First time Ferrari -- California

For what you want to spend, 2010 is great choice. to get CPO status, no records needed, just an inspection from local Ferrari dealer. You can always get aftermarket warranty as well.

Ferrari CPO REQUIRES last main-service done ~$3900, and about $600 for inspection - roughly $4500 to begin with and them its $4500 a year extendable to 15 years after cars original delivery date.

I elected NOT to get Ferrari CPO Extended Warranty but I am fishing aftermarket warranties to see what's the ballpark.

 

Ask about the top, if it's ever had any work done on it. The major $$$ items to worry about seem to be the top, and transmission (sensors more than mechanical failure). For the latter, repair rather than complete removal and replacement seems to be increasingly an option at authorized service centers...T

 

.........and by Top, I think Tom is referring to the convertible hardtop roof - not to be confused with top part of the engine

 

Yes, indeed. Sorry for not being clear enough. Thank you, Mo.
T

 

^ That will put you in Cali 30 territory, and thus 30 less kg and 30 more hp...T

 

The very few and far-between Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) issues (Mostly Shaft speed sensor failure - which is INSIDE the transmission body, not mechanical failure of the DCT) remained until 2014. With a CPO, you are covered anyway and also by now, there is a repair option on the sensor rather than replacing the whole trans (as it was done until 2012). 2014 plus cars are too new, and have negligible history of DCT sensor failures. I read somewhere that sensor was NOT redesigned, just secured better with heat resistant zip-ties. The repair does require replacement of the sensor as once its not in place, it cannot be just put-back for some reason. cost is around $1300 for part and 5-6K labor at the Dealer. Below please see a picture of the sensor and one of the member-posted repair bill image. I cannot recall the exact post but I saved the images for my own reference from a thread on this board.

 

Hint- Hint there is a 2013 rosso with 18K miles on ebay for $122K. I looked at it when I was looking - but its a base Cali 30 with no options. I went for a 2010 with ALL options but that's just me. I'd rather have that premium stereo, heated seats, and LED steering. To be honest LED steering was the breaking point for me. 2013 would be cheaper to finance as well compared to a 10. It funny that financing comes out close when financing a loaded 10 or a well priced 13.

Long time ago I had a Maserati Coupe - that didn't get driven too much because stereo was so crap that I preferred driving my SL55 over it. I tried replacing speakers and such but overall cd's would skip at each bump and it would not play mp3 and had no other media option. I learned in that car that you could NOT replace the factory stereo (no stereo - actually just a shallow screen) easily. Hence I decided to get better stereo next time. My 10 Premium stereo is nothing to boast about but atleast has hard disk and mp3 capability.

 

FYI, the standard Cali infotainment unit does feature a hard drive and plays MP3 music.

 

I guess the difference in Premium unit would be speakers then?

 

I have not owned Cali 30 but I test drove both before deciding to purchase my 10. I wanted naturally aspirated with turn-signal stock both of which ended after 13.

To me, there WAS a difference but it was not day-and-night.

When I test drove, first 5-6 minutes were in city streets and I felt no difference at all. On Highway though, Cali30 felt quicker once past 5K RPM and towards upper end of RPM range. Not sure if its due to the additional 30 HP or the 30KG diet or just because you know its there. It was not quantifiable to me.

They are both NA, and exhaust-wise both sound good but the 10 sounded better to me - I actually thought it was a modded exhaust Which I do not think it is) and ended up buying the 10 for the options it had. Also 10 had the stacked exhaust pipes that for some reason I liked. google image backs of both and you will see the difference.

With same options and similar miles - I think the price difference will be around 20K.

Even though I bought the 10 and love it, don't regret it, will do it again - I recommend the newest model you can afford for reliability.

Also Cali -T models have the turn signals on steering wheel - while 09-13 have regular turn-signal-stalk.

 

A few corrections to the above post.

13 and 14 were the Cali 30’s. The T came out in 2015. The stacked exhaust was not changed until the T in 15. The engine was Naturally aspirated until and including the 14 and then in 15 became turbo charged.

Buy the 13 or 14 if you can swing it, but the difference is still about $25k between a 10 and 13 mode if equally optioned. Is it worth about 25% more? Depends on your financial condition. A 2010 is still a lot of car for the $100-$110k right now.

 

Have them check the motor mounts as well.

 

I read somewhere of this forum that PPI at local Ferrari dealer should be around $600.00 - Good investment in my opinion.

 

I also originally wanted a 2010 or 2011 in the price range you mentioned. But after a lot of research, I ended up going with a 2013 with special handling package. Yes, I spent 25k more than I orginally wanted to spend. But no regrets. It’s my first Ferrari , I have other fast cars so I was a little worried at first that I would not be happy with a California, that it would be too slow. But I really wanted a 4 seater so my kids can enjoy it too and I think the ff is hideous. I took my time and took a couple months to find one with color combo I liked , and all the options I wanted. I also got a cpo because again since it’s my first Ferrari , I wanted to enjoy the experience and not have any stress if anything went wrong. On my next one, I don’t think I will care about cpo as much.

I orginally bought the Cali with the intention of just using it as my daily driver for the summer, and selling it for the winter and upgrading to a 458 or 488 or huracan in the spring. Now, I am trying to decide which of those I will add in the spring. I will keep the Cali too, I love it that much.

For me, must have options were special handling package and carbon driver zone with led steering wheel.

 

Not sure what you mean by that, but the turn signal is on a stalk for the 2013-2014 California 30, as well. I guess that's a parameter ; ) And the 2014 car is naturally aspirated, of course.

I drove both on the same route, bought a 2013 California 30, easy decision for me, the car felt more alive, and the teething problems with the gearboxes had (apparently) been addressed by then. I love the car.

 

I was mistaken. NA car's are indeed 2014 and below. The turn signals on T are on the wheel and that's what I was referring to.

 

^ That sounds like the F-chat consensus from what I've read...T

 

Motor mounts - depends on your driving style, can go in 5K Miles but may last 30K Miles. Mine is at 12K and are fine. Not a critical mechanical failure, and not terribly expensive to replace.
DCT Sensor Failure - This is rare but expensive to repair item. Not a time bomb on older cars in my opinion. 14 and newer have revised design (as in how wires for sensors are routed and secured inside the DCT box) but then again, few but very well advertised reported cases.
New battery - I consider this a consumable item like brake pads. Typical life is 3 years but some go in 2 and some last 5 years before dying. AGM versions around $500 which is in-line with other exotics and 1/3 more than Mercedes/BMW big batteries.
Roof sensors - Seem to need adjustment some times. In F-Chat forums I rarely see replacement but mostly adjustment of these sensors. Typical problems are misalignments of roof panels, and trunk lid opening after roof-close. There is a weird setup of the plastic wings opening and closing via a string. I can imagine with time, these strings can break and cause plastic wings/covers to not operate correctly. Time will tell.
Air bag recall - Yes, (sigh) I have it too on my 10 - but too lazy to bring it to the dealer.
Sticky Buttons - mostly on cars parked in sun with top down, more common in humid warmer states such as FL and TX.

13/14 are best bets - but at a premium. They seem to be very popular (probably due to being naturally aspirated for F. enthusiast) and hence more expensive. More data is available on 09/10 since they are 7-8 years old. a 14 is only 3 years old and have not accumulated the repair data history as 09/10 yet.