Just purchased a 14000 mile 89 Mondial T cab and wanted a simple oil change from Algar Ferrari here in Philly Pa. After looking over the car I get a suggested price of $6000 for the 30000 mile check up and of course my oil change!! Any one know or either another certified ferrari repair place or at least a place where I can purchase a "Purflux 130-623"oil filter. Thanks in advance for your help. Joe

-- Joe Gro (Gojoeie@aol.com), April 26, 2003

Answers

HI JO I AM A FERRARI TECH AND HAVE MY OWN SHOP SINCE 1988 . EMAIL WE YOUR PHONE # AND I'LL HELP YOU AS BEST I CAN . bigbear dave

-- BIGBEAR DAVE (BIGBEARDV@CS.COM), April 27, 2003.

As a matter of interest i am also looking for a ferrari technician in the uk in the midlands area for my 328 gts.some one who i could call upon for belt changes ect with out the HUGE dealer bills. getting the service book stampt is of no concern being i will never sell the car now i have it.Its not that i am tight but wouldnt it be nice to have a mate who knows about ferraris,if not its back to the rip of dealer. chas

-- charles richards (h.brocklehurst@btopenworld.co.uk), April 27, 2003.

Joe,

You've been introduced to the world of Ferrari. I've had 3 Ferraris, the last being a 348. It is long gone thankfully. Even though your car only has 14K miles on it, if the belts haven't been changed in 5 years, you should do it. Your engine needs to be dropped to be fully serviced, ie - to change the belts, check the belt tensioners, and water pump, adjust the valves. That in itself is about $1700 just to get it on the floor. If your water pump has any leaks, change it - that's about $1,400 just for the pump. Tensioners are about $440 a piece and there are two of them. So the $6000 number is probably correct. If your feeling depressed, be glad you didn't buy a TR. Those are about $8K to service which is why they are so cheap any more since most people don't do the service work on them. Kinda like Russian roulette.

The above story is what I experienced and is why I no longer own a Ferrari and I won't buy the new stuff anymore. Only the older ones that I can service myself.

PS - I can tell you about my $2,100 clutch job but that's enough for one night.

Good luck if you get the work done. The oil filter is easy to buy at probably any dealer so don't sweat that at all.

PSS - Don't ever buy an early 348. Talk about a junk pile! Buy 3 MV's and save your money.

-- David Aull (dmaull2002@yahoo.com), April 29, 2003.

I have been looking for a Mondial but now am not sure. If they are so expensive to fix you would think they would not be worth much but instead I only seem to find sellers that do not seem motivated. I hate the attitude that if you want a Ferrari you should over pay! Thanks, Doug

-- Doug C. (dougandozzy@yahoo.com), November 02, 2003.