Ferrari 488 Sings the Italian Exotic Car Battery Drain Blues
Buying a Ferrari? Budget for some expensive spare batteries — they’re not warrantied.
It’s often said that special cars can turn everyday errands into events. We’re assuming that this particular lunch trip was not the sort of “event” the owner intended.
YouTube’s very own Rob Ferretti, who goes by superspeedersRob, decided to take his Ferrari 488 to lunch one day. After about an hour drive and a meal, Ferretti got back into his Ferrari to leave, and…nothing happened. the battery was dead. Obviously, this was pretty embarrassing for him. A Ferrari is the kind of car people notice, and they’ll all be paying attention and making their jokes as they observe a hapless owner struggling with the sort of things owners of lesser cars take for granted.
Thankfully, Ferretti has a secret weapon: a rechargeable jump start battery pack with 75% life left on it. Several tries later, and the Ferrari finally starts. It took a whopping 45 minutes to get the 488 to start again.
Rob is justifiably angry at his car. It’s got less than a thousand miles on it, and he leaves it on a battery tender when he doesn’t drive it for long periods. Still, the battery dies as the most inopportune times. The last time it happened, he had the car towed to the dealership, who informed him that batteries are not covered under warranty. It gets worse, though: the battery for the 488 costs $800.
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Luckily, Ferretti has a deal with Odyssey Batteries that will get him an upgraded replacement battery for free. For those 488 owners not so fortunate, it seems like it’s tough luck — you’ll have to pay up. Apparently, the battery drain problem isn’t unique to Ferretti’s car. Lots of 488 owners have experienced premature battery failures, and as stated above, Ferrari refuses to warranty cars that don’t drive at least 2,000 miles per year. Ouch.
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