Quattroporte - How much???

[bigdavy]

I came across an advert today for a car i've always really liked and admired and always presumed would be WELL out of reach, but the advert left me gobsmacked.....

Car in question is the 2004 > Maserati Quattroporte

Now I admit i'm not in the habit of browsing Maserati adverts and this is why the price of them came as quite a shock as i'd always thought they were a lot more expensive. When I saw the first advert I really thought it was a misprint or one of those scam adverts. After doing some browsing it seems not, here's a couple of examples;

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

So what do you think? Supercar bargain or bankruptcy waiting to happen?

It's one hell of a car for that sort of money I think!

[Pints]

Servicing and parts alone are bound to bankrupt, but what a way to enter the poorhouse.

[Krikkit]

What makes them cheap, like an M5, is that the running and repair costs are always commensurate with the original sticker price. Easily capable of generating a decent 4-figure bill at service time, and every time something goes bang.

[SWoll]

I'd have one in an instant though.

No cooler car in the world IMHO.

[JoshV8]

It's because the older quattreportes have the duo select gearbox, which to put it nicely is a bit st. In manual mode the changes are really jerky and unresponsive, and if I remember correctly they absolutely demolish clutches, stories of clutches being finished after less than 15,000 miles.

Other than that, like all Maserati's they are hold something a little unique compared to other cars. That V8 is glorious, however it suffers from a little lack of torque (hence the introduction of the 4.7) so they change down a bit too eagerly when going up hill etc in auto mode.

I know all the gearbox problems were solved when the quattreports GT-S was released with the 4.7 engine, I can't quite remember the exact year, so not sure if the 07 one you've listed would of been sorted or not. Worth a bit of research if your interested, I guess

[bigdavy]

Krikkit said:

What makes them cheap, like an M5, is that the running and repair costs are always commensurate with the original sticker price. Easily capable of generating a decent 4-figure bill at service time, and every time something goes bang.

Yep totally agree, but worse than any other?
I've had crippling bills in the past from various high end cars which make you go and weep in a dark room.
I also believe any marque can have good & bad examples, so is a sub 20k Quattroporte any worse than say a similar priced supercharged Jag? These being well into Ferrari ownership of the marque I'm thinking the quality must be well improved than masers of old?

[StottyZr]

That is quite cheap.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/used/bmw/5-se...

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/used/maserati...

M5 started at £61,000 now £14,100 @90,000
Maserati started at £70,000 now £12,800 @90,000

I would expect exotica to hold value better than a BMW barge, I guess its just the way demand has effected resale values.

[ajb85]

Krikkit said:

What makes them cheap, like an M5, is that the running and repair costs are always commensurate with the original sticker price. Easily capable of generating a decent 4-figure bill at service time, and every time something goes bang.

This. Stunning cars but potentially (and likely) ruinous to run and maintain. Aside from the Ferrari-esque V8, performance and sound track, they are notable for being a little tricky to drive. They weren't particularly well received when new and don't have a huge following now - so clearly a lack of desirability has forced prices down.

All this however means nothing to me. I love Maserati, the brand, and would have a Quattroporte in a heartbeat!

[80quattro]

Just replaced a rear 'windscreen' in a 2007 Quattroporte due to the HRW element going. How does £1000 sound, order from Italy only, and £250 to Autoglass to fit it! I also had to order a new service book - £350 and 16 weeks to arrive. The main issue with these cars are the potential repair costs, and the small number of UK specialists than can fix them. I have Shiltech on speed dial.

[Triumph Man]

Pints said:

Servicing and parts alone are bound to bankrupt, but what a way to enter the poorhouse.

It's big enough to live in, so you don't need the unnecessary expense of running a household. The money you save will pay for its annual service!

[mike325112]

I'd love one, but I seem to remember someone on here posting about a service on one once. I think I recall it was a belt change, it came in at £7k!

That said a collegue of mine runs a 90's Quattroporte bought for £2.5k its lovelly. He has managed to keep it running for peanuts but is rather handy with the spanners.

[Krikkit]

bigdavy said:

Yep totally agree, but worse than any other?
I've had crippling bills in the past from various high end cars which make you go and weep in a dark room.
I also believe any marque can have good & bad examples, so is a sub 20k Quattroporte any worse than say a similar priced supercharged Jag? These being well into Ferrari ownership of the marque I'm thinking the quality must be well improved than masers of old?

An interesting question - on one hand they're quite a low-volume car, which generally have their fair share of teething and reliability problems that bigger-volume cars (like the Jag) won't have. On the other hand the quality is stepped up from Maseratis of old. Difficult, but how I long to find out!

A neighbour has one, although due to our locations I never see or hear it move. It's in the perfect spec of ZF box, black and with lovely tan hide.

I think as a man who is handy with the spanners I'd jump in - minor niggles are much less costly to sort out, and big labour jobs like cambelt etc can be done in the garage at a fraction of the cost.

[bimsb6]

The 3200 came to my notice whilst browsing for monaros , amazing value at around the 8 to 9 k mark but i could feel it about rape my bank account before even looking at one ,lovely looking motors .

[TA14]

StottyZr said:

That is quite cheap.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/used/bmw/5-se...

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/used/maserati...

M5 started at £61,000 now £14,100 @90,000
Maserati started at £70,000 now £12,800 @90,000

I would expect exotica to hold value better than a BMW barge, I guess its just the way demand has effected resale values.

May not be a lot in the % residuals when you add in the typical cost of options.

[bigdavy]

7k for a service & belts, that is eye watering....

So they are probably going to keep dropping, which is hopeful I think you would need to be able to diy a lot of stuff if you were to run one on a budget. This is how i've ran bigger cars in the past, mostly diy with some specialist care for stuff i can't do.
I'm always reminded at times like this about the guy who posted on here who did all his own repairs & servicing on his 348 so he could afford to run it, brilliant!

I also enjoyed the recent thread about the guy who had bought the Mondial, another car i always fancied. However this discovery has really changed my opinion. For 20k would I now go out and buy a Mondial? No, I think i'd go for a quattroporte.

Disclaimer - i'm not actually in the market for anything like this, but you know just in case the numbers come up I like to have a list.

[longblackcoat]

JoshV8 said:

It's because the older quattreportes have the duo select gearbox, which to put it nicely is a bit st. In manual mode the changes are really jerky and unresponsive, and if I remember correctly they absolutely demolish clutches, stories of clutches being finished after less than 15,000 miles.

Other than that, like all Maserati's they are hold something a little unique compared to other cars. That V8 is glorious, however it suffers from a little lack of torque (hence the introduction of the 4.7) so they change down a bit too eagerly when going up hill etc in auto mode.

I know all the gearbox problems were solved when the quattreports GT-S was released with the 4.7 engine, I can't quite remember the exact year, so not sure if the 07 one you've listed would of been sorted or not. Worth a bit of research if your interested, I guess

All fair points. The one I drove (a 2008 Sport GT S 4.2) wasn't actually all that much fun, to be honest. It had a proper auto, rather that the terrible semi-auto, so that was a plus, but other than the engine, I didn't like it. The ride was poor, the handling wasn't great (OK, a 2-tonne limo's never going to be a sports car, but it was noticeably less good than a 740i), the fuel consumption was astonishing (13mpg - not really a usable everyday car) and I didn't personally like the interior, though that's just a taste thing. The lack of torque wasn't really an issue, but you did have to use a lot more right foot than expected to get it to go.

For me, it misses the point. A big barge should be discreet, and waft you along at high speeds whilst cosseting your backside. The Maserati was a bit shouty, far too revvy, and crashed around the road. Fine for a sports car, not for a limo.

[ajb85]

bimsb6 said:

The 3200 came to my notice whilst browsing for monaros , amazing value at around the 8 to 9 k mark but i could feel it about rape my bank account before even looking at one ,lovely looking motors .

I don't know, they are of course very thirsty, but not not as complex as the Quattroporte. I think they're a more usable car. The late ones with Skyhook suspension before the 4200 came out were properly sorted too.

[Krikkit]

bigdavy said:

... I'm always reminded at times like this about the guy who posted on here who did all his own repairs & servicing on his 348 so he could afford to run it, brilliant!

Disclaimer - i'm not actually in the market for anything like this, but you know just in case the numbers come up I like to have a list.

Me too, on both counts!

[bimsb6]

ajb85 said:

I don't know, they are of course very thirsty, but not not as complex as the Quattroporte. I think they're a more usable car. The late ones with Skyhook suspension before the 4200 came out were properly sorted too.

The 3200 were the last of the maserati engined cars apparently , but i would be scared to put the key in it in case the dash lit up like a xmas tree and stayed like it !

[ajb85]

bimsb6 said:

ajb85 said:

I don't know, they are of course very thirsty, but not not as complex as the Quattroporte. I think they're a more usable car. The late ones with Skyhook suspension before the 4200 came out were properly sorted too.

The 3200 were the last of the maserati engined cars apparently , but i would be scared to put the key in it in case the dash lit up like a xmas tree and stayed like it !

I don't think the 3200 is as bad as people make out. The right ownership is of course the key, they should not fall into the hands of people thinking they can run them on a shoe string. However, a quick eBay search shows a fair amount of well maintained 3200GTs that have done fairly considerable mileage (given that they are 'exotic'). Some people even claim to use them as a daily. This suggests that; a) They must be reasonably reliable and b) People really enjoy driving them.

Compare that to used Quarttroportes - that car that was claimed to put 'Maserati back on track', and they're all seldom used low mileage cars. They're obviously never without faults of some sort, so not to be relied on, and I get the impression from most that they're just not the drivers' car they should be. I think the older 3200 is a much better an safer bet.