Taking delivery of new 458

Congratulations! We are on week 3...I am due for an "update" thread.

There are lots of "lessons learned" threads in this section, which I consumed beforehand. Here is my "list"...am sure others will add (and/or correct me)

Trim Fit - if possible, see and inspect the car as soon as it shows up. You may notice some minor trim alignment issues (eg. dash panels). Having seen inside a 458 dash, I can guarantee these are hand-fitted and assembled. Bad news, fit can be variable. Good news, it's easy to adjust in most cases. Catch it before delivery so service can address it, avoiding a return trip. Take your time, slow your pulse down, look closely, make a list if need be. Look over all the fabric/leather/weatherstrips/stitching - including the dash, where some of the adhesives can leach out during shipping.

Battery - ours was not fully charged on delivery, even though it sat on the tender at the dealer. Ask them to put it on an overnight charger (not tender) and TEST the battery before you leave. Also, get in the habit of turning off the radio/SATNAV/et al and even the heater-A/C when you have it at home....use the tender when you can. Plug it in at the dealer and make sure it works if the dealer hasn't used it already.

Infotainment - the documentation is horrible, so make sure you have the dealer do as much setup as you can (eg. program the SatRadio, set your home address in SatNav, give them your list of pre-sets). You can/should anticipate sitting in the car at home for a few hours digesting and playing with the system, it's the only way to learn what's there.

Finish - refer to the detailing threads, but our cars (2 in last month) had some serious finish issues - swirl, micro scratches, et al. Insist on a great detail, consider paint correction with a pro if you're as anal as me. DO THIS BEFORE you put on any clear film/3M.

Enjoy - seriously, aside from the low battery charge (common) and finish issues (common), the car was, and is, flawless. Take the time to digest the manual; it's no Pulitzer winning tome, but aside from the infotainment system, the more you know before, the better it will be on your first drives. (e.g.. how to get speedo in right TFT).

YMMV, but our dealer starting "the delivery" weeks before the car showed up, which helped make the experience enjoyable. My wife went by a few times for "test drives" in the demo that were more about her getting used to the sight picture, shifting, turn signals, et al...so picking it up was more about checking it over than learning.

Hope this helps; I am still a rookie owner, am sure some of the sage old-timers (!) will have additional wisdom. I am still learning...

 

First congradulations on your new 458.

The information screens on the left and right are different tan naything I have seen anywhere else other than in an airplane.

Be sure you spend time with the sealer so you understand it. The right site can be a nav system or you can fix it to always be a speedometer. Be sure he shows you how

FYI in the technolgy field jargon it is called "EFIS" pronunced as it was EFAIS

The previous poster gave a very thoughtful list of things to check

I would add :

Always plug-in the car battery charger. My dealer said at least every 7 days. I have been using 2-3 days as maximum and in two years had no problem with my 458.

Be sure you leaver the car in neutral when you park. It can only be started when in neutral.

Be sure you know where to push to close the trunk or engine bay hood. If you do not push to close in the proper area you can dent the metal

I am sure your new car will have the up dates on the hose that have come lose. Causes oil , smoke and damage to the engine if you have this and do not shut the engine off quickly. This happened to me when I first got the car.

This is my third Ferrari and has been the easiest to care for and feed.

Enjoy in good health

Lee

 

Congrats on the new car. The wait is almost over but I'm sure it will be worth it.

When you get your car, your dealer should not just give you the keys and say "go have fun".

What they are supposed to do is walk you through every function of the car, right down to the last knob and switch. There's a lot to learn. Some of the dash functions are a bit confusing.

If you have Satellite radio, they should set up the service with Sirius for you and explain how it works. Same for Nav. They should also set up the bluetooth with your cell phone so bring it with you.

You should also discuss with the service manager or a technician any technical issue with the car.

You paid a ton of money on this car. They can spend a few hours with you to go over it. And, its too their advantage because the more you know, the less likely you'll be calling them the next day with a complaint that something doesn't work simply because you didn't understand how it worked.

Post some pics of your experience and the car when you get a chance!

 

Congrats on your new car. Everyone posted excellent check lists. If any thing I can say in reguards to checking fit and finish do it outside in natural lighting and it is also the best way to check the paintas florecent lighting can hide things. As for going over the car, the dealer should spend time with you. Even when I bought my preowned 458 Italia the dealer spent hours with me as there is a ton of technology to go over.

 

IMHO, you should get a PDF copy of the owners manual available on a thread here somewhere and read it thoroughly before going to the dealer. As Bob has stated, the dealer will spend a couple of hours going over every single aspect of how the car works and what does what. If you are hearing this for the first time, you'll miss quite a bit, so read the manual several times...this can be done quickly...before going over.

I had the car paint corrected before I took her home. It took about 12 hours but the paint was so shiny that it looked wet. I arranged for that to be done followed by a clear bra application to the entire front, lights, mirrors and side skirts before driving her home. I later did the windshield which I'd highly recommend. Your beauty will get hit with small rocks as you drive her...the harder you drive and the more cars you drive with the greater this happens. Without the clear bra these will ding your paint and windshield significantly.

As far as the battery is concerned, there are several really good threads here on that issue and how to avoid battery drain. The consensus is to leave the car unlocked (if reasonable and safe), shut off nav/DVD/radio and put on the battery tender which is really very easy to do. The battery tender plugs in under the passenger side dash and the door closes on the cord...without issues. Heads up, be sure to unplug the tender before starting the car...it doesn't like it when it's still plugged in and this makes the electronics go crazy.

Another issues when driving her hard...every time you take a break from driving be sure to pop the engine bay hood to cool off the engine area. The engine throws off a tremendous amount of heat and I think that it can cause warping of the leather panel just behind the seats adjacent to the rear windows. I can't prove that but I am suspicious. I drove her on numerous hard drives and never popped the engine bay hood only to discover warping of the passenger side and then the driver side. Once I started opening the engine bay door, the warping ceased. My dealer is replacing that section of the leather.

Close inspection of the car is a must since your dealer is far away but unforeseen issues may arise requiring you to return to the dealer. All in all it's a fantastic, amazing car and you'll love her. Enjoy!

 

One more thing we did that helped....we were able to download and read up the owner's manual from the Ferrari website well in advance, suggest you do that if you can.

That got us familiar enough on many things, also helped us create a list of questions; in our case, we were able to do multiple "test drives", in your case, your "delivery" may need to be a deeper orientation as many have pointed out.

I am glad I had the list written down, when we walked in knowing we were taking it home that day, my mind turned to mush...we did warn our dealer to block out 2 hours....we took 3. Test and try both keys.

Last, regarding Lee's point, make sure you get briefed on (seriously) how to start and turn off the car, and how HOLD, PARK HOLD, AUTO, EASY AUTO EXIT et al function, AND how to set the Parking Brake manually....We start and turn the car off in 1st gear, not neutral.

If you are going to use the Voice Recognition feature (which is actually among the better ones out there), have them do the setup and voice tutorial with you and confirm it works, including you knowing how to use the (hidden) steering wheel rocker switches.

If you are really a distance from the dealer, have them give you 3 quarts of oil....mine has burned none, but service advisor said it might during break-in. Better to have the right stuff on hand than worry. Also good chance to have them explain how to fill - but not overfill - the oil.

 

I thought the car was in Park when being started not neutral or first?

 

I have never heard of putting clear bra material on the windshield, what am I missing? I would think the material would distort your vision.

 

you are correct, my mistake. Turn off in gear, car automatically goes into Park (and sets EPB); the start in Park. (I must have been thinking about the 430C).

 

I am also taking delivery of mine in a few weeks. Paint and battery seem to be two recurring issues.

First on the paint: what should I look for? Dull sections and/or excess swirls (what's excessive)? In the absence of those special lamps, should I inspect in daylight outdoor or just indoor at the dealership?

Battery: two things I really don't understand (please forgive me being naive as this is also going to be my first) 1) posts here keep referring to switching off the sound system and sat nav system, don't they all just turn off when you shut off the ignition and remove the key? I am assuming then they could function without the key in and so must be turned off to avoid battery drain; 2) Can the 458 be jump started? I am assuming that this is a 12 volt battery and as long as you hook it up with a fully charged one in parallel, it should start no matter what but I see a lot of people having trouble with this. One post says you can get to the positive terminal but not the negative, every car's negative terminal grounds at the chasis so the negative can be attached to the body of the car. What am I missing here?

Thanks in advance, happy Olympics watching and go Team USA

 

It's not the same product as a clear bra but designed for windshields.

 

The Nav, DVD and Radio don't turn off when you shut off the car but you can go into the right screen and shut it off. Don't know about jumping the 458.

 

You might want to have a detailer take a look for swirls, over-spray and holograms in the paint. These are the issues that would be targeted during paint correction.

 

Sorry Rod can you explain. When I turn mine off and remove the key everything shuts down. Am I missing something? I only drive mine at weekends (would never get another contract if I took it to work) and have had no charging problems and rarely use the trickle charger unless i am going away for a couple of weeks.

 

Yes, you're driving it often enough to keep the battery charged but it's so easy to hook up the tickle charger that many do it anyway. Even with the car turned off, I am told, the radio/Nav/DVD can continue to drain from the battery. You can shut those off if you go into the right screen but for short periods (a week) of non-driving it most likely won't make a difference. There are several threads on here somewhere on the subject. I hear that. I slipped and mentioned that I had the 458 in front of my anesthetist and the very next week got a new, higher fee sheet which annoyed me.

 

Mine shuts off too but AFTER you leave the car. If you just turn off the key, the radio plays until you open the car door. You can, of course, shut them down manually but I never do.

I also have left the car 3 weeks and it started just fine. I never used the trickle charger but I never had to let it sit in a garage all winter either.

I think the 12's are a lot better than the early 10's where this problem seems to be most common.

I think one thing you can do is not to use the alarm and just use the key to lock the doors if it's going to be stored a long time in a safe place. I don't know for sure but I assume turning off the alarm has to save some stand-by power drain over time.

 

Good point on the alarm-the immobilizer is on x minutes after the key leaves the ignition regardless of whether the alarm is on or not anyway right so there's still a level of protection there?

 

Almost all cars (and batteries) have some level of ongoing parasitic drain; even when turned off, electrons flow, albeit at a trickle. Alarm systems are "on" when you set them, and while low current, they do consume power, especially more sophisticated "monitoring" systems (eg. movement detectors). Over the long term (or with a weak battery), it can drain. Candidly, with 458's, I'm unsure what "long term" is yet...weeks?

The amount of current these cars pull to boot up and start is impressive....electronics, fuel injection, all the pumps let alone the starter itself.

 

What's the meaning behind "The Duece"?

Made me think of South Park.....
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Congratulations and I can't wait to see your dream delivery pictures!