Excellent email Mark.I gave myself 24 hours to calm down before writing back to the DVSA regarding the letter Maserati sent out.. this is what I've sent.. will let people know as and when I get a reply!
Hi John,
As you are no doubt aware Maserati 3200/4200/GranSport owners are now receiving their letters from Maserati regarding the cracking and failed wishbone issue.
I would like to know on what evidence the DVSA and Maserati came to the conclusion that it was an issue resulting from lack of “Correct Vehicle Maintenance”?
Maserati state in their letter that this issue arrises when the correct service schedule is not followed according to the “Owner Manual”.
I quote from the “Owner Manual” what is said regarding the inspection of such parts during servicing: "Front and rear suspension joints and relative tightening”.
Please can you tell me how an independent garage should interpret that sentence who has no knowledge of the potential for these parts to split open along the manufacturing seam (from the inside where external inspection is not possible)?
As you are no doubt aware it is illegal for Maserati to force the cars to only be serviced by their authorised main dealers, so are Maserati going to be writing letters to every single garage in the UK to explain what they mean by “Correct Vehicle Maintenance” when it comes to these parts as the “Owner Manual” to which they refer certainly doesn’t.
My final query is regarding cars with full Maserati service history and those with full independent specialist service history which suffered cracked wishbones. These owners provided reports to the DVSA as evidence that full and “Correct Vehicle Maintenance” is not a preventative measure for this issue. Again I ask what evidence Maserati provided considering their own main dealer network has failed to detect compromised safety critical components?
Kind Regards
Mark
it is certainly going to make me wait before deciding on a replacement also.This is all making me regret going into GS ownership really
I gave myself 24 hours to calm down before writing back to the DVSA regarding the letter Maserati sent out.. this is what I've sent.. will let people know as and when I get a reply!
Hi John,
As you are no doubt aware Maserati 3200/4200/GranSport owners are now receiving their letters from Maserati regarding the cracking and failed wishbone issue.
I would like to know on what evidence the DVSA and Maserati came to the conclusion that it was an issue resulting from lack of “Correct Vehicle Maintenance�
Maserati state in their letter that this issue arrises when the correct service schedule is not followed according to the “Owner Manualâ€.
I quote from the “Owner Manual†what is said regarding the inspection of such parts during servicing: "Front and rear suspension joints and relative tighteningâ€.
Please can you tell me how an independent garage should interpret that sentence who has no knowledge of the potential for these parts to split open along the manufacturing seam (from the inside where external inspection is not possible)?
As you are no doubt aware it is illegal for Maserati to force the cars to only be serviced by their authorised main dealers, so are Maserati going to be writing letters to every single garage in the UK to explain what they mean by “Correct Vehicle Maintenance†when it comes to these parts as the “Owner Manual†to which they refer certainly doesn't.
My final query is regarding cars with full Maserati service history and those with full independent specialist service history which suffered cracked wishbones. These owners provided reports to the DVSA as evidence that full and “Correct Vehicle Maintenance†is not a preventative measure for this issue. Again I ask what evidence Maserati provided considering their own main dealer network has failed to detect compromised safety critical components?
Kind Regards
Mark
The love for my 3200 AC is too big to have it traded against anything else so I am indeed looking forward to the SM (or other party) engineered solution. It would help if the people who are working on this could confirm how long it will approx take to have units available. 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? And what solution are they working on, only the lower arms? Front and rear?
A Porche Cayman GTS maybe...
Dave
We can put ours in a museum, am guessing yours is as clean and shiny as mine through lack of use :0)
Yes Tony,
Same colour as well I have just fitted the new ABS Modulator but cant get a decent pedal ....just wont bleed Im trailering it down to the boys at Emblem tomorrow they have a gizmo to plug into which should make it work The car looks lovely sat in the yard!!!!
I will confirm, we know they don't sell the rear toe link spherical bearing but I have not read anywhere to date that the bushes are NLA. As for pressing them out causing the problem, it didn't in my case (they were crack tested before and after) but that isn't a scientific study. I did also remove the excess material around the bush end. I have been checking regularly and haven't seen any evidence of deterioration.
Yes Tony,
Same colour as well I have just fitted the new ABS Modulator but cant get a decent pedal ....just wont bleed Im trailering it down to the boys at Emblem tomorrow they have a gizmo to plug into which should make it work The car looks lovely sat in the yard!!!!
You're not alone I have to get mine trailered to, its just gone into limp mode! Hope it gets sorted Asap.
Hey Jorge,
Gobbledygook to me I am still into Plugs and Points!!
Excellent email Mark.
Sadly my car definitely has some service gaps so wiggle room definitely present. This is all making me regret going into GS ownership really
911or V8 vantage...or if funds are tight a newish Jag coupe... what with this and ball joints I really find little enjoyment owning the car now.
So the bushes get hard and the arms fail. Way back I postulated that the exhaust header heat hardened the bushings. If that's the case Maserati should take responsibility because it's a design problem. (In NA we have different headers and seemingly fewer failures) Also, if that was the case the arms should fail at their points of highest stress, that would be in the sleeve where it joins the arm. (Someone can do a finite element analysis to confirm this.) But the sleeves fail at the ridge on the back side which has VERY little stress. To me that's a CASTING problem and no amount of maintenance solves it.
P.S. When the bushing hardens it locks the arm. If you look at this FE diagram of a wrench you can see in the upper image the green area of highest stress. http://boltgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/Product/Work/Ready_Tools_D_FEA_Analysis_RO.jpg
P.P.S. With all the **** on this thread I hope someone actually reads this!