prancing horse badge. So, it is no surprise that almost everyone dreams of owning a Ferrari one day. Obviously, a Ferrari in your garage or at your driveway is a sure way to say that you've made it.
Yes, almost all Ferraris are indeed special. They are conceived and honed on the grueling racetracks. After all, Ferrari is the only marque to race in every season of Formula 1 since the brand's inception. They won their first Le Mans in 1949 and applied what they learned at the track to their road cars. Apart from the racing heritage, they are exceptional machines with incredible styling, nearly unmatched driving pleasure, and expert craftsmanship.
However, something that special comes with special complications, and Ferrari ownership has its unique problems. Even if money isn't one of those problems, there are a lot of things to consider before you buy a Ferrari. These are the 10 biggest problems with Ferrari ownership.
10 Buying And Selling One
Ferraris are notoriously hard to buy and sell, and there are a couple of reasons for it. First of all, like many supercars, Ferraris are incredibly expensive. Not many car enthusiasts can afford them. But even if you can afford a Ferrari, that doesn't mean that you get to buy one.
This brings us to the second reason why Ferraris are hard to get and sell. The marque likes to have as much control over the vehicle as possible. This goes both ways. They choose who they sell to, and they would like to know who you sell to. Apart from Ferrari's antics, selling a Ferrari is no simple task. Even people who can't afford them will approach you with all kinds of weird offers and consume your time. After all, everyone wants a Ferrari.
9 High Maintenance
Another thing that consumes your time is maintenance. High-performance cars like Ferraris are built with very tight tolerances and need maintenance very often. A Ferrari needs an oil change at least once a year or 6,000 miles with other inspections. Brake fluid change every two year or 12,500 miles and belt changes every 4 year or 37,500 miles.
Maintenance on a Ferrari is both time-consuming and expensive. Any work on the car should be done by a Ferrari dealer or a specialist, if not, it will diminish your car's value quite a bit, and skimping on maintenance for a Ferrari will end up costing a lot more down the line.
8 Expensive Spares And Consumables
If you own a Ferrari, you don't want to break anything. Because if you do, then you have to buy spare parts. And they will be very expensive. For example, if you own a 458 Italia and you have a catastrophic engine problem, expect to pay close to the retail price of the car. But don't panic yet, because modern Ferraris are quite reliable when driven regularly.
The other side of the coin is scarier. Consumables like clutches, brakes, and tires are very expensive. Some of these might need replacements once, even twice a year. Most people who can afford the retail price of the car might not be able to sustain themselves much longer.
7 Reliability Issues On Older Models
Older Ferraris are riddled with reliability issues, catastrophic failures, and all kinds of little problematic details that can ruin your experience of owning a Ferrari. Especially before the '80s, Ferraris were race cars for the street and had race car quirks.
There are exceptions, like the 308 and 328, but most of the older Ferraris are generally unreliable, expensive to buy and own. Up until the Ferrari 360, this was the case for most Ferrari models. But the marque learned from the mistakes they made with the 355 and improved their build quality.
6 Temperamental Electronics
Ferraris are mechanical art. This came as no surprise to anyone because they have an impressive racing pedigree and had impressive feats like winning 24 Hours of Le Mans multiple times. Impressive mechanicals aside, they do have very temperamental electronics.
Electronics having their own mind was not exclusive to Ferrari. Vintage Italian cars almost always have electronic issues. But Ferrari is supposed to make the best cars in the world, and them having electrical issues makes more headlines than a Fiat. Even today, if you don't drive your Ferrari often, you will have electrical issues.
5 Depreciation
Even if the prancing horse badge keeps some level of depreciation at bay, Ferraris are luxury sports cars, and they too depreciate. There are some reasons why certain models depreciate more. Some cars might have insane customization work done by the factory. Some models may have a bad reputation, like the F355, and some just depreciate like any other car.
Depreciation doesn't affect all cars the same. As mentioned, Ferraris have been relatively safe from them, but depreciation hits the hardest around 3 to 5 years into the ownership and then plateaus before eventually appreciating if you are lucky.
4 Attention
If you drive a Ferrari, chances are you like grabbing people's attention. But even Ferrari owners eventually grow tired of all the attention they got. If you drive a Ferrari, you have the same level of presence as a local celebrity. Everyone will want to take a picture of your car, honk at you, yell at you, and more.
All that attention might be nice at the beginning. But Doug DeMuro said that the attention was the most annoying part of owning a Ferrari, and that it gets tiresome. Getting all that attention may diminish the driving pleasure you get from the car.
3 Can't Enjoy It All the Time
Ferrari makes high-performance road cars that are inspired by one thing and one thing alone: Racing. With newer cars having more than 600 horsepower, just a little stretch of the foot can result in a speeding ticket. This means that you can't enjoy your Ferrari all the time.
While yes, driving a Ferrari is an experience, and it is always enjoyable to drive. Ferraris demand to be driven hard. As long as you are not on a track, you'll always feel something is missing. A Ferrari is not just an object, it is a car made to be driven fast.
2 Parking
Ferraris get a lot of attention. This means that you can't just park it out on the street. Some people can scratch your car, break your window to steal your stuff or parts of your car. Driving a Ferrari is one of the best feelings in the world, but parking one on the street or mall parking lot is not fun.
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Apart from street parking, when you drive your Ferrari to a restaurant, you will have a valet park it for you. Giving your pride and joy to a valet and risking them taking it for a joyride is not something many Ferrari owners find relaxing.
1 Ferrari's Antics
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One of the biggest issues of Ferrari ownership is constantly dealing with the Ferrari. The Italian brand likes to have as much control over your car as possible, even after they sold it to you. If you want to have access to future cars, you have to follow their guidelines and always say nice things about their cars.
There are strict rules to Ferrari ownership: you don’t choose, Ferrari chooses you! In a nutshell, Ferrari does a background check on you before you buy the car. You can't sell your car without notifying Ferrari, and you can't sell it in the first year. You can't alter the car "too much", cover the Ferrari badge, or change it, and you can't touch the engine.