In rare cases a hot car can be too darn hot.
Ferrari North America is recalling more than 300 2010 Italia sports cars for potential fires. It is part of a larger global recall initiated by Ferrari in Italy. The actual number of reported fires was said to be one in a report just filed with NHTSA.
On the affected vehicles the heat created by engine operation could cause the deformation of the rear right-hand and left-hand wheelhouse and heat shield assemblies. Over time the assembly could become too close to the exhaust system, causing the bonding adhesive used to overheat and produce smoke. Under high ambient operating temperatures the adhesive can ignite. Ferrari says this can make the vehicle inoperable and possibly resulting in a crash.
FNA will contact all customers to have new heat shields put on the rear wheelhouses, eliminating the bonding adhesive and old fasteners and installing the components only with new mechanical fasteners.
As required by law, there will be no charge for the repairs.
Owners may contact Ferrari about recall number 51 at 201-816-2600.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline At 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov. NHTSA Campaign ID number: 10V389000.
Hi Ken,
After seeing the video of the Ferrari burning on TV this past weekend, and reading your item this morning, I got to wondering: In cases like this, where a manufacturer’s defect is responsible for a total loss, who is liable for the damages? That is, is it the driver’s insurance or the manufacturer?
Hi, Steve,
While some manufacturers would likely hope that the claim were resolved by an owner’s insurance company, a situation like the one involving Ferrari, where the problem is clear and apparent, makes it highly likely that either the customer or the insurance company would ultimately prevail and receive some sort of recompense from the factory. Indeed, a smart maker would bend over backwards to ensure the owner came out not just whole but happy. Taking the issue into court — or simply letting an unsatisfied Ferrari owner spread some bad worth-of-mouth — would be foolish and lead to the bad news lasting a lot longer than necessary.
There are, of course, gradations. Toyota is facing a lot of angry customers going to court to claim its poor handling of its safety problems has or will result in their losing trade-in (residual) value. Whether they will prevail is uncertain. And even so, Toyota might take the route many companies have taken to shed nuisance suits, in recent years, by giving a mega-million-dollar settlement to the class’s plaintiffs attorneys, while owners get a coupon good for some money when buying another Toyota.
Still, most makers have come a long way from the days when GM would offer to reimburse owners of its old A-Cars for defective paint work…IF they could prove it was indeed a factory defect. As a friend, a former GM employee noted, it was amazing how many cars were damaged by tree sap or bird droppings, which exempted GM from making repairs.
Paul A. Eisenstein
Publisher, TheDetroitBureau.com
Driver’s insurance company will easily recover from maker in such a clear cut case, if it ever got that far.