A Missouri resident is seeking to bring a class action against Ferrari for braking systems he claims are defective in certain vehicles.
As alleged in his complaint, Jeffrey Rose bought a pre-owned 2018 488GTB Ferrari in 2020. While running errands in 2021, his dash panel displayed a “brake fluid low – drive to dealer slowly” message. He drove home, but when he tried to press the brake pedal as he pulled into his driveway, nothing happened and the brakes would not engage. He “frantically released his seat belt, opened the driver’s side door, and jumped out of his moving vehicle just before it entered the 20-foot deep pond behind his residence and sunk to the bottom.”
Then, Rose further alleges, he bought a replacement pre-owned 2018 488 GTB Ferrari in 2021. However, he received the same “brake fluid low – drive to dealer slowly” message in this vehicle, and the brake pedal malfunctioned as he reached his garage, with the pedal going straight to the floor.
The cause of the defect remains to be discovered through litigation, according to the complaint, but “may be related to leaking brake fluid and/or the master cylinder/brake booster component.”
The complaint alleges the defective brakes are installed in certain vehicles of the following years/models:
- 2010-2015 458 Italia
- 2014-2015 458 Speciale
- 2015 458 Speciale A
- 2012-2015 458 Spider
- 2016-2019 488 GTB
- 2016-2019 488 Spider
Legal claims
The lawsuit raises claims including violation of state consumer protection laws.
Rose contends the defendants have known of the defect since at least 2015, when a Ferrari engineer testified about the braking systems during a wrongful death criminal trial following the crash of a 2012 Ferrari 458 Spider. Rose further claims that it was only in October 2021 that Ferrari decided to conduct a safety recall of the vehicles at issue, and that they have failed to conduct the recall.
He seeks remedies including damages and the repair, replacement, or refund of money paid to own or lease all of the specified vehicles.
The case is Jeffrey Rose v. Ferrari North America, Inc., et al., case number 2:21-cv-20772, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
