One week on and still no posts on my genberal query - seems as though there
are more people interested in a 'vette/ferrari pissing match...

Happy Holidays!

Well, the best I can do is share a bit of what I have learned over the years
of looking at buying various Ferrari, the 456 included...

The reason that they drop in value like rocks is that there appears to be a
transmission related failure in the GTA (automatic) versions.  Oddly enough,
Dr. Phil had his silver 456 GTA up for sale and it was an automatic.  His son
Jay was brokering the sale and responding to e-mails, so in the process of
evaluating the car for purchase, I did my research and found that an out of
warranty transmission failure in those cars is not uncommon.  The price for
repair can run as much as $52,000!  Yes folks, you heard right.  The cheapest
I have heard it done for was right around $20,000 and when the car was newer,
the $50,000 price was much more common.  So, while the cars have dropped in
value to $70,000-$90,000 you might want to consider a 6-speed or else have
another handful of cash ready to replace the transmission when it goes out...
because it will.

G-man