Maserati Ghibli. The best $35K available for $70K

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?

Exactly. Hell, GM used to get crap for sharing switchgear between Chevies and Cadillacs. And this is a berkeleying Maserati! If you're paying a premium price, you should expect a premium experience.

Yes. And GM was held to the fire for it too.

Usually Doug gives glowing reviews of cars, even if he'll rib them about weird little things. It was fun to watch him totally blast a car.

G_Body_Man wrote: I don't get what Doug is on about, a pre-owned Ghibli would be great.

Which makes me think you didn't watch the entire video - because that's pretty much EXACTLY what he says at the end, "Is it worth $80K? Berk no. But is a 2 year old used one worth $35K? Oh yeah!"

Beer Baron wrote:

The0retical wrote: I'm not sure I understand the bitch about the switches. Making a set of bespoke switches for a low volume car is going to be really expensive even at that price range. Even then the internals would still likely be the same and the manufacturer would simply change the covers. That's how manufacturing works and how you mass produce complex items with extensive BOMs. Besides who's buying a Maserati and saying "You know I saw these switches in the Dart I rented the other day."

Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then? The problem is this car seems to *show* where it decided to cut costs out AND is on the high end for price. The only value this seems to provide over its competition is that "Maserati" is a sexier name than BMW.

The rest of the car aside, all of this talk of the switches is not really warranted. Those are the same switches that were in 90K Mercedes so if anything they should be out of place in the Dart.

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: The rest of the car aside, all of this talk of the switches is not really warranted. Those are the same switches that were in 90K Mercedes so if anything they should be out of place in the Dart.

Well, Merc probably shouldn't be using them, either. And at least Merc isn't using Chrysler's infotainment system, too.

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

I would think that they went from Merc to Chrysler during the "merger".

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to Tom_Spangler: I would think that they went from Merc to Chrysler during the "merger".

Especially since Mercedes could then backcharge the crap out of Chrysler for the engineering development costs.

In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit:

Probably. I'm not sure that makes it better though. Mercedes sold Chrysler in 2007. That means those parts are atleast 10 years old. It's kind of ok to say "this Dart has 10 year old switches from a Benz!", it's not ok to say the same thing about an 80K Maser.

GM and VW are the only other companies that I can think of that play in both the economy car and luxury/sports segments. They both get grilled for using common switchgear when it happens. I see no reason FCA shoudn't get the same treatment when they do it.

In reply to STM317:

They are still current MB parts. I think getting bent out of shape over switch gear is silly. Now the panel gap on the inside of the door, that is just laughable.

Should they have made it more unique, maybe but calling them out of using something that is in vehicles costing more than the one in question is silly in my mind.

I wonder what the depreciation curve looks like in another couple of years - sub 20 - sub 15

Who would recognize anything in a Maserati as being from a Dart? I couldn't tell you the last time I've even seen a Dart.

oldtin wrote: I wonder what the depreciation curve looks like in another couple of years - sub 20 - sub 15

I don't think low 20's is too far off. There was one of the older coupe for sale by me for $15k a few years ago. I was tempted but talked myself out of it. I run into the guy that bought it from time to time and it's his DD. He said that while parts are a bit more expensive than the Toyotas and Hondas he's used to it has been very reliable and he's never once regretted it.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's ludicrous to be discussing back-up cameras and lane departure systems and other Chinese electronic crap in a car that has the performance credentials and name recognition of Maserati.

I recognize that there will be those that disagree, but save your breath. You'll not convince me otherwise.

And these were obviously overpriced new. Heck, it's a Maserati. But it does make a nice find after the massive depreciation hit. Just look at all the enthusiastic buyers snapping up the BiTurbo a few decades ago.

DrBoost wrote:

Brian wrote: Can we hand one off to Mr. Regular?

Isn't that the guy that didn't understand what a 944 is and ripped on it? That's the last video of his I'll watch. He's out of touch.

To be fair, it was a ruined 944 rollin' on dubs.

Wow, I just looked at the LandCruiser. When did they become 85k? And holy E36M3, there's so many other things I would buy for 85k.

alfadriver wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?

Exactly. Hell, GM used to get crap for sharing switchgear between Chevies and Cadillacs. And this is a berkeleying Maserati! If you're paying a premium price, you should expect a premium experience.

Anymore, it's not that hard to change the look of switches. Fiat has more then enough money to have some new molds made for those parts, and then charge the Maserati owner an extra $10 that each part will end up costing. It's that big of a deal, too. I really had a tough time seeing a basic crappy Taurus steering wheel in an Aston Martin V8 back when I visited them. Looked terrible, but it did have an air bag, I suppose.

Never noticed it before. Now I can't unsee it. Thanks.

mtn wrote:

alfadriver wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?

Exactly. Hell, GM used to get crap for sharing switchgear between Chevies and Cadillacs. And this is a berkeleying Maserati! If you're paying a premium price, you should expect a premium experience.

Anymore, it's not that hard to change the look of switches. Fiat has more then enough money to have some new molds made for those parts, and then charge the Maserati owner an extra $10 that each part will end up costing. It's that big of a deal, too. I really had a tough time seeing a basic crappy Taurus steering wheel in an Aston Martin V8 back when I visited them. Looked terrible, but it did have an air bag, I suppose.

Never noticed it before. Now I can't unsee it. Thanks.

Yeah, can't unsee now. Bleecch.

Ian F wrote

G_Body_Man wrote: I don't get what Doug is on about, a pre-owned Ghibli would be great.

Which makes me think you didn't watch the entire video - because that's pretty much EXACTLY what he says at the end, "Is it worth $80K? Berk no. But is a 2 year old used one worth $35K? Oh yeah!"

The main thing is that a 2 year old Ghibli up here is $60-70k. Even at that price, they're pretty neat.