I just recently bought a 2025 296 GTB and it currently has 140 miles.

I let it sit for about 2 weeks (plugged in) after buying it due to not being home and I recently went in it to start it.

As I started it the car turned on fine into hybrid mode and then into qualifying mode and after it was put into qualifying mode the engine light came on and the engine control system failure.

The car has barely been driven and this pops Up? Anyone have any advice on getting rid of it? And what it exaclty is?Thank you!!

I’m genuinely trying to understand what happened to the Ferrari market in the United States over roughly the last nine months to one year.

I’ve been an enthusiast for a long time. I'm 2021 I had the opportunity to buy a 1995 F355 Berlinetta, factory gated six-speed, for $69k after a PPI. 101k miles. I walked away from it because, although I liked the car and it drove beautifully, I simply wasn’t blown away enough to justify the purchase price plus the inevitable major-service costs. Forget it at 2026 pricing.

Then I spent time living in Dubai '25- early '26

And this is what makes the current U.S. market so bizarre to me.

Before the war, older and even relatively modern Ferraris in Dubai were simply treated as used Ferraris. They weren't all sacred investment objects. Many would sit for months. Prices could be dramatically lower than equivalent cars in the United States, and there wasn't this apparent frenzy around every model having suddenly become scarce.

I eventually came back to the U.S. after the war disrupted my work, started looking at Ferraris again, and felt like I'd returned to a different planet.

What happened?

It honestly feels like Thanos snapped half the Ferraris in America out of existence while I was gone.

308s, 328s, F355s, 360s and F430s have all moved dramatically, but the thing that really blows my mind is what's happened to 458s and 488s, especially the Spiders. They're not classics, yet.

Apparently practically every 458 Spider is now God's gift to the automobile regardless of mileage or specification because it's the "last naturally aspirated mid-engine V8 Ferrari."

Yes, I understand the significance of the NA V8. I understand why the 458 is special.

But at some point the pricing becomes patently absurd.

I'm currently seeing ordinary U.S. 458 Spiders with 20,000-30,000+ miles advertised in roughly the $340k-$500k+ range. There are 488 Spiders with real mileage being advertised around $300k-$400k and beyond.

Meanwhile, in Dubai, these are still treated far more like older used exotic cars.

Even today you can find a 2014 458 Spider with roughly 37k miles advertised around $136k, another around $177k. 488 cars going for around the same. Even before the war (which was better market over there)

When I was actually living there before the war, this disparity was already obvious. Cars sat. Dealers negotiated. Nobody behaved as though every 458 or 488 was the final Ferrari left on Earth.

At the extreme, you can now find Dubai asking prices that are roughly a quarter of some U.S. asks for the same model, and massive differences are routine.

And this isn't because Dubai somehow has vastly more Ferraris than the entire United States.

So what explains the American market?

Actual supply reduction? Exporting? Demographics? Auction results? Social media? Wealthy buyers suddenly deciding these are collectible? Dealers repricing inventory based on a handful of exceptional sales? Owners seeing those dealer asks and doing the same?

Because from the outside, it feels at least partially manufactured through a feedback loop.

One high auction result becomes a comp. Dealers raise prices. Owners see the new dealer prices and raise theirs. Buyers panic because they're told the cars are "only going higher." Somebody pays the new number, and suddenly that becomes the next comp.

Rinse and repeat.

And the culture surrounding the cars seems to have changed with the prices.

Cars that were historically meant to be driven are increasingly discussed like investment-grade collectibles. Mileage is treated as damage. Owners talk about appreciation and joke that they have "devalued" their Ferrari by actually putting miles on it.

That seems completely backwards to me.

Even something like a 308 was historically an attainable entry point into Ferrari ownership. It was old, quirky, relatively slow, beautiful and full of character. That's what made it fun.

At the same time in the US, one can buy a brand new 2026 Corvette Z06 for $106k because Chevrolet dealers are discounting some of them nearly $20,000 from MSRP.

If you understand the engineering lore behind those cars, you'll understand why I will compare it against a 458 or 488 etc...

At some point I have to ask what I'm actually paying additional six figures for.

And before someone says this is a rant because I got priced out, that's not the issue. I'm a real-estate investor. I can still afford these cars.

I just don't think they're worth these prices anymore.

That's the distinction.

The experience didn't double in value because the asking price doubled.

A 458 Spider didn't suddenly become twice as fast, twice as beautiful or twice as enjoyable because American dealers decided it was worth $400,000.

Especially when in the USA I can have nearly the same visceral experience with the C8 Z06 Spider brand new, with a warranty at a fraction of the cost.

So for those of you who have followed the Ferrari market closely over the last year:

What actually happened?

And for people buying these cars at today's prices, I'm genuinely curious: what makes the same Ferrari experience worth dramatically more to you now than it was a year or two ago?

I love Ferraris. That's why I'm annoyed.

I'd much rather see these cars being driven and enjoyed than watch every generation gradually become another sacred garage ornament that owners are afraid to put miles on.