NHTSA Complaint #11435451 — 2018 FERRARI 488 SPIDER

On 07 September 2021, I had been driving my 2018 Ferrari 488 Spider for 8 to 10 miles when the car suddenly displayed the following message "Brake Fluid Low, Go to Dealer Slowly". (note: Dealer is 2 hours away at 60 mph). As I slowed the car from approximately 45 mph, the brakes felt minimal but with down-shifting and minimal brakes I was able to slow the car. I attempted to limp home at 5 to 10 mph however within 3 miles or so the brakes failed completely. With the pedal to the floor there was absolutely no effect on the vehicle. It was fortunate that I was able to slow the car prior to complete failure and did not hit anything or anyone. Once the brakes failed completely, I did end up running through a stop sign before I could pull off the road into a parking lot and only stopped the car by rolling into an uphill parking spot and hitting the concrete parking barrier with the tires. I found it was necessary to turn the car off in order to keep it from rolling backwards. The car does not have a classic emergency brake but rather an electronic hold function. When trying to activate this function to keep the car from rolling backwards the car displayed the following message (as best I can remember) "Depress Brake Pedal to Activate Hold". However, with the brake pedal fully depressed, the function would not activate even though it worked fine prior to the brake failure (and subsequent to repair). The car was towed to the dealer and repaired under warranty. The service manager reported that the Master Cylinder leaked into the vacuum booster. I had requested that the failed parts be returned to me however the service manager advised me that failed parts replaced under warranty are returned to Ferrari.