Having a Ferrari is often seen as the culmination of a passion for motoring. Yet even the most prestigious models are not without their faults. That's what Rob Ferretti, collector, supercar rental agent and owner of this Ferrari 458 from 2015, in a video in which he tackles two recurring problems that have plagued Ferraris for decades. Defects so visible that he himself admits he's «ashamed to show this to people».
A magnificent Ferrari 458... until you look at the dashboard
This isn't Rob Ferretti's first Ferrari. Over the years, he has owned several models of the Italian marque, and readily admits to everything he likes about Ferrari. But certain problems recur so often that he can no longer justify them. The main culprit? The dashboard.
On his Ferrari 458, the leather covering the dashboard has gradually shrunk under the effect of heat and sun. The result: the upholstery is peeling off, forming unsightly creases and even detaching itself from certain parts of the dashboard. For him, the facts are clear. This phenomenon has nothing to do with the vehicle's age or mileage. In his experience, all Ferraris regularly exposed to sunlight suffer from the same problem. Shaded areas such as the glovebox and center console, on the other hand, remain perfectly intact.
Faced with the state of his car, he doesn't hide his annoyance:
«I'm ashamed to show this to people.»
A strong statement when it comes to an Italian sports car whose value on the second-hand market is well over 200,000 euros.
A problem known for decades
What particularly infuriates the American owner is that this defect is nothing new. According to him, the phenomenon of leather shrinkage has been known for several generations of Ferraris. He claims to have observed the same problem on much older models, and doesn't understand why the manufacturer has never found a lasting solution.
By completely dismantling the upper part of the dashboard, he discovers the probable origin of the problem: the leather is mainly held together by glue. With time and heat, this glue loses its effectiveness, and the leather gradually shrinks. The areas stapled at the factory remain in place, but all the parts that are simply glued come unstuck. Once the dashboard is removed, the spectacle is even more impressive. The folds and deformations appear much more pronounced than they did when the unit was installed in the cockpit.
The famous sticky buttons, another Ferrari classic
Rob Ferretti's second problem is just as notorious among Ferrari owners: sticky buttons. Over the years, the coating applied to certain controls degrades and literally becomes sticky to the touch. In his demonstration, he even shows that a card can stick to the surface of a button because it has become so sticky. Once again, he feels that this type of defect is hardly acceptable on a car of this standing. He even compares this deterioration to what you'd expect from an aging economy car from the 1980s or 1990s, but certainly not from a Ferrari produced in 2015.
Specialist refurbishment rather than expensive replacement
Rather than buying a new dashboard, which can cost a lot of money, the owner chooses another solution. The leather is completely removed, then entrusted to a specialist capable of reproducing the original materials and stitching. A few days later, the result is spectacular: the dashboard is restored to its factory appearance, with no visible creases or peeling.
At the same time, he replaces degraded buttons and takes the opportunity to modernize his Ferrari 458's multimedia equipment with the installation of a wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto system. According to him, the original infotainment is now one of the elements that age the car the most.
After several days' work and his own reassembly, Rob Ferretti finally has a Ferrari 458 that reflects his image of the brand. The dashboard is perfectly taut, the sticky surfaces have disappeared and the interior looks modern again, thanks to the integration of the latest multimedia system. Problems with retracted leather or sticky buttons continue to fuel discussions in owners' groups and have clearly never completely disappeared from the Ferrari universe.
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