Why the Bad Vibe? - Getrag 7-speed dual-clutch

I haven't noticed much bad press about it, if anything most say it's a revelation over the single clutch it replaced...

 

The problem was a poorly located wiring harness inside the DCT that would chafe through. From what has been reported on this forum,the problem was confined to Californias (2009-2012) with one California 30 reported.

 

458, FF and others suffer from the same gearbox failures as early Californias. Same with early MB SLS's and so on. And it is commonly thought to be a "when, not if" type event. But why worry? It's a $10-15k repair when it fails. Get unlucky and chip your brake rotor and thats $10k as well.

Or just buy a Cali30 or CaliT. Gearbox failures on those are almost unheard of.

I think the poor reputation comes from the early days when Ferrari would only replace the whole transmission for like $40k, no-one was trained to open and repair them, nor would Ferrari sell parts to them.

 

Thanks for posting this note.

There is a pattern in the postings to F-Chat which center on the early Cali models as having more tranny issues, though I have seen it reported up into Cali T range. Given the number of postings it is difficult for me to come up with a probability estimate of tranny failure or fraction of cars produced which are involved.

I recall there was a Ferrari offer of free new engine in 2011 and 2012 cars, a few hundred cars eligible. But I never see any postings about this crankshaft issue these days.

 

Didn't realize you were speaking in regards to failure rate.

 

There was a May 2012 recall for the engines. A few were replaced (74 in USA). This is what I have read on this forum. Any dealer should be able to verify if the car was subject to recall and had the engine replaced.

 

If you are concerned about DCT failure (which is a reasonable concern),look only at cars that have had the wiring harness issue addressed.

 

Like others, most of online angst I saw re the DTC arose from sensor failures. As an engineering marvel, it's a brilliant transmission. I think the PDK on our 911 is a smidgen better, especially in stop/go traffic, but when you give it the beans, the Ferrari DTC is just fabulous.

We own six cars, and I've come to the conclusion after reading too many online stories, watching too many YouTube videos, surfing F-chat, etc. each one of our cars is a ticking time bomb - diesel emission stuff on our F-450 is ready to break any day, our 4Runner is going to rust out, the Cali DTC is going to malfunction, etc. Fortunately, worrying and cars are hobbies!

T

 

2013 Cali 30 sold at 20k miles, no DCT issues. 2015 Cali T currently 31k miles and rising, no DCT issues (or any issues, for that matter).

To quote Tom Petty: "Most things I worry about never happen anyway."

 

Thx for the research. I know the early ones had some issues. My 2011 seems to work fine.

 

Am not surprised. V8 4Rs listed for sale are either pristine, low mileage examples from warm-weather states with crazy asking prices or clapped-out hoopties with 200+K miles. I wouldn't worry about rust on your Cali; this may be one of the few areas that Ferrari has a leg up on Toyota!
T

 

I agree with it's a matter of when not if. My 2011 cali just failed today on d-day... it grenanded on me ...pun intended! 49k miles after 3y and 29k daily driving. Hollywood mechanic said all dct will fail due to age not mileage. Taking in next week to find out my fate...