Maserati Dreaming

[WLJayne]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd pop in to say hi. I'm not a Maserati owner yet, however they've always been my favourite luxury car marque and my go to for those "what car would you buy if you had £150k" conversations. Something about them makes me prefer them to Ferarri and Aston etc - the styling just clicks, and they stand out more. They just radiate such a wonderful debonair character to me.

A client of mine has an MC Stradale, and whenever I see it I fall a little bit more in love with that silver trident. He also just bought a 3200 for his wife, and chatting to him about it I found out how accessible these cars might be to me one day soon - I had no idea what 3200's, 4200's and Quattroportes can go for and how well they can treat their owners. I always imaged they were beyond my reach, perhaps not so! Thus far I've been an enthusiastic Land Rover owner, and I can't see that ending. I'd love to keep my current 2004 Discovery 2 for adventures and rough and tumble for which it is fantastic, and then have a V8 thoroughbred when I need to turn up somewhere in style or just want to make love to the road on a summer evening .

Because of years of Land Rover ownership, I am no stranger to spanners and scan tools. Though I don't know how much I'd be able to do myself, I'm sure they are a few levels above the fettling I've been doing but if I was able to do basic servicing then that would go a long way to giving the impression of this being a sensible goal (though of course my better half is wise to it really, and indulges me generously.) Anyway, I've signed up to soak as much information up as possible. So I'll mostly be lurking and reading up as I always like to be fully informed before committing to something. It'll be a while before I can seriously think about saying yes to the heart, but maybe one day I'll be posting an "I did it!" thread.

See you around, this looks like a great forum.

Will.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'm in Warwickshire. In case there's anything interesting going on locally.

 

[Contigo]

Welcome Will, you are right they are very accessible including most of the modern range of cars. If you do buy, chose carefully, buy on condition and provenance and you won't go far wrong!

 

[GeoffCapes]

Welcome to Hotel California.

 

[safrane]

Welcome.

Lots going on across the country and I am sure you would be welcome.

Bristol Auto Italia in May if thats not too far.

 

[StuartW]

Welcome along will & enjoy running through this forum to learn more, there's more information here than you can shake a stick and for any specific questions you may have, just shout - someone here will have the answer no doubt

 

[WLJayne]

Thank all for the warm welcome .

Bristol Auto Italia in May if thats not too far.

That's not far at all, I'd certainly like to go.

I did a lot of research before buying my current car and it really paid off, it's treated me very well and I'm a great believer in preventative maintenance so if the same applies here I'll be happy.

Can anyone tell me whether things like brakes, oil/filters and other servicing items can be done by a competant DIY mechanic? Or is there much more to it here than with most other cars? I have a friend who was a master tech for Fiat, Alfa, Merc and many others before going independent so anything that doesn't have to be done at main dealer will likely be sent to him. If everything has to be done at main dealer that will make me more hesitant, as looking the service prices they're not insane but it would be nice to avoid paying quite so much if at all possible. I'm not expecting this to be cheap motoring though, the Land Rover has cost more than most people would be willing to pay but for me it's completely worth every penny.

 

[Contigo]

Welcome.

Lots going on across the country and I am sure you would be welcome.

Bristol Auto Italia in May if thats not too far.

Don't go in May thought will as you will have missed it, as it is in April

April 23rd.

http://www.biamf.co.uk/

 

[Contigo]

Thank all for the warm welcome .





Can anyone tell me whether things like brakes, oil/filters and other servicing items can be done by a competant DIY mechanic? Or is there much more to it here than with most other cars? I have a friend who was a master tech for Fiat, Alfa, Merc and many others before going independent so anything that doesn't have to be done at main dealer will likely be sent to him. If everything has to be done at main dealer that will make me more hesitant, as looking the service prices they're not insane but it would be nice to avoid paying quite so much if at all possible. I'm not expecting this to be cheap motoring though, the Land Rover has cost more than most people would be willing to pay but for me it's completely worth every penny.

You can do basic servicing yourself on the coupes (3200,4200 and GS) and at a mates garage. Oil change, filters, cambelt change and ever a clutch on the manual cars. If you buy a robotic clutch car then you will need specialist equipment to set them up just like you would if you did a clutch change on say an M3 SMG. Alot of the parts are shared with Alfa and Fiat so you will find a thread on here (the alternative parts thread) which details quite a few common parts which can be sourced cheaper through other marque dealers.

If you do have to take the car to a specialist there are lots out there who charge a fraction of the price of a main dealer and often deliver a far superior level of service. I take mine to Emblem and they are top notch.

Since the forum now offers our own brake discs it has also made owning one much less of a strain on the wallet and there are plans for other parts in the pipeline.

 

[2b1ask1]

Hi Will, Welcome to the madness, Totally get what you are saying, scratched my itch over five years ago and have never regretted it I do all my own maintenance and have done over 40,000 miles in mine since I bought it. Nothing frightening about them, if a V8 is off-putting to work on, just think of it as having two straight 4's, daft logic but it breaks it down to manageable in the mind somehow. Most components are actually bucket parts and most have now been matched up to their cheaper cousins, like the F1 relay (Maserati price > £100 + VAT) from BMW for £12 + VAT.

The reality is mine has been cheaper to run than a people carrier and is still worth pretty much what I paid for it

Keep in touch and make use of the oracle here...

 

[WLJayne]

This is all extremely encouraging!! I suspected many parts would be common to alfa or fiat on some of the models. My girlfriend has a Fiat Grande Punto Sporting edition with the 1.9 multijet - it's a cracking little car and puts a smile on your face when you give it some beans. Plus it's bright orange which is a laugh.

It would be good to find a specialist I can trust. As you say Phil, you'll get better prices and often better service!

Hi Will, Welcome to the madness, Totally get what you are saying, scratched my itch over five years ago and have never regretted it I do all my own maintenance and have done over 40,000 miles in mine since I bought it. Nothing frightening about them, if a V8 is off-putting to work on, just think of it as having two straight 4's, daft logic but it breaks it down to manageable in the mind somehow. Most components are actually bucket parts and most have now been matched up to their cheaper cousins, like the F1 relay (Maserati price > £100 + VAT) from BMW for £12 + VAT.

The reality is mine has been cheaper to run than a people carrier and is still worth pretty much what I paid for it

That's incredible, I'm very relieved to hear that! I must say, the coupes are looking very attractive to me at this point. It's great to know that I can bring the cost of ownership down a bit, plus I just really enjoy working on my cars.

At this point I think I am most keen on a Quattroporte. It would be nice to have a 2008 model, but the earlier ones still look amazing inside and out. I imagine I could get a pretty nice one for around the £15k mark. But it will be a while yet.

 

[VMSRTI]

Hey Will, you know you want to. Look forward to seeing which one you end up with............

 

[Andyk]

A big warm welcome Will....You will certainly get a load of good advice from here to help you find a great Maserati.

 

[zagatoes30]

Welcome - Maserati Dreaming is where most of us start but it's much better when you wake up to the reality that you own one

 

[daverichardson]

At this point I think I am most keen on a Quattroporte. It would be nice to have a 2008 model, but the earlier ones still look amazing inside and out. I imagine I could get a pretty nice one for around the £15k mark. But it will be a while yet.

Hi mate, welcome
I think you may need a couple more thousands, but the QPV is an excellent choice (you probably guessed I have one!)
Decide if you want Auto or Manual
Check provenance
Check service history (look out for Vartiators in particular)
good luck and keep us posted

 

[AndyG]

Not sure what part of Warwickshire your in, but I'm up in Birmingham and I do all my own maintenance on my QP, and I'd be more than happy to show you what's what, and like you I've been a Landrover fan for years, but just changed my Disco 3 for a Cayenne due to the continued high maintenance costs.




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[AndyG]

A little Appetite wetter for you !

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[Andyk]

Lovely Andy....and even better in the flesh when I walked past it parked there.

 

[zagatoes30]

Nice but I love that 164 next to it

 

[WLJayne]

Not sure what part of Warwickshire your in, but I'm up in Birmingham and I do all my own maintenance on my QP, and I'd be more than happy to show you what's what, and like you I've been a Landrover fan for years, but just changed my Disco 3 for a Cayenne due to the continued high maintenance costs.

I'm in Kenilworth, so not far from you really. It would be great to take a look at your QP and have a chat some time! Thanks for all the advice so far everyone .