How much bork is possible?

[mattman]

Still can't decide what car to get next - keep flirting with the whole "feck it, you only live once" mentality and then get sensible and start thinking about running costs.

Always loved the Maserati 3200 GT but its getting on a bit now - there is what appears to be a lovely example on ebay at the moment at not a huge amount of money - just how much pain and suffering could one of these carry out on my wallet?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144118377409?_trkparms=...

[MOBB]

I dont know the answer, but there are 2 things to consider ime;

- how much will a bork cost me?
- how much will I worry about borking, which detracts from the experience of owning the car

I bought a large older 5.5 V8 twin turbo, worried the whole time it would bork. That's just me, you might be different :-)

[ajap1979]

I think the other thing to consider is your proximity to a good independent specialist, preferably one who doesn't charge the earth. You've got to go into it with your eyes open, but to an extent too much research (i.e. exposure to too many horror stories) might just see you walk away. Car looks lovely by the way, stunning colour.

[HustleRussell]

The reason I wouldn’t buy something like that is because of the abysmally poor retained value. The clue is in the ad; the owner has spent £30k keeping it going and will sell it for probably £9k?

You’re onto a guaranteed lose.

The Maserati bork fund could buy you a number of less borksome alternatives. I don’t really know as it’s not my area but… R8 V8? Big TreVoR? NSX? Evora?

[ZX10R NIN]

Being near a specialist is important as is a pre purchase inspection, that way you'll know what potential borkage you're looking at & then you can decide if it's to much for you.

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

The reason I wouldn’t buy something like that is because of the abysmally poor retained value. The clue is in the ad; the owner has spent £30k keeping it going and will sell it for probably £9k?

You’re onto a guaranteed lose.

The Maserati bork fund could buy you a number of less borksome alternatives. I don’t really know as it’s not my area but… R8 V8? Big TreVoR? NSX? Evora?

Surely that is exactly the reason to buy it - an awful lot of car for not a lot of money, because people are not brave enough to buy them. Plus, it isn't going to depreciate any more.

Nothing in your list of alternatives is even close to 10k (a few TVRs aside) either.

The vendor doesn't say he has spent £30k on it - just that it has £30k of receipts over its lifetime. In 21 years, that's not an awful lot a year for something of that nature. Plus, if much of that was at Maserati dealers ... I would expect you'd have to be unlucky (i.e. engine failure) to spend more than two grand or so a year running it.

Imho, buy it, appreciate it will likely cost you a couple of grand a year to run, justify it to yourself that it's probably still cheaper than PCP'ing a Fiesta given nil depreciation.

I was actually pondering one of these the other day as my sensible daily driver (ahem), the internet will tell you to get a 4200, less scary to own, but more expensive and not as appealing. For 10k, it's an awful lot of car. And if you are in the SE, there are a couple of highly regarded specialists e.g. the maserati shed.

EDIT: Saying all that, the MOT history of that one isn't very promising ...

Edited by Cascade360 on Thursday 22 July 18:01

[mattman]

that was my thoughts too - can't get much lower in price that £9k - please send me a link to a £9k NSX thats still on the road, i'll buy it immediately!

[georgeyboy12345]

So £30k in 21 years is about £1500 a year in repairs and maintenance - can you afford that? If you can - go for it!

[samoht]

HustleRussell said:

The reason I wouldn’t buy something like that is because of the abysmally poor retained value. The clue is in the ad; the owner has spent £30k keeping it going and will sell it for probably £9k?
You’re onto a guaranteed lose.

It doesn't say the current owner has spent £30k, that's the total since new ('Full history'). So an average of £1500 a year for 20 years.

[Paynewright]

My two new Skoda superbs depreciated more than £3k pa (changed at 3 years old).

If you can run it for 3 years without any big bills you’ve had your monies worth!!


I’ve had a 996 for 4 years in October - I DIY lots of repairs myself as they are just like the next car in most respects. If you can pick up a spanner it will help massively.

Edited by Paynewright on Thursday 22 July 19:47