Which year California to avoid?

There were, apparently, some issues with the transmissions on the 2009 cars and some other teething issues.

2013 and 2014 are the California 30 cars, with more horsepower and some weight loss. The car is noticeably more responsive, or at least I thought so when I drove both varieties before buying a 2013. 2012 and on also has the 7 years of free maintenance.

I wound up with a 2013. Coming from an F430, I appreciated the extra power, but the 2009-2012 car is no slouch, either.

 

If you read here the posts concerning the Cali gearbox/transmission problems you'll notice that the biggest incidence is on cars manufactured until 2012. My advise is always the same despite of the Cali's year, always buy a car with a valid warranty or a extension warranty.

 

I didn't even know my car had an Automatic mode till I read his post ; )

 

2013+ is best. Friends transmission in his California went recently (9K miles) and it was a 2012. People are posting 25K-29K quoted on the forum and he was quoted $35K which seems a bit too high.

 

I had 2011 one, 2 years ownerships nothing wrong with mechanical, but lots of problem with interior items. My car had rattling from driver's door panel, tried to get it fixed a few times but never completely solve the problem. also had dashboard rattling during uneven surface, it's the area behind the nav unit, they did get it fixed, they said some plastic got melt or something like that caused the rattle.

The suspension on my car was pretty harsh too compared to my friend's California 30. Not sure if they did soften up on later models.

My 2011 overall was pretty solid, just poor built quality on the interior, it's more Maserati than Ferrari. I would say whichever year you buy, make sure test drive it. Ask the dealer to throw a one year warranty in the car if you are getting it from Fdealer.

 

OK, This warranty stuff is getting boring. You buy an exotic, guess what, if it's outside of warranty it's expensive to fix. Soooo if you are buying a used car out of warranty just get the ******** warranty, (peace if mjnd) and move on. Jeeeez !!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

My car was under original warranty, it was fixed under warranty other than the door panel they could never actually fix it. Not sure what you are talking about here.

Of course, the Ferrari extended warranty is always good, but they are not going to cover like the original warranty. Don't just tell other ppl to get warranty this and warranty that when you don't even understand the terms of the Ferrari warranty program. Or maybe you do, but from your comment, you are obviously not helping.

 

Boring on trips to the dealer is good. So is warranty. There's expensive and expensive. Don't like surprises and the cost of ownership should be somewhat predictable. That why the boring warranty is an issue. The original poster asked about issues and the fact that many of us elected to have them is important. Boring to you? Read another thread.

 

Door rattles are usually caused by dry door seals. Did they check for that? That's the most common problem with all cars and it's an easy fix.

 

Yeah, they even replaced the door panel once, even the entire door mirror mechanism. It's funny that a year later my friend's brand new 14 Maserati GT had the same problem and same rattling sound, never completely fix it till nowadays. Maybe we were just the bad luck ones.

 

Or a stereo installer...

 

I had a 2011 and it was trouble-free, except for a collapsed set of engine mounts (causing some transmission of vibration to the frame/body at idle) that was fixed under warranty. The biggest concern for the earlier models is that everyone seems to want the "30" on up, so they suffer the most depreciation - which is a big part of why I sold mine before it dropped further. Buyer got a good deal, though...

 

In Europe generally the price differences between average used earlier Calis and 30 version are not so big. I've seen some adverts of Calis from the age range 2010 to 2011 which sell for the same price of some 30 versions or even more. The main reasons for the higher value of some those earlier cars are low mileage and very good condition, attractive color combos and the availability of extra equipment.