Early Maser 3200GTs
Discussion
I've always fancied a 3200GT as it seems to fit pretty well with the fast-coupe-GT-kind-of-thing that I enjoy. Having searched threads on here and read the Evo buying guide I am coming to the conclusion 3200GT's are pretty sounds motors if they've been well maintained and have had all the "campaigns" done.
My budget could just about stretch to a 2001 car from a Maser dealer but I don't want to spend more than I have to, so wondered whether an earlier car ('99 say), again from a main dealer, was worth considering?
Presumably all campaigns would have been done on a car being sold by a Maser dealer? Would that automatically include the head gasket fix I've read about, and the rear wishbone upgrade? With those things taken care of, and an approved used car warranty backing things up, should it make a reasonably sound buy?
Thanks in advance!
Chris
My budget could just about stretch to a 2001 car from a Maser dealer but I don't want to spend more than I have to, so wondered whether an earlier car ('99 say), again from a main dealer, was worth considering?
Presumably all campaigns would have been done on a car being sold by a Maser dealer? Would that automatically include the head gasket fix I've read about, and the rear wishbone upgrade? With those things taken care of, and an approved used car warranty backing things up, should it make a reasonably sound buy?
Thanks in advance!
Chris
Prior to 2001 they were, i beleive built in the older factory set up with much less input from Ferrari. I was led to believe that the build quality was improved significantly for the 2001 car.
I had a mid 2001 car which I recently sold and it was pretty reliable and great fun. I really do miss it now. despite having bought a Ferrari!
I had a mid 2001 car which I recently sold and it was pretty reliable and great fun. I really do miss it now. despite having bought a Ferrari!
Chris,
As far as buying from an official dealer, you should be covered for all the campaigns. The dealer should be able to produce for you some documentatry evidence of this too to set your mind at rest!
As to exactly what all the campaigns are and whether the HGF issue is covered by the campaigns I'm afraid I don't know the details here. I'd suggest you call a couple of main dealers and ask that question! (and if you want to repeat the results here it would be interesting - I wouldn't name names though, thats not PH policy)
Personally, I found the sales people pretty prepared to talk about this stuff when I was in the market. I'm sure any main dealer worth their salt would be able to provide you with a detailed histry of the car including any campaign work carried out.
As mal said though, buying the 'later' cars means that all these issues were covered at the build stage, and under greater Ferrari scruitiny. Not to say that early cars are bad, but if you buy an early car from a non main dealer without a careful history check you could find yourself in line for a few bills to bring the car up to scratch with the campaigns.
Having said that in terms of the car letting you down I think thats very unlikely if you buy a well kept example, the reliability is by all accounts extreemly good, it's just the historical image of rusty bi-turbos that continues to cast a shadow over this remarkable marque(!)
As far as buying from an official dealer, you should be covered for all the campaigns. The dealer should be able to produce for you some documentatry evidence of this too to set your mind at rest!
As to exactly what all the campaigns are and whether the HGF issue is covered by the campaigns I'm afraid I don't know the details here. I'd suggest you call a couple of main dealers and ask that question! (and if you want to repeat the results here it would be interesting - I wouldn't name names though, thats not PH policy)
Personally, I found the sales people pretty prepared to talk about this stuff when I was in the market. I'm sure any main dealer worth their salt would be able to provide you with a detailed histry of the car including any campaign work carried out.
As mal said though, buying the 'later' cars means that all these issues were covered at the build stage, and under greater Ferrari scruitiny. Not to say that early cars are bad, but if you buy an early car from a non main dealer without a careful history check you could find yourself in line for a few bills to bring the car up to scratch with the campaigns.
Having said that in terms of the car letting you down I think thats very unlikely if you buy a well kept example, the reliability is by all accounts extreemly good, it's just the historical image of rusty bi-turbos that continues to cast a shadow over this remarkable marque(!)
craigw said:
chris n, have you seen the evo buying guide, was very helpful when I bought mine.
Yes, I missed it when it first came out but sent off for the back issue. I agree it is very useful.
Thanks for the replies. I think I will give really early cars a miss if they are mainly ex-demos (there's one for £28k at Stratstones). Sounds like 2001 or later is "nice to have" rather than critical so long as I can confirm fixes have been done.
So my current thinking is now a '00 manual from a main dealer for low £30's. Next job is to get myself down to Meridien Modena who have a couple of cars that appear to fit the bill! Quite like the look of a Verde Mexico one-owner 18k mile May'00 car they've got. It's up at £34,995 - does that seem sensibly priced, at least as a starting point for negotiation?
thanks,
Chris
00 car
Verde (not a 'strong' selling colour BTW)
18k miles
35k.
Reasonable, though you should have some room to bargain Main thing to do is drive it, and several others, thye're individual cars and some feel better than others, particularly the gearbox / clutch setup on the manuals.
Check what kind of servicing deal they're offering, though if you're near london then several specialists (Verdi I know of but there are probably others too) who'll do the servicing once you're out of the manufacturers warranty / fixed price servicing deal.
edited because I can't count or spell....
>> Edited by mr_tony on Friday 13th February 12:14
Verde (not a 'strong' selling colour BTW)
18k miles
35k.
Reasonable, though you should have some room to bargain
Main thing to do is drive it, and several others, thye're individual cars and some feel better than others, particularly the gearbox / clutch setup on the manuals. Check what kind of servicing deal they're offering, though if you're near london then several specialists (Verdi I know of but there are probably others too) who'll do the servicing once you're out of the manufacturers warranty / fixed price servicing deal.
edited because I can't count or spell....
>> Edited by mr_tony on Friday 13th February 12:14
Thanks for the help guys 
Meridien have got 2 or 3 cars in my price range so should be a good place to drive some back to back.
As for ...
... I thought as much. I seem to be the only person around who likes green cars! I do need to think about this from the resale perspective as well, though at the right price I could be tempted to go for Verde anyway.
Watch this space!
Chris
Meridien have got 2 or 3 cars in my price range so should be a good place to drive some back to back.
As for ...
mr_tony said:
Verde (not a 'strong' selling colour BTW)
... I thought as much. I seem to be the only person around who likes green cars! I do need to think about this from the resale perspective as well, though at the right price I could be tempted to go for Verde anyway.
Watch this space!
Chris
chris_n said:
chris n, have you seen the evo buying guide, was very helpful when I bought mine.
Yes, I missed it when it first came out but sent off for the back issue. I agree it is very useful.
Thanks for the replies. I think I will give really early cars a miss if they are mainly ex-demos (there's one for £28k at Stratstones). Sounds like 2001 or later is "nice to have" rather than critical so long as I can confirm fixes have been done.
So my current thinking is now a '00 manual from a main dealer for low £30's. Next job is to get myself down to Meridien Modena who have a couple of cars that appear to fit the bill! Quite like the look of a Verde Mexico one-owner 18k mile May'00 car they've got. It's up at £34,995 - does that seem sensibly priced, at least as a starting point for negotiation?
thanks,
Chris
I've paid around that for a 01' GTM with similar milage as that, from a main dealer. I would not expect to pay more than 30-32 for that car.
Chris, I'm going to be selling my car in the next couple of weeks - Jan 01 Manual, Met. Black/Beige, 21K miles with sports suspension - drop me an email if you'd be interested. I'll just be looking to make a bit more than the trade-in and you could spend some of your savings on an extended warranty if you want some reassurance.
Beasty,
You are certainly right to aim lower, but as usual the exact spec of the car will have some bearing on the final price too so I guess it depends on whether it's spartan (aim for 30-31) or fully loaded (more like 33 or 34).
In the end it depends how good you are at wheeler dealing!
As for verde, it's by no means the worst colour out there so I wouldn't get too concerned. Mines rosso mondiale though so what do I know about buying 'safe' colours anyway!
IT will ahve to be someone quite special that buys the bright yellow 3200 coupe thats out there though!
You are certainly right to aim lower, but as usual the exact spec of the car will have some bearing on the final price too so I guess it depends on whether it's spartan (aim for 30-31) or fully loaded (more like 33 or 34).
In the end it depends how good you are at wheeler dealing!
As for verde, it's by no means the worst colour out there so I wouldn't get too concerned. Mines rosso mondiale though so what do I know about buying 'safe' colours anyway!
IT will ahve to be someone quite special that buys the bright yellow 3200 coupe thats out there though!
mr_tony,
Quite right. Although I looked at the car in question at Meridien and it has exactly the same spec as mine. Heated seats, electronic suspension CD player and tracker.
The Verde green is actually a really good look, it suits the car well I think. We ended up with the Blu, but mainly because the car was a year newer.
Quite right. Although I looked at the car in question at Meridien and it has exactly the same spec as mine. Heated seats, electronic suspension CD player and tracker.
The Verde green is actually a really good look, it suits the car well I think. We ended up with the Blu, but mainly because the car was a year newer.
Mr T
Agree with all you say apart from the difference in value between "spartan" and high spec cars - in all honesty the only option that adds real value is the Auto Gearbox - dealers may try it on with the painted calipers etc - but at 3 years old they are worth pennies- it's nice to get one with them on but in reality condition / miles / colour are far more important than options.
When buying the car the dealer will have given virtually nothing for them - but they will chance thier arm trying to pass them on at a huge mark up... don't be fooled!!!
This isn't just Masers though as when I was selling a fully loaded Audi S3 (6K of options 1 year old) the offer I got was only raised by 1k when I listed them to the dealer (and that was for the tv sat nav system the rest was "zero rated" as far as they were concerned) - BTW I didn't sell it to them!
Agree with all you say apart from the difference in value between "spartan" and high spec cars - in all honesty the only option that adds real value is the Auto Gearbox - dealers may try it on with the painted calipers etc - but at 3 years old they are worth pennies- it's nice to get one with them on but in reality condition / miles / colour are far more important than options.
When buying the car the dealer will have given virtually nothing for them - but they will chance thier arm trying to pass them on at a huge mark up... don't be fooled!!!
This isn't just Masers though as when I was selling a fully loaded Audi S3 (6K of options 1 year old) the offer I got was only raised by 1k when I listed them to the dealer (and that was for the tv sat nav system the rest was "zero rated" as far as they were concerned) - BTW I didn't sell it to them!
Personally, yeah the verde looks nice I think, but as I already pointed out I'm not the colour concious type! It's dark though, which seems to be the standard logic in that its in keeping the 'discrete nature of the car'.*
The strategy has to be as it is with buying anything, that you go in with the lowest offer you feel you can get away with, try to avoid getting punched by the sales staff, and then work towards a mutually acceptable price. By the sounds of it Beasty is probably a good man to have a chat with chris as he knows the car.
* a car with a twin turbo v8, a quad pipe exhaust and a curvy itallian body isn't in my book very discrete no matter what colour it is!
The strategy has to be as it is with buying anything, that you go in with the lowest offer you feel you can get away with, try to avoid getting punched by the sales staff, and then work towards a mutually acceptable price. By the sounds of it Beasty is probably a good man to have a chat with chris as he knows the car.
* a car with a twin turbo v8, a quad pipe exhaust and a curvy itallian body isn't in my book very discrete no matter what colour it is!
exint,
You're of course right - painted calipers alcantara headlining etc nice to ahve but not worth extra cash!
Should have explained I was thinking more about the electric suspention etc. I saw one car that looked very cheap (2k less than similar spec cars) and was tempted, then found out it didn't have skyhook. I know the standard suspension would probably be fine, but the market seems to define this as a must have. When I phoned dealers and suggested I had such a car to trade this was seen a a very serious ommision, most hadn't delivered a car without it.
You're of course right - painted calipers alcantara headlining etc nice to ahve but not worth extra cash!
Should have explained I was thinking more about the electric suspention etc. I saw one car that looked very cheap (2k less than similar spec cars) and was tempted, then found out it didn't have skyhook. I know the standard suspension would probably be fine, but the market seems to define this as a must have. When I phoned dealers and suggested I had such a car to trade this was seen a a very serious ommision, most hadn't delivered a car without it.
chris n,
£35k for a 3 yr old 3200 is expensive when trade for on is mid £20's. I've seen dealer cars advertised for £2-3k lower than this with, in my experience, another £2k to come off for the 'deal'. Also check the Sunday Times as you may find a private sale car still under warranty for £26-28k. 99 cars are now largely out of the network and the independents' have loads for c£28k.
Check the chassis number as when I bought, I was offered a number of X reg cars which were as old as my V reg car.
BTW T reg cars tend to be ex demos but most V's are customer cars.
Wrt cylinder head gaskets ask if its been done on a 99 or 00 car - by 01 its not an issue.
£35k for a 3 yr old 3200 is expensive when trade for on is mid £20's. I've seen dealer cars advertised for £2-3k lower than this with, in my experience, another £2k to come off for the 'deal'. Also check the Sunday Times as you may find a private sale car still under warranty for £26-28k. 99 cars are now largely out of the network and the independents' have loads for c£28k.
Check the chassis number as when I bought, I was offered a number of X reg cars which were as old as my V reg car.
BTW T reg cars tend to be ex demos but most V's are customer cars.
Wrt cylinder head gaskets ask if its been done on a 99 or 00 car - by 01 its not an issue.
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