Potential new Quattroporte owner

[B1RMA]

Hi,
I registered quite a while ago when I was in the market for a 4200.
Things have moved on since and I am about to become my daughters long distance University taxi service.
I have been looking at Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG but noticed that within my budget is the Quattroporte. Having driven a Merc with the cooled ventilated seats and four zone aircon I have decided that the car I eventually buy must have this feature.
So thats where the Quattroporte comes in, I'm looking for an automatic not duo shift due to experiencing a 4200 with CC it left such an impression on me I never want to go near one again, although it may have needed a software update or whatever I'm still reluctant to entertain one.
My budget is between £25-£30K and my first question is after reading about cam clatter on the dry sump cars does the automatic have a wet sump and does that potentially stop that issue occuring.
I have seen a 4.7 high mileage car for sale which looks to be a facelift model is the facelift model worth the extra money? I am planning to go and see a very low mileage blue one at Autoffincia or whatever they are called on Wednesday which I think has ther cooled seats does anyone know this car?
I'd appreciate anyones long term running experiences of the Quattroporte as it may sit around for a few weeks at a time connected to a CTEK conditioner of course and wondered if this may cause a few electrical gremlins to raise their heads.
I have posted this and other questions on Pistonheads as my Lotus Esprit V8 is for sale on there. This means I will be used to the sort of running costs a Quattroporte is likely to be. I don't mind spending money on looking after cars I just hate the depreciation cars like these suffer but it does of course open up a whole world of nice cars for the switched on tight fisted buyer such as myself when they reach a certain age.

 

[Andyk]

Hi B1RMA, I would give Dicky Grace on call......He is well respected on here and sold cars to a number of members......Even if you just want advise its always worth a call to him..

http://www.richardgracecars.co.uk/

 

[dickygrace]

Thanks for the recommendation AndyK. I'm not sure that it's possible to have cooled seats on any Maserati. Heated seats are standard but cooled I'm not aware of; dual zone climate is also standard. A fully auto Zf transmission car is within your reach at £25-30k, but not a facelift. If depreciation is a concern to you, I wouldn't advise buying a 63000 mile car, unless you would buy a high miles car, a facelift car is out of reach price wise. Keeping the car on a trickle charger has never had any adverse effects on any of the cars I've owned or sold. Feel free to bell me if you want any advice on models, specs etc. I don't profess to be a mechanic but know a fair bit about what to look for on these cars as I buy them regularly.

 

[B1RMA]

Thank you for your replies, I thought the comfort seat package had ventilated seats which I may have wrongly thought cooled like the Mercedes, I have seen a 63K mile facelift for £30K advertised at a main agent but at the same time a very low mileage older auto is up for sale at the same price. As the low mileage one is fairly close to me Im going to check it out first as it has perforated massage seats so I'll be able to check and see if it compares to the Merc in that respect.

 

[dickygrace]

Massage seats are an option. The 63000 mile car at Tom Hartley? Big long thread on here about it.

 

[npaskin]

Hi, welcome to the Forum.

Not much to add other than in my view yes the facelift is worth it – dashboard improvements - but main reason to go for it is the 4.7 (note that the facelift offers 4.2 and 4.7), but then you are looking at 40K plus. Sound and driving experience are an improvement on the 4.2. I bought mine 18months ago, was originally looking at an older one but after test driving each I was smitten. Not regretted it all. No experience of leaving mine for long periods – it's too good, I keep driving it!

The thread Dicky mentions is http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/9500-QP-4-7-under-30k-(just) (in particular see the other car at post #75, spotted by Dicky, that looks a fantastic bargain to me if you can run to it).

 

[B1RMA]

I am actually working near the Ashbourne site on Monday so may well go and check it out. This always happens to me started off with a £15K budget for a trackday Boxster landed up spending £26K on a little RS60 Boxster complete with carbon ceramic brakes. Although £40K is pushing my budget right up there but it will be worth having a look at it.

 

[Andyk]

Thought vented seats were just little holes in the seats....I suppose it is suppose to keep your rear end vented in the summer...

 

[SpyderNick]

The QP demonstrator that I test drove back in 2004 at DL Cardiff had ventilated seats and the were nice and cool on a very hot day, so I'm sure that it was from the AC.

 

[Andyk]

Hi Nick...how are you...Not heard much form you later...Is the Spyder going well....

 

[SpyderNick]

Hi Andy,
I'm mainly in Sheffield now rather than Bristol and Farnborough, so I've not been driving the Spyder as much.
It's fine though just spending a lot more time the garage at the moment.
I'm just thinking about a getting her up to scratch for the summer.

 

[B1RMA]

So is the 4.7 significantly better than the 4.2? It would appear there are a number of 4.7 cars for the £40K budget just not sure if I'm prepared to fork out potentially amother £10-15K for the 4.7. It may be a car I will buy and just keep although this will be a first for me.

 

[dickygrace]

The 4.7 is a significantly better car, but is more costly to buy and run.

 

[B1RMA]

I think a good trawl through the internet to find some road tests is in order. Looks to be a very nice one in Kent. My mistake the one in Kent is a facelift but 4.2 so it's back to the one near Southampton which is now advertised as a 4.7
Popped along to this car this morning, nice laid back showroom staff, car was nice but I can't see myself spending that much money.