Maserati 3200 owners help required.

[barrieeld]

Hi there folks looking for some help again.

I really dont want to get a boring 4x4 (RR Autobiography i have looked at)but i need somthing practical around the £20-£25k mark. I love maserati especially the 3200 but i am keet to know what there like as an everyday car, shopping, taking the kids to school etc.

I cant afford 2 vehicles so 1 car which can deliver on the everyday front is what im ideally looking at.

I need to know things like:
MPG around town? (GULP!)
Boot capacity?
Comfort?
Performance?
Servicing?
Are they troublesome?
What spec should i go for if i was to buy?
Basically anything and everything a test drive wont give me.

thanks in advance

Barrie

[mr_tony]

barrieeld said:

Hi there folks looking for some help again.

I really dont want to get a boring 4x4 (RR Autobiography i have looked at)but i need somthing practical around the £20-£25k mark. I love maserati especially the 3200 but i am keet to know what there like as an everyday car, shopping, taking the kids to school etc.

I cant afford 2 vehicles so 1 car which can deliver on the everyday front is what im ideally looking at.

I need to know things like:
MPG around town? (GULP!)

Mine did 12=14mpg. would return 18 on a longish run some days.

barrieeld said:

Boot capacity?

reasonable - 2 golf bags and a bit more stuff. Not really room for 4 peoples luggage if you're travelling in a full car though.

barrieeld said:

Comfort?

Excellent

barrieeld said:

Performance?

Well when the turbos spool up there ain't much gonna get past!! Give and take on back roads it's a car you really have to know to safely exploit however because the handling isn't massively friendly.. Leave the sport button alone in the rain!

barrieeld said:

Servicing?

Independents are cheaper. It's not cheap at all though. Average bill for most jobs will be in the region of 1000 quid at a main dealer, 600 at an independent. Consumables (disks pads, clutch tyres etc) not cheap at all..

barrieeld said:

Are they troublesome?

Not really. Mine broke down once in 20000 miles - air con pump died.

Having said that constant small electrical niggles(Check engine lights etc) are a common issue. Can be expensive to sort and the problems always seem to come back. You get used to it and it doesn't impact on the car at all - its just sensors..

barrieeld said:

What spec should i go for if i was to buy?

Auto if you're using it in traffic. Manual if you're doing longer runs - helps the fuel economy having 6 rather than 4 gears...

barrieeld said:

Basically anything and everything a test drive wont give me.

thanks in advance

Barrie

See my profile list of previous cars for the ideas of running one for 18 months and 20k miles.

To be fair though I was piling on the miles, and the car got used properly - regularly seeing 150mph+ (German Autobahns and other places)

Good luck - but I do fear your opening statement. IF you can't afford to run 2 cars (say a E46 BMW M3 and a golf diesel as a shopping hack) at the same time - then my sincere advice is to leave the 3200 alone...

Edited by mr_tony on Tuesday 15th August 13:22

[3200gt]

mr_tony said:

barrieeld said:

Hi there folks looking for some help again.

I really dont want to get a boring 4x4 (RR Autobiography i have looked at)but i need somthing practical around the £20-£25k mark. I love maserati especially the 3200 but i am keet to know what there like as an everyday car, shopping, taking the kids to school etc.

I cant afford 2 vehicles so 1 car which can deliver on the everyday front is what im ideally looking at.

I need to know things like:
MPG around town? (GULP!)

Mine did 12=14mpg. would return 18 on a longish run some days.

barrieeld said:

Boot capacity?

reasonable - 2 golf bags and a bit more stuff. Not really room for 4 peoples luggage if you're travelling in a full car though.

barrieeld said:

Comfort?

Excellent

barrieeld said:

Performance?

Well when the turbos spool up there ain't much gonna get past!! Give and take on back roads it's a car you really have to know to safely exploit however because the handling isn't massively friendly.. Leave the sport button alone in the rain!

barrieeld said:

Servicing?

Independents are cheaper. It's not cheap at all though. Average bill for most jobs will be in the region of 1000 quid at a main dealer, 600 at an independent. Consumables (disks pads, clutch tyres etc) not cheap at all..

barrieeld said:

Are they troublesome?

Not really. Mine broke down once in 20000 miles - air con pump died.

Having said that constant small electrical niggles(Check engine lights etc) are a common issue. Can be expensive to sort and the problems always seem to come back. You get used to it and it doesn't impact on the car at all - its just sensors..

barrieeld said:

What spec should i go for if i was to buy?

Auto if you're using it in traffic. Manual if you're doing longer runs - helps the fuel economy having 6 rather than 4 gears...

barrieeld said:

Basically anything and everything a test drive wont give me.

thanks in advance

Barrie

See my profile list of previous cars for the ideas of running one for 18 months and 20k miles.

To be fair though I was piling on the miles, and the car got used properly - regularly seeing 150mph+ (German Autobahns and other places)

Good luck - but I do fear your opening statement. IF you can't afford to run 2 cars (say a E46 BMW M3 and a golf diesel as a shopping hack) at the same time - then my sincere advice is to leave the 3200 alone...

Edited by mr_tony on Tuesday 15th August 13:22

Seconded!
I bet my response took less time to type than yours

[scobbo]

If you have children IMHO you will need another car as well. Boot is not very big.

[s2_dpd]

scobbo said:

If you have children IMHO you will need another car as well. Boot is not very big.

I tend to use the rear seats for the kids rather than the boot - unless they're really misbehvin'.