BAD TRANSMISSION

?? what year?

 

It's common knowledge amongst knowledgeable Ferraristi that the early 458 and California models had DCT problems, because Ferrari was very aggressive with how they deployed the Getrag DCT. Both cars used the same DCT.

The factory sorted out those early issues by 2012. Earlier cars were of course covered under warranty but if their owners drove very few miles or very conservatively those issues may not show up until the original warranties expired. So the moral of the story is that low mileage used Calis, especially pre-2012 cars, need to come with at least 1 year of warranty and then you better seriously put the car through its paces once you own it while it's still covered by the warranty.

Generally speaking though, one should NEVER buy any of the newer Fcars without a warranty.

 

The later model year Cali's had the cooling radiator moved to the rear closer to the box.
I think that helped matters. (I'm not sure if the the early Cali's can be modded)

Anyway, whenever you buy a factory part such as a transmission and have the labor done by a factory service center, you get a one or maybe two year warranty, part and labor.

 

Having read this thread I'm wondering if one should steer clear of a pre 2012 Cali if the transmission has not yet been repaired? Thoughts please?

Rick

 

While I understand your frustration and pain I think your comments are rather silly and unfair.

First of all, your original comparison between Ferraris and Lambos by way of your Lambo tech's comments went like this "Talked to lambo tech and they hardly ever see a transmission go bad." as if to say no Lambos ever had a transmission go bad.

These are your own words. You made the mistake yourself.

The other problem I have with your comments is that you are comparing the LDF in the Huracan which shipped in 2014 to the DCT in your used 1st generation Cali model which started shipping in 2009. If you want a proper comparison you should pick the Cali T's DCT which shipped in 2014.

BTW, Volkswagen has had a lot of problems with their DSGs, also starting in 2009.

...In August 2009, Volkswagen of America issued two recalls of DSG-equipped vehicles. The first involved 13,500 vehicles,[26] and was to address unplanned shifts to the neutral gear,[26] while the second involved similar problems (by then attributed to faulty temperature sensors) and applied to 53,300 vehicles....

There were many other VW problems and recalls mentioned in the above link.​

Like Ferrari, VW were also pioneers with dual clutch transmissions so this is understandable. VW is also a much bigger car company shipping many more cars than Ferrari, so they also had a much bigger opportunity and budgets to test and correct designs.

FWIW, I think the Huracan is a great car but it's still early days for the LDF and Huracan.

 

Had a 2010 Cali transmission leave me on the side of the road with a $7500 repair days after buying it. Simply a "bad" speed sensor. Fortunately I have an amazing dealer that took care of it and has my business for life.

 

Interesting my Cali is also from the same period, they discovered it has a faulty gearbox/transmission main shaft sensor but, fortunately , has never left me on the side of the road. I have an amazing dealer as well which together with Ferrari factory is in the process of concluding which repair will be necessary to make. If the repair of a speed sensor costed you $7500 repairing the main shaft sensor will cost at least the same or may be a hell of a lot more. I'm not worried at all about how much this final bill will be because, in fact, it has already been paid for in advance to Ferrari last year when the one year extended warranty was renewed.

 

Ferrari BH / Ferrari Los Angeles rebuilds them too.

 

Sending positive vibes your way. Hope it all works out for the best...T

 

In the USA you are very lucky to have this kind of problem solved in such a short time and may be that's because it is the biggest Ferrari single market in the world. In Europe on average I presume dealers are smaller in the sense they sell less cars than most counterparts in the USA and for them it's almost impossible to try to impose to Ferrari a solution like for instance the complete substitution of a gearbox/transmission, unless it's a brand new car or the damage is to such an extent that there is no possible repair. As far as I know the current procedure Ferrari applies in the majority of European dealers is; when you have a gearbox/transmission problem under the extended warranty, like I had recently with my Cali, the dealer spend several weeks diagnosing everything Ferrary asks them to do until the factory is fully satisfied, validates the faults and approves a repair action which in the case of gearbox/transmission rarely contemplates the substitution. The biggest drawback of this type of procedure is the fact that it takes a very long time until your car gets repaired.

 

Are not these problems simply unacceptable for a company that makes race cars? Exhaust manifolds, variators, exploding differentials, and transmission failures? Sorry to hear that these otherwise awesome cars have such devastating issues thru all the years. Geez. Good luck.

 

Gee, it's so nice of you to chime in and wish us good luck. Exactly which Ferrari model do you actually own? Hopefully its not one with a problem.

As for these component failures, yes they are unacceptable but all car makers have had these sorts of issues. Transmissions have been known fail. At least Ferrari doesn't purposely design and install illegal software and hardware in their cars to deceive customers and the EPA.

As for the DCT problems, my understanding is that most if not all are caused by faulty sensors inside the sealed transmission units. They didn't explode or self-destruct. The faulty sensor can be replaced once the sealed unit is opened and resealed. Aside from the sensor, much of the service costs also come from the expensive fluids used in them. As more cars use DCTs, these part costs will come down.

FYI, an Fchatter recently posted his repair costs. It was $4425 for labour and approx. $2100 for parts/oil.

 

Terrible news looks like the process is going to take much longer than what you expected. If that brings you any kind of consolation my Cali entered the dealer last 22nd June for a gearbox/transmission diagnose under the extended warranty and after multiple diagnose tests ordered by the factory, on the 25th July it was finally confirmed the fault and approved the repair - Faulty gearbox main shaft sensor. In the mean time they prepared everything to remove and repair the gearbox (foto below), the sensor has already arrived, but because August is an holidays month the repair work takes longer. I've already made up my mind that if I have her back by the beginning of September I'm be lucky.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Wow. This must be an emotional roller coaster. I hope your Ferrari is back on the road in short order...T

 

A friend of mine bought a used California and 3 days after he got it, the gearbox failed. No warranty, no good will. $25K, thank you very much.

He was furious and found a gearbox from a wrecked CA for $10K. Had it installed and the car would not work. It had to be taken to the dealer for a bunch of computer work to bind and sync the gearbox to the car through Maranello......... $10K, thank you very much.

 

What a horrible experience for your friend! I wonder if he kept the car after all that disappointment. Do you recall what year model it was and if he bought it from a Ferrari dealer or a non-Ferrari used car outfit?

I think a Ferrari dealer would have shown some goodwill. When my car came out of warranty I experienced what I thought was a battery issue 3 weeks afterwards and my dealer helped out, spent a significant amount of time on it, at one point even flatbedded my car to their garage to check out the problem. It turned out to be nothing but my service manager waived all charges as a gesture of good will.

The good news is that dealers can now repair the DCT instead of replacing the whole unit. My dealer told me back in April 2014 that they had been doing that already.

 

Ferrari should design their own DCT, just like the Porsche PDK and build by Getrag.

 

Now I'm getting a little concerned about my 2010 California. It hasn't arrived yet . It does have over 23,000 miles. Am I in the safe zone since its been driven or can it happen at any time? I'm not sure if it has been replaced in the past?

 

26000 on my 2010 and never a problem.

 

That would be nice but even Porsche's PDK is not directly from Porsche but is actually a joint design with ZF Group, the huge German transmission maker located at Friedrichshafen.

Ferrari is by its very nature a very small carmaker and these high tech devices are extremely expensive to design, develop and manufacture. They can only be produced in an "tolerably economical" manner by spreading the costs. This means using already existing design and fabrication resources and selling as large quantities as possible by offering the same item to other carmakers as well as sharing design and materials with other similar transmissions used by other carmakers, something that Ferrari or even Porsche cannot do on their own.

FWIW, ZF also offers the 7DT series, its own 7-speed dual clutch sports transmission, capable of supporting 9000 rpm engine speeds and up to 750Nm.