What car next?

[lozcb]

Hi Marlon big warm welcome to the forum , impressive big old bird that with oodles of presence , and a definate miles eater , seen a few close up and i think i'd be just as happy sitting in the back as driving it , 2005 onwards Arnage puts you in the realms of a decent QP or Turismo but i suppose after a couple of disappointments with Maserati who can blame you for
being a tad wary , tho I must say i have yet to see any kind of negative report on either of the 3 models post 2006
QP GT GTS

Thanks for popping in Marlon be sure to come back anytime , we aim to make this fun place to spend a bit of time , let your hair down , rant ,about cars the economy the government whatever and no license restrictions whatso ever you can have as many pink gins as you like and as many coheba's , we have excellent extraction

regards loz

 

[conaero]

Marlon, first a big welcome.

Strange, I too have kept an eye on that car, its so different from the Maserati's but it does have that similar individual class.

 

[Evoluzione]

Cheers guys, perhaps membership should be by invitation only he he?

I will try and contribute as much as I can, I've recently moved to Indonesia so for the moment I'm working long hours and doing my best to keep the bar girls at arms length.

As for the Arnage T I think a change will do me good, it is outrageous in the same way the Quattroporte Royale was back in the eighties, I hope it can deliver the same feeling.

The site looks cracking and I look forward to boring you all to death with my politically incorrect views.

 

[Andyk]

Cheers guys, perhaps membership should be by invitation only he he?

I've recently moved to Indonesia so for the moment I'm working long hours and doing my best to keep the bar girls at arms length.

Are you sure they are girls Be careful out there.

 

[dem maser]

well i own a 3200, my next step is a gransport with the conversion but in 2 or 3 years i def wil be looking into the granturismo s, i heard it at the dealer and standard its LOUD i have had my doubts over the brand with what i been through but hoping after 2006 they became better

 

[urbanmaser]

Dem don't desert the brand. Hopefully, the experience you had last week was a one off. I think it is important to remember that whilst many of us are buying these supercars for hatchback money, they are still supercars and in the case of the 3200 we are talking about a car close to 10 years old. Things will go wrong and when they do it can be an expensive business to rectify. Try driving a 10 year old Jaguar, Mercedes, Porsche or other similar marque, and no doubt the bills will come thick and fast.

Your 3200 has been sorted out and fingers crossed will continue to run without any serious headaches with no more big bills at least till the next service. I think it is prudent to budget a minimum of £3,000 per annum... some may say as much as £5,000 .

I am afraid it is naive or wishful thinking to get away for anything less and if you do then you have a pleasant surprise.

The 3200, although it has bags of character, is going to give more headaches generally than say a 4200 or Gransport half its age. As the new breed of Maseratis have evloved, they have become more reliable and like the 4200 and Gransport are more reliable than say a 3200, I don't doubt that the Granturismo is better built than a 4200 or Gransport.

Buying a cheap supercar is the easy bit.......keeping it in tip top condition is another proposition and thats where we look to the forum for help without having the necessity to take out a second mortgage. By way of a comparison I find myself needing to visit a doctor much more than I had to say 30 years ago

Dem before buying a Gransport doing your homework to buy a good car will pay dividends. I still think buying as new as possible is the route to go and to buy the best possible rather than the best at the cheapest price. An intial saving of say £5,000 buying cheap can be swallowed in an instant with repairs as opposed to buying the right car in the first place.

Even though I had a torid time with a main dealer (to remain nameless) and ended up buying from an Indie and having a torid time (to remain nameless), I still think that main dealers are my preferred choice. Having said that there are some good indies out there selling genuine cars. I just think there is a greater level of protection from the manufacturer umbrella, buying from a main dealer but I maybe wrong.

 

[Evoluzione]

I have changed my mind, I've spent two weekends in a row in Singapore and one friend has a Granturismo 4.2 with a Tubi system, the other a new BMW 730Li. The Maserati makes a strange noise, it burps and farts all the time and I can't make up my mind if I like it or not, the savage yet linear growl of a 3200 or Shamal is more likely to raise the hair on my neck. I was impressed by how much more solid it feels than my Cambiocorsa, the interior was quite contemporary and the ride felt like a modern car should, at last. I don't know if it was the hot weather, the ultra smooth roads or that we were four passengers at one point, but it did not feel especially quick, the shove in the back sensation seems to be a thing of the past for Maserati.

The 7 Series was like coming home, as we were blasted from night spot to night spot I found myself never wanting to get out the back seats, being cocooned in this modern marvel felt so luxurious and the full leather option meant that all surfaces were pleasing to the touch, screw the Arnage and individuality, I'm going to go downmarket and my next car will be a brand new, fully loaded petrol engined 7, I feel good about a car again for the first time in months.

Anyone looking to stay somewhere special in Singapore should avoid The Fullerton, it is an overrated tourist/weirdo machine and the slightly more expensive Four Seasons is still the one to go for, unless your budget stretches to The Raffles Hotel of course.

 

[urbanmaser]

I drove the standard Granturismo and rather liked it. It felt plenty fast enough for everday use and was a much better ride than the Gransport when going over speed bumps and pot holes. I still want the ultimate GTS

 

[Evoluzione]

Considering the national speed limit is still 70 mph, you could argue that a Micra is fast enough for everyday use, to me the GranTurismo felt sluggish.

 

[conaero]

well i own a 3200, my next step is a gransport with the conversion but in 2 or 3 years i def wil be looking into the granturismo s, i heard it at the dealer and standard its LOUD i have had my doubts over the brand with what i been through but hoping after 2006 they became better

Dem, I know you are struggling with the 3200 niggles at the moment, and sounds a carbon copy of the sort I time I had with mine. Dont get me wrong, brilliant car, just heavy on the pocket and the constant niggles do get to you after a while. If its any consolation the 4200 has moved the bar on a fair way and its more traditional engine fairs a lot better. Still, much of the car is the same as the 3200, just the niggles have been ironed out. I would try and slot in a GS then go for the GTS, that should keep you with the marque (and one of the best ones I might add) for at least the next 6 years or so.

Let me know what the RAC say?

 

[GTS 08]

I am biased - and I know cost is a major factor - but I would not touch a GT.

As soon as you buy it - then drive a GTS - you will want to get rid of it. And they are dropping too fast in value, thereby compounding the dilemma.

The GT and GTS are simply chalk and cheese.

Its like buying a DB9 - and then driving a DBS - except the discrepancy is more marked.

You would be better of waiting and moving from a GS to the GTS - bypass the GS completely.

 

[GTS 08]

I mean, bypass the GT

 

[bigbob]

Please show me where the 4.2 GT is dropping like a stone - I can't see much evidence of it!

 

[GTS 08]

it depends on how you define a drop.

I think 55-56 - considering what they were - is quite a drop.

And given the fact owners will be looking to upgrade they will become harder to shift

 

[bigbob]

Most of the nice ones - miles, colour, spec etc - seem to be more like £61-63k but given a lot of them were nearly £90k new it is a fair old drop. Personally, as the 4.2 engined cars start to come out of warranty (six months time) I hope they are sub £50k but even that is not cheap when you look at Maserati's history.

I have been bid £14k for my 2005 manual 4200GT which given it had £3k spent on the 31k service and news PS2s only five months ago is pretty low. In the end it was over £45k to change to the same branded car with essentially the same engine but two and a half years old rather than five years old. I just wish that strong residuals on the GT were pulling up values on 4200/3200!

 

[conaero]

Reading that Bob, makes me smile. I bought my GS at 2.5 years old with 6 months warranty as you state above, 20k miles, absolute minter, £31k......how much bang for your buck is that!

I bought, deep recession, just after xmas, deal of the century if you ask me.....but I would say that.

 

[bigbob]

That's the point though, whether we bought our 4200/GSs at great or average prices, those prices were considerably less than what it takes to get into a similar age Gran Turismo today. In fact all of the £20k additional cost new that the Gran Turismo retails at over the new prices of 4200/GSs is being maintained in residual values. This makes the cost to change for us 4200/GS owners prohibitive IMHO. You cannot get out of a 4200 into a Gran Turismo for less than £40k net which is a lot of ££££ when you are buying into a car already into its 3rd year and which offers a level of peformance that many much cheaper cars can match.

I wonder who many Gran Turismo buyers are new to the Maserati brand?

 

[nigw]

I'd keep your Gransport if I were you Matt; it looks stunning, and as Loz says - you'd have to spend a lot of extra cash to get something discernably better.

I can now say in a biased way that yours is the best colour too.......I recently sold my 1999 3200GT and have just bought another one (2002'02 this time, low miles, grey with black leather and carbon fibre bits). Maserati are hard to replace!

 

[lozcb]

Way to go Nigel, way to go mate good on yer



regards loz

 

[conaero]

Thanks Nigel, I love the red leather with mine, its a great contrast.

As an extra bonus, I have never had a car that is so easy to keep clean, you have to get it really, really dirty to show.