488 - bizarre happenings on the highway | Page 3 | FerrariChat

488 bizarre happenings on the highway

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by flifer, Apr 27, 2019.

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  1. dmark1

    dmark1 F1 World Champ
    BANNED Owner

    Feb 26, 2008
    11,439
    Americas Team Headquarters
    Full Name:
    Mark
    Incredible. Maybe I’m just incredibly lucky. Not one Ferrari have I ever had this issue with. I did change out a battery that went bad for a new one in my Speciale but it WAS 3 years old, never on tender,not once.
     
    ca_scud, sampelligrino and Cigarzman like this.
  2. Cigarzman

    Cigarzman F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    My experience has been similar too. I didn’t use a battery tender once in 3 years on my 458. And I’ve not used it on my 488 in one year . I never used the lock/alarm ever while it sat in my garage either. So maybe that helped.
     
    ca_scud likes this.
  3. wrs

    wrs F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 11, 2015
    11,921
    Lakeway, Texas
    Full Name:
    William
    Recently I came out to a completely dead car. I called Ferrari Roadside and they sent a guy over with a wrecker and a jumper setup. He re-started it using two of the battery substitutes and I then drove the car for half an hour. I haven't had any issues since. I don't know what I accidentally left on but the lights were in auto mode so I turned them off completely. Still no clue about this but I have been using the charger some since then.

    This failure happened one day before I left town for a week so I put the car on the charger during that week. It only had the half hour drive on it before I did that but when I returned, it started up OK and I have been fine since.
     
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  4. Ed Thorne

    Ed Thorne Rookie

    May 8, 2017
    8
    Santa Fe, NM
    Full Name:
    Edwin Thorne
    v


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     
  5. of2worlds

    of2worlds F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 6, 2004
    16,445
    ON
    Full Name:
    CH
    Are you getting your detailing guy a nice big "Thanksgiving Turkey" for his efforts? :)
     
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  6. sampelligrino

    sampelligrino Formula 3

    Apr 16, 2017
    1,129
    I think when my 488 comes in (hopefully any minute now), I may have the dealer immediately swap the Ferrari OEM AGM group 48 battery for an Interstate 48, just to be extra safe. Torn between giving it a go on the OEM first, or just jumping ship immediately

    If that even fails, then I will likely go to the Braille 48 lithium route in orders of magnitude/cost to combat this freaking battery problem
     
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  7. Il Co-Pilota

    Il Co-Pilota F1 Veteran

    May 29, 2019
    6,023
    Hopefully some place nice.
    Full Name:
    A.B
    You don't need to run lithium to run Braille.
    https://braillebattery.com/products/b7548-1
    I'd say jump ship and do it right away. Only way to send a clear message to your dealer and Ferrari that this crap is simply not good enough.
     
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  8. MANDALAY

    MANDALAY F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed Silver Subscribed

    May 23, 2013
    11,048
    AUSTRALIA
    Full Name:
    ANGELO

    CHANGE IMMEDIATELY FOR SURE 1000%. Worst gut feeling filling at the petrol station get back in the car and see all errors coming up. Even if Ferrari wont do it for free the little cost is worth it. But do keep the tender always on.

    BTW FYI my dealer asked if I wanted the exhaust pinned open I said yes , up to you.
     
    ca_scud likes this.
  9. C50

    C50 Formula 3

    Aug 19, 2016
    1,729
    808
    Just to make your decision easier, my 2016 488 has the stock battery and it's never given me a problem. Longest time undriven is 2 weeks. Never on a tender.

    Of course, now that I said that...

    Be sure to post up pics when your ride arrives!
     
    ca_scud likes this.
  10. JohnTz

    JohnTz Karting

    Jun 21, 2018
    212
    Inverness, IL
    Full Name:
    John Tz
    My dealer proactively changes out the OEM battery to Interstate before delivery as a precaution. They have had so many issues with the OEM batteries that now they don’t even bother with them. They want happy customers.
     
    ca_scud, dustman, MANDALAY and 2 others like this.
  11. F&PCarFan

    F&PCarFan Rookie

    May 14, 2019
    11
    Full Name:
    F&PFan
    I had a similar experience with my month old 2019 488 GTB. First drive to the ocean about 80 miles away, on HWY 101, the Thursday before Memorial Weekend, so very busy traffic both ways, moved into the left turn lane, car freaked out and went dead as a door nail. I called the dealer, they had me get into the battery compartment to unhook the negative terminal (I'm in the middle of extremely busy 2 way traffic) to "reset the ECUs"). Unhooking and hooking the negative terminal didn't do anything. The dealer said it was probably the battery. What? I said...this car is always on the tender and had less than 500 miles on it. The car was flown over, so the BS about being on a boat doesn't apply.

    Anyway, I stood there for 4.25 hours waiting for the tow truck to arrive that Ferrari Roadside dispatched. Fortunately I had 3 fireman and a policeman there until DOT sent someone to direct traffic. DOT stayed the entire time waiting with me and dealing with drive by idiots. BTW, the car locks into Park and the parking brakes engage so you can't just push the car out of the way and you need a specific "Auto Lift" tow truck (not flatbed as in older F cars). The car was towed in to the dealer and they changed the battery to an Interstate.

    I've had 4 Ferraris and so I'm used to their finicky BS but this was a very dangerous situation. I would advise any Ferrari owner to find out how to unlock the Park to Neutral (it is easy) along with unlocking the parking brakes for this situation. The instructions are in the book, which I read but didn't think to do because it says something like "Ferrari technician" only or some such nonsense (plus the book isn't clear, I had the mechanic show me).

    I have the latest version Porsche 911 Turbo S, as well, and never had a problem. In fact, I picked the car up in LV, put 500 miles on it to break it in and then drove to Maine and back within the first 2 months of ownership (7,300 miles). Not towed once.

    This battery issue produces horrible consequences and this may just be my last Ferrari (which I say every time LOL)..... I'm still not trusting of this car and I've been driving it a lot since the incident to regain that trust. Alot of traffic where I live and I'm always thinking about breaking down in the worst situations, similar to the other owner). Oh well... being a Ferrari owner can be a humbling experience.....
     
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  12. PA Wolfpacker

    PA Wolfpacker Formula Junior

    Aug 19, 2007
    653
    Naples, FL
    Full Name:
    Neil
    Believe it or not you are lucky they didn’t charge you for the battery. My ‘17 488 Spider died 10 months after delivery. The car was always on the tender when it was not driven. Fortunately mine died in a safe spot. It was towed to the dealer and I was told since the car was not driven more than 2000 miles per year I had to pay for the replacement.

    One would think Ferrari would at least pay for a replacement until they figure out why this is happening at a high rate.
     
  13. IPO1

    IPO1 F1 Rookie

    Dec 23, 2015
    3,575
    This is insane--I'm glad you are ok. I guess I'm not surprised, but it's never good to hear such horror stories.
     
  14. Marcel Massini

    Marcel Massini Two Time F1 World Champ
    Honorary

    Mar 2, 2005
    22,741
    Batteries that come with the new car are the poorest, lousiest, cheapest. You would not expect this from such an expensive brand new car.
    Best is to replace the battery on the very first day with a proper one. It is a very well known problem. I have many friends with the same issue, all sorts of brand new Ferraris.
    Naturally factory doesn't want to pay for that. They expect the dealer to pay for the replacement or you!
    And don't forget to always connect it to the charger, every single day, every night when you come home. Always.

    Marcel Massini
     
    pdxjim488 likes this.
  15. F&PCarFan

    F&PCarFan Rookie

    May 14, 2019
    11
    Full Name:
    F&PFan
    I've learned that I will always change the battery before delivery as a condition of purchase at my expense or not.

    My Italian friend concluded that "Ferrari is product centric vs. customer centric". I believe he is correct...hence not paying for better batteries on recently purchased cars. It will be their downfall IMO.... too many great cars out there and demand for sports cars is diminishing....



    Sent from my SM-G950U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
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  16. boogie

    boogie Karting

    Mar 4, 2016
    192
    Boston
    Full Name:
    Keith
    What a nightmare. Is it worth just monitoring battery voltage while driving so we'd have a heads up? Is this easy to do?
     
  17. F&PCarFan

    F&PCarFan Rookie

    May 14, 2019
    11
    Full Name:
    F&PFan
    Interestingly my F355 had a positive battery terminal in the engine bay, which made it easy to jump, a good feature. These batteries are crammed into a small space in the passenger footwell. Very tight and inconvenient.

    If Ferrari added a positive post in the engine bay ( a la 355) or there was a way to add a post in the engine bay, that would make it much easier to jump in an emergency situation. I carry a battery jumper with me....

    Sent from my SM-G950U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  18. IPO1

    IPO1 F1 Rookie

    Dec 23, 2015
    3,575
    #68 IPO1, Jun 27, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2019
    Your friend is very smart and probably right.
     
  19. F&PCarFan

    F&PCarFan Rookie

    May 14, 2019
    11
    Full Name:
    F&PFan
    Listen, I'm sorry guys if my comments seemed to turn into a Ferrari bashing session. I've owned 4, built 3, so I'm certainly a fan. The Italians are the greatest artistic designers in the world, their execution just isn't as good as the Germans or Japenese IMO.

    Every company has its achilli's heel IMO. Product reliability is Ferrari's. It just is. They create GREAT emotion evoking cars in a way that even Porsche cannot compete with. That emotional attachment overcomes some of this stuff but waiting for a tow truck in the middle of a busy road for over 4 hours is NOT on that list.

    I hope Ferrari can get it together. I really do. In the meantime, my emergency kit is rather large.... and I drive within a reasonable tow range to a dealer or in a group of Ferrari owners (or have a chase car LOL).... On a positive note, when it is working, it is a great thrill to drive...

    Sent from my SM-G950U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  20. ca_scud

    ca_scud Karting

    Dec 15, 2006
    79
    California
    I’m glad you shared your nightmare of a story, made me feel much better about getting stranded taking my friend to chemo last week. At least we were in a parking lot and could go wait in a nice lobby.

    My 488 is my second Ferrari and I was thinking how I never had any battery problems in the past 7 years of owning the Scuderia. Then I remembered I put an Optima in it as soon as I got it, probably because of something I read here. Should have remembered, but I guess I wore out my brain trying to get all these cars :)
     
  21. F&PCarFan

    F&PCarFan Rookie

    May 14, 2019
    11
    Full Name:
    F&PFan
    I had Optimas in all my other sports cars with great results. After my battery failure, the dealer wanted to put an Interstate battery in. I researched Optima on-line and saw many quality complaints...it seems something has deteriorated at Optima over recent years, so the dealer put in an Interstate. My first and I hope it stands up. Being stranded in a parking lot is ideal (as if "being stranded" can ever be ideal).

    As I said before, I wont accept delivery of a new Ferrari without a battery replacement.
     
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