Roof fatigue

OMG, a $50k+ repair for plastic dust, what a ridiculous and catastrophic development!

Thanks for the heads-up Martin and I'm glad yours was still covered under warranty. My car is only 1 year old and in storage but I'll have to check out this "plastic coating" when I get a chance to.

I imagine this problem will require routine inspection to try and head off and AFAIK Ferrari uses the same mechanism in the California T. So it's in their interest to get Webasto, who makes the roof mechanism, to devise a better means to service the defective parts.

I just wonder at what point of materials failure can the dealer declare the mechanism to require service. I mean, do they have to wait for a roof failure before declaring the defect? IMO, it's defective materials so once the plastic material is showing signs of imminent cracking, they need to immediately service the mechanism.

BTW, do you have any photos showing the defective parts?

 

Wow! I live in a high dust area... Yes please post pics so we can know what to check...

Glad yours was under warrantee... Gee whiz!

 

Yikes! Sounds like an extended warranty is advisable for the older cars if the top will be repeatedly retracted.

 

Shame on them. They must sell separatly parts. I'm looking at 09' car - No warranty.


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This is just scandalous!!!

What will happen with all the owners in 5, maby 10 years?

DCT 20k $
Variators 10k $
Roof 50k $

 

This sounds crazy to me. Webasto makes the tops for the Mercedes SL and many other cars that have been around much longer than the California and in much bigger numbers. Why haven't we heard of this problem? BTW the power normal warranty at over $6k per year doesn't even cover the top.
I've been considering it but not sure yet. Power cube is over $8000. My car is an 09 that I've had since new and been great so far. No major issues at all... All campaigns current and I religiously use battery conditioner when not driving car for longer than a couple of days. I wonder if this is an isolated problem or something that we might all have to deal with at some point...

 

Yes, the fact that Mercedes, a big customer for Webasto, has long used similar mechanisms is supposed to make the California's roof much less of a maintenance concern. VW, BMW, Volvo and other brands also use the Webasto roof mechanism.

It would be very useful for Martin to tell us more about this problem. For instance, where exactly is the plastic material located and where/why is it failing. Martin's car is a 2012 so the 09, 10 and 11 cars should have already experienced these problems by now if it is a design/materials defect but this is the first time I've heard of it.

 

Thanks Martin. You have our undivided attention.

 

Can you tell me. More about the pinholes on thr roof.
Thanks

 

Any pictures on where to focus? Thanks for flagging this issue.

 

Yes, there is a sort of a "rubber bumper" that helps to prevent contact but there is also a set screw/nut on the roof mechanism which is calibrated during assembly to achieve optimum clearance between the rear window panel and the metal roof panel.

In the case of my car, the set screw was incorrectly calibrated and appears to have resulted in the rubber bumper getting damaged to the point where a latch on the rear window panel eventually made contact with the metal roof panel as the window panel stacked itself on top of the metal roof panel. Yeah, I used the roof a lot.

There are apparently a number of sensors that monitor the movement of the metal roof during an open/close procedure. If any of the sensors detects something wrong while the roof is operated, the sensor will stop the process. In Martin's case, it looks like the dust accumulation triggered a sensor which prevented the roof from opening altogether.

Martin, the spacer thing mentioned by your dealer sounds interesting. It'd be neat to see a photo of this thing, as well as where the plastic coating failed in your roof and where the dust landed.

 

This is why I sold my last convertible hard top before the warranty ran out and one of the many reasons I only get coupes now.

 

Really, don't be silly. What you're proposing is like marrying people you don't really care for because you can't stand the thought of one day losing someone you do care for. Honestly, what a waste of time! You would think no one would be driving hardtop convertibles. How boring!

Actually, the dent is a tiny nick on the roof if it should happen and the correcting adjustment only involves turning a screw, applying Locktite and fastening the nut. You can make a big deal about it but reality is that the paint job is trivial.

It's not like blowing your engine or the trannie.

 

Its just one more thing to pay attention to. A Ferrari SHOULD be a drop top, feel the wind and life !

 

Right! most parts available for top too,repairs can be made for way under 50k!

 

That roof system looks really really close to my SL63 roof... I'd bet a great MB tech could work on it-

 

I never heard of problems with the Cali roof. Must be rare!

 

Please keep us updated!

 

DCT?