Laguna Hills, CA – March 19, 2019 – Ferrari North America is recalling certain 2017 LaFerrari Aperta, 2018-2019 488 GTB, GTC4 Lusso T, GTC4 Lusso, 488 Spider, 812 Superfast and 2019 488 Pista vehicles because the fuel vapor separator may crack and leak, creating the possibility of a fire. As many as 2,150 vehicles may be affected by this flaw.
The Defect
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Safety Recall Report on this issue, the fuel vapor separator may crack and allow fuel to evaporate or leak, which could increase the risk of fire in the presence of an ignition source. The problem is due to a manufacturing fault caused by the supplier, in which a defective plastic weld in the fuel vapor separator is susceptible to cracking.
According to CNET, the good news is that the driver of an affected vehicle will get a warning beforehand. If a leak occurs, Ferrari notes that “the car’s check engine light will illuminate, and a message in the instrument cluster will tell the owner to take the car to a dealer.” The cars affected by this issue were manufactured as far back as October 2017, in the case of the LaFerrari Aperta, and as recently as October 2018 for other models.
While 2,150 vehicles doesn’t sound like a large number, compared to much bigger recalls for other automakers, CNET pointed out that Ferrari only made 9,251 vehicles in 2018 – so 2,150 represents a sizable percentage of its latest production run.
Timeline of Events
The Authorized Dealer Network reported the issue to Ferrari. After a thorough investigation, Ferrari determined that the leakage was caused by a fault in the manufacturing process of the component. Since then, the defect was corrected by the supplier and implemented on the assembly line. To address the issue in vehicles that have already been sold, Ferrari will begin notifying customers and dealers April 14, 2019.
The Solution
After owners of affected vehicles receive the appropriate notification, Ferrari dealers will replace the fuel vapor separator, free of charge.
Owners may contact Ferrari customer service at 1-201-816-2668. Ferrari’s number for this recall is 69. Owners may also contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov. The NHTSA Campaign Number for this recall is 19V-090.
