F8 F8 Battery Dead - after 1 month

I used to have a Toyota Carina for many years, it used to sit in the garage for 4 months while i was away deep sea, no charger. Come home and it would turn over but not start, try again an hour later and away it went. Never had to charge battery, basic car with nothing drawing power when switched off.

 

No, not ALL cars go through the same months of shipping and storage without battery tenders and certainly not any other cars that are built HERE in the USA which may include many Mercedes. I don't know if any are built here or not. But cars that are built here do not suffer battery problems though I will say that new cars even ones that are built here that sit in lots for months on end do have batteries that have a shorter life span. Once you put in the replacement battery in it and properly care for it, they can easily last 10-13 years. I can attest to that life span because the ones in my muscle cars have lasted that long. I have owned my Ferrari for almost 2 years now and I think the battery in it will last for several years. I do not know when the replacement was put in mine since I bought it used however it is likely to have already been in there for a couple years before I bought it. We shall see.

 

I’m very curious on your understanding of how the shipping process works? The cars are only only a boat for 2 weeks. When they leave the factory they are started up and driven on a transport. When they arrive at the port they are started up and moving on the boat. When they arrive in the US they are started up and moved onto the port. They get started up and moved a number of times when they are in the port. They get started up and moved onto a transport to the dealer. During the entire 2-3 month shipping time from leaving the factory to arriving at the dealer the car is started up and moved numerous times.

there are rare occasions when there are delays and it may sit at customs for an extend period of time, but that is not the usual case.

 

SD- yes of course I meant foreign, shipped cars, not domestic. Mine is an AMG GT so definitely built in Germany — anyway, yes, my point was Ferraris don’t seem to be much worse than other cars and we all blow it out of proportion— they just don’t get driven as much is all. I’ve been in dealership world for 27 years and all makes are found on the lot dead every day… it’s very common simply from sitting too much..




Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Well,you leave a Pista (lithium battery) off tender for two weeks and battery replacement is imminent. Yes you can start it but you will experience gremlins with a weak battery. Mine had to be changed after about 9 months at a cost of 7k dollars. Go into any dealer and if you see a Pista it is connected to a tender. Yet my 06 Ford GT (rear engine) has had the same battery now for 5 years. Poor countermeasures of parasite drain in these cars.

 

I have no knowledge of the shipping process other than its a PITA ( with many risks) and I think the only thing that can come from it is usually not good but that's just a conjecture. Simply starting a car and moving it does nothing to rejuvenate a battery and only draws it down. I know my car went from Maranello ultimately to SanFrancisco and then to Arizona....none of which sounds like fun.

 

I saw a post one time a while ago where a guy took a picture of his car when it was pitch black and you could see various dim lights. Out of curiosity, I went in my garage when it was pitch black and snooped around but everything in and around the car was black as well with no signs of any draw downs. PS. I was an inch away from buying a 2005/06 Ford GT back in 2007. While I liked everything about it (prices were still around 175K), what kept me from pulling the trigger was that the GT could blow gauges at freewill/anytime. So I took a pass on it (left a great deal of money on the table!) and now I have a SpecialeA that is the subject of many things we read on this forum. I think in both cars it comes down to a grounding issue due to the aluminum and dissimilar metals and like you say countermeasures however no one has been able to pin that down.

 

To give you a little context there are over 7 million cars that are imported into the US. None of those are put on tenders during transit. A Bad battery has nothing to do with being shipped by boat or the process. Unfortunately it seems that this is a relatively unique issues for Ferrari. With that being said not a single one I have had has ever had issues with the battery and they go months without being driven or on a tender

 

While that is all true those imported cars I suspect all suffer a shorter battery longevity issues. In other words that new battery last says 5-6 years where you put a replacement in and use it correctly it may last 8 years. The issue with the boat and the shipping process isn't the boat at all, it is the amount of time that it takes and I believe that is a problem. I religiously use a tender on my cars with exception of my daily driver and the ones on the tender have lasted 10-13 years routinely.

 

I keep my 488 Spider in an air conditioned garage and on the tender religiously and it still eats batteries like crazy. In 5 years it has gone through the OEM battery and 2 Interstates and is on its 3rd Interstate. And it gets driven fairly regularly (1800 mi/yr around town).

 

7k for a battery ???

 

I think some of these tenders are not as good as you may think. I have 3 different tenders and the granite tender keeps the battery at the highest charged state and pulses it from about 12.7 to 13.6 v about 4 time /hr. My NoCo just keeps it at a flat charge around 12.4 and tops it off to 12.8 about once/day. I don’t use a CTEK. I also have a battery minder and it does 3-4stages and the occasionally pulses to desulfate once /wk or so but usually shows a voltage ov 12.8 resting. For the most part I’m using the granite battery maintainer. The spiked voltages are the granite maintainer and the sloping decreasing line is the NOCO charger. I don’t have a tracing for the battery minder version.

 

Actually over 7k dollars with installation. And they got you because the Lithium used on the Pista is proprietary to one company and uses a a special connector.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

At least they said 'please' pay this amount. Should just slap a $300 Interstate in there and be fine.... and without $499 labor!

 

Wishful thinking….the car will not start without connecting to the pictured connector and software pairing. There is a frustrating thread on this issue.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Brutal

 

Did you go with the Lithium option or is it the standard Lead

 

What an unbelievable way to permanently hold and squeeze your nuts

Did you keep the old battery ?

I would be dissecting it and finding out what circuit it has.

 

The cut-out knob on old Ferrari's was a good solution !

I think you can do it with these new cars with no problem if stored for f.i. winter / longer times.

The reset procedure is only a few minutes

 

A friend of mine told me his dealer changed the battery for his F8 after 2 years under warranty?

Isn't the battery seen as a consumable?

 

Yes. I paid for mine prior to taking delivery. I’d imagine it’s at the preference of the dealer to absorb the cost for the relationship with the customer. I doubt it was filed as a warranty item, they just bought it and took care of their customer. It should be standard practice to replace them prior to delivering them (passing along the cost to the buyer)….or just have the OEM one be a better one.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

When I bought my 458, the dealer put in a new Interstate battery for free. Car was shipped from Chicago (Continental), so maybe they did it to insure good customer experience - that car would start and could be driven off the transport. Battery lasted over 7 years and replaced recently with an Antigravity.


Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat

 

Yes it is but consider this , Do you believe that a battery should only last 2 years ? More importantly your mate , where was he stranded when the Ferrari dealership thought it would be a good idea to change his batter ?

I dare say that you have had other cars ? What were the life of the batteries in those cars , provided you didnt leave the lights on all night ?

 

My experience with Continental Ferrari so far have been very good. I am sure they follow protocol and if a battery is ****, a battery is ****.....throw it out which they did. These cars have that 101 point Ferrari inspection in them and the battery is no exeption