2012 Ferrari California problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Vehicle Speed Control (1) · Engine (1) · Air Bags (1)
Safety recalls (2)
Service Brakes, Hydraulic 2022-07-26 · campaign 22V536000 · 23,555 vehicles
Defect: Ferrari North America, Inc. (Ferrari) is recalling certain 2005-2009 430, 2019-2020 488 Pista, 2016 F60 America, 2005-2011 612 Scaglietti, 2010-2011 612, 2018-2022 812, 2020-2022 F8 Spider, 2020-2022 F8 Tributo, 2021-2022 Roma, 2009-2017 California, 2015-2017 California T, 2013-2017 F12 Berlinetta, 2017 F12 TDF, 2012-2016 FF, 2017-2020 GTC4 Lusso, 2018-2020 GTC4 Lusso T, 2013-2015 LaFerrari, 2017 LaFerrari Aperta, and 2019-2022 Portofino vehicles. The brake fluid reservoir cap may not vent prop
Risk: A loss of brake function can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the brake fluid reservoir cap and update the software to provide a new warning message for low brake fluid, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 22, 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed November 29, 2022. Owners may contact Ferrari customer service at 1-201-816-2668. Ferrari's number for this recall is RC 80. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall number 21V-833.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-06-07 · campaign 18V381000 · 1,507 vehicles
Defect: Ferrari North America, Inc. (Ferrari) is recalling certain 2012 Ferrari California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider, and FF vehicles that have not already had their passenger frontal air bag replaced. These passenger frontal air bag modules have air bag inflators that may explode in the event of a crash due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Ferrari will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag assembly with one that uses an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 19, 2018. Owners may contact Ferrari customer service at 1-201-816-2668. Ferrari's number for this recall is 61. Note: This recall supersedes recall 17V-018.
Service bulletins (47)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Equipment 2020-06-04 · 2668 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
replacing ccp pressure sensors
Equipment 2020-03-25 · 2663 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ferrari predictive maintenance â incompletely compiled ferrari next documents
Equipment 2020-03-25 · 2660 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
2020 technical documentation update (no. 02)
Equipment 2020-02-28 · 2638 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
2019 technical documentation update (no. 10)
Equipment 2020-02-05 · 2648 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ferrari predictive maintenance - intervals and deadlines for scheduled maintenance activities
Equipment:other:owners/Service/Other Manual 2020-01-30 · 2643 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
predictive maintenance stickers guidelines
Showing the 6 most recent of 47 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-01 · Vehicle Speed Control“while driving the car, the transmission dont shifted correctly jurking the car almost causing the car behind to crash into my car. sometimes in the highway the car goes into neutral or wont shift correctly, this starts creating traffic and almos accidents. this is well know by the factory and they never addressed a big issue with their cars.…”
2019-12-04 · Air Bags“long island ferrari dealer keeps telling me the part is not available…”
2012-11-15 · Engine · 2,500 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2012 ferrari california. the contact stated that he received notification of nhtsa campaign id number: 12v211000 (engine and engine cooling). the vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs however, the parts needed to complete the recall repairs were not readily available. the vehicle was left with the dealer for approximate…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.