What is the expected "life" of a California?

Great question. So many people don't drive their cars. I drive it almost ever day in the summer. Rain or Shine. Never an issue. I out on 11K miles in not quite 2 summers. I have no reason to believe it would not run for 100K miles. Perform the service annually, fix items that fail.

 

There was a California for sale on eBay that had 77k miles on it.

 

With time and mileage, repairs will be needed.

Cars often change hands because of repair costs, the inconveniences, and loss of reliability.

Everything can be fixed or replaced, provided the owner is willing.

.

 

Probably 300,000 - 500,000 miles with regular maintenance, and around 50-100 years.

 

With proper maintenance probably no different than a Mercedes.

But the problem is the seats, interior, suspension, brakes, exhaust, and body will have taken a big hit in that time. You don't get something for nothing. If you want "butter soft" leather, it wears like crazy.

There's a guy on Youtube who took a 300K Merc to the dealer to get an estimate how much to fix it up again. The estimated bill was like twice the value of the car and that didn't include body and interior which were not in bad shape. That's the real problem. Its all the stuff that wears out and adds up.

 

I had been looking at Californias recently and got the rundown from our local manager and techs. They warned about transmission and top issues being the biggest $$$ repairs early Californias have with frequency. Seems like the engine itself is pretty sturdy. Looking online there are always a few with 40k+ miles.

 

That is true but if I remember correctly, replacing it with a new factory "rebuilt" unit is about $15K.

Its a lot but don't think a Mercedes would be that much different.

There is no such thing as a cheap Ferrari, unfortunately.

 

There's a Cali with 73 large on the odo in Cars.com. One owner and an accident on Carfax. Seems to be continuously serviced by Ferrari Palm Beach. That'd be a good touchstone for projecting long term Cali reliability.
T

 

Or just a bad car. Cars are unique, some are solid, and some have repetitive issues. Like guitars.

Or .. owned by a string of cheap bottom feeders, making the car look bad.


I would expect a Cali to go 70k on the first round of rotors, the motor 150K+++ no sweat at all. Yet at 150k you're over the cost of CCB and new suspension etc.

 

why not drive it until you hit 50k or 75k then sell it?

 

My rule is simple: When it feels like painfully pouring money into a hole to pay a new bill, the car goes away. There is no way to know when that will be in this case. Hypothetical everything.

Modern Ferrari is good as any car and likely better ... just buy it.

 

This, if the enjoyment factor goes away its time to say goodbye....

But anyone who says the car will last more than exactly 91.2 years is just butt-talking

 

But the transmission issues were rare?

 

I forgot to ask if you meant the maximum expected duration of a laden or unladen California.

 

In my research its more of a problem to be aware of in he cars 2012 and down, but it doesnt mean your California WILL have a DCT failure and it can happen on any DCT Fcar as repairs have been made on a Cali's FF's and 458's. So not just a cali problem. Ive also heard, though dont know how true it is, that if the DCT has been repaired in the last year its a more reliable repair then earlier repairs(again this is rumor and not to be taken as fact). Its something to be aware of, same goes for the roof malfunction. Apparently there are a couple of sensors that cause the issue. They used to not allow replacement sensors to be put in and it required a new roof harness, but Im told they will check the sensors now and replace the offending sensor. Still not cheap since the sensor failures are intermittent and require multiple dealer visits.

Currently im in the early stages of shopping for a California. Would love to get a cali 30, and maybe by the time we are ready to pull the trigger they will come down to a price im comfortable paying (which could be possible once Portofinos start getting delivered) but im not scared of the earlier ones either. Its like any other F car you learn what to look for, do a PPI, and if you have any doubts move on to the next car. More then likely any car you buy you will be spending money on, so have that in reserve and you should be ok.

At the end of the day I think its more about buying the car you want. I personally decided i wanted a Grand Touring car and looked at Maserati Granturismo's, Austin Martins (DB9 and Vantage) and The Ferrari California. My wife and I have driven all of them and enjoyed the Ferrari California most and liked the hard top convertable. For me its not like i need the car to do anymore then be there when id like to drive it.

I would guess that a well maintained California could last quite some time. If you have it for an extended period of time will there be wear issues? Sure but Id also bet even wear issues can be resolved, I mean people are still maintaining and driving older Ferrari's right?

 

Years ago there was a talk given by a well-known Porsche restoration shop. They had a client who brought in his 20-year-old 914. He loved the car, it fit him perfectly, but it was tired and had a lot of miles on it. He wanted to know what it would cost to rebuild the motor and restore the car from the ground up. The shop asked him, "If you could walk into a Porsche dealership today and buy this car new off the showroom floor, would you buy it?" He said he would write a check on the spot and named a figure (which no longer makes sense some 25 years later), and the shop told him, well, good news, because you can have this car back brand new again and it will only cost you half that amount."

It's all in the perspective, the Ferrari numbers are just inflated due to the cost of the car. Ultimately, it's the value of the car to you that counts, unless you're looking at it as an investment, in which case you might need your head examined -- at least for a modern widely available Ferrari ; )

 

In all Europe right now there are around 230 used Californias NA for sale. Curiously the one with bigger millage has 110.000 Km (70.000 Miles), is a 2011 model still running and sells for Euros 86 K.

 

I saw a White with Red interior for sale with 96k miles. I believe it was in Miami area. Clearly a daily driver.

 

The F-chat conspiracy appears to be that the F-cars that get driven more seem to have less issues than those that sit for long times. I don't know if that's true, but I'd like to think that you'll have the comfort of lots of happy memorized the more you drive your Ferrari.
Btw, warranty has recently been extended to 15 years, so that's worth something in terms of piece of mind.

T

 

What does that mean Tom?

 

I read in a post by Steve F (Boardwalk Ferrari) here on F-chat that the Ferrari warranty can now be extended to 15 years after the model year of the Ferrari.

Some URLs...

https://blog.caranddriver.com/prancing-horse-peace-of-mind-ferrari-extended-warranty-now-stretches-to-15-years/

http://auto.ferrari.com/en_US/news-events/news/ferrari-new-power15/

https://www.4wheelsnews.com/auto/ferrari-new-power-15-years-warranty-37801.html

T

 

Hmmm I finally see that catch. Car has to be inspected first. I will call the Ferrari dealer tomorrow.

 

Holy Cow!!!!! its $4500 each year (that's $54,000 after first 3 years of warranty.) am I reading this right?

 

Yes, you certainly are. Doubtful anyone would take it out 15 years though. I bought it this year (my first year, first Ferrari) on my 14k mi 2010 but I doubt I’ll buy it again...depending on how this year goes.


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