458 Oil pressure switch/warranty

[Blackfeather]

2014 458 Spider - The oil pressure warning light came on and the pressure guage was gyrating all over the place.

In for service now and the pressure guage sender is faulty. I have a 2 year Ferrari power warranty from the main dealer but there is doubt over whether this is covered.

They are quoting 7 hours labour to fix it!!

Does anybody have any experience of this problem and the extent of cover of the warranty? It's going to be an expensive repair for what seems like a minor item.

[fridaypassion]

Ferrari do themselves no favours at all with regard warranty. Is anything at all actually covered?

[fridaypassion]

PS if it isnt overed thats the sort of thing I would go to any indy for.

[Blackfeather]

Yes, that's my thoughts too. Having previously had with Aston warranties, I was hoping that Ferrari would be a bit more fair. For me it is a prime driver for buying through a Ferrari dealership. If the warranty becomes a 'see what we can get out of' deal then it begs the question as to why you would bother.

It is also telling that if the dealership doesn't immediately know whether it is covered, and has to refer to Ferrari, then it is a matter of their discretion. Not great.

[fridaypassion]

For 3 grand a year I've seen no evidence of any kind of value of having it.

[MisterBigglesworth]

I’m pretty sure unless the engine or gearbox implodes very little is covered, putting the 3k in a repair slush fund seems a better option than giving Ferrari money for a piece of paper.

[Fast Eddie]

MisterBigglesworth said:

I’m pretty sure unless the engine or gearbox implodes very little is covered, putting the 3k in a repair slush fund seems a better option than giving Ferrari money for a piece of paper.

To me this is often the wiser option.

[Blackfeather]

Sad state of affairs though for a premium brand like Ferrari.

[Durzel]

I know that oil leaks aren't covered, but I don't know why what you're describing wouldn't be.

As said above seems that the Power warranty covers less and less, depending on the age of your car and/or perhaps even your purchasing relationship with Ferrari.

You should have peace of mind with this sort of stuff, especially after having paid the sort of sums being talked about.

[Blackfeather]

Ferrari confirm they will not cover it under warranty.

That's it then, this is likely to be my last Ferrari. Back to Astons I think.

A shabby way to treat customers. What is a warranty if it doesn't cover this type of failure?

[NickyF]

I was on the fence about a Power warranty and decided against it, looks like that was a good decision. The guy at my local Ferrari dealer was making out it covered most things engine related, I would be very annoyed if I was you.

[Blackfeather]

NickyF said:

I was on the fence about a Power warranty and decided against it, looks like that was a good decision. The guy at my local Ferrari dealer was making out it covered most things engine related, I would be very annoyed if I was you.

I am, very. There is no logic to a part failing and not being under warranty.

I hope Ferrari monitor this forum.

[Gibbo205]

I am not renewing my Power warranty this year, it seems to cover really not much at all.

458's do tend to be quite reliable and the smaller items that can and do fail the warranty does not cover, the 3k it cost for warranty a year will cover the cost of a lot of smaller repairs at an Indy.

I do think Ferrari do some things great, like free recovery and decent servicing cost, but the warranty packages are lacking compared to warranties from brands like Porsche for example.

[Durzel]

Blackfeather said:

NickyF said:

I was on the fence about a Power warranty and decided against it, looks like that was a good decision. The guy at my local Ferrari dealer was making out it covered most things engine related, I would be very annoyed if I was you.

I am, very. There is no logic to a part failing and not being under warranty.

I hope Ferrari monitor this forum.

Did they give you a specific reason why it wasn't covered?

I took my 458 to my local dealer to get the battery conditioner replaced (faulty) and while it was there I asked them to give it a once over, as I'd only had it for about 4 months. Since it had not long been supplied with a Power warranty I was confident that all would be ok, and was just expecting to get a report of the state of wear and tear items.

While I was sat there drinking the complimentary coffee one of the guys came over and told me some bad news - that one of my suspension shocks was misting. He followed that up by telling me the price of them, and that he thought they weren't covered under warranty. About 30 minutes later he came back over and told me they'd found another misting shock, this time at the front. Helpfully at this point he confirmed that it wasn't covered under warranty (oil leaks are explicitly excluded). He also thoughtfully said that they recommended replacing them in pairs.

I wrote a letter to Ferrari UK kicking off about how unreasonable I believed it was that a car with at the time ~8000 miles had developed 2 misting (failed) shocks. I got exactly nowhere, and didn't even get any goodwill from the supplying dealer. You can probably imagine how I felt at the conclusion of this saga having paid ~£8k on a car that apparently had a Ferrari warranty, that I had owned for circa 4 months.

I feel for you, but am not in the least bit surprised, unfortunately.

[Gibbo205]

Durzel said:

Did they give you a specific reason why it wasn't covered?

I took my 458 to my local dealer to get the battery conditioner replaced (faulty) and while it was there I asked them to give it a once over, as I'd only had it for about 4 months. Since it had not long been supplied with a Power warranty I was confident that all would be ok, and was just expecting to get a report of the state of wear and tear items.

While I was sat there drinking the complimentary coffee one of the guys came over and told me some bad news - that one of my suspension shocks was misting. He followed that up by telling me the price of them, and that he thought they weren't covered under warranty. About 30 minutes later he came back over and told me they'd found another misting shock, this time at the front. Helpfully at this point he confirmed that it wasn't covered under warranty (oil leaks are explicitly excluded). He also thoughtfully said that they recommended replacing them in pairs.

I wrote a letter to Ferrari UK kicking off about how unreasonable I believed it was that a car with at the time ~8000 miles had developed 2 misting (failed) shocks. I got exactly nowhere, and didn't even get any goodwill from the supplying dealer. You can probably imagine how I felt at the conclusion of this saga having paid ~£8k on a car that apparently had a Ferrari warranty, that I had owned for circa 4 months.

I feel for you, but am not in the least bit surprised, unfortunately.

Too have only owned it for four months and to get that bill with zero goodwill is really poor. Makes you wonder how poor quality the dampers must be if a car with only 8000 miles can be having issues

[Durzel]

It's an issue for sure.. I subsequently heard from several owners that have experienced the same. They are the same shocks as on the R8 (of the time) with MagRide, and there's some discourse in those groups about the same problem.

I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as the same scale of problem as F430 manifolds, but I do think its a 458 Achilles' heel.

[Fast Eddie]

Durzel said:

It's an issue for sure.. I subsequently heard from several owners that have experienced the same. They are the same shocks as on the R8 (of the time) with MagRide, and there's some discourse in those groups about the same problem.

I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as the same scale of problem as F430 manifolds, but I do think its a 458 Achilles' heel.

Interestingly I had misting shocks on my R8 which was well out of warranty AND I was the 3rd owner - Audi covered the whole bill under warranty.
Now that's unusual for Audi but that's what they did.

[ANOpax]

The Ferrari New Power (NP) warranty is a waste of space. Dealers try to sell you renewals as they make money on it.

I've had a failed fuel pump (2k fix) declined within weeks of taking out the original warranty despite the fact that the car passed the pre-warranty inspection.

I decided not to renew and the following year, received the bad news that my water pump had leaked (a 4k quote to fix) and would I like to renew the NP warranty when the car was in? I asked if the leak would've been covered under warranty. "No sir" came the reply. "That's my answer to the NP renewal then." The service guy at least had the good grace to look sheepish.

Since I decided to self insure, I've put the NP premia into a slush fund. I'm currently more than 30k ahead (touch wood).

[Durzel]

ANOpax said:

The Ferrari New Power (NP) warranty is a waste of space. Dealers try to sell you renewals as they make money on it.

I've had a failed fuel pump (2k fix) declined within weeks of taking out the original warranty despite the fact that the car passed the pre-warranty inspection.

I decided not to renew and the following year, received the bad news that my water pump had leaked (a 4k quote to fix) and would I like to renew the NP warranty when the car was in? I asked if the leak would've been covered under warranty. "No sir" came the reply. "That's my answer to the NP renewal then." The service guy at least had the good grace to look sheepish.

Since I decided to self insure, I've put the NP premia into a slush fund. I'm currently more than 30k ahead (touch wood).

Shouldn't laugh, but at the same time I think that's a brilliant reply to that service guy. At the same time it seems almost ridiculous to pitch a warranty product that doesn't even cover the fault you're in there to get fixed, with a straight face.

AIUI the NP warranty is supposed to cover the "big ticket" items like the powertrain and presumably the engine, but based on my experience and from what I've read of others, like you, I don't imagine any claim would be a smooth, hassle free experience, particularly given stuff like oil leaks are explicitly not covered. It wouldn't be too difficult for Ferrari to claim that a catastrophic failure was caused by an unnoticed oil leak and/or subsequent starvation, and you'd have a job to prove otherwise.

When you're being asked to spend the sort of money annually that these products cost, I would want to not have to worry about it being stacked against me straight out of the gate with myriad caveats and exclusions. In my case it definitely took the shine off ownership and left me wondering just what peace of mind I was supposed to have with it.

Edited by Durzel on Monday 17th January 17:46

[fridaypassion]

The warranty just needs to pay out and with a smile from the dealer. Porsche do it for £800 a year on GT cars.