need some advise

Im not sure its the right place to ask this but please move its not

 

I am about to buy a classic Ferrari(308 gtb) and I found suspicious activity

I am about to put the downpayment but before I do, I referred to some past activity with the car.

I am browsing the photos and I noticed something not the same......the speedometer was changed.

The mileage is consistent with documentation, and proof.

I call the dealer and get the "it was not me" excuse.

Then, after a couple of minutes, the tune changes to "it was us, the speedometer was switched out because it broke and we wanted to put the right one in."

Im a little pissed but glad too.

I love the car. I know I should wait. Common sense says wait because this happened. If they are willing to do this what else are they willing to lie about.

btw, ppi would not detect a switched out speedometer, and it came out of ppi fine.

as you can see by the photos, they are different. The correct one is in now.....but what happened before?

I know i should run away

same car verified

I don't trust the odometer in any old cars, especially Porsches and ferraris. If all else is good, go ahead.

I don't trust the odometer in any old cars, especially Porsches and ferraris. If all else is good, go ahead.

You think new cars are any better?

Inspect the car ignor the odometer.

I still want a 308 so very very badly.

What's a fair price for a fiberglass body, early GTS these days? (non CIS)

What's a fair price for a fiberglass body, early GTS these days? (non CIS)

Fiberglas gtb only

North of $200k

I'm sorry...it looks the same in the two pictures you postedto my eye? Can you point out the tells? Thank you.

I'm sorry...it looks the same in the two pictures you postedto my eye? Can you point out the tells? Thank you.

I feel stupid

I put the wrong picture in

This is the right one

The two speedos

One is 180mph and the other is the 85mph

Same car

The two speedos

One is 180mph and the other is the 85mph

Same car

I feel stupid

I put the wrong picture in

This is the right one

I see it now. This is a red flag for the dealer honesty. I would make sure to have an extremely through PPI.

Fiberglas gtb only

North of $200k

 

Oh not GTB, just a GTS, every day 308 kinda thing. I know the GTB is way more rare. I just want a 308 in my life at some point in the future haha. North of 200k for a GTB yiiiiikes. That sound though.... and the body style is gorgeous.

You think new cars are any better?

 

New cars are bad, and I'll tell you why.

 

If you have an OBD cable that is compatible with a newer car and access to a decent laptop, you can download the dealership/factory software (in a lot of cases) from The Pirate Bay, which a lot of times will allow you to make a mileage correction to the car's ECU. Now, if the car registers that the mileage was "corrected" or ever changed, is a different story, but it most certainly is possible.

 

Older cars would my guess be easier to change.

Between the eye test and a good PPI you should be able to definitively tell if it is 35k or 75k miles. If they changed it, they didn't roll it back ten miles. So long as the car checks out, I'd be comfortable. If you had the factory check out any 30 plus year old car, you'd probably freak at how much was changed over the years. Not many would pass through Classiche without some work.

Who cares about the mileage.

 

Pay for an oil change, look at the oil. If it flows out properly it's worth it. If it's sludge move on. In my experience it's the best test you can do. A 150,000 mile motor without sludge is superior to a car with 25K miles and sludge in the crankcase. Check the suspension components for cracks etc.

 

 

New cars are bad, and I'll tell you why.

 

If you have an OBD cable that is compatible with a newer car and access to a decent laptop, you can download the dealership/factory software (in a lot of cases) from The Pirate Bay, which a lot of times will allow you to make a mileage correction to the car's ECU. Now, if the car registers that the mileage was "corrected" or ever changed, is a different story, but it most certainly is possible.

 

Older cars would my guess be easier to change.

My sarcasm didn't show as much as I intended. I agree with your points and have seen new cars rolled back. My initial point to the post that new cars are safer was that they're no safer.

 

Personally, if the car has been tampered with its not worth buying period. You just have no idea what else they messed with and why....

My sarcasm didn't show as much as I intended. I agree with your points and have seen new cars rolled back. My initial point to the post that new cars are safer was that they're no safer.

 

Personally, if the car has been tampered with its not worth buying period. You just have no idea what else they messed with and why....

Im going in this direction.

This will be the third (to my knowledge) speedo

What bothers me more is I went through the records and the removal was never mentioned. even though I had ALL of the records.

Then when I pressed harder because he knew that I knew, the owner then let me know the speedo was making a noise and they replaced it.

The shit just kept getting deeper.

I guess if the owner said from the beginning that the speedo was replaced under their care it would not had been a big issue. Still, its not that big, just don't trust

I will move on and wait

thanks to all for your feedback.

It sounds like you're trying to talk yourself out of it. If the car looks good and is mechanically sound, buy it, enjoy it and don't look back

The 308 might be the easiest car to disconnect the odometer , while you are driving, around. I wouldn't trust the mileage on any of them. If all you can find wrong is the speedo, I would still go with it. Get the dealer to make a statement according to what was said and buy it. Personally I would prefer the 180 mph speedo to the 85 one anyways.

What's a fair price for a fiberglass body, early GTS these days? (non CIS)

 

A fiberglass car was maybe pushing it 10 years ago but now is too much for what it is. They were the first batch out of the factory in '76, and not many of them made as I know of a '76 that a friend had that was steel body.

 

A regular GTB is ok. Only marginally more money than a GTS, just harder to find. Don't confuse GTB with fiberglass.

 

Try and go euro ("standard") spec if you can in any of the iterations. I'd say it's less important for the QV cars than the carbureted.

 

I haven't been following the market closely by it seems like these cars are at the 60-65k on the low end, and climbing.

It sounds like you're trying to talk yourself out of it. If the car looks good and is mechanically sound, buy it, enjoy it and don't look back

 

I agree with pegs and TS here.....a good oil change and leakdown/compression test will matter more than mileage.

 

Also, if you can find out when the major/minor services have been done that will help too.

 

It's a shame the market is so sensitive to mileage. Worshiping 500 mile cars like they are gold, when the reality is anything but.

When I read the original post 2 days ago, I was thinking I honestly cannot tell the difference between the speedo so it's best not to comment. Thank you for clearing that up.

 

If you are thinking way down the road when it's time to pass the car to the new owner and don't want to deal with the potential hassle, then walk away. There will always be something else that checks the right boxes albeit with likely added costs. If you just love this one, get a good, reliable and independent PPI and if it all checks out, buy it and enjoy the ownership.