My Maserati 4200 Daily Driver
Discussion
I’ve always loved Italian cars and have owned quite a few (Ferrari 308, 2x Integrale 16v, Alfa 155 V6, Brera) but recently I started to feel the need to scratch the Maserati itch. This car had to be my daily driver - I’m an audiologist and I drive around Central London and Surrey seeing my clients in their homes. I cover around 10,000 miles a year and was doing that very easily and comfortably in a 2011 Mercedes ML350 Grand Edition. But who wants ease and comfort when you can have an Italian V8? I could see which way the wind was blowing, and I knew that I was going to end up in a Tesla or similar sooner rather than later due to changing laws and budgetary considerations. So let’s enjoy the last hurrah of the ICE in style...
Gran Turismos were briefly considered but even the tatty ones were out of my price range, so I decided to focus the search on 4200s. Between Jan and June 2019 I drove a few and discovered that the CambioCorsa was not to my liking. Even in Sport Mode the delay after you pull the lever is just too long, and you feel disconnected from the whole driving experience IMHO. The forums are full of nightmare stories about replacing F1 pumps (although an Alfa part can take its place and save you some ££). So it had to be a manual car (officially designated ‘Maserati Coupe GT’), and they are slightly rarer than rocking horse sh*t (116 now in the UK according to howmanyleft). Just to make my search that little bit more challenging, I decided I needed a post-2005 facelift car - mainly because of greatly improved reliability but also for the looks. I drove a pre-facelift manual car and although it drove well it was tatty and looked/felt dated (I know not all are though).
I thought I’d finally found a car on Autotrader in June - a 2006 car in Silver with Black Leather but with 97,000 miles on the clock! Surely only a certifiable maniac or a multi-millionaire looking to p*ss his fortune away would buy such a car?
The drive home up the M3 was during a f**king monsoon and at night - not the best time to get familiar with a 400bhp car that likes misting up. I dodged one 5 car pile up by going onto the hard shoulder. Standing water everywhere, MSP (Maserati Stability Protection) light flashing as I merrily aquaplaned my way home expecting it to break down at any second. Fun.
The first few days were spent driving around Central London in heavy traffic in very hot weather just KNOWING that it was about to break down. But it didn’t. The very noisy fan (high-speed only was working at the time, but was fine) kicked in and kept the temp respectable. When I finally got her on the open road and put my foot down, the car was an absolute joy. The noise, the manual gearbox, the noise, the handling, the surprisingly supple ride, the noise, the startling way it gathers pace, even the practicality. Did I mention the noise? Even on standard pipes it’s just wonderful. Worth the admission price alone. I now seek out tunnels.
So after a couple of weeks of trouble-free motoring I decided to get a pre-purchase inspection for my new purchase. The more risk-averse among you may say that’s the wrong way to go about things, but this car just felt right at the time (an instinct of mine that has proven expensively wrong on several previous occasions, mind you). I took her to Autofficina in Epsom and paid around £300 for a thorough assessment of the car. It came back pretty good - warning on top/rear suspension arms, springs sometime soon, low-speed fan issue, clutch worn-ish but working ok. So my instinct had proven right on this occasion.
So to cut to the chase, the car has now done 103,000 (around 5000 miles in 5 months) and has never failed to start on the button come rain, shine or frost. It’s taken the whole family (me, wife and two kids) plus luggage to the Cotswolds and back a couple of times in comfort, and it’s a total joy to fire it up every morning on my way to work - it makes each day that little bit more special. The kids love it, the wife not so much. To date, it has been a truly joyful ownership experience. I know there will be big bills to come (a big warranty will cover a few of those), and I went into the whole experience knowing it will let me down and cost me money at some point. She’s thirsty, but I knew my petrol bills would go up, and insurance is expensive due to some *ahem* past leadfoot issues.
Only bill to date was for a thorough service, suspension parts, low-speed fan resistor and other bits and bobs, which came to around £1300.
So contrary to every expectation and every forum horror story, my old Maserati experience has been very positive.
Maybe there’s something in the old adage “these cars like to be used”?
I’ll update as we go, and hopefully give further insight into what it’s like to own one of these.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/su5hdYbs.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/MmaD0MDe" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/MmaD0MDe.jpg)
Gran Turismos were briefly considered but even the tatty ones were out of my price range, so I decided to focus the search on 4200s. Between Jan and June 2019 I drove a few and discovered that the CambioCorsa was not to my liking. Even in Sport Mode the delay after you pull the lever is just too long, and you feel disconnected from the whole driving experience IMHO. The forums are full of nightmare stories about replacing F1 pumps (although an Alfa part can take its place and save you some ££). So it had to be a manual car (officially designated ‘Maserati Coupe GT’), and they are slightly rarer than rocking horse sh*t (116 now in the UK according to howmanyleft). Just to make my search that little bit more challenging, I decided I needed a post-2005 facelift car - mainly because of greatly improved reliability but also for the looks. I drove a pre-facelift manual car and although it drove well it was tatty and looked/felt dated (I know not all are though).
I thought I’d finally found a car on Autotrader in June - a 2006 car in Silver with Black Leather but with 97,000 miles on the clock! Surely only a certifiable maniac or a multi-millionaire looking to p*ss his fortune away would buy such a car?
The drive home up the M3 was during a f**king monsoon and at night - not the best time to get familiar with a 400bhp car that likes misting up. I dodged one 5 car pile up by going onto the hard shoulder. Standing water everywhere, MSP (Maserati Stability Protection) light flashing as I merrily aquaplaned my way home expecting it to break down at any second. Fun.
The first few days were spent driving around Central London in heavy traffic in very hot weather just KNOWING that it was about to break down. But it didn’t. The very noisy fan (high-speed only was working at the time, but was fine) kicked in and kept the temp respectable. When I finally got her on the open road and put my foot down, the car was an absolute joy. The noise, the manual gearbox, the noise, the handling, the surprisingly supple ride, the noise, the startling way it gathers pace, even the practicality. Did I mention the noise? Even on standard pipes it’s just wonderful. Worth the admission price alone. I now seek out tunnels.
So after a couple of weeks of trouble-free motoring I decided to get a pre-purchase inspection for my new purchase. The more risk-averse among you may say that’s the wrong way to go about things, but this car just felt right at the time (an instinct of mine that has proven expensively wrong on several previous occasions, mind you). I took her to Autofficina in Epsom and paid around £300 for a thorough assessment of the car. It came back pretty good - warning on top/rear suspension arms, springs sometime soon, low-speed fan issue, clutch worn-ish but working ok. So my instinct had proven right on this occasion.
So to cut to the chase, the car has now done 103,000 (around 5000 miles in 5 months) and has never failed to start on the button come rain, shine or frost. It’s taken the whole family (me, wife and two kids) plus luggage to the Cotswolds and back a couple of times in comfort, and it’s a total joy to fire it up every morning on my way to work - it makes each day that little bit more special. The kids love it, the wife not so much. To date, it has been a truly joyful ownership experience. I know there will be big bills to come (a big warranty will cover a few of those), and I went into the whole experience knowing it will let me down and cost me money at some point. She’s thirsty, but I knew my petrol bills would go up, and insurance is expensive due to some *ahem* past leadfoot issues.
Only bill to date was for a thorough service, suspension parts, low-speed fan resistor and other bits and bobs, which came to around £1300.
So contrary to every expectation and every forum horror story, my old Maserati experience has been very positive.
Maybe there’s something in the old adage “these cars like to be used”?
I’ll update as we go, and hopefully give further insight into what it’s like to own one of these.
Some further notes:
1) I often discover a small pool of water under the car. Initially thought it was something terminal but turns out that the car holds water somewhere after washing/rain. Can also be aircon blockage or overflow (apparently designed to drip through the engine bay - those Italians...). I’ve been advised to keep aircon on all of the time whether needed or not.
2) Red ! Warning lights flash on occasionally but only seems to be when I go over a bump. Part of the Italian car ownership experience.
3) Clutch - very difficult to engage reverse when starting from cold but has done 5000 faultless miles once warm. One owner on the SportsMaserati forum reported solidification of fluid in the system which then becomes more viscus as it ‘melts’ with heat allowing clutch to work fine. Clutch is well weighted but easy in slow-moving traffic - no leg ache.
4) Low-speed fan resistor is a weakness but when it fails the high-speed one will do the job just fine for as many miles as required - even long stints in stationary traffic.
5) The car is much admired and liked by others on the road. Subtle colour scheme helps, I’m sure. I get lots of ‘give it a blip’ gestures and none of the other types of gesture (so far). People like Maseratis and want to talk about it. It doesn't feel too flashy or showy.
6) Slight delays in drive after you release clutch at speed are common and can be solved adjusting cables.
7) Not having Bluetooth phone and music is a ballache. Upgrading speakers and installing a bluetooth kit soon. Stereo is sh*te.
8) Windows very misted on inside on cold mornings - a common complaint with these. A good cloth is required.
9) Heated seats are good and so is heater once up to temp, which takes a while.
10) The car easily and comfortably accommodates a small family of 4 (kids 7 and 3). No Isofix but a non-Iso booster-with-back slots nicely into the deep front or rear seats (get leather protecting matts off Amazon though). Adults in the back at a push, but if you’re a tall driver your nose will be on the windscreen to give them legroom.
11) God bless Maserati’s stone-like depreciation. This is a beautiful Italian Coupe with a Ferrari-built NA V8 for less than the price of a new Focus. If the California had been a Maser (some say it still is) we’d all have one by now. As it is, they’re min £75k because of the horse... Gran Turismo eventually for me, although I doubt I’ll ever love and enjoy it as much as this car. This has real personality and a manual box.
Happy to be corrected on anything inaccurate.
1) I often discover a small pool of water under the car. Initially thought it was something terminal but turns out that the car holds water somewhere after washing/rain. Can also be aircon blockage or overflow (apparently designed to drip through the engine bay - those Italians...). I’ve been advised to keep aircon on all of the time whether needed or not.
2) Red ! Warning lights flash on occasionally but only seems to be when I go over a bump. Part of the Italian car ownership experience.
3) Clutch - very difficult to engage reverse when starting from cold but has done 5000 faultless miles once warm. One owner on the SportsMaserati forum reported solidification of fluid in the system which then becomes more viscus as it ‘melts’ with heat allowing clutch to work fine. Clutch is well weighted but easy in slow-moving traffic - no leg ache.
4) Low-speed fan resistor is a weakness but when it fails the high-speed one will do the job just fine for as many miles as required - even long stints in stationary traffic.
5) The car is much admired and liked by others on the road. Subtle colour scheme helps, I’m sure. I get lots of ‘give it a blip’ gestures and none of the other types of gesture (so far). People like Maseratis and want to talk about it. It doesn't feel too flashy or showy.
6) Slight delays in drive after you release clutch at speed are common and can be solved adjusting cables.
7) Not having Bluetooth phone and music is a ballache. Upgrading speakers and installing a bluetooth kit soon. Stereo is sh*te.
8) Windows very misted on inside on cold mornings - a common complaint with these. A good cloth is required.
9) Heated seats are good and so is heater once up to temp, which takes a while.
10) The car easily and comfortably accommodates a small family of 4 (kids 7 and 3). No Isofix but a non-Iso booster-with-back slots nicely into the deep front or rear seats (get leather protecting matts off Amazon though). Adults in the back at a push, but if you’re a tall driver your nose will be on the windscreen to give them legroom.
11) God bless Maserati’s stone-like depreciation. This is a beautiful Italian Coupe with a Ferrari-built NA V8 for less than the price of a new Focus. If the California had been a Maser (some say it still is) we’d all have one by now. As it is, they’re min £75k because of the horse... Gran Turismo eventually for me, although I doubt I’ll ever love and enjoy it as much as this car. This has real personality and a manual box.
Happy to be corrected on anything inaccurate.
Edited by Villeneuve27 on Monday 25th November 21:32
Edited by Villeneuve27 on Monday 25th November 21:44
A fantastic choice, consider this another salute 
Is it still on the standard exhaust? I can't say I've heard much of them in real life but I'm sure it's delightful
Presumably upon arriving at a client's house if they've already opened the door with tears of joy in their eyes, you know their hearing is just fine
Is it still on the standard exhaust? I can't say I've heard much of them in real life but I'm sure it's delightful
Presumably upon arriving at a client's house if they've already opened the door with tears of joy in their eyes, you know their hearing is just fine
Congratulations on the joys of Maserati ownership.
Worth checking you don't have damp carpets, if you have constant condensation. Could be a sign you have the leaking heater matrix problem. Solution is quite involved but can be DIY'ed: https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php?threads/h...
Worth checking you don't have damp carpets, if you have constant condensation. Could be a sign you have the leaking heater matrix problem. Solution is quite involved but can be DIY'ed: https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php?threads/h...
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