Ferrari California purchase

[Briza]

So, finally thinking of getting a California, I know they not everyones cup of tea, but I love them, haven't fully settled on colour yet, they look great in black with cream interior, but also like them in red, especially with a black roof.
Anyway, I will have to finance the car, as it happens, our fixed term mortgage runs out next month, we have a lot of equity in the house, so was thinking of taking out an extra 80k to buy the car, interest rate is 1.59% and would do it over 10 years, I figure if i get tired of the car could sell it and pay the money back off the mortgage.
Feel free to point out the holes in my man maths!

[Roof down]

I don’t think now is a good time to be buying a Cali, I am looking for a red / cream Cali T but I’m waiting.
They are coming down so fast, Man maths seems ok to my mind.

[Nano2nd]

as long as your happy with the depreciation and running costs then i would say do it, if your buying off the bottom of the market with a Ferrari Power warranty then i doubt the TCO would be much different to buying a mid range BMW.

[Briza]

Thanks for the replies chaps, you've got me thinking about falling prices now, do you think the California T will fall below 100K by this time next year? I know its crystal ball stuff, Im still kicking myself for not buying a 355 years ago for 35K, a lovely yellow one i took for a test drive, a private sale, i ended up buying a TVR T350t instead, ah well.
So, should i leave it a while in the hopes of a better car for the money?

[johnnyreggae]

If you pay £ 120 for a California T now the dealer spread alone will ensure its never going to be worth more than £ 100 again - they'd probably offer you £ 80 a year from now come what may

[jw673]

Nano2nd said:

as long as your happy with the depreciation and running costs

^ this

Nano2nd said:

if your buying off the bottom of the market with a Ferrari Power warranty i doubt the TCO would be much different to buying a mid range BMW

^ not this

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

jw673 said:

Though from a few years ago (ver.02.2014), the Extended Warranty wording include the terms

"The content of the 4th year Extended Warranty or 4th and 5th year Extended Warranty is the same as that of the Manufacturer's Warranty"

"The Warranty does not cover faults resulting from normal wear and tear of the vehicle, and specifically:
a) maintenance work and costs for materials subject to normal wear and tear"

"'NEW POWER' FORMULA

Coverage

Engine
...
(oil seals and oil leaks in general are excluded)

DCT gearbox
...
(oil seals and oil leaks in general are excluded)

Power Transmission Unit:
...
(oil seals and oil leaks in general are excluded)

Suspension and Steering
...
(oil seals and oil leaks in general are excluded)"

I always assumed that "oil leaks" would be their trump card in a warranty claim being denied, although assuming the gearbox example above is covered then maybe this isn't always the case.

Main dealer fitted price for "misting" ("oil seals and oil leaks in general are excluded","normal wear and tear") California rear shocks (x2, replace in pairs) in 2017 - £3.5k. Subsequent to late 17's/early 18's Ferrari parts price increase - £5k. Excluding willy wombat's shocks, there are numerous examples (e.g. PrancingHorses(?), replace in pairs = 4/2018=~£10k ) of shocks not being replaced under Ferrari's warranty. This may be related to which type of warranty (Extended or New Power) the car was covered by, vehicle age, and/or any warranty-claim related dealer targets (if such a thing exists).

I think Extended used to only be available on vehicles up to the age of 5 years, with New Power available from the 4th year onwards (to the 12th). Not sure what the current vehicle age/Ferrari warranty definitions are.

To provide some real world TCO*, and not MMCO, over ~3.5 years for a "bottom of the market with a Ferrari Power warranty" travelling ~14K(brim-brim mean average@~14MPG - "mid range BMW"?) in that time: ~£54k*. ~£3.80 a mile or ~£130 an hour (based on time spent driving).

Cheapest Ferrari Approved (i.e. with 2 years Ferrari warranty):

2011@37k £79,900

2009@24k £85,000

Keep in mind the buy/sell spread on those approved California is likely to be at least £10K, of which the approved warranty element could easily account for £5K of that.

If I could have all the money back that the California has costs me over the years I would take that money and.... buy a California.

*marked to market, private sale. ~45% of which is spread & depreciation. A small amount of elective spending. All servicing & work undertaken at main dealers, nothing covered under the Power Warranty. Includes financing costs (@4.6%APR) for completeness, although those costs had been offset elsewhere.

Edited by jw673 on Saturday 1st December 12:13

[Jack-flash]

Had mine for 11 weeks and just couldn’t get on with it the brakes squeeled all the time then the exhaust broke everything was under warranty however I just couldn’t live with it , ended up getting a 458 which granted is 80k more but bloody hell it was worth it plus they have. Greater residual value

[willy wombat]

One man’s meat, as they say. I had a California for two years and only sold it late in 2012 due to the imminent arrival of a 458 spider. Love the 458 but still miss the Cali as a great touring car, so much so that l have a Portofino on order (but still keeping the 458 spider and the 599 though).

[Taaaaang]

Jack-flash said:

Had mine for 11 weeks and just couldn’t get on with it the brakes squeeled all the time then the exhaust broke everything was under warranty however I just couldn’t live with it , ended up getting a 458 which granted is 80k more but bloody hell it was worth it plus they have. Greater residual value

I did the same journey, except my Cali had a big failure after 5 weeks so went back to the dealer for a refund. The brakes are annoying for sure.

In many ways the Cali was actually more suitable for me; the 458 is too much of an event to drive every day...the cali attracted a fair bit of attention but the 458 is in another league even though it's a sober colour. I didn't care about the residuals of the Cali...to me it was no different to buying any expensive-ish car. The 458 is so much more expensive I do worry about piling 8k per year onto it or whatever.

I liked having a convertible too but I don't fit into the 458 spider sadly.

[willy wombat]

Just for the record, never had any problems with my Cali which I bought with 250 miles on it and sold after two years with about 5,000 miles on it.

[semisane]

so what is the story re the brakes - not come across this?

[Taaaaang]

semisane said:

so what is the story re the brakes - not come across this?

They squeal. A lot.

[F355GTS]

semisane said:

so what is the story re the brakes - not come across this?

A number seem to report this but I had 3 Californias (2009, 2010 and 2014) and none of them had squealing brakes

[carpov]

I also had 2 Californias and no issues whatsoever. However, I did have squealing brakes in my 458, but the noise went away after a while and it's all fine now.
Great car by the way. The 458 is better, but I would definitely have another Cali over something like a 911 turbo.

[semisane]

perhaps not appropriate, but I thought 'copper slip' used between the shims and pads cured brake squeal ?

[Roof down]

semisane said:

perhaps not appropriate, but I thought 'copper slip' used between the shims and pads cured brake squeal ?

Is copper slip still used, my, remember using it back in the day, many moons ago, Cali's definitely on the way down, price wise, but being honest if I am reading this thread correctly truth be told we would all have a 458 if the price moved down to were the Cali price is now.
To my mind that says it all, I am still not fully sold on that Fiat van type looking back end.

[youngsyr]

semisane said:

perhaps not appropriate, but I thought 'copper slip' used between the shims and pads cured brake squeal ?

I suspect it's more likely to be pad deposits on the discs from a lot of low speed braking; performance pads tend to like to be used hot and can lead to squealing if continually used when cold.

The good news is that deposits can usually be cleared up by several hard stops back to back from 100 mph to 0 and then a cruise off the brakes to let everything cool down slowly.