I suppose eventually this topic would be raised and in all fairness rightly so.
To give some background with the aim of being transparent:
This forum came about in 2010 due to the incumbent of the old forum treating ‘the troops’ badly and only being interested in his own goals and objectives. I hasten to add, Gav, the creator of said forum was a stand up guy and did it for his passion of the marque. It’s just a shame he sold it.
So in 2010, me being a web developer was approached by several of the core members with the aim of setting up our own forum where we would not be constrained.
It took off and flew. I spent many years doing ‘how to’ threads, with others with the soul aim to help owners and keep those cars running cost effectively.
I always said I would never charge for membership.
In 2019, an opportunity with Ashley, a recognised and very experienced main dealer tech arose. I did not go looking for it but after 25 years of graphic design I was bored and had got myself to a position I could retire (48). My main client was 70 and going to call it a day plus Trev my longtime trusted coder wished to move to a new challenge….the stars all sort of aligned so I went for it.
This all happened in a 3 week period so things moved fast.
For me, it was never about the money, it was about the Maserati community and my wish to use my engineering qualification for the first time.
I found myself springing out of bed in the mornings and just loved working on the cars. A mid life crisis some would say, for me it was realising a dream.
So, the forum members got the ridiculous £59 per hour rate with a team keen to do it right.
Back in 2019 the Maserati service options and network was crumbling. Main dealers were closing down and only a handful of dedicated specialists left to carry on the cause.
Nearly all those specialists still sponsor this forum which speaks volumes plus we all realised there is enough work out there for everyone.
The specialist network, breakers and parts suppliers all talk on a regular basis. I would say Mike Roberts, David Askew, Marios, Dicky, Shiltech and Voicey are a close knit bunch (sorry if I missed a few). We understand if we help each other the job becomes an easier one.
From a SportsItalia perspective yes, the forum and workshop are linked by me but operate as two separate entities. There is also the fact that this means all Sportsitalia work is laid bare on this forum with nothing hide.
So yes, support the specialist network, if you don’t you will lose it and then be forced back to the main dealer network.
So to summarise, nobody on here should feel obliged to use Sportsitalia or any other specialist for that matter, just make sure you use and support one of them that best suits you and keep the network going.
