California T.....daily driver?

That's exactly what the Cali was designed for and marketed for.
Its a reliable car and the maintenance is at a minimal for a Ferrari.

 

I try and drive mine as much as possible, parking it next to a POS in a parking lot tests my nerves and it draws a lot of attention. Otherwise it works great as a DD.

 

I don't drive move every day, but 6 K miles in 9 months of ownership. It's a blast to drive, but can be quite docile and comfortable in traffic. Depending on color, the attention it attracts can vary. If you can find a rare example without shields in a low key color, you'll probably fly under the radar in most locales...T

 

Hmm, I hadn't considered one before but it's an interesting idea. From a casual view on ebay it looks like a T can be had for a little under $200k but a 2010 for somewhere between $100k-$120k. Other than the styling changes and NA vs. turbo, anyone have any thoughts whether a non-T might be just as good a choice as a T for $80k less? I haven't really paid much attention to the Cali, but I seem to recall people complaining about the rear styling, DCT problems and some top problems. Looking at both today, I think I could see either in my garage or going to get groceries.

Thoughts?

 

I have a 2015 California T that is my daily driver. 15 months and 10k miles. Easy as a DD. Only problem has been a transmission failure in month 5 and major roof rattles from day one. After 18 months the dealer finally thinks they figured it out, they are replacing the back section of the hardtop because the glass separated from the panel. Want to know how many times they told me my car was fine?

Top down has been wonderful and top up has been miserable.

 

I've driven mine for 2 years as a daily driver... don't really have inclement weather here in Atlanta but really no issues for what the car is (obviously it's not an AWD SUV). Great car!

 

There is a gentleman on the message board that drives his Californian T and FF all year round and he lives in OH.

I put almost 8K on my T in 6 months. I do not drive my California T in the winter. I live in MN. Two reasons: 1.) I get the most enjoyment from my car driving at high RPM. I could not do that in the snow. 2.) I get the excitement of taking the car out in the spring.

As for repairs, I have had none. No issues.

As stated its a car. Drive the heck out of it. There is nothing like a Ferrari.

If you care about reliability get a Toyota.
If you care about 0 - 60 get a Tesla.
If you care about race track get a Porsche.

If you want to drive a Ferrari, you have to buy a Ferrari. It's a blast as a DD, its a blast to take to car show/event, its a blast to take to the race track.

Ferrari's are expensive. Everything cost a lot. I personally would never buy a Ferrari if I could not pay cash. It's a toy, it will depreciate.

There are ways to get into a older Ferrari and still have the fun of driving a Ferrari. A modern California T is not inexpensive. You could buy a F430 for half the price and have a lot of fun.

There is no right or wrong answer. You have to go drive one. Make sure the engine is warmed up, make sure brakes and tires are warmed up. Take the car our of automatic, and drive the car, there is nothing like it.

Good luck finding the right car.

 

I'm the gentleman from Ohio and drive both my T and FF all year in NW Ohio. I have a '16 T, purchased in October '15, with 16,800+ miles I think. And my '14 FF has at least 21,000 miles, should walk out to the parking lot to look. I drive both in the winter, snow, salt, ice, whatever and have no trouble getting around because of great balance and Pirelli SottoZero tires! Buy an extra set of wheels, used is OK for the winter tires, and switch to the SottoZero's for the winter. Only problem with SottoZeros is there is a 149 mph speed limit sticker in the driver's door.

The T made a bunch of smoke on a number of starts recently, see my other post, but it MAY have been the oil overfill on the last maintenance, we will see. Today I drove the FF only because the T was clean and we are getting maybe 1.5 inches of rain. I'll rinse off the FF tonight and drive the T the rest of the week even though the snow predicted for Wednesday.

Both Ferraris are wonderful in the winter, again because of the tires and the car. I keep RPM below 3,000 until oil and water are up to temp. Salt is VERY slippery, especially the brine they use in Ohio now, until it dries. But SottoZero's make it far better than any tire even all weather.

You will hear about top issues and tranny issues but they are few, just get attention. I've had 3 California's and 2 FFs, all with a few little problems but easily fixed by my very competent dealer.

If you buy a T, be sure to take a good camera to the dealership when you pick it up and have your huge smile recorded the first time you start your own Ferrari

 

Seriously I drove mine to walmart twice.

 

Now, that deserves a prize! I take my Cali to Kroger, but they gotta have huge parking lots. But, Walmart? I'm not brave enough. Good man.
T

 

Love it Rick, I have every intention of driving the CaliforniaTHS on order daily and through the winter. I sold the FF (that I miss dearly) hope to add another V12 to the V8 stable. Yes and I am definitely taking a camera to the dealership upon pickup

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excellent!

 

I have one of the early Cali Ts, received it November of 2014, I have just passed 30K miles of smiles and have not even thought about trading it in. I feel it is the perfect car.