Like the Maserati but not ruinous?
Discussion
The Maserati 3200 article got me thinking. Are there any cars that have similar status, performance and wow factor yet don't need huge servicing bills?
I'm hoping somewill will say "the.... has 20k service intervals, you only have to change the spark plugs every 100k and even when you do they are ordinary ones, so being 8 or 12 of them isn't a problem!"
I'm hoping somewill will say "the.... has 20k service intervals, you only have to change the spark plugs every 100k and even when you do they are ordinary ones, so being 8 or 12 of them isn't a problem!"
Edited by Norfolkandchance on Saturday 24th November 11:35
rockin said:
Depends on what you mean by "status and wow factor" but Corvette is good value to buy and remarkably cost-effective to run.
I agree. I’ve had two masers and both needed a lot of cash thrown at them.Got a C6 corvette now (only a year into ownership) and so far very happy at how reasonable it is to maintain and service (fuels another matter...)
A Jaguar XK or XKR with the 4.2 V8 is a well proven and foible free car. They'd had a decade of beta testing the AJV8 by then, and sorted all the problems, and the ZF6 gearbox is a well known quantity. They've had eight years of the 5.0 so they've probably just about got that right now too, just in time to take it out of production. Jaguar heritage.
Funny enough, I was in the same position earlier this year, I really liked the look of the 3200/4200, but decided against it, due to parts cost.
2nd choice was the Aston Martin DB7, but examples at the cheap end were rusty and generally dodgy.
Not a fan of the X100 XKR and didn't want another Jaguar anyway...
So ended up with a sensible 650i BMW Convertible, way newer and cheaper than the Maserati & Aston to buy. Probably on paper 100% the better car, the only issue is the BMW badge is not as exotic.
2nd choice was the Aston Martin DB7, but examples at the cheap end were rusty and generally dodgy.
Not a fan of the X100 XKR and didn't want another Jaguar anyway...
So ended up with a sensible 650i BMW Convertible, way newer and cheaper than the Maserati & Aston to buy. Probably on paper 100% the better car, the only issue is the BMW badge is not as exotic.
Noodle1982 said:
ecsrobin said:
How about a “Maserati” with Fiat 500 running costs 
That looks fantastic.https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
Sub £30k with 1k on the clock https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
ferrariF50lover said:
DanielSan said:
Jag XKR.
Is the correct answer (and precisely the choice I made).Luckily that can be significantly reduced using a good indy, but the XK is not a car to be run on a shoestring. Rather more realistic than the Maserati though!
I wasn't thinking of buying, just interested, which is why I put it in General Gassing. R8 is an interesting example and the sort of thing I was wondering about. 6 series and XKR also, though to a lesser extent.
Its particularly interesting as cars get older. Imagine spending £15k on a Mondial. The cost of an engine rebuild could get very close to the value of the car. If, on the other hand, you spent £15k on an Escort Mexico, you could do the rebuild yourself and, even if you couldn't, it would be difficult to envisage spending more than a couple of k at a specialist.
But of course the Mondial has more "wow factor" than the Mexico.
As an asside, I wonder how much of the "exoticness" is down to being highly strung and therefore "thoroughbred".
Thanks for the replies.
Its particularly interesting as cars get older. Imagine spending £15k on a Mondial. The cost of an engine rebuild could get very close to the value of the car. If, on the other hand, you spent £15k on an Escort Mexico, you could do the rebuild yourself and, even if you couldn't, it would be difficult to envisage spending more than a couple of k at a specialist.
But of course the Mondial has more "wow factor" than the Mexico.
As an asside, I wonder how much of the "exoticness" is down to being highly strung and therefore "thoroughbred".
Thanks for the replies.
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