pros and cons of an italian car.

Just some thoughts....

Six days ago, took the CS out for the weekly run. It has not been used x 2 weeks due to garage door repair. Went to work to catch up on some unfinished business.
Ran fine. Stopped by Trader Joes and CVS - no problem.

After finishing work, the car would not start. reset the knob in the bonnet - nothing.

Battery? walked the 4 miles home to get DD and got a new battery. Replaced it (what a pain). nothing.

it was getting dark. Went home. Next day, came back to work. Did some reading over night and maybe it was the fuse. Pulled out the fuse box behind driver seat. Well, it was actually two relays. Pepboys and Oreilly's don't have Bosch relay. It was Sunday and nothing was opened.

towed it to local indi. they called back and said "transmission problem". Apparently, the computer shuts the car down if there's a transmission issue. The shop will pull the transmission out and fix it. Will also replace the clutch b/c the transmission is out. A few thousands minimum. Don't really have to choice but to fix it.

two thoughts.
1. this is an expensive car to own. Disregard the insurance and registration, still an expensive car. $10,000 so far for unexpected repairs. The plus is there is likely little depreciation when time to sell the car.
2. speaking of selling, I thought long and hard about selling it the past few months. Work has been crazy - little time for myself and don't take too many drives anymore. However, can't seem to take that step because I go through withdrawal when the car doesn't get driven for a few days. Going through withdrawal right now, even more so b/c there's an empty spot in the garage. Not sure if the car is sold there will be a deep psychological depression (I know. first world problem).

Will update thread when get more info after getting the CS back.

 

You own one of the most sought after modern ferrari's, and one of the few that has probably appreciated during your ownership despite driving! I would bet the car has risen more in value for u then the 10k of unexpected repairs. No disrespect, but you should consider yourself a lucky man to have these first word problems. -ray


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Owning a beautiful Italian exotic like anything else in life has its issues. Alot like having a beautiful exotic looking girlfriend or wife. Most men want them and guys are standing in line to get them, but some guy somewhere is tired of her ****!!!
Bottom line you decide when the pain out weighs the pleasure!

 

So, you parked the car and it was running fine, come back and it won't start (not even crank?), and the transmission has to be pulled out? What is suspected failure of transmission while being parked? I suppose they pulled any codes with an SD2/3 before deciding to pull transmission. Based on it happening while being parked it sounds more like an electrical issue than a mechanical issue. Any F1 related sensors you can't get to with transmission in car?

 

Wow that's scary. Especially for the guys who don't drive their cars often.. Imagine it drives fine one day, then let it sit a week, and then BOOOM trany is donezo wahhh??? And car was sitting?? Feel your pain.. I'm guessing there's no certified f dealer near you besides frisco . Maybe u need a 2nd opinion?? Another indi shop??

 

did you put redline 75w90 regular instead of the 75w90 NS into the transmission?

 

+1

 

You know I equate F-car ownership to having a really striking wife:
- maintenance costs are high
- I know everyone is looking at her we were out
- I enjoy looking but enjoy driving hard even more
- at times, can't live with them, can't live without them

 

4 mile walk? You're in the Bay Area - no Uber?

I'd want a deeper explanation than "transmission problem" before authorizing the removal of my transmission.

 

My car was shutdown by the computer a few years back . It restarted though after a battery reset and I was able to drive home. I got lucky as a new TCU cured my F1 problems at least for the last 3 years..

 

will try to answer each comment in turn.
yeah. this car luckily holds its value very well. Had it been a 997, I would have "lost" more money in term of resale value.
Never actually own a 997 (driven one) so can't speak about its addictiveness. The CS is certainly addictive.
I am lucky to live in a wealthy first world country dealing with a first world problem. Grew up in third world country hungry and nearly homeless. Having a Ferrari "problem" is something a I dream about as a child. Not really complaining.

 

So first, sorry for your troubles. I am reminded of a story about 15 years ago. My 328 was ready for its major service (at that point I had owned the car 5 years and I still own it by the way). When I purchased the car, I thought a major would cost maybe 2 or 3k. Checked two local dealers and they said cost was uncertain based on what they find. Both told me based on minimum cost, and experience of recent majors on 328's to expect $6.5K to 13k. I was despondent. It seemed spending that on a car was immoral as a normal maintenance cost. I called my wife to complain and tell her I was thinking I would sell the car. She calmly asked, so no more sports car? I said, no, I would probably go back to Porsche. She said, and how much will that depreciate the first few years of ownership? I said, don't know, 20-40K. She said, and how much has the Ferrari depreciated? The answer was zero. So, the rest of the conversation was obvious. As an aside, the service came in at $6.5K, so about $1.3K a year amortized over 5 years. So......I still own the 328 which has doubled in value, I own a 430 6 MT (I purchased in June 2014 so I suspect it has appreciated) and a ZR1 I got new so it has probably depreciated 55K over 7 years of ownership (took delivery Sept '08) but I believe is now at the bottom of its depreciation curve. So, as others who posted alluded to, many wants to look at it. Finally, a lifestyle decision. Like owning a large house, multiple houses, multiple cars.....not economic. You have a great car. If you can afford it (take care of family, retirement, college....) and own the car, enjoy it. Good luck.

 

I am not sure what the true problem is. Will get and post more info when the car comes back.

FoSV is 3-4 miles south. Problem was I am not their client and it was Sunday. Were I their good long-time client, I'm sure I could have called up service manager's cell. alas, I'm not in that income category.


The indi is a trusted long-time mechanic and good patient. I have his cell and he told me to call anytime. He called up (the next day) another shop specialized in exotics to help him with diagnostic.

I have a DD and CS. Don't travel much (so much work, always busy). Never used Uber.

 

haven't got the foggiest idea. shop mechanic used whatever he uses. I didn't ask.

 

I like to think that when an owner sells a Ferrari, most of the time it is to trade to a more expensive model, aka an even hotter girlfriend.

 

thanks. if one complains about living in the US, try living in communist China or Cuba (or Syria because this is the hot spot of the month) and one can really appreciate how good even the poor have it here.

 

I am living in china.
I have to say a funny fact.

Most of the male westerners currently living in china DO NOT want to go back to their home country. guys from Americas, Germans, Brits, Polish, frenchmen, to name just afew

One brit even obtained a chinese greencard here by a fake marriage and was employed as a government official after that. Overstaying their visas is rampant, the chinese customs aren't in particular mood to prosecute that behavior though.

a guy from california :" you know,i love here, I can care less about the air pollution, really"

Most of the male Asians(other than chinese) DO NOT want to go back to their home country, but to a lesser degree than the western males

For females, I don't know too much.

 

well... let me correct that. 25 years ago, things are a lot grimmer. People starved and died. People had no rights. Things are much better now. Things have become better now that people are allowed to have personal ownership of properties.
let me change that to North Korea.

My apologies if you are offended.
/thread misdirection

 

no, come on, not offended at all. Just stating a fact that I thought was very strange.

Frankly, i don't like china as much as those "newcomers" do, buts its my home, going back to the US is not a practical option for me, for now at least.

 

Hard to believe this is a mechanical problem...I'd be asking for the exact issue before having the transmission pulled.

 

CSEye, any update?

 

It drove fine to last destination with no warning lights or CEL and then it won't start? This cannot be a transmission problem. Closest thing it could be to the transmission is your TCU.

It seems your indy is NOT a Ferrari indy but a "long trusted mechanic." This will get worse before it gets better. Good luck with that.

You were better off towing it home and reading everything on F-chat before bringing your CS to a non Ferrari indy. Again, good luck!

 

How do you know it had no warning lights? How do you know it drove fine? Did you drive it? If I used those as indicators of a problem with a car I would need to fix very few.

More than 50% of the F1 cars that come in to the shop have an active F1 warning going and the owners have no idea what the light is for or notice it is on.
F1 problems without warning are almost non existent. A very large number of them have an unnoticed operational issue.


Have any idea how often I have seen cars come to the shop with ZERO oil pressure with an owner asking me to check the oil because it has been saying that for a while? Or people saying the TPMS light is on so it must be broken only really needing some air in the tires?

The majority of automobile owners never read or try and understand the information in the owners manual. Ferrari owners are no different.

 

guilty as Rifled said. Not sure where F1 warning light is. Read the owners manual 3 years ago when first acquired car but now will read again.
no update yet. I will give him a couple more days and call if no update.
Mechanic is being advised by his friend, who works on exotics. I am not sure if the friend appreciates his name being thrown around so I will not say name.