1. 1Exercise the folding hardtop through a full open-and-close cycle and listen for the panels and seals working cleanly; it's the one system the coupe doesn't have.
2. 2The same early-car recalls apply where relevant: verify the wheel-arch fire recall (NHTSA 10V389000) and, on early cars, the F136 crankshaft recall (NHTSA 12V211) are closed.
3. 3Check the interior for the 458's sticky soft-touch trim, and budget for Ferrari major services and eventual clutch wear. Get a specialist pre-purchase inspection.
4. 4Confirm the later safety recalls are closed too: the front trunk latch (NHTSA 14V487000, 2010-2014), the brake fluid leak (NHTSA 21V833000, 2012-2015 Spider), Takata passenger airbag inflators (NHTSA 16V341000 and later campaigns), a 2015 driver-airbag module (NHTSA 15V433000) and, on the latest cars, an airbag ECU fault (NHTSA 19V411000).
5. 5Beyond clutch wear, early boxes suffer dual-clutch internal speed/pressure sensor faults that specialists fix by splitting the transaxle (about $5,000). Early cars also crack their thin-wall exhaust manifolds at the collector welds, heard as a cold-start tick that fades as they warm.

• 14V4870002010-2014
  The front-trunk secondary latch could fail to release from inside the compartment; remedy modifies it to a compliant design.
• 21V8330002012-2015
  The brake fluid reservoir could leak and cost braking; remedy replaces the reservoir cap and updates software.
• 16V3410002011-2015
  Takata passenger frontal airbag inflators can degrade with humidity and heat and rupture on deployment; remedy replaces the passenger airbag assembly.
• 15V4330002015
  An improperly assembled driver's airbag module could deploy in a rotated orientation, raising injury risk.
• 19V4110002015
  A faulty airbag electronic control unit could keep the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners from deploying.

US NHTSA campaigns for this model. A listed campaign may not apply to a particular car, and may already have been remedied — check a specific car by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.