458 fire issue fixed with previous recall from years back?

There was a recall, and an owner would have had to be insane not to have had it done. This was not a problem on later cars. If you are unsure if a particular car has had the recall done, you can get a dealer to run the vin to see if all recalls have been taken care of. Don't let this issue keep you back!

 

There was only about 100 cars that were in the US when the recall happened. Some were on the boat and were fixed before delivery. My dealer did 3 or 4 of them. My belief is Ferrari made sure they tracked down each one and made the change because the PR was so bad.

If you checked with any dealer they could check the VIN and see if it's been done or was involved at all. But only the very earliest cars in the US were affected. Europe had cars several months before we did which is where the problem was discovered.

Since the recall there has not been one fire attributed to the original problem of the wrong glue being used.

 

All mid engine cars risk fire. I'm sure there have been some but not related to the recall issue. But I don't think you will find any owners here who think it's a risk they worry about.

 

My 458 was built in April 2010, delivered in Sep 2010. It was not affected by the engine bay fire recall. There was a recall on the 2010 and 2011 for the front hood inside cable release mechanism. The dealer fixed it at no cost.

It would be unimaginable any 2010 owner did not have it fixed as soon as the recall was announced. This is not something one would wait and see. So the chance of getting a 2010 without the fix would be very slim. On the other hand, if you do come across one, it would be one hell of a bargaining advantage.

 

From my research, it seems ferrari was not particularly forthcoming with the exact cause probably due to potential litigation at the time. However, all the fires I've been able to find originated on the left ( driver) side rear quarter. What's mounted in this corner, the charcoal canister for the fuel vapor purge system! In fact, the only parts change I can find is that the clean air intake hose to the canister was changed from simply hanging inside the fender to being secured to and venting from the left rear tire inner fender/wheel well. I suspect that very early cars could possibly vent fuel vapor to the engine compartment in close proximity to the exhaust manifold, causing the fires. Now, emissions standards state that the vapor systems should never purge to atmosphere unless the system is dangerously over pressure, but it can happen. So, by routing any purged fumes into the fender well instead of the engine compartment ferrari eliminated the fire potential. I suspect some purge system software upgrade was done as well, further limiting the conditions of any kind of venting to atmosphere. Checking to see if this clean air hose reroute was done is very easy. The only downside is that brake dust from the wheel well can now get sucked into the charcoal canister air filter and limit the amount of normal clean air flow when purging to the intake manifold. This can cause excessive purge valve duty cycles and possibly a CEL if bad enough.

 

Had my 430 burning to the ground last month , fire started and propagated quickly while I was driving, most certainly because of over fuelling, during a hot day and a loose hose in the engine compartment,
The fire was started by gas vapors, and propagated to the full car quickly, I am lucky I only have an arm injured. Not easy to spot a fire behind you luckily I heard a « bang » behind the driver window…
Just to say that I don’t want to stay on this bad experience and I am considering the 458 as a replacement of my car, I found a 2010 , can I visually check if the adhesive was replaced by rivets after the 2010 recalls? Or see with the NIV if the car is concerned by this issue? Thanks!