Quattroporte as an everyday proposition?
Discussion
After a recent trip driving some immense cars, my plans to purchase a disco3 or xc90 have been abandoned and i'm now looking at the early Quattroporte (04/05MY).
I'm aware this won't be run on the same budget as a ford focus, but how realistic is it to use as an everyday car? most of my travel week days is 5miles each way to the station and back, then usual family stuff at the weekend.
What are servicing costs like at a specialist, common parts (tyres, brakes, etc) and are there any pitfalls I should be looking at when viewing a prospective purchase?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide
I'm aware this won't be run on the same budget as a ford focus, but how realistic is it to use as an everyday car? most of my travel week days is 5miles each way to the station and back, then usual family stuff at the weekend.
What are servicing costs like at a specialist, common parts (tyres, brakes, etc) and are there any pitfalls I should be looking at when viewing a prospective purchase?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide
I can't see why a Quattroporte couldn’t be used every day. They aren't stupidly low, so parking in Multi-story car parks shouldn't be an issue. Nor will speed bumps. I can't comment on service costs so I'll leave that to someone else. The only thing I'd say is that the early cars were fitted with a Semi-auto flappy paddle box which was apparently not that great. I haven't driven it though so I can't comment on that.
Good luck with your search, they're nice cars.
Good luck with your search, they're nice cars.
I had one as my everyday car for a while so i think i'm reasonably qualified to comment.
mine was very reliable, a few little glitches but nothing serious.
Great cars, shrinks around you on b roads, great on motorway. Quick enough but not M% or E55 quick.
In town rubbish though, they feel huge, hard to park and on the larger wheels, v easy to kerb them.
nice cars, I'm glad I had one, wouldnt go back.
mine was very reliable, a few little glitches but nothing serious.
Great cars, shrinks around you on b roads, great on motorway. Quick enough but not M% or E55 quick.
In town rubbish though, they feel huge, hard to park and on the larger wheels, v easy to kerb them.
nice cars, I'm glad I had one, wouldnt go back.
I bought from (and sold back to) Alistair here:
http://www.adgsevenoaks.co.uk/used-prestige-cars-k...
Great guy to deal with.
http://www.adgsevenoaks.co.uk/used-prestige-cars-k...
Great guy to deal with.
mattman said:
After a recent trip driving some immense cars, my plans to purchase a disco3 or xc90 have been abandoned and i'm now looking at the early Quattroporte (04/05MY).
Definitely, I used mine for 4 years, although my commute was a little longer. Remeber to buy something with a milage that fits the car, stay away from ones with too low milage.I used Bill McGrath and I would recommend them.
Cost are reasonable an in line with Mercedes/Audi/BMW...in fact my last service cost less than my wife's Q7 4.2 at a main dealer.
Speedbumps etc are not an issue. Stay away from main dealers though, if you want the costs to remain contained. Also they tend to dramatically overstate the work done. Never change the rear pads unless they are at least 2/3rds worn, they always want to change some suspention parts...you can ignore those as well unless you sense audible knock. Disks are pretty bulletproof but the dealers will tell you they are made of butter...etc etc...
thanks for the info - my wife has just given a massive sigh when i showed her - nothing to worry about other than finding the right car now! Seen a coupe at 80-100k miles - would they be a problem over a 60k car?
Quite fancy black with red, need to hold out for the right car and not do my usual and buy the 1st i look at!
Quite fancy black with red, need to hold out for the right car and not do my usual and buy the 1st i look at!
Ran mine for a year as a daily and loved it. They are well suited to a daily role and in my time nothing of any note broke, fe3ll off or went wrong, infact it was incredibly well built. The Duo Select (F1 gearchange) was not the best and takes a little getting used to but if not stuck in traffic jams and town all day then should be fine, otherwise I would suggest opting for the very good auto.
Mileage should not be that much of an issue if properly looked after, just make sure that all of the items that need to be taken care of have. At least cars with a high mileage will have been regularly used, often the achillies heel of these cars. Seriously good cars and good luck with your search.
Mileage should not be that much of an issue if properly looked after, just make sure that all of the items that need to be taken care of have. At least cars with a high mileage will have been regularly used, often the achillies heel of these cars. Seriously good cars and good luck with your search.
It is quite right to note that the new QP is due out in about a year but the impact on early versions of the current car will be small.
I have run a 4200 as a daily driver and now have a GranTurismo. They happily take regular use but - as has been said - use a recognised specialist for work on the car as main dealers charge a lot more for clutches and brakes etc. Fine for a sub five year old car but not necessary after that.
You could get lucky and spend only £500 on a service but if you keep the car over a few years and it needs a clutch, all the brakes and some suspension components then allow £2k pa on average for servicing and you should not get a shock.
The automated manual clutch is a marmite thing so take a drive. If you do not get on with it then most QPs from the start of 2007 have a six speed full auto instead. It's a great box and is what my GranTurismo has.
Go for it!
I have run a 4200 as a daily driver and now have a GranTurismo. They happily take regular use but - as has been said - use a recognised specialist for work on the car as main dealers charge a lot more for clutches and brakes etc. Fine for a sub five year old car but not necessary after that.
You could get lucky and spend only £500 on a service but if you keep the car over a few years and it needs a clutch, all the brakes and some suspension components then allow £2k pa on average for servicing and you should not get a shock.
The automated manual clutch is a marmite thing so take a drive. If you do not get on with it then most QPs from the start of 2007 have a six speed full auto instead. It's a great box and is what my GranTurismo has.
Go for it!
I have had one as DD since April, (08 Sport GTS)
No issues so far, and think it's brilliant. It is big, but doesn't feel like it when pressing on, and I fid it pretty easy to park with weight of steering (and parking sensors!). Petrol is a big cost, probably mid-teens average mpg. This wasn't helped by fitting a Larni exhaust system which makes you want to hold each gear too long!
I have 4 kids, so need a big DD, and can't think of any other car I'd rather have. Not sure what happened to the replacement that was supposed to be at Frankfurt, but will definitely buy another one if it's in the same mould.
I was sure I was going to buy a black one, but went to see it at Meridien, and they had a Grigio Alfieri (same spec) which to me looked much better than the black in the flesh.
No issues so far, and think it's brilliant. It is big, but doesn't feel like it when pressing on, and I fid it pretty easy to park with weight of steering (and parking sensors!). Petrol is a big cost, probably mid-teens average mpg. This wasn't helped by fitting a Larni exhaust system which makes you want to hold each gear too long!
I have 4 kids, so need a big DD, and can't think of any other car I'd rather have. Not sure what happened to the replacement that was supposed to be at Frankfurt, but will definitely buy another one if it's in the same mould.
I was sure I was going to buy a black one, but went to see it at Meridien, and they had a Grigio Alfieri (same spec) which to me looked much better than the black in the flesh.
I've had mine since May and have covered nearly 6000 miles in that period. It's a 2005 Duo Select with 52k on it. It was a one owner car who had had it serviced exclusively at HR Owens during his ownership and I have bills totalling £30000!
It has been fault free apart from needing a new control unit that operated the remote boot release and soft closure, cost was approx £170. The airbag light has started coming on and off but overall it seems well put together.
I get between 18 and 20 mpg, better than the 4200 GT I ran a few years ago. I only ever switch the Auto button on when sat in traffic otherwise its paddles all the time. It gets a bit of attention but never negative, they are a big car so parking can be a pain but as others say they do shrink around you when driving. The worst aspect for me is the controls for the stereo and nav - so much so that I can't be arsed using them!
It was a scratch that I had to itch so will probably be selling it soon, the main reason being the fuel costs and that I want to move it on before I need to service it - it was done just before I bought it. I'm in the motor trade so tend to only keep my daily driver for 6 months anyway.
It has been fault free apart from needing a new control unit that operated the remote boot release and soft closure, cost was approx £170. The airbag light has started coming on and off but overall it seems well put together.
I get between 18 and 20 mpg, better than the 4200 GT I ran a few years ago. I only ever switch the Auto button on when sat in traffic otherwise its paddles all the time. It gets a bit of attention but never negative, they are a big car so parking can be a pain but as others say they do shrink around you when driving. The worst aspect for me is the controls for the stereo and nav - so much so that I can't be arsed using them!
It was a scratch that I had to itch so will probably be selling it soon, the main reason being the fuel costs and that I want to move it on before I need to service it - it was done just before I bought it. I'm in the motor trade so tend to only keep my daily driver for 6 months anyway.
Will be doing the same fairly soon, I think, it was love at first sight for me.
Do plenty of homework and view lots so see what colour combinations work in real life. Good inies equal to main dealers in most people's eyes. Don't forget some main dealers discount service on older cars (perhaps even match indies)
Many folk seem to graduate from older Maserati to the QP, also met quite a few serial QP owners at events. Must be doing something right then.
Hop over to dedicated forum for more real life detail http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/forumdisplay.php/1...
Do plenty of homework and view lots so see what colour combinations work in real life. Good inies equal to main dealers in most people's eyes. Don't forget some main dealers discount service on older cars (perhaps even match indies)
Many folk seem to graduate from older Maserati to the QP, also met quite a few serial QP owners at events. Must be doing something right then.
Hop over to dedicated forum for more real life detail http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/forumdisplay.php/1...
crostonian said:
I've had mine since May and have covered nearly 6000 miles in that period. It's a 2005 Duo Select with 52k on it. It was a one owner car who had had it serviced exclusively at HR Owens during his ownership and I have bills totalling £30000! .
So that's 5k/year! Was there anything exceptional done to it during that time or is that 'just how it is' for day-to-day stuff at a dealer?The previous owner was an MD of a large Oil Company so money wasn't an issue, he literally took the car to Owens for everything inc air con regas, wheel refurbs, tyres, wiper blades you name it. Other than servicing the only other bills were for a clutch and gearbox actuator/pump and several sets of brake discs. He basically paid through the nose for everything - for example they charged almost £5k for the clutch job and over £5k for the service just before I bought it.
When I got the car I worked out that if I'd used a specialist and sourced items such as tyres/brake discs myself then it would have been well under £10k.
To be honest when I come to sell the car I don't know whether to show a potential buyer the bills or not, would possibly put them off! Although it certainly persuaded me to buy it knowing that it had been maintained money no object.
When I got the car I worked out that if I'd used a specialist and sourced items such as tyres/brake discs myself then it would have been well under £10k.
To be honest when I come to sell the car I don't know whether to show a potential buyer the bills or not, would possibly put them off! Although it certainly persuaded me to buy it knowing that it had been maintained money no object.
crostonian said:
The previous owner was an MD of a large Oil Company so money wasn't an issue, he literally took the car to Owens for everything inc air con regas, wheel refurbs, tyres, wiper blades you name it. Other than servicing the only other bills were for a clutch and gearbox actuator/pump and several sets of brake discs. He basically paid through the nose for everything - for example they charged almost £5k for the clutch job and over £5k for the service just before I bought it.
When I got the car I worked out that if I'd used a specialist and sourced items such as tyres/brake discs myself then it would have been well under £10k.
To be honest when I come to sell the car I don't know whether to show a potential buyer the bills or not, would possibly put them off! Although it certainly persuaded me to buy it knowing that it had been maintained money no object.
Do you have receipts for all that as he was seriously overcharged if you prices are correct. Just had the big service done at a main dealer a few months back and it was £1000.When I got the car I worked out that if I'd used a specialist and sourced items such as tyres/brake discs myself then it would have been well under £10k.
To be honest when I come to sell the car I don't know whether to show a potential buyer the bills or not, would possibly put them off! Although it certainly persuaded me to buy it knowing that it had been maintained money no object.
crostonian said:
It was a one owner car who had had it serviced exclusively at HR Owens during his ownership and I have bills totalling £30000!
If by "bills" you mean "ficticious repairs"...they are the people I caught telling me I had a bent cam, yet they hadn't even taken the head off.Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff