I bought my 458 Italia on 9/13/2011. In June of 2013 the A/C stopped working; I brought it to the dealer and they told me the fluid was very low but they didnt know why since they couldnt find any leak; not a very reassuring answer. In April 2014 the A/C stopped working again; I brought it to the dealer and they told me the fluid was very low and that they found a leak and fixed it; ok that sounded better In August of 2014 the A/C stopped working again; I brought it to the dealer on 8/12 and they told me that the fluid was low but there wasnt any leak! I asked if/when the problem comes back after the end of the warranty (9/13/2014) if the problem will be covered since this is a preexisting problem that started well under warranty and I was told NO. BTW: I dont feel like buying the extended warranty since my confidence in getting my car repaired by the dealer if/when the next problem occur isnt very high based on that experience. The only option I was given when I pointed out that this recurring problem has never been fixed and needed to be fixed was to leave the car at the dealership until they figure it out (apparently if it is at the dealer when the warranty expires, it is still covered!). It has been almost 8 weeks (since 8/12) now and the car is still not fixed and even worse I didnt get to drive my car during 8 of the best weeks of the year here in the PNW! Every time I contact the dealer I am told that they are actively working on the car; but as of today I still dont have my car back or even an ETA. So I am asking the FChat community; what can I do and what should I do? Also anyone else got similar issues with their A/C? Thanks
It would be a lemon in Colorado. Have you considered a 458 Spider...you don't need AC just put the top down! Best
Not siding with the dealer but, I can say finding a leak in the A/C system can be a time consuming issue. Being you have not gotten your car back and or an ETA I would think best to talk with the owner of the dealer and set some priorities 1st and get it sorted out. BTW A/C system does not use fliud, there is a UV die that can be placed in the system as a fliud to check for the leak using UV light. A/C is super important for any car in the Summer but also in the PNW where you guys have all sorts of different weather. good luck and let us know the progress ! Lemmon law, some places like NY require 5 time for it to be an issue places like Cali require 3 documented issues with out a resolution.
I have talked to the owner without much success (except for him telling that he sympathizes and they are working hard on it). I afraid it is too late for the lemon law; in WA it seems like complaints have to be filled before the car is 30 month old; which makes it very tricky in the case of a problem with the A/C on a Ferrari: 1st our cars usually don’t get driven that much and A/C problem leaks take a while (miles) to be noticeable (with the A/C on which is not that many month around here): the first 2 times I brought the car in (especially the 2nd time) I thought the problem was fixed. But for me to discover that it wasn't, I had to put a significant (for a Ferrari) number of miles on the car which eats up the months and makes it that now I am outside the 30 month deadline. When the dealer tells you “the A/C is fixed, we checked the whole system and there is no leak”, you tend to believe them. As far as contacting a regional service rep; I have copied one on my last email communication with the owner but I am not sure what to expect since my only previous experience didn't go as I would have expected (you can read more here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/458-italia/384862-problems-sales-department.html ), in short when I took delivery of the car there was a scratch on the windshield which was later made a lot worse by the dealer trying to fix it. When I filled the new car survey from Ferrari, I complained about this issue and instead of having someone from FNA contact me to try to solve the problem, I got an angry phone call from the sale rep (apparently the way to solve a problem with the dealer is to send the survey to the dealer and expect them to fix it without ever contacting the owner to check if the problem was actually fixed). I don't wan't to sound too angry: I love my car and I have tried to be very patient about getting the car fixed (8 weeks in the shop); I just want my car back and fixed; I want to drive it (or let me trade it in for a Speciale A; but now I am dreaming!).
I definitely would not be paying that much money to a dealer to buy a car and then get dicked around by them pretending to fix my car. I would get my car out of there before they do more damage. Pay the money to have a reputable shop or other dealer look at it. Then report them to Ferrari and never purchase a car from them again.
It sounds like they really don't know how to make a proper repair?? As far as not covering the repair I think Ferrari dealers offer a two year warranty on any repair
They could take your car apart and rebuild it several times in 8 weeks. They're not working on sh*t. You can't possibly believe that. As much as you spent for that car, the service should be impeccable. There are many ways to find even the most minute leak. They consider you a low priority... it's time to change that.