I've read several times on here that an indendepent inspection is essential when buying a used Maserati. I can understand this to be the case when buying from an independent dealership or privately, but is an indepedent inspection still recommended when buying from an official Maserati dealer?
Independent inspections
- Thread starter evoke
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conaero
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In a word, yes, if not more so!
Dont be lured into a false sense of security because its a main dealer, we have all heard of horror stories.
At the end of the day, any trader selling you a car is only interested in money. This is why I feel buying from an enthusiast is the way to go. We take pride in our cars and throughout ownership, we constantly improve them and tinker till its perfect.
To give you an idea of the level of detail we go to, see here:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/297-High-level-brake-light-2002-4200
Its total madness!!!!!!
Dont be lured into a false sense of security because its a main dealer, we have all heard of horror stories.
At the end of the day, any trader selling you a car is only interested in money. This is why I feel buying from an enthusiast is the way to go. We take pride in our cars and throughout ownership, we constantly improve them and tinker till its perfect.
To give you an idea of the level of detail we go to, see here:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/297-High-level-brake-light-2002-4200
Its total madness!!!!!!
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I agree. I had a main dealer inspect my car and I was not overly happy with the outcome. My dealings with an independent since have been far more reassuring. That said, there are good and bad of both so therefore best thing is to seek local recommendations from this forum.
Cheers
Cheers
urbanmaser
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The beauty of a forum is that there is plenty of debate and whilst we are all good mates, we don't necessarily agree on all issues.
There are good main dealers and bad main dealers in just the same way as there are good indies and some bloody awful indies.
Buying a Maserati from a main dealer does give you a year of Maserati used car warranty which should give some assurance. A used car from a main dealer is supposed to have been subjected to their rigourous used car checks. If at the end of the day a main dealer has been negligent, you should be covered by Maserati UK at least for one year.
If you want to be doubly sure that you are buying a peach then have the independent inspection although I would have thought this should not be necessary from a main dealer, but essential from an indie.......Just my opinion........now tell me I don't know what the **** I am talking about
lozcb
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Me personally , i would have an independant inspection whether buying from and indie main dealer or private, my reasoning is that i wouldn,t want to go through the aggro of the down time and and too and froing even if the cost was born by someone else /warranty company, nothing more frustrating than having a £20k plus car stuck in the garage waiting to be fixed
regards loz
regards loz
Absolutely.
I bought mine from Graypaul and then took it to an indie for inspection. Nothing that would frighten you but a lot of small things that should have been seen to before I bought it.
May have cost me the cost of the inspection, but everything was then fixed by the dealership after a bit of grumbling.
I bought mine from Graypaul and then took it to an indie for inspection. Nothing that would frighten you but a lot of small things that should have been seen to before I bought it.
May have cost me the cost of the inspection, but everything was then fixed by the dealership after a bit of grumbling.
How does the independent inspection work? Let's say I wanted to buy a car from a dealer (official dealer or independent). I test drive the car and am interested in it but tell the seller that I would like it to be independently inspected. What happens next? Who do I turn to for the independent inspection, how much does it cost and what happens after the inspection report has been completed?
- You agree with the seller that they are willing to allow the inspection
- You select the inspector (indicate where the car is and this forum will have suggestions for you)
- The car is inspected at a cost of circa £250
- You get a detailed report addressed to you
- You renegotiate the price if necessary, or agree that the seller will do remedial works, or you walk away if a dog
It is fairly straightforward so long as the seller is willing to play ball.
Cheers
- You select the inspector (indicate where the car is and this forum will have suggestions for you)
- The car is inspected at a cost of circa £250
- You get a detailed report addressed to you
- You renegotiate the price if necessary, or agree that the seller will do remedial works, or you walk away if a dog
It is fairly straightforward so long as the seller is willing to play ball.
Cheers
lozcb
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i will add that in some cases , if you have the slightest doubt re the reputaion of the seller that you build into the price of the inspection the possiblilty for a final visit to confirm that the works needed doing have actually been done we have a few cases recently where inspections were carried out with say 10 points needing fixing and only 4/5 were completed but the seller still rang the buyer to confirm all work was done and the deal completed , only for the buyer some weeks later to discover that half the items hadn't been done , and ended up with having to get them done out of his own pocket as the seller had washed his hands of it
This doesn't happen that often, as most that deal with this marque are reputable but forewarned is forearmed
regards loz
markp4200
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Evoke,
you can only do your best with inspections.
I bought mine from a Maserati Indie in Kent and arranged to have the inspection carried out - all easy to arrange (I used the RAC - very good).
The dealer agreed to put right the few small issues but later I found nothing had been done.
I found out as they used a neigbouring respected workshop for Maseratis, and the boss rang after the furore caused by my postings on the other forum.
He told me that the dealer had NOT instructed him to correct the faults.
So the suggestion is that
1) Yes you must have an inspection
2) Make sure that the work found is carried out or
3) Walk away if there is anything major found - we know of some who had major issues with major faults.
It's worth the peace of mind for around £250-£300.
Oh and, I have the car, it's now in decent order, thanks to Emblem of Poole.
...and I love it.
you can only do your best with inspections.
I bought mine from a Maserati Indie in Kent and arranged to have the inspection carried out - all easy to arrange (I used the RAC - very good).
The dealer agreed to put right the few small issues but later I found nothing had been done.
I found out as they used a neigbouring respected workshop for Maseratis, and the boss rang after the furore caused by my postings on the other forum.
He told me that the dealer had NOT instructed him to correct the faults.
So the suggestion is that
1) Yes you must have an inspection
2) Make sure that the work found is carried out or
3) Walk away if there is anything major found - we know of some who had major issues with major faults.
It's worth the peace of mind for around £250-£300.
Oh and, I have the car, it's now in decent order, thanks to Emblem of Poole.
...and I love it.
lozcb
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- 12,519
Exactly Pete, lets face it we all started out with a 100% trust , its only the odd horror story that makes you guarded
regards loz