Out of warranty Claims ON DCT REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT

Good luck getting a recall implemented or getting FNA to fix for free out of warranty. Maybe do some reading about the Porsche IMS recall (but that impacted so many more owners) for ideas. Also isn't the DCT made by Getrag and not Ferrari? Wouldn't Getrag be the one to look to for redress if the problem is a design issue rather than a wear and tear failure. Do you know or even have any vague idea how many other people have experienced the same problem as you are experiencing?

My understanding is that now the DCT may be able to be worked on by authorized dealers who are also authorized to work on the DCT to actually make repairs rather than just swap them out like what happened while they were all under warranty.

 

Curious why OP didn't purchase an extended warranty when original warranty ended.

 

So sad ... DCT failure with less than 25.000 miles!

 

I had a total gearbox failure on my 2010 California when it was new, they just swapped everything out. I don't see them covering this part on a car with over 20,000 miles on it. If I remember correctly, the gearbox was around $17,000 plus labor to replace, is this still accurate?

 

Well, could be because a 2 yr. extension is about $10k.

 

Is anything known if Ferrari can update the faulty DCT software on the pre 2012 Californias?
Is this DCT failure known on a Cali 30? I've never read about one.

 

I am no expert on the Cali, but some thoughts i picked up from my Ferrari service friends (one now DCT repair certified)

The 2009-2010 DCT (Cali and 458) had some original issues that created "above average" failure rates. A wiring/electrical problem was the most common fault.

Since there were no repair procedures/parts, the "fix" was to swap the gearbox, usually under warranty.

Generally speaking, late 2010-on DCT production fixed that particular issue. There were campaigns on select VINs. (similar to the V8 issue). Getrag and SpA have iterated the DCT over a few generations now.

Today some dealers have techs certified to different levels for DCT repair and spare parts are available. (I believe there are 4 levels of training)

If you have a "DCT failure" out of warranty, it's best that you have a DCT repair capable shop do the diagnosis. You can probably ask your dealer to appeal to FNA (or FNE, etc) for some "goodwill", but probably low likelihood since the car is..out of warranty. You might see if there were any open campaigns on the car, the dealer can/should tell you.

If not, you're likely to have to pay to repair, just make sure you have a trained/certified tech. I'd imagine FoBH has one. One challenge is DCT removal and teardown is a lot of labor hours....

BTW a "recall" is a mandatory, 99% of the time safety related action driven by the DoT. A "campaign" is the manufacturer saying "you should get this fixed, we'll do it for you if you bring the car in". Some campaigns are more serious than others.

As for a class-action suit or lawyer, you can certainly try. I am not a lawyer, but my sense would be the car is out of warranty, you could have gotten an extended warranty, I presume you bought the car used ("as-is"), etc. While the original DCT had failures, I'm not sure how pervasive they were (as a % of production) and how many were already addressed (at no cost, other than hassle, to the customer), so unclear what damages were incurred. the Porsche IMS was 100% pervasive, Porsche initially did nothing to help and there were real damages to a lot of people.

Good luck

 

If you don't have a warranty, then you don't have a warranty.

If you have some pull with the dealer whom you bought the car from then try to appeal to them.

But even if you have to pay, it is better to get the work done through FBH. Fist of all they know how to do the repair properly. Secondly, with a new part, you will have a FNA part warranty. That is if your DCT goes out again within the part warranty period then you will get it fixed for free!