Hola from Madrid, Spain

Bertone

New Member
Messages
10
Hi,

I'm new to this forum.
I live in Madrid Spain and I'm interesed in buying a 224v or a 3200 or a 4200, as a hobby or weekend car.
I have read that it is relatively cheap to buy a Maserati, but could be rather expensive to maintain a Maserati!
My heart is saying "buy one now!!":shy1:, but my brain is saying "are you crazy??" :firing:

So before making any decision I might regrett, I hope to learn some more facts about these nice cars in this forum.

Thanks for your future support!
 

2b1ask1

Special case
Messages
20,220
Serious question: Are you able to work on it yourself? Also what level of tooling/garage do you have?
 

davy83

Member
Messages
2,809
Welcome to the forum, and I agree Newton's question is important, if you buy an old 3200 or 4200 with problems you will spend a lot of money if you need to put it in a garage every time it has problems. If you can deal with a reasonable amount of work your self then this becomes a more reasonable proposition. I have a 2001 3200 which I have owned for 11 years, and I do most of the work on it myself. I have still spent a bit of money keeping it running but a fraction of what I would have spent using a main dealer to keep it running. It is running quite well at the moment and so it can work if you have a decent garage, tools and some experience. Oh and I should add I only bought it to experience the drive, and planned on selling it after a year or two, and I still love it after 11 years, its serious grin car! If I am going to spend hours in the garage up to my neck in grease it might as well be spent on an excellent car.
 

Bertone

New Member
Messages
10
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the wellcome!

Yes, I have a private garage so my plan is to do most of the restoring/fixing by myself.
I actually restored a 1980 Mercedes 280 CE...so I think I'm up to the callange!!
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
Hello and welcome. The Maserati will be very different from an 80s Merc. It has a lot of electrical tie ins requiring reading/reseting from time to time. If it was me I'd get an OBDII compliant car, 2001 onwards. It will make life easier.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
Hola y mucho gusto Bertone,

As Newton and Davy says, you need a garage, a reasonable amount of quality tools as well as mechanical competence. Certain jobs are a pain in the a$$, like changing a lightbulb, but others are easier such as changing the wheel bearing (15 bolts, 5 of them are taking the wheel off).

Follow your heart in the principle of buying one, but please use your head in the actual purchase. Do your research, set a budget add 10% for contingency and go bargain hunting. You have the while of Europe to find a decent 'left-hooker' (LHD) whereas we only have right hand drive cars to play with.

If you need a second opinion on a particular car, the wise sages here will happily help you spend your money. There's a good buyers guide on this forum and plenty of information too. So read and learn. My opinion, if you can, buy a Gransport or if not, then maybe a 4200 or if not then 3200. but wait for the right one.


Good Luck
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Buy a 4200 they have much more reliable electrics

You can do the majority of the jobs yourself the only thing I would say is that the engine bay is very cramped so something as simple as replacing cam cover gaskets takes 6 hours with a specialist mechanic and took me 12 hours but I avoided that labour cost
 
Messages
1,117
I am on the coast in Spain right now and haven't seen a single Maser in over two weeks.
So I don't have any clue about numbers and availability of the models. But if its pre-Gran Turismo, I'd suggest a facelift 4200 (described by some as ALMOST a Gran Sport) or pay the uplift in price and go for the scarcer GranSport.

If the market is like UK, you need clear history and a pre-purchase inspection by a Maserati specialist would be my recommendation. Acquisition costs can appear good value and affordable - until the bills start to appear for this and that when it goes for service and in-between.

Good luck whatever you end up with - it is important not to buy a car that has a huge appetite for bank accounts. People off-load cars to sell for different reasons. This may include big expensive repairs that are waiting for the next buyer to pick up rather than the seller. Get any purchase checked out by someone who knows what to look for and advise you accordingly.