599 Burns in Holland

I've seen so many newer Ferraris going up in smoke, I really think they should put an onboard fire-extinguishing system in place. What do they cost, something like 500-1000 installed?

I carry an extinguisher in my cars all the time, but I would feel much safer if there was a built-in extinguisher in the engine compartment.

I don't see any other brand of exotics go up in smoke due to engine fires as often as Ferraris...

 

My thoughts, you should make it in for the initial 500 mile check...........

They recheck tightness of fasteners, fittings and all that..

Do the New Service intervals have this?

My old cars did......

 

I've never known such a high percentage of one make of car go up in flames - and surely new cars would be less prone, but Ferraris seem to get worse. Is there a serious design fault with Ferraris, and if so, how could it have been perpetuated for so long?

 

Two other firebugs>>> Fiero fours & Jaguar twelves.

Maybe so many go up in smoke because the owners can't figure out how to start a flood...

 

Good question. You'd figure some weasel attorney's would sniff this one from a mile away.

 

Have any statistics? I would like to see some.

 

Looked nice in red too
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This is sad to see.

FYI. There's a same thread in the model specific section/612/599 on this.

 

please enlighten us with a number. so many could mean three. exactly how many new ferraris have you seen go up in smoke? i bet you can't document 10. what concerns me is that these threads are always started by non-ferrari owners with <10 posts. somebody should check into that. that is a serious flaw in the moderator system.

 

Too many recent Ferraris are going up in flames. Something is seriously wrong and the more I see these burning Ferraris the more worried I get driving a new Ferrari. It just can't be a matter of bad luck and coincidence.

 

No, but I do see a disproportionately large number of pictures of the type above. Lambos don't seem to cop it as much and 'ordinary' cars very seldom seem to catch fire, despite there being so many more of them. Of course, a Ferrari going up in smoke is much more likely to make the headlines, but even so there does seem to a disturbingly large number of Ferraris copping it. There appears to be an unresolved issue surrounding the integrity of the connections along the pipe from the fuel-filler to the tank stretching back as far as the 308 but still existing on the F430, 612 and 599. Why is this not an issue on other makes of car and, with that in mind, why haven't Ferrari adopted a design such as that used by other manufacturers? Seems like an easy problem to solve, so why don't they? Same goes for the issue of cracked nuts on the fuel rails. Not a problem with other makes of car. I love Ferraris and am currently saving up to buy one, but the fire issue makes me feel somewhat nervous.

 

no, it's a matter of rarity. every ferrari that goes up gets spread all over the internet. even if they are in Holland. when is the last time you saw a yugo on fire in holland? never. do yugos burn up in holland? i can guarantee it.

 

I can at least document five in the last 12-18 months, 3 F430s, 1 360 and this 599 and I am sure there are a couple more and IMO that is too many for a car of this caliber.

 

please define disproportionaly large number. lambo has made about 1/10th the number of cars as ferrari and i imagine they get driven about half as much. seems to reason that you wouldn't see as many on fire. specially on a ferrari forum. ordinary cars seldom seem to catch on fire because it's not interesting. ask a fireman how many ordinary cars catch on fire. i see one at least once a month were i live. i have never taken a picture of it and posted it on the internet though.

 

There have been 1 or 2 other 599s, not including this latest one.

And this debate is stupid, cars shouldn't burst into flames period. And this isn't an aberration, just check wrecked exotics to see a lot of slag heap Ferraris.

 

thanks for making my point. even if they were all 2006's, which is unlikely, i think that comes out to .001 of production.

 

yes, the debate usually is stupid when you have no debating points. bring some facts and it might get more interesting.

 

In that case we should allow .001 of all Boeing production to burn into flames and fall out of the sky killing a few hundred passengers and say it's normal, it's ONLY 1 or 2 planes and no need to investigate the cause or fault.
3 F430s and 2 or 3 599s burning in a span of about 18 months should raise some alarms and I believe it must be investigated by the producer.

 

Fair points indeed, and as I don't have access to any statistics I won't pursue that avenue any further, but my points about the fuel filler pipe and fuel rail nuts are perfectly valid and seem to be issues which could be solved with a design change, but haven't been. It's a well known fact that these issues surfaced on the 308 but are still affecting current tipos. Obviously they can be avoided by vigilant owners inspecting their vehicles carefully, but why should they need to? I've never had to carry out any such inspection on the BMW that I've owned for nearly eight years.

 

By my count..4 599's have gone up in flames. one caught fire enroute home just after the new owner picked it up from the dealer...

 

Well then this is the only reason I won't be buying a 599!

 

I'd buy one in a heart beat...thats why we have insurance..then I would go and buy another one..absolutely one of the finest automoblies ever made.

 

If I were fortunate enough to have purchased a 599, and all things being equal that would afford me to buy one, I'd watch it burn to the ground instead of fighting a fire with a puny little on-board extinguisher. Plus there's an obvious flaw with their design based on these posts, and maybe others too, so I'd watch it burn with plans for the next one. Maybe this sounds harsh, but would you want one with "minor fire damage"?

 

Sage advice. New cars have bugs - most warranty issues I've had on newer cars have been in the first 6-12 months.

MGBs caught fire all the time after cats were installed in '75.

But with Ferrari it seems to occur regardless of front-mid configuration/era. We hear about old 308s with bad fuel lines, but on the 599 it's obviously a bad design or defective component batch.

Actually, the 599 looks obese in red, but the important issue here is the safety of the people driving them and not their aesthetic deficiencies.

As you said, Ferraris make the news. Lambos are made in smaller numbers, I believe, and by Audi. Italian quality probably still lags what the Germans do.

We can only hope so.

That sounds like a statistically significant number given the production volume of these cars -- and a good reason not to buy a 599 till Ferrari gets this sorted out (or NHTSA makes them).