A worthy Maserati...a 2002 Spyder for low $30s?

[jkarolyi]

With the recent threads about the lesser Maserati's of the 70s (Merak and Quattroporte), I must admit a soft spot for this marque that has seen so many ups and downs over the years.

Maserati has been on the upswing again since the Ferrari takeover. The 4.3 V8 is in the same engine family as the F430 and the new California spyder. A friend in the local PCA is a Maserati nut (even owns a Qporte III), and he let me drive his Spyder 6-speed manual with a tubi exhaust. It sounded much like this one:



A thrilling drive to say the least. The coupe is not much of a looker, but I love the Spyder. This seems like a Ferrari California Spyder at 1/4 the cost, and better looking to boot.

The latest Masers have trouble with the F1 semi-auto gearbox, but the manuals are fine supposedly. I saw some Maseratis on the assembly line at Ferrari's factory in Maranello in the National Geographic special...are all modern Masers made there? Is there a "Pelican" discussion board on the newer Masers? I'm going to Michigan on business next week, and was thinking of checking out this car:

Maserati:eBay Motors (item 130349117926 end time Dec-09-09 13:33:26 PST)

[MysticLlama]

I looked at one a couple years ago, but the dealer didn't want to deal. They still have it actually, and now it's marked at $29k.

Was a great driving car, could tell by the way that it took off from stop lights why they go through clutches. I ended up with an M3 SMG and it feels much different. The Maser was more of a launch or burn system, not a lot of in between.

From what I read, the 4.3L engine is basically an enlarged and detuned version of the F360 motor. Also, the belts were replaced with timing chains for durability, and the engine is supposed to be very strong and all regular servicing can be done with it in the car.

Ferrarichat has a Maserati section, though it's not a Pelican traffic wise, it's pretty good. There was also a specific Spyder forum I found, but I can't remember where it was.

[MattKellett]

Ferrarichat has a good Maserati forum. I think they almost consider it a baby Ferrari, with lots of fans there. Edit ^^^^^ beat me to it.

[gprsh924]

I wanted my dad to look at one of those when he bought his M3. He didn't want to pay to maintain it. Even if they are relatively reliable, you will be paying Ferrari-like prices for parts and service. If this isn't a deal breaker, then go for it, I think they are awesome cars. The quattraporte sounds fantastic in person.

[hcariss]

Lovely car not sure about what the Hamster has to say at 4:16.

[Noah930]

My boss had one of the recent GranTurismo coupes (current bodystyle). I've driven it a couple times. Fantastic sound and exoticism. A great drive. Very exciting.

But, as he found out, maintenance (even routine) is not cheap. Ferrari-like prices. Parts are often hard to come by (the dealership would cannibalize cars on the lot/showroom at times, if they just couldn't get them from Italy). A bit of trial and error in labor (no one has much experience fixing these things, as the production numbers just aren't there for repetitious experience). And when he finally got into what looked like a minor fender bender, he found the estimated repair bill to be about $50K (on a car with residual value of about $90-95K, so enough to total it).

In the end, he enjoyed the experience, but wound up replacing it with a Mercedes, instead. (FWIW, both the Maser and MB cost about $120K, new).

[88-diamondblue]

Noah,

The sound on those is fantastic and love the look of the cars...

[audiman08]

My turn to talk someone out of a Maserati! ...Actually, I love the newer Masers too, but have heard several horror stories on maintenance..like I have on all Maseratis For a baby Ferrari, you'd think part-costs would be less than their bigger brother...but an article I was reading on the Coupe/Spyder generation basically said maintenance costs were the downfall of these. I think that's the case with any rare make. I'm sure having a Lancia or a Facel-Vega would be equally expensive on the maintenance end.

[Tobra]

Did somebody say Lancia?

[aigel]

Honda prelude rear:



Jaguar XKR (?) front:



And an overall slab sided appearance really don't do it for me. It is just an oversized Miata as far as the design goes - leaves me totally cold. I wish these were prettier, as I think they'd be a hoot to drive and maybe even maintain (DIY as a second car).

I would not buy now. Wait 3 years and they will be in the high teens.

George

[audiman08]

I think the newer GranTurismo has much better looks than the older Coupe/Spyder. I've seen two so far, one driving and one at a car show and they were both impressive. Of course, these are more than triple the cost of a used Coupe/Spyder.

[McLovin]

Those old ones have a nice exhaust sound, but they are so chick car looking.

And, $30K+ buys you a lot of exotic car in today's market.

For that kind of money, and for Ferrari level maintenance expense, why not get a real ferrari instead? Something like:

Ferrari : 355:eBay Motors (item 160385729453 end time Dec-18-09 14:31:29 PST)

A huge advantage to a Ferrari is there is actually a large (and getting larger every day, because of the very low cost of these as used cars these days) DIY base.

Used Ferraris are in the dumps these days, esp. if the car needs a service, or has anything wrong with it at all (even just a bunch of minor things).

For that maserati chick car, I'd imagine you'd have a very hard time finding anyone who DIYs them (or, not many). There isn't going to be a lot of DIY support for that car, and if you have to take it to the shop to get things fixed, it will quickly become a "way more $$ than it is worth" proposition.

[Schumi]

I'm going with McLovin on this one. If you are considering such a niche car as the Masser... then you should be really looking at the one and only....


355

[audiman08]

I think it's a little hard to compare a Maserati GT with a Ferrari 355. The former is a luxury sports car/GT and the latter is a pure exotic sports car. The Maserati has more refined (grown-up) styling, while the Ferrari says...look at me I'm a basketball star/plastic surgeon/rapper. Of course, that's my opinion.

[Damian in NJ]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Did somebody say Lancia?

Here's a Fulvia I spotted at the Port Authority of NY bus terminal parking garage a few months ago, with Maine plates.