Automakers somehow have not perfected the art of making cars, and until they do, all of them will be prone to recalls of varying sizes. Ferrari, which strives to make more perfect cars than its competitors, has a new one for over 2,000 458s and 488s in China. The issue is the brake fluid reservoir cap.
According to a Google translation of the recall notice:
Effective May 30, 2022, a recall of some imported 458 Italia, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, 458 Spider, 488 GTB and 488 Spider series cars manufactured between March 2, 2010 and March 12, 2019, totalling 2222 vehicles. Vehicles covered by this recall may potentially increase the risk of brake fluid leakage, resulting in reduced braking performance or brake failure, due to the brake fluid reservoir cap not ensuring the proper ventilation required to maintain atmospheric pressure in the tank. There are security risks.
Ferrari International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. will replace the improved brake fluid reservoir cap free of charge for vehicles within the scope of the recall; reprogram the instrumentation to update the warning message when the brake fluid level is too low to eliminate Security risks.
Emergency measures: The user should drive the vehicle with caution. If the low brake fluid level warning light on the instrument appears, stop the vehicle safely immediately, and contact the Ferrari authorized service center to arrange a tow truck to tow the vehicle back for free inspection and maintenance.
Bloomberg says that issue affects 2,222 cars in China, or “nearly every vehicle Ferrari sold in the country from 2018 through March of this year,” which at least makes it easier for recent Ferrari buyers in China to know whether their car is affected or not, as the answer is probably. Bloomberg also says that there could be possibly more Ferraris involved globally, though Ferrari isn’t saying for now and did not immediately respond to my request for comment.
Providing a bit more clarity, Reuters has the following:
A source close to the matter said that the recall is part of a wider action Ferrari is undertaking globally over the same issue for models produced over the period, which also saw the carmaker agreeing to a recall campaign in the United States in November last year.
So we can probably expect more on this front, as recalls in other countries trickle down. Both Bloomberg and Reuters made a point to note that Ferrari’s stock is down today a little bit, but I suspect that in the long run Ferrari will be just fine.