Officially the new guy! First impressions and quirks.

I did have to smile at your second sentence. Only on this type of car would 20k miles be seen as a lot on a 5 year old car.

 

Welcome to the club!

1) Slight vibrations at idle -- That's a big powerful engine, you can feel it idling.

2) Engine fans -- mine (2013 Cali 30) cycle on and off quite a bit, as well.

3) While doing some urban city driving, I had a very quick instance of seeing a "Low Engine Pressure Warning - Turn off engine" warning pop up -- Have not seen that, it's sounds a little scary. Bad oil pressure sensor, perhaps? You are probably aware of this but make sure before you start the car you allow the check cycle to complete before hitting the start button, or you will get all kinds of bizarre error messages -- manettino failures, suspension failures, etc.

4) The MyGig Chrysler headunit is terrible -- Leave it off and listen to that motor ... getting lost is just more driving time : )

5) HVAC system -- The heat on my Cali is excellent, as is the AC. The only thing that occurs with mine is the valves that direct the air can get confused and I have no heat coming out of the center dash vent on the driver's side if it's set on dashboard only when the car is started. Rotating the switch that controls the airflow to dash/floor and back seems to fix that, though.

 

That's a great notion!

I totally agree.

 

Congratulations, you've got a beautiful California!

 

If it helps to have one more data point, I agree with vjd3 on all answers. Mine is an '11.

 

Keep in mind that if you have the "Auto" button pressed then the indicator lights on direction and fan speed turn off since the computer is controlling them. Adjusting either fan speed or direction will then disable the Auto mode and its indicator will turn off while the other knobs light up.

 

The car is gorgeous by the way, love them in black.

 

You're welcome, glad I could help!

 

elude, this car appears to be eligible for MSA certification. I would work with Udaverea to work out the details, but aside from the peace of mind the MSA provides, certification can greatly increase your forum prestige and comes with (at least pictures of) some really nice swag.

 

MSA certification is more time consuming than they let on, it's a trap! Between having the blacks inspection, to make sure they are the correct premiere shade of black, to the counting of Cavilino's, to the carpet removal (nope, no white under here!) it can be quite a labor intensive process. All your hopes and dreams smashed because of an under sprayed topcoat, with the tiniest bit of primer peaking out of one of the engine mounts...

 

Sad but true, in the end Marmist has made his mark !

 

Niiiiice.

 

I'll mix my answers in your questions ... sorry for the late reply, much of this has been covered. I'm on my third California now with over 25,000 miles each on the first two and about 4500 or so on my '16 T.

1) Slight vibrations at idle -- As said before, this is a hugely powerful engine, making a totally smooth idle is difficult, especially when the moving mass is extremely light compared to Detroit Iron . Very light moving parts means it will rev far quicker than you will ever expect, but will idle slightly rough.

2) Engine fans -- I only notice the fans come on when the water temp gets up quite a bit. Driving through downtown Toledo they would never come on, maybe in the summer with 80 degrees but not at fifty unless I was sitting for quite a few minutes. There may be a problem with your sensor. I did have the fan stick on after shutting down, running at full blast for over 45 minutes before I restarted it and it shut down. The dealer replaced the sticking relay which was a standard problem. Yours is not sticking but coming on too early. The heat in the winter here in NW Ohio is perfect, plenty hot even for a -20 degree winter day, yes I drive them all winter!

3) While doing some urban city driving, I had a very quick instance of seeing a "Low Engine Pressure Warning - Turn off engine" warning pop up when at a stop and slightly tapping the gas. It feels like the car is engaging a gear or slightly delayed to accelerate, but ones it moves forward all is well and the warning disappears. In running the engine checks during startup, there are no warnings. I figured since this warning happens so quickly (like 1/2 second) and goes away, hopefully this isn't a major issue. That sounds to me like it is idling too slow or stumbling during idle. I had that happen in my '12 Cali a couple times. The dealer fixed it but sorry, I forgot what they did.

4) The MyGig Chrysler headunit is terrible -- I know this car is now approaching 6 years in age and the radio unit really shows how old it is. I feel like I'm using an early generation garmin and immediately looking at replacement units. First, is there anyway to update the firmware with the existing system? Second, With Apple Carplay, Bluetooth Streaming and other features out there, is there any aftermarket units that will interface smoothly with the California's interface? I have CarPlay in my '16 T and LOVE IT. The previous cars though were OK for me. Yes they could be more modern but they worked except I had trouble with the XM radio antenna in both early cars, it works depending on which direction the car is pointed. They fixed that with the T by putting a REAL XM antenna on the outside of the car.

5) HVAC system -- As I said earlier, my heater was great, even for a -20 degree F day in Toledo. The Cali does take a while to warm up, maybe three miles. My FF warms up in half the distance. The A/C works well in the summer too. I'm one that has the top up on those 90 degree days so the sun doesn't bake what brain I have left. Only the amateurs drive with a top down on a 90 degree day at noon, easy to spot them sweating their butt off.

And finally, black is beautiful on a California. Drive the crap out of her, she will take it. Have fun with it every day!