Potential GranTurismo owner.

Kev

New Member
Messages
6
My lease XC60 goes back in October and I’ve sold my 350z roadster.

I’ve decided I’m through with leasing and having a second “fun” car. I don’t do many miles anymore and want something a bit different.

I was going to go for a m4 or Rs3 but I’ve decided to go for something a bit more special. I also don’t want to sleep with a baseball bat and that seems to be what many Rs3 owners do.

I’ve narrowed it down to a v8 vantage or a GranTurismo. I’ve always been a Porsche fan but 997’s have too many issues.

I decided to join this forum as I know virtually nothing about maseratis. I always (wrongly) assumed they were unreliable.

The one thing that does confuse me is pricing. They seem to be all over the place.

I need to learn about what options are essential and more about the gearboxes. Am I correct in assuming the MC is similar to the r tronic in the first R8’s?

Thanks.
 

Contigo

Sponsor
Messages
18,376
Welcome Kev.

Yes , robotic manual similar to SMG on M cars.

My MC is for sale £32,995 have a look at the pics in the for sale section thread.

_MG_8265_preview.jpeg
 

Kev

New Member
Messages
6
Welcome Kev.

Yes , robotic manual similar to SMG on M cars.

My MC is for sale £32,995 have a look at the pics in the for sale section thread.

View attachment 49598

That is a stunning example. In my preferred colour too. A bit early for me though. I’ll be looking to buy around September.

I’m just frustrated I sold my 350z rather than insure it again. My thinking was that the last 4 summers have been really wet.....Sod’s law

I’ve drove a smg m3 and I found it good despite what some say. I think I’d prefer the MC to the auto.
 

Ewan

Member
Messages
6,757
Have a chat to Richard at Richard Grace Cars - he'll happily run your through the models and options, and give you the heads up on current values/pricing. He may even know of a suitable car for you.

Don't worry overly about reliability. I'm on my 18th Maserati (a Gran Turismo) and I wouldn't have stuck with the brand for so long if the cars weren't nice to own, drive, etc. Of course, there are cheaper choices, but not that give the same sense of style and panache.

If you can budget above £30k, go for a 4.7 over a 4.2 - there's a very worthwhile difference. Personally I'd go for the MC-Shift (robot manual) over the full auto, especially if it is to be a weekend/fun car. As mentioned above, Phil's car is a nice one (if a tad loud....!)
 
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dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
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Thanks for the recommendation Ewan; always more than happy to talk people through the whats and wherefores of the different models, specs, prices etc.
 
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Kev

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6
It will be losing the Larini Cats and keeping the Aiiiittchhh pipe so won't be overly loud.

If I was looking now mate your car would be perfect. Loud wouldn’t be a issue for me. It’s a mid life crisis car :)
 

Contigo

Sponsor
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18,376
It's still 128dB so loud enough for most but the Larinis tip it over the edge mate :D

Why wait, It will be gone before Sept as I need my Strad by then,.
 

Kev

New Member
Messages
6
It's still 128dB so loud enough for most but the Larinis tip it over the edge mate :D

Why wait, It will be gone before Sept as I need my Strad by then,.

I’m doing a self build so everything is going into that . I’ll get a vat refund at the end which I plan to spend on a car.


I’m also using my ncb on my XC60, so it wouldn’t make sense at all at the moment.

Hopefully mortgage free and in a GranTurismo by October/November, if everything goes to plan.
 

MMGTS

New Member
Messages
7
Morning - just seen your query on the forum - if it helps I bought a 2010 GTS about 3 months ago after a lot of consideration. Best looking and sounding car I've seen in a while. Main issues moving back to Maserati (after a brief foray with a biturbo Spyder in younger more naive times) were reliability and usability - I'd had Porsches before but with two teenagers another 997 or an R8 limited the usability. The GTS has 2 proper seats in the back that can take 2 reasonably tall (5'8") teenagers without any complaints. The boot isn't huge though so probably only a long range GT for 2.

Re the difference between the auto and MC versions, i drove them both before choosing - auto is perfectly OK (I have a friend who has had his for 5 years and loves it - he lives in London though) but the MC is very much more fun to drive if you have more access to open roads. There were warnings about the cost of clutches (said to be about £3k) but you can ask a garage to identify how much wear there is. Or go for one with a recently replaced clutch (as I did).

I had seen a number of complaints about the juddering take off in the MC both in 1st and in reverse but I haven't had any issues with that at all and am told it's down to poor adjustment and can be rectified anyway.

Great car to drive. And yes, prices do seem to be all over the place. Worth studying the market for a while to see when cheaper/better value cars come up.

Best of luck