Buying advice for a '03 Spyder CC

[Alecci]

I have finally managed to persuade my father, a petrolhead in his younger days, that owning a Maserati is a right act that one ought not to cheat one's heart out of. Accordingly, he has his mind set on a very fine looking Spyder CC.

He has given me the task to seek some buying advice as I'm somewhat out of my depth when it comes to this model. I've tried to search the forum but I wasn't able to turn up anything really good - perhaps I used the incorrect search phrases?

What I'm really looking for is some sort of buyer's guide or all and any sound advice that you would be able to share with soemone harbouring thought of buying this model.

Are there any particular things to look and/or listen for when inspecting the car?

Are there any common issues with this car (engine, gearbox, suspension, etc)?

As mentioned, all and any advice and recommendations are very welcome.

 

[Parisien]

Alex.......similar to coupe.......then check hood and mechanism........as always an indie inspection is a must......even in Sweden





P

 

[hodroyd]

Hi Alecci,

Not long ago I was looking for a Spyder, but finally decided on a Coupe instead.
The points I came across were on early cars, I think pre 2004, the model had:
Skuttle Shake, Flowery Steering, Jerky CC Gearbox, Suspension and I think savage brakes.
They then updated the model in late 2003/04, which is production, not registered, as you would have to allow 6 months on production date for registering, so say 2004. This upgrade took care of the above shortfalls. They also changed the centre console colour slightly, this should enable you to know it is an earlier, or later car.
I know some members have the earlier models and have no issues with them, getting used to the foibles of that production model. As far as I know it is more ON/OFF than later cars when you look at acceleration, gearchange and brakes, later cars were smoothed out.
Cheers
R

 

[Alecci]

Frank,

Independent inspections are not very easy to accomplish in Sweden, as the cars are much less known here, and as I explained to you in Paris, almost all people only let one of the two authorized workshops/dealerships in the country work on the cars. We will of course look for any possibilities of having the car inspected nonetheless. As ever, I'm much thankful for the advice.

Robert,

Many thanks for the info. Wouldn't an aftermarket DBWEM take care of some of the issues that you listed? Then there's always a possibility to upgrade to later model's suspension. My old man is dead set on only looking at low-mileage cars originally sold as new cars in Sweden, and the available cars on the market are few and far between if we're to meet his requirements. At present this is the ony car for sale in Sweden that is a match, and at a fairly good price at that - some £25,000 or thereabouts.

 

[hodroyd]

Alec,
Yes the DBW I think does cure some of the issues. The scuttle shake is something that you can live with, ideally it needs some bracing underneath, but this could change the airflow of the car as an add on, so leave it. Gearbox I believe you can get a software upgrade, it may have already had it, check this out. Steering and brakes I'm not sure what you can do and whatever you do will cost money, which you may never get back. None of these issues are serious, they do make the drive a little raw, but some people like that kind of drive and you do get used to it. There are many members on here with the early 4200 and with the early Spyder, all are quite happy with their cars and some like them better than the later models, so all is not lost. The points I noted are things I found out about when hunting for my car, this does not mean that an 03 car is bad, just different..!!
There are quite a lot of left hand drive cars going up for sale in such as italy if your Father was interested and the prices are good.?
Cheers
R

 

[Rex B]

Hi

I recentley looked at a spyder at an auction house and it needed a new hood as the rear screen which on early cars was plastic was all scratched and it also had a hole in the canvas in 2 places. I was suprised at the cost of a new one at nearly £3,000 so make sure the hood is in good condition. Other than that I would imagine they are quite reliable and like most 4200 the main problem being clutches which seem to require changing between 30,000 and 40,000 miles. All the write up's I read say that later cars with glass rear screens around 2003 onwards had upgrades which improved the gearbox , handling and skuttle shake.

Rex B

 

[hodroyd]

Hi Rex,

Yes I forgot to mention the plastic rear window, thanks for that. The upgrades were done in production during late 2003, so those cars would probably not hit the streets over here until either very late 2003, or early 2004. Unfortunately you can't tell until you look at them close as to whether it's pre upgrade, or not, even an early 2004 registered car can still be an early 2003 car and pre-upgrade.

Cheers
R