4200 Spyder - rough buying costs/parking on the road?

[rossyl]

Hi All,

I am looking into buying a 4200 Spyder, I am after the post 2003 facelift, my budget is £18-25k.

I'm new to the marque and have been reading around this and the other forum finding out about the car. I'm yet to test drive to decide if I want to manual or CC gearbox, I'm not too fussed by the CC by the sounds of it. I will of course get an Indie to check out the car before purchase.

I've a couple of questions.

Buying Guide.
I've not been able to find a buying guide on the site, I've done a search but not found anything. Is there one, if so I'd be grateful if you could post a link.

Mileage/Servicing Intervals
I've seen cars with 15k-45k on the clock. For a 2003/4 car what sort of mileage should I be looking at. Also what are the major service intervals? Is there a website that lists the servicing work that I can check what should have been conducted, or what major work will be needed?

Price/Buying Timing.
What price do you think would be fair for a 2004 Spyder? I've seen them from £19k to £24k. Without much difefrence as to spec/mileage.

2005 Facelift.
I've heard peopl mentioning that there was a 2005, but I can't seem to find much info on this at all. Did it effect the Spyder? Is the a slight blurring of the GranSport and the 4200?

Permenantly Parking on the Road/Driving Once a week
I live in London and have residents on the road parking. I will be leaving the car parked on the road therefore permenantly. Other than bumps and scrapes, what else is there to be weary of? I've heard that the battery can discharge if left to sit for too long. Would isolating the battery be the best idea, or letting it run down and using a Battery Pack to charge/jump it when neccessary.

Insurance
I've used Admiral for years. I've got 3 points for apparently jumping a red light - load of rubbish. Anyway, being under 30yrs old, living in London and street parking - the cheapest quote they gave me is £2,700!! Ouch! Any other companies people would recommend?

Where to Buy/Warranty.
At the price I am looking at I don't think I'd find a main Maserati dealer selling the car. As a kid I drove past the Egham Ferrari garage many times as my older sibling went to Royal Holloway university - as a result I'd love to buy a car from there, but it does not look like they have many older Maser's in stock. Nuvolo West London and ADG Sevenoaks seem recommended. Also Dicky Grace I've seen mentioned. Anyone else? I've read that aftermarket warranties cost £1.2k a year - I suppose trying to guess if it is worth it is quite impossible, but any views would be appreciated.

Finance.
I will be buying the car on finance, as we are also in the process of buying and renovating a home so there will not be much cash lying around. I've thought about just going to my bank (HSBC) and getting a personal loan, or seeing if the company I buy from can arrange it. Any thoughts?

Rust.
I currently drive a 2000 Mercedes - rust is a big issues, and I've given up with it. Mechanics can generally be sorted but I've found rust issues to almost be incurable and cost a **** of a lot of money. Has anyone had rust problems?

Apologies for the many many questions... I'll continue to do a search to find answers to them myself - but opinions and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
R

 

[saywellhq]

Hello mate - i posted somethings on the "other" maserati forum when you asked some questions about a buying guide.

Pleanty of good people on here that will be along to help answer your questions, but i think most would have been answered before, albeit on seperate posts.

 

[conaero]

Ok, thats a lot to answer but here goes:

Servicing, annually or every 12k miles. The cars generally don't do high mileage, I would say half the 12k average would be about right so subsequently your services should be annually.

Pricing, well, the best time to buy a Spyder is in the winter and the worst time is now, spring, as they always command a higher price when the sun comes out. The best way to gauge the market is to look at what the cars are changing hands for on Autotrader and Pistonheads and take 5% off the average and you will have a realistic target price. There are always good and bad ones so go for the one in the best condition with an INDEPENDANT INSPECTION.

2005 Facelift, was cosmetic which was mainly to the front end, nose and grille. In my book it looks much better and worth the extra money.

If you have a pristine car and leave it on the road and drive it in London, these cars generally degrade into quite poor condition over time, and there is always the threat of vandalism. I would invest/rent a garage.

Insurance is not that bad as long as your postcode is good, and your licence clean. Most of us pay circa £500 for the year, full comp and protected, so expensive it is not.

Warranty, they are all basically rubbish. The only one worth it is the main dealer Trident warranty or if you buy from a main dealer you will be well looked after but you will pay for it. This is why its important to get the INDEPENDENT INSPECTION. Its costs a few hundred but can save you thousands.

Finance. I can't comment on this but you need to have £2k a year in the war chest just in case.

Rust. No horror stories really. The early 3200's used to rust in the rear arches at the front where the stones ate through the paint. Also, the lower edge of the boot lid where it gets slammed and chips off the paint. The most prominent spot on the 4200 is below the rear lights. They had an issue here but most have been rectified. If you leave it on the road, you are going to attract more dirt, stone chips and ultimately rust, but they are well galvanised.

The rule of thumb:
These cars are relatively cheap to buy and expensive to run and thus change hands regularly to avoid expensive services. This is why any newbie must have an INDEPENDENT INSPECTION done.

I hope that helps a bit, I might not have got everything spot on, but close enough for you to base your purchase on.

 

[rossyl]

Hello mate - i posted somethings on the "other" maserati forum when you asked some questions about a buying guide.

Pleanty of good people on here that will be along to help answer your questions, but i think most would have been answered before, albeit on seperate posts.

Thanks - plenty of new questions on this post, that I've only thought of having read around a fair bit. Thanks for your response on the other form.

 

[rossyl]

Ok, thats a lot to answer but here goes...

Thanks very very much for taking the time to answer the many, much appreciated. Thank you. If you don't mind just a few points if you don't mind clarifying...

In terms of servicing are various there a "big" "expensive" service at say 50k miles, when lots of things need to be changed? Just trying to work out the intervals of the larger more in-depth and costly services (if there are any) when looking at what to buy. Don't think there's much point viewing a car, calling out an Indie, only for him to tell me "Yeah, it's a good car but it'll be due the big 45k service next year that costs £££'s and that's probably why he's selling it". Just trying to avoid that if possible.

Insurance - any insurance companies youd' recommend to try? Adrian Flux?

 

[saywellhq]

The one thing i have learned on doing my research for the last 3 months is the Pre Purchase Inspection is vital.

If you only listen to one piece of advise this is it!

As for your insurance, i did a checky quote for a Masearti that was up for sale, 31 yrs old, on the drive, clean licence held for only 6 years and that came out @ £960 with £500 excess. Somepeople have recomended Aplan and another i cant remember but the Aplan quote was touching £3k with the same details.

Elephant, Admiral and Axa were all good for me, on the road would be an issue. As Conaero susggested try and blag a garage or look for one to rent as this does make a difference to the quote, and you new Spyder will be gratefull too no doubt.

 

[Parisien]

Nailed it Matt!!!!!

P

 

[saywellhq]

http://www.emblemsportscars.com/sports-mas-landing-pge.aspx

A little bit about servicing and what is expected to be changed.

 

[BennyD]

Hi Rossyl mad welcome to the madness, I went through the same process when I bought my 04 spyder 18 months ago. You are right in going for an 04 model year as they are a better car. They have the glass back window, stiffer chassis, (generally) the 7 spoke alloys and the aerial in the middle of the boot lid. I prefer the earlier, pre 05 front as, IMO, it makes it look classier than the more aggressive GS front. Running wise, mine has, to date, been very reliable and it gets used quite a lot; I've done 16k hard miles since the end of 2010. They do use a lot of fuel and tyres and the spiders do scuttle shake a fair amount, although you do get used to driving through it. The electrics do throw the occasional hissy fit and dont pay extra for the sat nav as it is a bit basic. Its also probably best to get a garage as a knife through the roof will rape your wallet will make you question your will to live. Think very carefully about buying any Maserati and do your research as they aren't a car you should buy on a whim. Having said that I love mine and I always smile every time I get into her. The acceleration, the fabulous vocals and the sheer theatre never get old despite the bills. The ups certainly outweigh the downs or none of us would be on here!

 

[conaero]

Well said Benny/Ian 'nail on the head'

I think the servicing has been summed up by Saywllhq's link to Emblem above, as for insurance, try the comparison sites but I am with RH Specialist Insurance and to be honest, they are so good, I would go with them even if they were not the cheapest...which they are by the way. They are just to broker and the policy is with Equity Red Star, RH's phone number: 01277 206912 and they are in Brentwood, Essex.

I used to be withGroupama via Aplan, but Groupama pulled the discount and I then found Aplan very expensive.

 

[v8chimp]

Service schedule attached

 

[Parisien]

Very useful....so being sure to realise there are both mileage AND annual services....but as typically we do less than average annual miles then often the services co-incide


P

 

[rossyl]

Guys, sorry for the slow response.

Thank you all so much for answering all the questions and providing me with so much detail. Really appreciate it.

I'm starting to keep a lookout with the intention of buying in the Autumn/Winter.

 

[Parisien]

It can be slow to find the right car/colour/combos.......keep us apprasied and good luck!

P