Are Ferraris Expensive To Maintain? 9 Wild Facts (With Examples)

As an owner of an exotic car like Ferrari, it is important to note that the cost of the vehicle does not end at the car dealership. From the moment you drive the car out of the dealer’s shop, you have begun to incur costs.

So before making that critical decision to buy a Ferrari, you might want to evaluate all the costs associated with maintaining the car.

Are Ferraris expensive to maintain?
Maintenance on a Ferrari is costly. A service check typically cost around $1,200-2,000. An oil change on an older Ferrari typically cost around $1,000 and a major service check can cost between $3,000-7,000. 

Let’s dig deeper into the numbers and the details!

The good news here is that most Ferrari owners do not hit the 5000-mile in a year mark, so they only have to maintain the car once in a year and maybe twice for some owners.

Of course, maintaining some models might be a little higher, but it may surprise you that it costs less than you thought to maintain some Ferraris.

The truth about the cost of Ferraris

If you have a taste for high-end exotic cars, Ferraris stands among the top choices. Owing a Ferrari might be an expensive deal, but it will surely put you in a class of your own. Ferraris, as widely perceived, do not drill a hole in your pocket to acquire at least when compared to other high-end exotic cars.

The costs of maintaining most of these top cars fall in the same category.

Old Ferraris, higher cost

One thing you should not forget is that the older the Ferrari, the more expensive it is to maintain, as you are likely to encounter more significant problems with it.

For instance, to change the oil of a Ferrari F430 will cost about $500. Oil change on the F360 will be around $800.

Going further to an older generation, oil change of an F355 will cost around $1000. Note that the oil changes will be done every 5000 miles.

The cost of maintaining these cars might not really make a hole in your pocket, as your choice to buy a Ferrari might have come out of your desire to own a more luxurious car than what you drive at the moment – Which of course implies you can afford both the cost of buying the vehicle and maintaining it in the long run.

Other factors that determine the costs of maintaining a Ferrari

Some other factors will determine the cost of maintenance of your Ferrari.

These costs may not come up yearly, but depending on when last you service the car and how many miles you have on the car.

• The spark plugs will cost about $3000.
• The belts can be on the high side too, as replacements for them can be as much as $4000, though that will be for every 15,000 miles.
• Most of the time, the higher cost of maintaining supercars comes from the cost of the clutch.
• For a traditional manual clutch, you can get that for $2500, while an F1 transmission can go as high as $6,500.

The yearly cost to own a Ferrari

Purchasing a brand new Ferrari might seem overwhelming in the first place.

However, if you can follow a regular maintenance schedule, the exotic car can last you for years without giving issues, and you get the real value for your money.

You can find below the average annual cost to own a Ferrari of different models.

As you can see from the above table, the maintenance cost for most Ferrari models is not much off the mark when compared to other luxury cars. One reason why you might get fewer proceeds from the sale of a luxury car will be due to depreciation.

The point to note here is that you have to take care of your Ferrari as you would do to other cherished treasure. You don’t have to take it for granted simply because it can care for itself.

Just for the fact that most Ferraris come in avant-garde technology, advanced parts with hand-crafted bodies does mean you should ignore your luxurious car.

The more attention the car gets, the lower the eventual cost of maintenance annually.

How much does it cost to service a Ferrari?

Just like most supercars, Ferraris also require top quality maintenance to retain their performance, reliability and looks.

The servicing history of the vehicle can also have a massive effect on its value when it is time to either sell it off or exchange for another car.

It is therefore recommended to service your Ferrari with specialists that will offer you the best services that will last you a long time.

Find below the average cost of servicing different Ferrari models

Other independent Ferrari services that your supercar might require include:

• Specialist upgrades,
• tracking devices,
• repair and installation of advanced technological features,
• and ECU remapping.

Which Ferrari models are the cheapest to maintain?

The maintenance cost of a Ferrari model will be the cumulative cost of servicing and replacing the major part of the car. The cheapest Ferrari models to maintain will be the ones that can have their parts last a longer period after every servicing.

General reports have it that the F458 is one of the cheapest models to maintain as they are covered by the longest warranty by Ferrari (3 years/36,000 miles).

Among the older models, it is reported that the F328 of the 1987 editions are very reliable and have a low maintenance cost.

Which Ferrari models are the most expensive?

There is a general belief that the Testarossa is the most expensive to maintain the entire Ferrari model. It has an average cost of annual maintenance of about $10,000 with servicing alone gulping as much as $7000, and it is rated as one of the most expensive models in the world.

The Ferrari 250 Testarossa was specially designed for the major car races in South and North America, with the prototype auctioned for as much as $16 million.

Other Testarossas are modeled after the F250 Testarossa.

How much does insurance cost on a Ferrari?

The insurance cost on a Ferrari will be on the average $5,000 for a 6-month coverage, making it five times the average cost of insurance in the United States. It is quite challenging to get Ferrari insurance as not all mainstream insurers have coverage for the vehicle.

However, the cost of insuring a Ferrari car will vary depending on if the quotes were from a company that has a specialty in covering collector and classic vehicles or just from a standard insurance company.

There is every possibility of getting cheaper coverage from a specialized company. The average cost of insuring a Ferrari car with a specialized company is $2500.

One benefit of insurance companies for exotic cars is that there is always an agreed value, which is the price the insurer and the car owner agree on for the worth of the car. The agreed value is usually the amount they will pay you based on the purchase cost and depreciation value of the car.

Specialty companies also, most of the time, include special coverages only applicable to exotic cars. This might include coverage that protects the car during a display at a car exhibition or even protection for the extra parts of the car like the racing tires.

Transmission Replacement: Major Cost in Ferraris

It is quite unfortunate that one of the essential parts of the Ferrari car is the transmission, and it is one of the most expensive to maintain or replace.

Automatic transmission failures are most times caused by problems with the fluid. This is mainly because most owners neglect the transmission fluid, especially when the car doesn’t receive enough servicing.

Working on the transmission of a Ferrari car can gulp as much as $7000 depending on the model of the car. The owner may even have to pay more when other factors like service charges and labor cost are included.

Can The Cost of Maintenance be less?

Well, this might be possible if you are sound with mechanics. You can save some cost if you can figure out the mechanic of some of the parts in the car engine bay.

Another factor that determines the cost of maintenance is the service intervals, especially oil change.

Some owners stick to the usual 3,000-mile interval, while some believe going for as much as 7,000 miles will not harm the vehicle – That will, although, depending on your personal choice.

Final thoughts

Ferraris are one of the most expensive exotic cars in the world and are revered by special car collators. The cost of the car does not end at the point of purchase but in the entire lifetime of the vehicle.

It is important to put the annual cost of running and maintaining a Ferrari car into consideration before deciding to buy.

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