Ferrari recalls 458 Italia after fires

The Italian carmaker issued the recall on more than 1200 of the cars, which sell in Australia for $526,950.  The recall cites a design fault in the rear wheel arch as being the cause of the fires, traced to the glue that secures the wheel arch to the car’s chassis being prone to melting in hot weather or when the car has had extended use.

The melted glue allows the lining of the wheel arch to come into contact with the exhaust pipe, which carries enough heat to ignite the glue and the lining – with the resulting fire strong enough to melt the aluminium body.

Five 458 Italias have so far reported to have been gutted by flames as a result.  Eight cars already been delivered to Australian buyers, and importer Ateco Automotive says all eight owners were contacted first thing this morning.

“They were informed of the situation and arrangements were made for the cars to come back to the dealerships and have the necessary work done,” Ateco spokesman Edward Rowe says.

“Essentially, we’re replacing part of wheel arch assembly and heat shield alongside. This is being replaced with a unit attached entirely with metal fasteners and the adhesive that was used has been eliminated.”

Rowe says that recalls are rare for Ferrari but not unknown.  “We have less than many manufacturers, but this is not unique… there have been a couple of recalls for previous models. Every manufacturer has issues with their vehicles, none of them has zero recalls.

“The measure is how you respond to that issue and how you look after the customer … with a level of service that matches the quality of the vehicle.”