I'm sure I'm not alone? First time considering Ferrari California. Yes/No?

Is it the white one at Porsche Westwood?

It will depreciate a little bit in a year. Since it will be, in theory, without a warranty, the biggest things to worry about are the top mechanism, the dual clutch transmission and the brakes. The 14 car is pretty good on the transmission, but there can be very expensive issues that will be a lot more than the cost of buying a Ferrari New Power warranty for the car -- Ferrari of New England can sell that to you. The top can be expensive to fix if something goes wrong -- I had issues with my 2013 top -- but if it's working well now and has no history of problems, it will likely be fine. This would also be covered under the New Power warranty if you get it. The brakes are supposed to last a long time but you will want Ferrari to take a hard look at the wear, the pads and rotors, as they are super expensive if you need to replace them. If the previous owner did a track day or two on it, that can wear the brakes down quickly. And it does have some miles on it.

It's also probably at the end of its free services lifespan, so you will want to make sure the service is up to date, check when the next one is due and if it's close, negotiate to have it done at Ferrari on the other dealer's dime. That service can also serve as the inspection if you decide to go for the warranty.

You can drive the car every day, although I would not want to drive it in winter weather, obviously.

 

Perfectly fine to drive every day. Better than a 911 in my opinion

 

I own a 2013 California with the HS (handling speciale) package. It really improves the ride of the car. The only way to know if a car has it is to look on the build sheet. This was a $7000 option. In my opinion a PPI (pre purchase inspection) is essential for peace of mind. Check age of tires and battery and make sure the motor mounts have not deteriorated. (There are specific threads regarding motor mounts on F-chat.) Then buy and enjoy!

 

Not much to add to the excellent advice above, but to save me from working on reports & spreadsheets, I plotted the price vs mileage for the 16 2014 Calis on cars.com.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
The graph says that 5K miles will cost you $7.5K; double it for other costs (gas, maintenance, unexpected repairs, depreciation, etc.) and my wild a$$ guestimate is this will cost you $1,000 per month for q year of ownership! Let's go worst case scenario and double it, $2K/month. Would I pay that much for all the fun & benefits of owning my Cali, you bet I would!
OK, gotta get back to my day job. Good luck w/ the purchase, and post up some pics when you seal the deal.
T

 

Me personally, would not purchase a car where I felt I had to sell it in a year. You buy retail, sell wholesale, pay taxes (6% in my state), suffer depreciation, pay for repairs and maintenance.

 

Wishing you a spotless PPI.
Welcome to the madness!
T

 

I agree with Shark01. This is a car, not an investment. We've owned ours about a year now (3rd owner) with no regrets. It's our car now, for the duration. If you go for it, go for it with ownership in mind, not resale value. Maintain it, love it, and drive it whenever you can! That's the best way to look at it!

 

P.S. Don't be afraid of miles, only of lack of maintenance (see "mileage anxiety" post on F-chat). These cars were meant to be driven and if the maintenance schedule has been followed, that's a good indication that the prior owner(s) cared about the car (as most F-car owners do).

 

Any updates, Bill?

 

Bill is a great guy. Can't hurt to upload the findings, there are some knowledgable people on here.

 

Did you end up picking up the car? If you’re located in IL shoot me a note. I may be able to help you out.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I sold my beloved 997S cab and it was 2015 911 Turbo vs 2015 Cali T for my next car. I ultimately chose the Cali T and couldn't be happier. The hard top is simply awesome, the performance is great and I always get parked right out front at foo foo restaurants.