575M Superamerica roof reliability

Ramjet7 · 07-24-2010, 08:43 PM

I'd be interested to hear about any reliability issues that owners have experienced with the Superamerica roof flipping mechanism

Gcalo · 07-24-2010, 10:11 PM

How many SuperAmericas could there be!

Clever idea but the whole roof folds backwards!

What's it do rest on the trunk lid?

Mike430 · 07-24-2010, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gcalo

What's it do rest on the trunk lid?

That's exactly what it does...

T.C.F.B. · 07-25-2010, 12:28 PM

Every one has had a major issue. Roof delaminates or cracks. Carrier mechanism breaks. Roof ECU causes freeze ups (but there is a procedure to reset this one) switches break.

Some owners were lucky enough to have these issues covered under warranty some weren't and the cost of any of the pieces is (no shit...) absurd.

If you've never had an issue with yours. Sell it before you do. You will get zero consideration or good will from FNA on this one v

Ramjet7 · 07-26-2010, 01:35 AM

What happened to yours?

T.C.F.B. · 07-26-2010, 05:01 AM

I was a Service Writer. Had to give a lot of bad news to some very disappointed people when their SAs had these issues (and they hadn't bought the top tier warranty for ALL prior years.) Some right after they bought them. Those were the worst...

It is a neat looking thing no doubt, but the carrier assy is not strong enough to hold up long term, the EL glass is too complex (layers and curves,) and Ferrari-quality electronics for the (quite minimal EL shading) just make it a gimmick that isn't worth the potential trouble.

550 Barchetta. Mmmmmm....

wetpet · 07-26-2010, 07:48 AM

is this an ongoing problem, or something like the 355, where if it's sorted it can be ok?

T.C.F.B. · 07-26-2010, 08:09 AM

Design problem.

The roof is very heavy and the carrier had to be designed small to fit in a very small area. Doesn't help that the novelty factor causes 10X more useage than was intended. When I was active, it was 12K + a good 10-12 hours to install. IF Ferrari had a spare and IF they would release it.

The laminates, EL filaments, and CF accents on the roof were also crap. Cant remember the cost on those though. I can only imagine what it would be now.

Sucks though 'cause the car *is* a great driver.

wetpet · 07-26-2010, 09:28 AM

saw one at the 458 launch.

Baller · 07-26-2010, 01:33 PM

That has to be the coolest drop top I've ever seen. It does look like it would be suceptible to damage though, imagine someone flipping the roof up while driving!

Granucci · 07-26-2010, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T.C.F.B.

I was a Service Writer. Had to give a lot of bad news to some very disappointed people when their SAs had these issues (and they hadn't bought the top tier warranty for ALL prior years.) Some right after they bought them. Those were the worst...

It is a neat looking thing no doubt, but the carrier assy is not strong enough to hold up long term, the EL glass is too complex (layers and curves,) and Ferrari-quality electronics for the (quite minimal EL shading) just make it a gimmick that isn't worth the potential trouble.

550 Barchetta. Mmmmmm....

I've heard the similar stories to include even if the glass were not delaminating or such that the crystals would wear to total black over time anyway and like those eye glasses that change they fail over time.

I always wondered IF someone would redesign the roof to be just solid, total CF and be done with it. Seals would always wear over time like any top, but that is to be expected. A hard top would be great during Winter.

BTW, Barchetta is nice but tired of rag tops.

Ramjet7 · 08-01-2010, 10:23 PM

Other Ferrari folk don't seem to agree with T.C.F.B. There have been issues with the roof, to be sure, but many of those have been addressed via a factory fix. Mechanical issues seem to be relatively few. Also worldwide factory warranty available up to nine years (2014).

T.C.F.B. · 08-02-2010, 05:32 AM

IIRC Warranty coverage on the 12cyls falls off sharply after the second year (third year if you purchased the full extension.) The roof and carrier were not covered unless you had a failure within warranty, or if expired had a good ear at FNA, or the dealership "took care of it" to keep the customer long-term happy.

With the number of problems (just the ones that I knew of) to the number of cars produced, it is only a matter of time for those who have not had any issues (which I find very hard to believe for this model.)

Don't get me wrong... A SA with the GTC package is a hell of a machine and really, just like all of the rest, if you have the means to get one it doesn't matter what you need to spend to keep her healthy.

pnegri · 03-17-2012, 03:10 AM

TCFB - late coing in - you mention " Roof ECU causes freeze ups (but there is a procedure to reset this one) switches break. " what is the proceedure?

tazandjan · 03-17-2012, 10:12 AM

P- About two years old thread and I have not seen him post recently. I think his critique of the SA top is way overblown. We have several owners on this forum. The biggest problem with the roof has been the gas struts that help the motor raise and lower the top. These appear to have a very short life and need to be replaced frequently or the motor cannot do the job properly. Hopefully some of the SA owners can chime in on how they are doing. If I had an SA, I would probably have two sets of struts I swapped out every 18-24 months, with the other set being rebuilt in the interim.

pnegri · 03-19-2012, 04:53 AM

Taz
thanks for the reply. I did have the struts replaced less than a year ago - worked for a while (intermittently) but not for long. The dealer (2 hour drive) wants to replace the entire assembly (20K) . Difficult to think that a new assembly would work much better than the old
P

tazandjan · 03-19-2012, 08:59 AM

P- Take the part number for the struts and see if T Rutlands has an upgraded equivalent. They have a supplier that provides much superior gas struts to Ferrari originals. The strut part number is 69271600. If they do not have one, I would ask if they can have one produced for you. There is a possibility the new struts you used were not fully charged.

Seems like there should be a way to make a strut that could be recharged with a fitting like a tire valve. All you would need would be a small nitrogen tank.

575Superamerica · 03-19-2012, 04:02 PM

What is the exact problem you are having with the roof operation?

pnegri · 03-26-2012, 10:10 AM

problem is that the roof will stop partial way down.

tazandjan · 03-26-2012, 10:21 AM

That sounds like a micro-switch out of adjustment, telling the roof ECU the top is all the way down or something is blocking it.

07-24-2010, 08:43 PM	#1
Ramjet7 Join Date: Jul 2010 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	575M Superamerica roof reliability I'd be interested to hear about any reliability issues that owners have experienced with the Superamerica roof flipping mechanism

08-02-2010, 05:32 AM	#13
T.C.F.B. Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northern Neck, VA Ferrari Life Posts: 70 Name: Brian McKeown	IIRC Warranty coverage on the 12cyls falls off sharply after the second year (third year if you purchased the full extension.) The roof and carrier were not covered unless you had a failure within warranty, or if expired had a good ear at FNA, or the dealership "took care of it" to keep the customer long-term happy. With the number of problems (just the ones that I knew of) to the number of cars produced, it is only a matter of time for those who have not had any issues (which I find very hard to believe for this model.) Don't get me wrong... A SA with the GTC package is a hell of a machine and really, just like all of the rest, if you have the means to get one it doesn't matter what you need to spend to keep her healthy. Last edited by T.C.F.B.; 08-02-2010 at 06:27 AM.

03-17-2012, 10:12 AM	#15
tazandjan Owner Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Ferrari Life Posts: 3,603 Name: Terry H Phillips	P- About two years old thread and I have not seen him post recently. I think his critique of the SA top is way overblown. We have several owners on this forum. The biggest problem with the roof has been the gas struts that help the motor raise and lower the top. These appear to have a very short life and need to be replaced frequently or the motor cannot do the job properly. Hopefully some of the SA owners can chime in on how they are doing. If I had an SA, I would probably have two sets of struts I swapped out every 18-24 months, with the other set being rebuilt in the interim. Taz Terry Phillips Present: 575M 135171 Past: Dino 246 GT 02984, 365 GTB/4 14009, 308 GTS 25125 Every day I look around, and if nobody is shooting at me, it is a pretty good day.

03-19-2012, 08:59 AM	#17
tazandjan Owner Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Ferrari Life Posts: 3,603 Name: Terry H Phillips	P- Take the part number for the struts and see if T Rutlands has an upgraded equivalent. They have a supplier that provides much superior gas struts to Ferrari originals. The strut part number is 69271600. If they do not have one, I would ask if they can have one produced for you. There is a possibility the new struts you used were not fully charged. Seems like there should be a way to make a strut that could be recharged with a fitting like a tire valve. All you would need would be a small nitrogen tank. Taz Terry Phillips Present: 575M 135171 Past: Dino 246 GT 02984, 365 GTB/4 14009, 308 GTS 25125 Every day I look around, and if nobody is shooting at me, it is a pretty good day.

03-26-2012, 10:10 AM	#19
pnegri Join Date: Mar 2012 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	superamerica roof operation problem is that the roof will stop partial way down.

07-24-2010, 10:11 PM	#2
Gcalo Owner Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Ramon, Calif Ferrari Life Posts: 3,613	How many SuperAmericas could there be! Clever idea but the whole roof folds backwards! What's it do rest on the trunk lid?

07-25-2010, 12:28 PM	#4
T.C.F.B. Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northern Neck, VA Ferrari Life Posts: 70 Name: Brian McKeown	Every one has had a major issue. Roof delaminates or cracks. Carrier mechanism breaks. Roof ECU causes freeze ups (but there is a procedure to reset this one) switches break. Some owners were lucky enough to have these issues covered under warranty some weren't and the cost of any of the pieces is (no shit...) absurd. If you've never had an issue with yours. Sell it before you do. You will get zero consideration or good will from FNA on this one v

07-26-2010, 01:35 AM	#5
Ramjet7 Join Date: Jul 2010 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	What happened to yours?

07-26-2010, 05:01 AM	#6
T.C.F.B. Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northern Neck, VA Ferrari Life Posts: 70 Name: Brian McKeown	I was a Service Writer. Had to give a lot of bad news to some very disappointed people when their SAs had these issues (and they hadn't bought the top tier warranty for ALL prior years.) Some right after they bought them. Those were the worst... It is a neat looking thing no doubt, but the carrier assy is not strong enough to hold up long term, the EL glass is too complex (layers and curves,) and Ferrari-quality electronics for the (quite minimal EL shading) just make it a gimmick that isn't worth the potential trouble. 550 Barchetta. Mmmmmm....

07-26-2010, 07:48 AM	#7
wetpet Owner Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chevy Chase, Md Ferrari Life Posts: 6,600 Name: Ed	is this an ongoing problem, or something like the 355, where if it's sorted it can be ok?

07-26-2010, 08:09 AM	#8
T.C.F.B. Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northern Neck, VA Ferrari Life Posts: 70 Name: Brian McKeown	Design problem. The roof is very heavy and the carrier had to be designed small to fit in a very small area. Doesn't help that the novelty factor causes 10X more useage than was intended. When I was active, it was 12K + a good 10-12 hours to install. IF Ferrari had a spare and IF they would release it. The laminates, EL filaments, and CF accents on the roof were also crap. Cant remember the cost on those though. I can only imagine what it would be now. Sucks though 'cause the car is a great driver.

07-26-2010, 09:28 AM	#9
wetpet Owner Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chevy Chase, Md Ferrari Life Posts: 6,600 Name: Ed	saw one at the 458 launch.

07-26-2010, 01:33 PM	#10
Baller Join Date: Oct 2009 Ferrari Life Posts: 160	That has to be the coolest drop top I've ever seen. It does look like it would be suceptible to damage though, imagine someone flipping the roof up while driving!

08-01-2010, 10:23 PM	#12
Ramjet7 Join Date: Jul 2010 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	Other Ferrari folk don't seem to agree with T.C.F.B. There have been issues with the roof, to be sure, but many of those have been addressed via a factory fix. Mechanical issues seem to be relatively few. Also worldwide factory warranty available up to nine years (2014).

03-17-2012, 03:10 AM	#14
pnegri Join Date: Mar 2012 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	TCFB - late coing in - you mention " Roof ECU causes freeze ups (but there is a procedure to reset this one) switches break. " what is the proceedure?

03-19-2012, 04:53 AM	#16
pnegri Join Date: Mar 2012 Ferrari Life Posts: 3	Taz thanks for the reply. I did have the struts replaced less than a year ago - worked for a while (intermittently) but not for long. The dealer (2 hour drive) wants to replace the entire assembly (20K) . Difficult to think that a new assembly would work much better than the old P

03-19-2012, 04:02 PM	#18
575Superamerica Owner Join Date: May 2011 Ferrari Life Posts: 17	What is the exact problem you are having with the roof operation?

03-26-2012, 10:21 AM	#20
tazandjan Owner Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Ferrari Life Posts: 3,603 Name: Terry H Phillips	That sounds like a micro-switch out of adjustment, telling the roof ECU the top is all the way down or something is blocking it. Taz Terry Phillips Present: 575M 135171 Past: Dino 246 GT 02984, 365 GTB/4 14009, 308 GTS 25125 Every day I look around, and if nobody is shooting at me, it is a pretty good day.

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