Engine Failure Part 2 - Final Resolution

I am VERY happy for you Champ.

$14K is still a lot of money and I reckon they should have covered all labour costs etc.etc.

But...............as you mentioned it could have been worse.

Wish you all the best with it and I am glad your Ferrari experience/ownership will go on.

 

The most important thing is that you're happy Champ. It's a hit on your pocketbook but you sound really upbeat. For that, we are all thankful.

Let's hope your car is back under your butt soon.

 

Finally some good news! I'm glad that Ferrari came through and replaced the engine. All things considered, $14K isn't so bad - and you get a new engine.

 

If I'm not mistaken (and I probably am), that's almost the cost of a major service at the dealer and you get a new motor with a warranty, outstanding. Just make sure the motor has received all of its factory updates that addressed any and all of an original motor's gremlins. You don't want a motor that was sitting on the shelf somewhere that never got any updates.

Happy for you!

 

This is good news, my friend. I am glad that you are happy with the outcome. And yes, getting a brand-new engine and a warranty is a plus!

 

Im very happy for you with the results!!
If I had to pay 14k for all the other work which I think it is not your fault, for sure I will claim the broken engine for spares.
You can easily recover a couple of thousands from it.

 

I think Ferrari should cover the entire cost. After all, by providing a new engine, they are addmitting, AT LAST, that the headers are the problem!

 

Like bdelp said, the most important thing is that you are satisfied with the outcome, which it sounds like you are.

Back in 2007 I had the transmission fail on a 3 year old Range Rover with 50,305 miles on it (AKA 305 miles past the end of the warranty). I bought the vehicle new, always had it serviced at the dealer and never had any transmission problems up to that date, yet Land Rover would not cover the repair. Corporate's response to my request was, "that's why we have an end date on our warranties". Much different cost than Ferrari, but same principal. It's nice to see a company (Ferrari) stand behind their product after their contractual obligation ends.

 

+1

 

glad your gettin a new engine but 10 k for labor seems very steep .if headers ar eknown they should make some kind of a screen to not allow any broken debri in the engine.glad to hear you will get your car back soon,maybe replace your clutch if it looks close to being needing soon

 

Glad you're at least getting something from Ferrari, but I also agree that with a well known problem, FNA should have picked up the entire tab. I wouldn't be too happy about forcing you buy an extended warranty and 'certification' crap, but to each his own. Glad YOU're happy .

Now the question nobody has asked: SHOULD WE DEMAND NEW HEADERS EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE NOT LEAKING YET???? That issue could be a ticking bomb.

 

Congrats, I think this is a fair resolution. Kind of obvious but can you confirm the new engine will have the upgraded headers ?

 

Just my opinion but they shoulder cover the entire cost. Always amazes me how large companies will attempt to make things right but will always attempt to limit their losses anyway they can. Your contribution is still mega bucks. On a more positive side, I hope all goes well with the new engine and you get to enjoy the car as you deserve to.

 

You could say that... but what do you say to all those who bought extended power warranties?

Ferrari could have said "shove it" -- out of warranty means "too bad". They didn't. It's a fair compromise because if Champ had the power warranty, his cost would have been zero.

Let's give both parties some credit for coming up with a pretty good solution to an awful problem.

 

+1 For those who pay the expensive power warranty, it wouldn't have been fair to see a full coverage of all costs on a car without warranty...receiving a bright new engine is a very good intention of Ferrari. They know that such situations are extremely rare thus, they can affort such offer.

 

+1 well said!

 

This case is an exception since it was due to a KNOWN ISSUE that was fixed with another defective part. Any other failure and OP would have been toast, whereas folks with the warranty should be covered (if not excluded -or a high deductible- by the always sneaky fine print . THIS particular case should have been fully covered IMO, but again, who expected that???

 

Well, this is information that would make me so cautious about buying a F430.

I know the cracking headers (exhaust manifolds) were a problem, but pieces of them breaking and falling into the engine is a total new level of risk.

The F430 has catalytic converters in the headers, and with age the ceramic core tends to disintegrate. So, there is also the risk that a perfectly fine F430 header would suck in pieces of ceramic from the catalytic converter and cause the same damage you got in your engine.

Personally, if I owned a F430, I would just dispose of the factory headers for two reasons:

1) the headers being the prone to cracks version
2) the headers containing catalytic converters with a ceramic core that could end into the combustion chamber.

At least there are better alternatives. Thankfully the Scuderia headers don't have catalytic converters.

 

Great news.

Glad you are happy and glad FNA stepped up.

 

+1

 

Congrats Champ! I was pretty sure Ferrari was going to tell you to go jump in a lake, especially in these hard economic times where it seems most corporations are gouging and screwing the little guy every chance they get! Well Done!

 

I agree.

I put an extended warranty on my car (engine and drivetrain) which gives me peace-of-mind. I don't mind for a minute that Champ got his engine replaced for free... that's a gamble I'm not willing to take, so I pay for right to remove the uncertainty.

I do think it was cool that FNA anted up an engine though...

 

It is good to hear that you and Ferrari reached a resolution to this issue!!!

It seems that Ferrari cars are delicate and sometimes come from the factory with issues that they choose to ignore (ie... 360 fuel gauge that does not show full), or learn from as in the cracking exhaust parts of many models. I don't get it, street cars with such low mileage and with seemingly high part failure rate.

I recently took a pro-active move and replaced my whole exhaust system with non-Ferrari parts. When I took my OEM muffler off, the two mounting brackets were cracked almost through and the insulation coming out as white powder. Also found a crack in one of my rear wheel rims.

I love the car, love how it drives, how it sounds, but...

 

There could be another possibility that explains why the labor charge and the ext warranty.

It is possible that Ferrari didn't provide the replacement engine the dealership did. To keep you as a repeat customer the dealership forked out the money for the replacement engine from Ferrari (probably at a discount), that's why they had to recover as much as they can from you by charging you labor.

Typically if the factory accepts fault for an engine failure replacement they will not nickel and dime the labor and pay for that too. Think about it, doesn't make sense that they will fork out all that money for a new engine but not the labor. This is like making a donation to charity for $10,000 and ask the charity organization to pay for the stamp to mail the check.

It would be interesting to see the replacement engine before it went in the car to see if it was in fact a brand new engine, or a rebuilt unit the dealer sourced out somewhere.