Ferrari Lemon Law in California: Roma, 296 GTB, SF90 & Purosangue

The idea of a Ferrari as a lemon sounds like a contradiction — but a car's price has nothing to do with whether California's lemon law protects you. The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act covers Ferrari vehicles just as it covers any other car sold with a manufacturer's warranty. If a covered defect substantially impairs your Ferrari's use, value, or safety and Ferrari cannot repair it within a reasonable number of attempts, you may be entitled to a buyback, a replacement, or a cash settlement, with Ferrari paying your attorney fees.

And with a Ferrari, the stakes are unusually high in the owner's favor. The buyback returns what you paid, and the provision that makes Ferrari cover your attorney fees both scale with the price of the car. On a vehicle worth several hundred thousand dollars, those numbers are among the largest in consumer law.

The brake-fluid recall — and Ferrari admitting it couldn't fix it

Ferrari's most striking recent defect is a brake-system problem: a brake-fluid reservoir cap that could fail to vent properly, allowing fluid to leak and reducing braking ability. The recall swept up more than 23,000 vehicles built across roughly two decades and nearly 20 models. What made headlines was Ferrari's candor with federal regulators — the company acknowledged it did not yet have a completed remedy when the recall was announced, telling owners how to watch for the warning while a fix was developed.

For lemon law purposes, that admission matters. The heart of a claim is that the manufacturer could not repair a substantial defect within a reasonable number of attempts — and a manufacturer conceding, on the record, that it does not yet have a fix is about as clear as that gets. If your car sat unusable or unsafe to drive while awaiting a remedy, that time out of service counts.

Model-specific recalls: Purosangue and SF90

Newer Ferraris have their own defects. Certain 2023–2025 Purosangue models were recalled because the fuse box's power supply and a footrest could contact and short-circuit, triggering the brake warning light and reducing braking ability — again a braking defect on a car that is anything but slow. Certain 2022–2024 SF90 Stradale and SF90 Spider hybrids were recalled over a turbocharger oil-delivery pipe that could be manufactured incorrectly and leak oil. Older models were also caught in the industry-wide Takata airbag-inflator recalls.

None of these is automatically a lemon — but each becomes one when the repair does not hold, the same defect keeps returning, or the car spends significant time out of service. A recall is never required to bring a claim; it is simply strong evidence that a real, safety-relevant defect exists.

Which Ferraris are covered

• Roma and Roma Spider — electronics, infotainment, and driveline complaints
• 296 GTB and 296 GTS — hybrid-system, software, and electrical faults
• SF90 Stradale and Spider — turbocharger oil-line recall, hybrid and electrical issues
• Purosangue — fuse-box short-circuit / braking recall, electronics
• Earlier 458, 488, and F8 models — brake-fluid recall, Takata airbag recalls

What a Ferrari buyback is worth, and the deadline myth

In a buyback, Ferrari refunds what you paid — down payment, payments made, and official fees like tax and registration — minus a single mileage offset for the use you got before the defect first sent the car in. Where the failure to comply was willful, the law also allows a civil penalty of up to two times your actual damages. On a Ferrari, both figures are large, and there is no out-of-pocket cost to pursue a claim because Ferrari pays your attorney fees when you win.

Do not rule yourself out over the 18-month / 18,000-mile figure. It is a presumption period, not a deadline — and exotics in particular tend to accumulate low mileage over many months, so owners often assume they are outside a window that never closed on their claim in the first place. The manufacturer's obligation to repurchase a car it cannot fix does not expire at 18,000 miles, and many claims are proven on the repair history alone. Keep every repair order and get a free case review.