Maserati 3200 and 4200

[delta0]

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on driving/owning these cars especially from those that have owned both. Which did you prefer? What kind of maintanence costs did you have per year? How was the reliability?

[RobinSherwood]

You need to get yourself over here where there is a wealth of information about these cars

http://www.sportsmaserati.com/forum.php

[delta0]

RobinSherwood said:

You need to get yourself over here where there is a wealth of information about these cars

http://www.sportsmaserati.com/forum.php

Thanks. There is certainly a lot of info there.

[DevonPaul]

3200 owners will tell you the 4200 is a slug and to get the fast pretty one.

4200 owners will tell you to get the reliable one that doesn't sound like a tarted up Imprezza.

Gransport owners will smile politely as they're above all this squabbling but, secretly wish they could get theirs in manual.

Granturismo owners will start to tell you what to get, but then wander off into a long discussion about the different gearbox choices.

[kev b]

I've always fancied one of these but over £1000 for each wishbone!!!!!???

That's me out.

[wink]

The 4200 is a slug. Get the fast pretty one . Seriously, the 3200 is beautiful and I love the twin turbo engine - the surge of torque is addictive. Great car on motorways but long distance trips are expensive at 16mpg. Not so good around town with very sensitive throttle. IMO the auto is easier to live with than the manual. Biggest problems come from the fly-by-wire throttle, causing check engine lights. But if you replace the pedal pot and throttle body with contactless versions it solves 95% of warning light issues.

[wink]

The 4200 is a slug. Get the fast pretty one . Seriously, the 3200 is beautiful and I love the twin turbo engine - the surge of torque is addictive. Great car on motorways but long distance trips are expensive at 16mpg. Not so good around town with very sensitive throttle. IMO the auto is easier to live with than the manual. Biggest problems come from the fly-by-wire throttle, causing check engine lights. But if you replace the pedal pot and throttle body with contactless versions it solves 95% of warning light issues.

Edited by wink on Wednesday 25th November 21:19

[tvrolet]

Have a 4200; have had it for maybe 6 years now. Nothing fallen off; nothing broke (touch wood). Servicing precious little through an independent. Biggest expense was I changed all 4 disks. pads and handbrake shoes last year and probably less than £1K all-in (although that was on Ferrari 456 disks that fit; the Maserati ones were twice the price).

Very very nice on long runs - it just eats the miles. Definitely a GT rather than a track demon. Sounds fabulous and reasonably nippy, and cambiocorsa great on the open road for slick changes. Not a lot of fun in traffic with the aforementioned cambiocorsa box.

No regrets whatsoever in buying it. And remember they're full 4-seaters...although the boot is tiny.

[David A]

Had both, 4200 was a cambiocorsa spyder though. 3200 a manual.

Very different cars, 4200 epic noise with a tubi. 3200 epic trying to kill you with turbos kicking in.

Neither cheap to run (I used main dealer and kept them tip top) but both a pleasure to have and great to get in each day.

3200 rear lights are obviously the best around

[delta0]

David A said:

Had both, 4200 was a cambiocorsa spyder though. 3200 a manual.

Very different cars, 4200 epic noise with a tubi. 3200 epic trying to kill you with turbos kicking in.

Neither cheap to run (I used main dealer and kept them tip top) but both a pleasure to have and great to get in each day.

3200 rear lights are obviously the best around

The 3200 looks stunning and unique with those lights. The 4200 is also great looking. What were the maintanence costs for each car?

[Revisitph]

DevonPaul said:

3200 owners will tell you the 4200 is a slug and to get the fast pretty one.

4200 owners will tell you to get the reliable one that doesn't sound like a tarted up Imprezza.

Gransport owners will smile politely as they're above all this squabbling but, secretly wish they could get theirs in manual.

Granturismo owners will start to tell you what to get, but then wander off into a long discussion about the different gearbox choices.

Ha, can only comment on the Gransport... how true! The dread of traffic jams and expensive smell of hot clutch when manoeuvring in a tight space with a slight slope in reverse as the hill-hold cuts in and out

[David A]

delta0 said:

David A said:

Had both, 4200 was a cambiocorsa spyder though. 3200 a manual.

Very different cars, 4200 epic noise with a tubi. 3200 epic trying to kill you with turbos kicking in.

Neither cheap to run (I used main dealer and kept them tip top) but both a pleasure to have and great to get in each day.

3200 rear lights are obviously the best around

The 3200 looks stunning and unique with those lights. The 4200 is also great looking. What were the maintanence costs for each car?

High enough, however they were as new when I bought them (<2k miles each) so I kept up with the warranty and main dealer servicing. That said Meridien were very good to me generally and did not take the pi** with any glitches/problems.

In short I couldn't say now as the cars will be much older i.e. non current from when I had them and you would be unlikely to use main dealers for standard servicing/maintenance. Parts can be cheaper if shopped around e.g. for same part but diff part numbers (Ferrari components could be cheaper bizarrely)

Also CC boxes are fine if you drive them correctly - 55K on my first CC clutch

Another obligatory pic:

[tvrolet]

....well if we're all doing photos now then I guess I better leave these here

Took a long time to find this colour/spec, and it absolutely is the best - it just lights-up in the sun, And perfect with the cream leather and carbon bits inside.

As an aside when I bought the car I lamented the fact it didn't have the boomerang rear lights like the 3200. But as time has passed I actually now - shock horror - prefer the 4200 lights . To me at least they have aged rather better than the boomerangs.

[Bo_apex]

Revisitph said:

Ha, can only comment on the Gransport... how true! The dread of traffic jams and expensive smell of hot clutch when manoeuvring in a tight space with a slight slope in reverse as the hill-hold cuts in and out

yep, we had that fragrant experience with the Gallardo e-gear. At least people could smell us coming...

[wink]

The February 2016 issue of Auto Italia is featuring two 3200s (including mine) and a GranSport so maybe a useful read to help you make up your mind. It's difficult to quantify running costs - like any exotica, they can be very expensive if things go wrong. Most genuine parts will be costly. But if you use an independent specialist you'll save hugely on labour costs. General advice seems to be to budget around 1.5 to 2k per annum for maintenance which should be fine. Just admiring the boomerang rear lights every morning must surely be worth that . Buy the best car you can find, check service history thoroughly and make sure that the big jobs have been done, including rear timing chains at around 70,000mls on a 3200. If you're buying a manual 3200, be extra sure that it's been checked and measured for crankshaft endfloat, which is potentially disastrous. As ever, a good one is a fantastic amount of car for not much money, whilst a neglected one might not be.

Edited by wink on Monday 30th November 12:21

[LDM]

tvrolet said:

....well if we're all doing photos now then I guess I better leave these here

Took a long time to find this colour/spec, and it absolutely is the best - it just lights-up in the sun, And perfect with the cream leather and carbon bits inside.

As an aside when I bought the car I lamented the fact it didn't have the boomerang rear lights like the 3200. But as time has passed I actually now - shock horror - prefer the 4200 lights . To me at least they have aged rather better than the boomerangs.

A great looking car!
both cars I'm sure have + & - although for me it had to be a 3200 and a manual at that. I would agree that in heavy traffic it can be a bit of a chore although that could be said of ant manual car.

As for the rear lights, the 4200 may have aged well but the boomerangs are "timeless"