How scary is this? Living with a Maserati

I'm noticing maserati prices are creeping down pretty low. It's easier to find a maser under 25k than a lotus elise. How terrifying would it be to live with one - either coupe/spyder or quattroporte (they're more like 30k though)?

A guy I used to work with has/had a coupe that he bought accident damaged and had rebuilt. IIRC it was pretty reliable - some parts are 'ouch' but most of them aren't too bad.

He loves that thing.

Edit: IIRC his has a manual transmission, which is pretty rare and makes a massive difference as to how the car feels.

Pretty terrifying from what I hear (no first hand experience). I passed up a clean coupe... automatic, thank God or I would have bought it... for around $20k.

Was told by lots of folks later how lucky I was to have skipped it. Highly complex, questionable parts support, quesitonable service support, etc.

Good god I love the sound those make. However, I've never been a huge fan of that model's styling (looks vaguely awkward imho), but my wife absolutely falls over herself for them. She's not a luxo-prestige girl either, more of a WRX/dirtbike aficionado.

I have nothing useful to add besides that. Carry on.

It's a modern Italian car. What could go wrong?

pigeon wrote: It's a modern Italian car. What could go correctly?

fixxored that for yah

I do not need to be thinking about stuff like this.

Matt B wrote: She's not a luxo-prestige girl either, more of a WRX/dirtbike aficionado.

Tell your wife I said she's awesome.

seen this at sebring today

I like being terrified.. but I agree.. I do not care for the looks

Put that engine in any older Maserati..

WOW! I had no idea they were available for cheep.

We almost bought a new one, but at last minute I chickened. My wife still wanted it.

Maybe she can get one this year. And maybe she'll let me drive it to an autocross or trackday or 2

The big, big boss at work bought a new one. He had it for like 8 months and the entire interior FELL OFF. Yeah, all the glue holding all the leather on let loose at the same time. Apparently Italy is not the same climate as FLORIDA. Last I heard, it was in the shop for over 6 months waiting for the Italian cows to die and be tanned or something.

the italians build wonderful cars.. but they still seem to forget that the rest of the world does not have their wonderful climate

The sound it makes is worth the purchase IMHO.

In reply to ValuePack:

lol, done. Her reply was, of course, ". . .and don't you forget it".

For the record, the next-generation coupe (pictured in red here), fixed all of my complaints with the exterior styling. Dagnabbit that car is hawt.

Entire interior, hehe

I'm really tempted to buy one in a few years just have for a little while and sell off before it gets expensive, just so I can casually refer to 'my old Maserati' in conversations. You have to admit, when you look back on the cars you've owned, having a Maser on there would really class up the list of other crapheaps.

alex wrote: just so I can casually refer to 'my old Maserati' in conversations.

"Maserati huh? Biturbo, was it?"

Yeah, that's actually the first thing I thought of as I was typing that, too. Fortunately, I have a while to work out the details of phrasing (see my Business Build Thread for details on why I'm poor and probably will be for a long damn while).

$12K Coupe, 50K miles

Damn...how much does GRM think it would cost to fix?

Not a body man, but it does not look like any frame damage, mostly a big plastic thing. Hmmmm.

Dr. Hess wrote: Last I heard, it was in the shop for over 6 months waiting for the Italian cows to die and be tanned or something.

Maseratis are upholstered from the hides of cute, tasty little veal calves, so they need a lot more of them.

Grtechguy wrote: $12K Coupe, 50K miles Damn...how much does GRM think it would cost to fix?

BONDO.

No Joe Walsh references yet? Wow.

I personally wouldn't drive one if you gave it to me. It's not particularly good-looking, probably sucks gas, get you dirty looks from other people assuming that you're a rich yuppie, and it's Italian...which in some language stands for "will break constantly."

A clutch job on a paddle-shifted Quattroporte runs around 7 grand--they last about 20k miles with proper use--the same as a Ferrari F430.

My friend w/ an F430 told me this after a co-worker's wife went through 3 clutches on her Quattroporte getting it in and out of her driveway on a regular basis (clutch slips 1st on slow, steep climbs).

Easy buy-in, scary maintenance.

I think id rather have a biturbo than one of those. At least with a biturbo, if something too expensive breaks you can just go buy another one for $1500.