Wife wants me to ditch my Italian mistress
Discussion
I've always been a fan of Q-cars (or sleepers if you wish) i.e. plain looking cars with anything but plain performance. Also like any self repecting car nut I've always hankered after an Italian sports car but still needed to run a 4-door 5-seater.
2-3yrs I found myself in the enviable position of being able to pick up a low(ish) mileage Maserati Quattroporte S which fufilled all my desires (from a car).
Like a sucker I fell for the dealers patter about how they weren't that expensive to service.
I can just about deal with the service costs even though the brake discs appear to be made from unicorn horns (I'm blowed if I can think of a more expensive substance).
BUT a few days ago the engine management light lit up, I was due to do a 200-mile run so I rang my dealer who can't even look at the car for 10-days!
This means we'll have to use my wife's 2-door for the trip so we won't be able to bring back some bulky items from my kid's house and also I'll have to pootle the dog to the kennels in the wounded Maser (very spoilt dog I know).
My wife is less than impressed and thinks we should ditch the maser for something more sane from the servicing angle. From my angle still needs 4-doors, 5-seats and to go like sh*t off the proverbial whilst without the boy racer looks and preferably a bit smaller than the maser.
Obvious choices are AMG E or C class, Jag XF-R or XJ-R. BMWs & Audis are out due to "image" issues.
Personally I'm sorely tempted to keep the maser and invest in earplugs but that sin't the basis for a lasting relationship (at least with my wife).
Any input to help me with my (enviable) dilemma would be appreciated.
2-3yrs I found myself in the enviable position of being able to pick up a low(ish) mileage Maserati Quattroporte S which fufilled all my desires (from a car).
Like a sucker I fell for the dealers patter about how they weren't that expensive to service.
I can just about deal with the service costs even though the brake discs appear to be made from unicorn horns (I'm blowed if I can think of a more expensive substance).
BUT a few days ago the engine management light lit up, I was due to do a 200-mile run so I rang my dealer who can't even look at the car for 10-days!
This means we'll have to use my wife's 2-door for the trip so we won't be able to bring back some bulky items from my kid's house and also I'll have to pootle the dog to the kennels in the wounded Maser (very spoilt dog I know).
My wife is less than impressed and thinks we should ditch the maser for something more sane from the servicing angle. From my angle still needs 4-doors, 5-seats and to go like sh*t off the proverbial whilst without the boy racer looks and preferably a bit smaller than the maser.
Obvious choices are AMG E or C class, Jag XF-R or XJ-R. BMWs & Audis are out due to "image" issues.
Personally I'm sorely tempted to keep the maser and invest in earplugs but that sin't the basis for a lasting relationship (at least with my wife).
Any input to help me with my (enviable) dilemma would be appreciated.
I ran an Lexus GS430 for about 8yrs which I traded for the maser. Very comfy and largely reliable but not a driver's car at all (which is after all how a lexus is supposed to be comfy not sporty).
Did think about the ISF but said to be very hard riding which is probably a bit much for my old(ish) bones but may well be worth a test drive to form my own opinion. I suspect there's not enough LFA genetic material in the ISF to make it too wondrous.
Few yrs ago the V10 engined Audi A6 would have been a contender (despite what I said earlier about Audis I 'd make an exception for that car).
Did think about the ISF but said to be very hard riding which is probably a bit much for my old(ish) bones but may well be worth a test drive to form my own opinion. I suspect there's not enough LFA genetic material in the ISF to make it too wondrous.
Few yrs ago the V10 engined Audi A6 would have been a contender (despite what I said earlier about Audis I 'd make an exception for that car).
If you can get a new-shape supercharged XJ within your budget, I'd say that's the one to go for. Failing that I think you'll find plenty of very good XFRs within budget.
The on board infotainment system on the XFRs will be feeling a bit dated by now though, the car is nearly a 10-year old design.
The on board infotainment system on the XFRs will be feeling a bit dated by now though, the car is nearly a 10-year old design.
Cynic007 said:
I ran an Lexus GS430 for about 8yrs which I traded for the maser. Very comfy and largely reliable but not a driver's car at all (which is after all how a lexus is supposed to be comfy not sporty).
Did think about the ISF but said to be very hard riding which is probably a bit much for my old(ish) bones but may well be worth a test drive to form my own opinion. I suspect there's not enough LFA genetic material in the ISF to make it too wondrous.
Few yrs ago the V10 engined Audi A6 would have been a contender (despite what I said earlier about Audis I 'd make an exception for that car).
Later models (2010 onwards) have better suspension set up than earlier models. I have an 08 and it's a bullet proof, incredible spec rocket! You should at least test drive one to rule it out imo. Personally if you like the maser get a bigger more practical scone car Leon/golf size.Did think about the ISF but said to be very hard riding which is probably a bit much for my old(ish) bones but may well be worth a test drive to form my own opinion. I suspect there's not enough LFA genetic material in the ISF to make it too wondrous.
Few yrs ago the V10 engined Audi A6 would have been a contender (despite what I said earlier about Audis I 'd make an exception for that car).
Stu
If I bought a car for £40k+ and my dealer told me I'd have to wait 10 days for them to have a look at their car which had thrown a fault, I'd tell them to f
k off and dump it with them.
If anything ever goes wrong with my lowly £20k VW, it's dropped to my local dealer the same day who arrange me a hire car almost immediately.
Quite shocked at that response from your Maser dealer.
k off and dump it with them.If anything ever goes wrong with my lowly £20k VW, it's dropped to my local dealer the same day who arrange me a hire car almost immediately.
Quite shocked at that response from your Maser dealer.
I rang a local(ish) independent on Saturday who didn't get back to me til Monday but could see the car and ran the diagnostics earlier today.
In the meantime lot of weird electrical faults all affecting driver's side door.
Sure enough diagnostics suggest engine is fine and it's a wiring problem. BUT they can't do anything definitive for another 10-days.
Don't get me wrong I love my maser but I need a more reliable and easier to service car.
When it's running it's glorious but they are high maintenance, so far have had window motor blow (a common problem in QPs) and needed new gas struts for boot. Of course whenever you need spares no one ever has them in stock so any repair usually means 2-trips to the garage (one to diagnose the issue then another to rectify it).
I got rear ended last year and it took nearly 6-weeks to get the car back from the bodyshop, the main delay being waiting for parts from Italy.
In the meantime lot of weird electrical faults all affecting driver's side door.
Sure enough diagnostics suggest engine is fine and it's a wiring problem. BUT they can't do anything definitive for another 10-days.
Don't get me wrong I love my maser but I need a more reliable and easier to service car.
When it's running it's glorious but they are high maintenance, so far have had window motor blow (a common problem in QPs) and needed new gas struts for boot. Of course whenever you need spares no one ever has them in stock so any repair usually means 2-trips to the garage (one to diagnose the issue then another to rectify it).
I got rear ended last year and it took nearly 6-weeks to get the car back from the bodyshop, the main delay being waiting for parts from Italy.
Yeah I guess battery might be part of the problem, the car is 6yrs old so reasonable that battery might be on way out. Interestingly the multimedia system has been frozen for several weeks before all the other problems started.
The main dealer (and several maser forums) suggested disconnecting and reconnecting the battery to reset things.
I tried this last weekend...The battery is in the boot and is pretty hard to access, it's also about twice the length and weight of a normal battery and try as I might I couldn't get the -ve terminal off. The +ve terminal is quite the weirdest thing I've ever seen with several banks of fuses mounted on it.
The car has been starting easily enough but there again it is used several times a day and gets regular long runs however in the depth of the winter it did behave as if it was on the way out.
The main dealer (and several maser forums) suggested disconnecting and reconnecting the battery to reset things.
I tried this last weekend...The battery is in the boot and is pretty hard to access, it's also about twice the length and weight of a normal battery and try as I might I couldn't get the -ve terminal off. The +ve terminal is quite the weirdest thing I've ever seen with several banks of fuses mounted on it.
The car has been starting easily enough but there again it is used several times a day and gets regular long runs however in the depth of the winter it did behave as if it was on the way out.
There is usually enough power in the battery to start the car long after the electrical gremlins start showing up so I wouldn't take this as a sign the battery is OK. If you are driving the car every day it is unlikely that conditioning the battery will help. Sounds like it's time for a new battery. 
Before I spent any money on anything else I'd buy a new battery, especially if the one fitted is the original.
I had a XK8 that started having electrical problems , fitted a new battery and they were cured.
The QP is top of the list for stunning looking 4 door cars but ownership out of warranty would scare me to death.
There was a really nice looking 2006 car on eBay last week for 14k which sold quickly but if I bought something that was 2k to change the brakes the earache would be constant
I had a XK8 that started having electrical problems , fitted a new battery and they were cured.
The QP is top of the list for stunning looking 4 door cars but ownership out of warranty would scare me to death.
There was a really nice looking 2006 car on eBay last week for 14k which sold quickly but if I bought something that was 2k to change the brakes the earache would be constant
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