612: Leather Damage / Dash Shrinkage

I'm actively in the market for 05-07 (1st gen) Ferrari 612.

After doing the half and full marathons (Disney Goofy Run) last weekend, I headed south and visited a couple of dealers in South FL; including an 05 base model and 06 GTC model.

Both cars, like others in this generation, have issues with dash shrinkage. The 05 had slight and the 06 model was completely pulled away. The cars also had leather damage elsewhere, such as the side of the seat bolsters.

Does anyone have an idea of repair costs for these?

Is it better to require these repaired as part of deal, offer less and repair myself, or look elsewhere?

Thanks.

Adam

 

If you're cool with most of the normal color combinations, I'd keep looking. But even in high season, there are only a couple dozen 612's for sale at any given time so if it's the right car, don't let repairs, even seemingly pricey ones, be your only deciding factor would be my advice. Like sticky parts, the shrinkage is probably a "when" rather than "if".

 

The seat bolster is relatively simple to repair. There are many leather restoration services around. I had a mobile guy come out to do mine in the UK. Cost was 100 GBP.

The dash shrinkage is a bigger problem to correct. I'm not sure how easy it is to correct this without removal of the dash to reseat the leather. Best approach is prevention through the regular use of leather conditioners.

 

The dash and rear shelf leather can be stretched if not too bad

 

Fortunately, I have a son in law who can do everything with leather

 

I had the leather dash and steering column replaced on my 599 right after I got it b/c it had the same issues. I wanted it to feel like brand new and I negotiated it into my purchase price.

First, the dealer/servicer had to remove the dash and then they had to take it over to a local leather shop specializing in high-end car leather restoration. It was then sent back and the whole dash was reinstalled.

Off the top of my head, to remove and reinstall the entire dash took about 10 hours. The cost of the leather replacement was another $1,500. So all in, you are looking +/- $3k for a high-quality job.

 

Common problem with the Maranellos and 612s. Whatever repair is necessary, the dash will have to be removed. Sometimes possible to stretch, but most often leather replacement is necessary. On my 575M, R&R of the dash and replacement of the leather was $3500. Really depends on the labor costs. The leather will be ~$1000 and you want someone who really knows what they are doing because there is quite a bit of stitching involved.

 

I think much of that is a hot climate issue. Cars in cooler climates don't seem to have as much of a problem.

 

Kinda hard to believe that people let their Ferrari's sit out in the sun long enough for this to happen, but I've also seen it on 612's and 575's. Fortunately mine has had no issues with this or the sticky buttons *knock on wood*

 

I doubt so many 612s / 575s are being left in the Sun like that. I believe, as most others, this is a poorly engineered design on Ferrari's part. Don't like to insult the maker, but they should have taken responsibility for this and fixed it for free with a redesign.

My 2 cents.

 

It is not limited to 612/575 It has been happening since the BB when they started using leather on the dash and will continue as long as the leather is used.

There is a simple solution, do not park outdoors without a sunscreen and unless it is raining leave a window cracked open for ventilation. We have a 90 TR and the dash still looks like new and it has never had a chemical put on it.

On the cars with large rear windows a screen should be used there as well. We used to tell new owners that when they picked up the cars but many rejected the idea out of hand because it didn't look good.

People that do that and do it every time just don't have trouble.

 

It's routine.

 

Yup.

 

everyone is not thinking clearly.. i had a 911 turbo- all leather dash- doors, panels, leather everywhere. left it outside all the time. atlanta heat and sun. no problems.not one bit.. this is purely a ferrari issue- they do not use the right adhesive and do not prep the leather correctly, and do not allow enough of a "lip" when stapling it underneath the dash. this 2008 612 with 14k miles should be unacceptable to everyone, and I think if Ferrari put a small amount of time and money into fixing, it would go a long way:
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Yup.

 

Not always - my 612 has always been in a climate controlled garage and still had issues with the rear shelf

 

Michael- Who is not thinking clearly?

 

Terry, Bad linguistics on my part . What I mean is we shouldn't expect this just because of hot climate or because the car is outside. It's a car , and like you, I drive my antiques and exotics . They aren't garage queens. I don't think we should allow ourselves to say "well it's a ferrari so it's ok that the leather shrinks.... After all, I drove the car in the sun today,....." That's what I meant. It sounds like some people rationalize it and accept it, becuase it is so frequent. Not all cars have the problem-my 456 never did. Interestingly, I see less of it on cars with colored dash, than in black.

 

That's because black will absorb the sun's rays and create more heat while lighter colors will reflect the rays.

 

True - but, in the case of the 612, aren't all the dashes black leather?

 

Not by a long shot.

Here's mine -
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Actually, as I thought about it, you are not that far off. When I was looking for my 612, I think half the ones I saw were nero exterior color, and another 20-30% were gray/silver exterior color. Probably most if not all of these cars had black interior.

 

No
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ok, maybe it is all still physics and UV absorption. but, still, porsche has black leather dashes that do not shrink. Its a sore spot ( to Me ) for Ferrari, as this is a simple thing that i think should be fixed.We should be able to drive the car , to the max, without worrying about parking it, putting in a sun block shield, etc. the leather issue is not unique to 612s, but perhaps the overall dash design differs amongst models so failure rate isn't uniform.

 

Thanks for verifying. So far, I've been looking at 1st gen (05 - mid 07) 612s; and all of them - regardless of interior color - always seemed to have a black dash and aluminum trim around the vents.