I have owned a December 2001 p
I have owned a December 2001 production 360 spider since purchase in April 2002 with 200 miles on it.
I own a bunch of other cars, including other Ferraris, but love the 360 spyder for it's power, smoothness and dependability, and have put 16,000 trouble-free miles on it, street and track, until I bought a dedicated race car. However, it is a manual shift. My 360 Challenge car was a paddle shift, and was prone to all sorts of ridiculous problems-some associaed with race car abuse, and some with the poorly designed F-1 shifter and alternator.
I have had 1 cam belt change on the spyder, at 3 years from delivery, and it was cheap (by Ferrari standards), as the engine does not need to be pulled. I have also done a belt change on my Challenge car between midnight and 4 AM to get ready for a race, but I had a Ferrari mechanic with me. Otherwise I have had only a few small problems with the spyder, all of which were cured under warranty.
Speaking of warranty, at the 15,000 mile service I was offered a continuation factory warranty from Ferrari, 2 years for $7,000. If you buy the warranty they do the entire 15K service (belts, fluids, tensioners, etc.) at 50% off. Get this if you can. They will do a compression test on your car first to see if you qualify for extended warranty.
I'd say go for a good 6 speed, avoid the F-1, have it carefully checked out, make sure all service records are proper, and try to get the extended warranty. If properly maintained, these cars are pretty bulletproof. I'm not selling mine any time soon. If you want more info feel free to send me a private message.