Buying GT 2007/8 - What to look out for...

[W5Plumbers]

Can anyone let me know of any mechanical or electrical gremlins these cars suffer, cars I'm looking at are the early 4.2's '07 or 08 car circa 25-30k.


Thanks

Danny

[BigR]

Suggest heading over here... http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/forum.php

There's a lot of help and experience that will be better placed to point you in the right direction.

[jakesmith]

engine numbers below a specified cut off suffer from an issue that is 3k to fix, worth investigating. Front suspension expensive and wears fast, likely to need doing. car is extremely low and wide, not suitable as daily as ramps, lanes, narrow streets, parking all present challenges. tech inside is ridiculously crap. Bloody nice car though.

[W5Plumbers]

Thank you both very much.

Danny

[BigR]

jakesmith said:

engine numbers below a specified cut off suffer from an issue that is 3k to fix, worth investigating. Front suspension expensive and wears fast, likely to need doing. car is extremely low and wide, not suitable as daily as ramps, lanes, narrow streets, parking all present challenges. tech inside is ridiculously crap. Bloody nice car though.

A bit of a harsh assessment! Front suspension wear isn't something I've ever had to worry about or had to fix. And, I use mine as a daily. It's a bit low, but not ridiculously (as long as you take some care), have only once got to a difficult point of passing someone else on a narrow lane, parking isn't an issue and none of the 3 I've had have ever let me down!

The tech inside isn't the most modern, but then an 08 plate is getting on for 10 years old, so its no great surprise.

Do be aware of the (I think) variator issue - you should be able to check whether this has been done on any specific car by calling Maserati.

[EC2]

+1. Then engine variator issue is much overstated. I have done 45000 miles in mine without suspension issue other than two broken springs which were replaced under warranty but they are actually a very cheap part.

[jakesmith]

BigR said:

A bit of a harsh assessment! Front suspension wear isn't something I've ever had to worry about or had to fix. And, I use mine as a daily. It's a bit low, but not ridiculously (as long as you take some care), have only once got to a difficult point of passing someone else on a narrow lane, parking isn't an issue and none of the 3 I've had have ever let me down!

The tech inside isn't the most modern, but then an 08 plate is getting on for 10 years old, so its no great surprise.

Do be aware of the (I think) variator issue - you should be able to check whether this has been done on any specific car by calling Maserati.

Maybe you're unaware of the suspension issue, had younger cars, had the issue & didn't notice, or were very lucky but it is a poor design and a very expensive common fault to fix that presents itself on all cars depending on mileage, driving style, age, and conditions where kept.

I have spoken to 2 indis in depth (SMDG & Autofifnca) and read all the forums here & in US on this issue and the problem with the upper & lower wishbones is that the bushings are designed for comfort and the car is heavy, they are too soft, and prematurely wear, especially if you do any spirited cornering, heavy breaking etc ie drive the car in a fun way. The wishbone bushings are about £250 +VAT per side and 2-3 hours labor to fit each side, so the full job is over £1000. As the material gets worn, you hear the odd knock and bangs as you steer or on some speed humps. Due to the sound insulation it is only audible at low speeds. As the ball joints on both wishbones are not removable, you could do all the above and still need to replace the wishbones a year later if they wear out! So you could instead buy the kit of complete upper & lower wishbones from for £750+ VAT per side. Add in the 3 hours labor per side and you're looking at £2.5k easily

Re the size of the car, it is ridiculous and extremely unpractical, it can't get up the ramp in our local Waitrose without grounding, you have to slow down to a crawl over speed bumps unlike the 997 I had before, and the width makes it difficult to drive on many smaller roads for me. Getting in & out at carparks at stations and shops is a pain due to the width of the doors and I have come back to find little dents in the side a few times

And considering the nav came out at about the same time as Porsche's fantastically crap PCM3, it is substantially worse than that and there is no defending it, it was terrible in it's day!

I do however love mine and it is a great car, really beautiful and the engine sounds superb, but it is not a practical daily so much so that I am considering a Z4 3.0si as a little runabout 3rd car for the station etc.

[Murph7355]

jakesmith said:

...
Re the size of the car, it is ridiculous and extremely unpractical, it can't get up the ramp in our local Waitrose without grounding, you have to slow down to a crawl over speed bumps unlike the 997 I had before, and the width makes it difficult to drive on many smaller roads for me. Getting in & out at carparks at stations and shops is a pain due to the width of the doors ...

I do however love mine and it is a great car, really beautiful and the engine sounds superb, but it is not a practical daily ....

I have to say that this is a fair assessment.

I haven't owned a 911 yet so can't compare with that, but the GT will not go up inclines that my old Aston V8 Vantage would easily. For me this means it won't go up my main drive which is a pain in the arse (I have a second entrance that I can use, just far less conveniently which means the car is a "jump in and go" that bit less).

The car also feels its weight.

[W5Plumbers]

Saw this in an advert for a GT 2007 'Cam Cap Modification' anyone had it done, costs, do they need timing chain and tensioners replacing at all?

Thank you

[jakesmith]

W5Plumbers said:

Saw this in an advert for a GT 2007 'Cam Cap Modification' anyone had it done, costs, do they need timing chain and tensioners replacing at all?

Thank you

`
That mod means that in theory the variators shouldn't fail as the cam cap mod retains oil on engine power down so the variators don't suffer from oil starvation and fail. If you do buy an older one this improves your chances of the engine not needing the work doing at some point

[mattman]

currently looking at similar GT of 07-08 vintage for same budget as OP

or being more sensible and getting a Ghibli on a 2 year lease for £450/mth and no worries about ongoing maintenance for 2 years

my heart (and ears) say GT - the sensible wallet says Ghibli. I'm useless at making a decision - owning a Maserati has been a childhood ambition and part me just says f*** it - buy it and enjoy it while you can - you can always sell it again if something changes

currently obessed with this one on AT - i love the colour combo


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[mattnovak]

Had mine (Dec '07 car) for about 2.5 years now, as a daily driver. Just broke the 90k miles mark, was below 55k when I bought it.

Hasn't been the most reliable but not worse than say, a Mondeo of similar age.

[mattman]

How are you finding the running costs over that mileage?

[jakesmith]

That red one is cheap if it’s the one I am thinking it is
Just buy it if you like the colour
Life is too short

[100 IAN]

Have you had a look on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1476226932463208/