First post

[ecarca]

Hi Everybody!

It's my first post here. I am actually a member here for a bit but so far I was more reading than contributing. I have been active on maseratilife and I know many members on one are members on the other, with links and tech exchanges subjects.

I purchased a 12/2005 Gransport last year on October 30th. I'm living and working in Shanghai, China for now.

The car has low mileage and I already fixed many small things (long story) but I'm still trying to troubleshoot a problem. I'll open a thread about this.

Here are pictures of my baby so we know what we're talking about:

Here are pictures of when I picked it up and its first days:

I also made a few mods already and will open a thread about that in the related section.

I'm glad to join you guys and to finally start to contribute!

 

[dem maser]

welcome, you have broken your virginity...best place to be

 

[dem maser]

a great combo aswel......well done, whats China like? many ghiblis there? haha

 

[conaero]

Very nice and welcome.

The paintwork looks ultra shinny, can you tell us what you use polish wise or was it like this when you purchased it?

Its very odd seeing the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

I had a grey with red leather GS a few years back, loved it, its a great colour to live with.

 

[ecarca]

a great combo aswel......well done, whats China like? many ghiblis there? haha

Thank you!
Well China, let's say it depends on the days. I've been here for 7,5 years so it's not new
I guess it will be one of the first if not the first market for Ghiblis. The launch in Shanghai was just before Christmas and they're probably selling many, the market (for any range low to high end) is here.

 

[ecarca]

Very nice and welcome.

The paintwork looks ultra shinny, can you tell us what you use polish wise or was it like this when you purchased it?

Its very odd seeing the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

I had a grey with red leather GS a few years back, loved it, its a great colour to live with.

LOL!
For me it's on the good side
I purchased it at an Audi dealership. It was very shiny, polished to the bone... very useful to hide the little (and bigger) scratches, although I spotted them while there ahahah
In any case, you cannot expect second hand cars here to be taken care of like in the west. People don't care. The problem is you can't be picky because cars like that, at any given time in the whole country (and it is big) there are none for sale. If you want a Granturismo there are plenty but in 2005 not many people here could afford a Gransport (2,5 times the European price in China with taxes) and cars were not even mainstream yet, it was only the beginning. Things change fast!

 

[ecarca]

And by the way sorry, I thought I put this post in the newbie section but I might have put it here by mistake.

Another thing: I don't know if there was different trims in China or only one but this is equivalent to your LE spec, it is basically full options.

 

[Parisien]

Just wonderful.....well done and welcome to the best Maserati forum in the whole universe!!!


P

 

[CliveP1]

welcome great looking car, and I do like the alloys out of all the wheels seen on many different Maserati's these are class

 

[ecarca]

Just wonderful.....well done and welcome to the best Maserati forum in the whole universe!!!
P

Thanks, yes there seem to be some action here
I'l challenge you guys with my issues. I will take some time to write about it because I need to put everything together!

 

[ecarca]

welcome great looking car, and I do like the alloys out of all the wheels seen on many different Maserati's these are class

Thank you!

 

[hodroyd]

Welcome to the forum ecarca and that looks a very nice GranSport indeed, congratulations..!!

 

[SimonCC]

Hi ecarca - your GS is a beauty, and sound great with exhaust mods!

But your rear number plate is too low ;-(

 

[DonnyMac]

Hey ecarca, are you an expat or national + in ignorance I thought the Chinese Internet was locked down, so how do you get access to this little piece of the web, or, as usual. I've got it all wrong?

Nice interior colour by the way, if only there was one in the UK with full LE Bordeaux Leather for sale...

 

[ecarca]

Welcome to the forum ecarca and that looks a very nice GranSport indeed, congratulations..!!

Thank you Hodroyd

 

[ecarca]

Hi ecarca - your GS is a beauty, and sound great with exhaust mods!

But your rear number plate is too low ;-(

You are right SimonCC
The thing is here, plates are supplied with a mounting kit and these screw covers have some kind of engraving in it and you need to use them . Since there was no easy access to the inside of the trunk, the only thing I could do was to install it that way in the stock drilled locations. The previous plate was installed this way as well.

This said, I noticed in the meantime many cars drive without these regulatory plate screw covers. In the meantime I purchased rivets and the tool to go with it that I didn't have home. I will drill new holes up and down and rivet it there, the same way we fix plates in Europe. Maybe I will drill the plate in the middle to use the stock holes, but I think it's illegal, which might not matter that much here too. So either 4 new holes in the boot and rivets, or 2 new holes in the plate and rivets

 

[ecarca]

Hey ecarca, are you an expat or national + in ignorance I thought the Chinese Internet was locked down, so how do you get access to this little piece of the web, or, as usual. I've got it all wrong?

Nice interior colour by the way, if only there was one in the UK with full LE Bordeaux Leather for sale...

I don't really call myself an expat since I am an Entrepreneur. So I don't have the fancy contract from the MNC. I came here with my luggage and started a business. From the Chinese point of view, I'm called a "foreigner" and I am

"Locked down" is way overstated. They lock access to some sites but they cannot isolate IP's so basically they ban a complete IP range, which is very troublesome and varies depending on districts, cities, regions and all. So sometimes a website can be "banned" for no reason. At the end it's a headache, which is why we use proxy software that work over VPN. It costs about the same as an Internet subscription but it "frees" your connection
So yes, I have Youtube, Facebook and the rest!

 

[onlinesys]

Congrats to your new toy ecarca! I guess Grand Sport in Mainland China is like a tiger over there too. You probably never saw one in a year.

 

[ecarca]

Congrats to your new toy ecarca! I guess Grand Sport in Mainland China is like a tiger over there too. You probably never saw one in a year.

Thank you! It is indeed! I have actually never seen another one
I have seen maybe 3 4200GT coupes in 7 and half years here. GranTurismo's are legions though! Last time I saw about 4 in 45 minutes in Xintiandi.

I stumbled upon this one in the classifieds, it was random. It was in Hangzhou. They did not know what they were selling either, it was listed as a coupe...

When I took it in for service in Ferrari/Maserati Shanghai, they told me there were 5 GS in Shanghai, not that many for 20 million souls. Probably half of the owners forgot they have that in their garage and think its way too old so not many left on the road ahahah

Well, I'm keeping an eye open in case another one shows up on the market! Who knows?! Maybe one guy purchased a MC Victory and forgot about it LOL

 

[Andyk]

A big warm welcome to the forum..What a lovely Gransport. I love the two tone interior....