458 Upgrading to a 458

458 is a great car - just make sure you have taken it to inspect at a Ferrari dealer or a shop that knows these cars well.


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I got mine to Ferrari to add their warranty and if they approve you to add the warranty than it means that the car is perfect....


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After researching and recently buying a 2012, I've found the overwhelming majority of issues trace back to the battery being the culprit. I think if you keep it on a tender and change out the battery every year or two, you will be fine.

 

yeh id say they're pretty strong cars - outside of some electric gremlins often caused by the battery there really havent been any vulnerabilities. great car to enjoy!

 

Personally, I'd stick to model years produced after Mid-2012

Ray

 

You know I put a new interstate battery in my 458 and I can’t get my charger to work on it. And the battery works great but can’t charge it.

Anyone experienced it before ?


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I did quite a bit of researching before I bought my 458 Italia used. Originally I was looking at 2010 and 2011 model years, but after reading a lot on Ferrarichat and also speaking with some of the dealers, it just seemed to me that the general consensus of opinion was that some of the earlier cars were more prone to having gearbox issues. I'm not saying the earlier cars are inherently bad, but I just feel like the sweet spot for production might have been mid 2012 to end of 2013. I opted to pay a little more and hedge my bets by going 2013 or later.

I don't know what takes place internally with Ferrari at the factory or how it all works, but it seems over the years, I have heard (more than once) that the more skilled people working at Ferrari are rotated from working specifically on one model and then pulled off and moved over to working on whatever the new model is. Is that fact or fiction? I have no idea. Maybe it doesn't matter. What I do know, as a long time Ferrari customer, is that I personally am not a big fan of buying any of the cars when they first hit the scene. With the 355, 360, etc. it's always seemed like the initial first couple of years had random problems and issues that were over looked and only corrected after customers discovered the issues. For example, on all the 360's before about 2001, the fuel gauge didn't even work correctly. I had to repair the car myself. Finally in I believe 2002, Ferrari got around to installing a fuel sending unit which actually worked correctly. I mean, com'on. 1999 to 2001 to make the gas gauge read correctly?

Anyway, just my 2 cents on the subject. Overall, the DCT seems very well made, but I seem to remember there were a number of people with early 458's where they had to just flat out replace the gearbox because it failed and the dealers can't do anything up stick a new one in (as far as I know). Search around and maybe you can find the old threads. Again, not totally sure if some change was actually made to the gearbox or not; getting information like that outside of working at Ferrari isn't always an easy trick.

It's probably a hit or miss sort of thing. How many miles on the car you are looking at?

Overall, the 458 is a fantastic car. I'd happily take the worst 458 Italia over the best F430 I could find haha

Ray

 

Italia is an amazing car...I put 24K trouble-free miles on my 2011 before trading it for a Speciale.
If checks out in a PPI and well-cared for with at least 8K miles on it then I think you’ll love it.
Higher miles better than garage queen.
No weak points like in previous generations—like valve guides, or headers, etc.
A newish battery is never a bad idea.

 

Yeah, you definitely want one with a few miles. Don't be scared of one with 6 to 10K miles. Heck, I think my 458 didn't even fully break in until I put 10K miles on it The previous owner must have really driven it tenderly, because it seemed to really come alive after I drove it hard for about 6 months. I had this experience with my 355 also. I purchased it used with 3700 miles on it and it seemed a bit sluggish. But after putting a Tubi on it and redlining it through the tunnel here in Monterey for a few years, at 10K miles, it was a totally different machine.



Ray

 

I noticed the exact same thing with my 16M.
Previous owner let it sit...when I bought it there were quirky driving characteristics, bucking and hesitations.
I put about 2000 miles on quickly and every time I got in the car it drove better and better...smooth as butter (though still a raucous beast mind you! )

 

I’d even say don’t be scared of one with 15-20K miles.
This car is not an investment, but a driver.

 

Totally agree. In fact you wld be doing urself a favor to buy one with miles. If you are fortunate to have a calendar/circumstances that allows you to drive one the worst thing wld be to drive less due to mileage on a car than wont be a collectible. Drive it like crazy!


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great car- such an awesome feeling driving the 458
wont be able to wipe the smile off

welcome to the club

 

I owned a '12 458 Italia for about 3 years. Never had any problems. I have a '15 Speciale now since 2 years with no problems. Many issues with the 458 is related to the battery and I think it's because the cars are sitting to long w/o maintaining the battery. The OEM battery is not of good quality so a good aftermarket battery is an improvement. Another thing to check is service records etc. If previous owners haven't taken care of the car I would be a bit careful.
The 458 is an amazing car and in my opinion the best exotic car you can buy in that price range.

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I love the 458. I overpaid to get the one I wanted, and I don't regret it. It isn't the fastest car around, it isn't the newest, but it is my favorite. It seems to be solid, but I'm sold either way. I'm just going to drive it and fix whatever breaks. With any luck, I'll never need to sell the car, I consider the money spent on it gone. I'd rather work another year or two than give this car up.

 

If anything it's been narrowed down to a sensor within the gearbox. Those under warranty used to get a whole new gearbox. Now they just replace the sensor. Still not a cheap job, but way less than changing the whole gearbox. And don't think post 2011's are immune. Same can happen to those as well. Overall, it's still rare that you will have any issues with the gearbox. Also unmolested 2010-2011's have the best sound of any 2012+ 458.. You just have to find one that didn't get the engine ECU updates.
Keep the battery fresh as said here already as that is where most of your issues will come from. These cars are very sensitive to voltage drops.
Find the best 458 regardless of year and make your move.

 

That's good to know. My 2013 had a great sounding exhaust note on it and I always told the dealer never to apply any software updates to the ECU under penalty of death!

Ray

 

The Ferrari 458 is an amazing car and one I believe if not already will be on there list of iconic vehicles in time. I just bought my second one after regrettably selling my last one a couple of years ago. I had zero issues with my 2013 model (purchased new) and my current purchase (2014 Italia) is so far a thing of beauty and joy . The opinions on the earlier models tend to focus on gearbox issues but have the car checked out prior to purchase by a reputable mechanic. You are going to love the 458!

 

Honestly, if I had it to do over again, I'd have bought a car with more miles. I've had some small issues that I'm certain would have surfaced and then been handled under warranty if the car was driven more by the original owner. Now it is out of warranty and small issues aren't cheap to fix...

 

Never heard such a thing. I like the Cytec 7002 over the stock unit. Check it out. If you wired every thing to the female receptical correctly & have not crimpled or broken the wire from the male receptical try borrowing a friends unite & see what happens.

 

i have the exact same problem!!!

 

I have only raced a 2009 458 on a tight track and a lp 2006 670sv.
The 3 year gap was noticable: gearbox, steering and brakes were working together perfectly, i felt like i drove the perfect machine.
Cant imagine how it is to drive a Speciale probably i will need medical treatment after this,, lol.

 

the only thing i know for sure that's similar to f430 are the sticky buttons, no way to get around that need refinish sooner or later. There's nothing that's really "prone to failure", but there are some issues that'***** and miss. Gear box is one (mechanic that upkeeps 458 challenge cars says avoid hot weather and hard launches), the dashboard LCD panels could go out, gas filler cap could get stuck, and oh yeah, replace batteries often. Reliability is definitely a huge step up from f430