The vehicles require a new passenger side inflator.
As part of Takata's settlement with the United States government over the Japanese firm's faulty airbag inflators, there's a rolling recall on them to gradually get the potentially dangerous safety devices off the road. Now, it's Ferrari owners turn to deal with the issue because a new campaign now affects the passenger side inflators in the 2009-2013 California, 2010-2013 458 Italia (including the Spider), 2012-2013 FF, and 2013 F12berlinetta.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the latest recall affects 1,507 vehicles, which represents all of these vehicles from 2009 to 2013 in the country. Like other affected Takata inflators, factors like heat, humidity, and time can cause the propellant inside to degrade and absorb moisture. In a collision, this could mean that the airbag inflator would burst, which would shoot shards of metal at occupants and potentially result in serious injuries or even death.
An ongoing thread on the Ferrari Chat forum has owners discussing the problem. According to someone posting there, the replacement process removing the glovebox, passenger side dashboard cover, and accessing the underside of the cover where the airbag is attached. Many people there already having the repairs complete.
In 2016, Ferrari recalled 2,820 units of the 2010-2011 458 Italia and 2009-2011 California to replace their passenger side airbags.
Even more Ferraris will be affected by the Takata recall in the future. The company already confirms that around 2,800 vehicles from the 2016 and 2017 model years have the potentially dangerous components. Because the inflators degrade over time, these pieces shouldn't be immediately dangerous to occupants.
Ferrari is hardly alone in needing to replace Takata's airbag components. In total, the campaign affects roughly 69 million vehicles from companies all over the world, including some examples of high-end, niche models like the McLaren 570S, Lexus LFA, and Tesla Model S.
ATTENTION FERRARI OWNERS
The following vehicles are currently affected by an URGENT Airbag Safety Recall
Model Year 2009 - California
Model Year 2010 - California and 458 Italia
Model Year 2011 - California and 458 Italia
Model Year 2012 - 458 Italia, 458 Spider, FF and California
Model Year 2013 - 458 Italia, 458 Spider, FF, F12berlinetta and California
If the passenger-side front airbag is deployed, a defective inflator produced by Takata can send sharp metal fragments toward the vehicle occupants, resulting in injury or death.
Replacement airbags are now available. Please contact your nearest Authorized Ferrari Dealer to make an appointment to have the FREE repair performed on your vehicle.
Please take the time to see if your vehicle is subject to this recall by immediataly checking the VIN number of your vehicle using one of the following steps:
1. Visit the NHTSA recall website
https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
2. Visit the Ferrari website recall lookup
https://auto.ferrari.com/en_US/owners/car-part-services/
3. Contact your nearest Authorized Ferrari Dealer
https://auto.ferrari.com/en_US/car-dealers/
4. You may also contact Ferrari North America directly at (201) 816-2668
Ferrari is unaware of any such incidents in Ferrari vehicles at this time, but that does not lessen the urgency of this recall. Remember, the recall repair is FREE.