Ghibli - Running costs/insurance

[MEMSDesign]

Following on from www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&f=23&t=26902&h=0

Just been looking on Autotrader (quiet moment at work) and found several Ghiblis, for pretty low prices (down to £9999). What are the running costs like? I assume are pretty terrifying, but has anyone got more info?

[clubsport]

I am at work now but don't have copies at hand,,but in the closing days of Performance car / early Evo days (1995).Harry Metcalfe was running a Ghibli,I beleive they went through the running costs in detail.

[marki]

Hi Dave

I ran a 97 Ghibli 2:8GT for 4 years from new , it was a great car , very different from the alternatives M3 for example, i did a total of around 50,000KM in her .

She never let me down at the side of the road , but it was often the case that she needed something or other doing , never anything serious just minor problems i guess thats part of the whole Italian thing, i went on a tour of Italy some 5000-km in 2 weeks mostly at high speed`s and it was great.

I used a Maserati service specialist they just serviced the cars and did not sell them so maybe they were a little cheaper , i guess a main service was around £500- but then with the other things that needed doing that would go up to around £900- on occasion .

I really loved that car , so much so that a dealer i know has a brand new unregistered Ghibli Cup that i keep being drawn to !!! (get behind me Satan) i sold her to a friend who has not had any prob`s , but parts where a problem to get even when it was a current model and i supose it will be worse now , and i would imagine major parts could get terribley expensive.

For an example not long after i got her a Scrote broke in and nicked the stereo , the wood suround in the centre consol cost in the region of £2,000- if i remember correct.... have fun they are cool cars and very different

[pdavison]

I'm sure one of the fairly recent EVO magazines did a buying guide on them and they mentioned the fact that Harry ran one.

Anyone remember which issue as I'm at work and can't access my resourse library/fire hazard !

[ninja_eli]

Funnily enough was talking to my neighbour about his cars about a week ago.

He had a Maserati Ghibli, Quattroporte, Ghibli Cup and 3200GT all in sucession in space of less than 2 years.

Every single car gave him some kind of problem. I think the Quattroporte was sooo bad that he was able to force the dealers into taking it back and exchanging for another. Thats when he got the Ghibli Cup (it was given to him as a loan car, and he fell in love with it!)

The Quattroporte had a mass of things wrong including the a/c and matrix which were never properly resolved. A lemon I suppose.

The Ghibli was nearly as fast as my Supra, and the interior is fantastic (IMO).

Find a good independent first, you'll get shagged by main dealers with super expensive prices. A nice car (although a little boxy looking).

They do go wrong though, which is probably the reason they can be had so cheap. My neighbour bought his car for around 42K maybe 3 years ago now, he was saying its worth around £15-£18K now.

[MEMSDesign]

Thanks for the info. I don't think I could afford to run one at present, but at prices like that, they do look tempting. It'll have to wait for a couple of years yet though.

[marki]

ninja_eli said:

The Ghibli was nearly as fast as my Supra, and the interior is fantastic (IMO).

A nice car (although a little boxy looking).

They do go wrong though, which is probably the reason they can be had so cheap. My neighbour bought his car for around 42K maybe 3 years ago now, he was saying its worth around £15-£18K now.

Hey Ninja ,boxy can be good i also think that the interior is superb , even better than my ex XKR , i lost a packet on mine , but then i lived in Denmark so what did i expect, but i guess most of the deprieciating has been done by now

[kenyon]

Check out www.Modacars.com they are really trustworthy set of guys. They own Eurospares. I had a 430 maserati with 2.8 ltr 3 valve twin turbo engine with 405 BHP. The engine never let me down, except for the electrics and bodywork, a bit like all italian cars.
The maserati you want is the Shamal. Its a beast and looks really good. I own a 348 Spider now. Its ever boys draem to own a Ferrari. They have one at modacars for sale.

[Flying Trotter]

I ran a ghibli cup for 18 months - the last year cost £15k in servicing including tyres - I joke not - add that to the depreciation over the same period and it was very painful

[MEMSDesign]

Flying Trotter said: I ran a ghibli cup for 18 months - the last year cost £15k in servicing including tyres - I joke not - add that to the depreciation over the same period and it was very painful

Ouch! What went wrong?

[Flying Trotter]

I've tried to bannish all memory but I do recall suspension issues and loads of electrics failing - all in all it was almost enough to offset the positive aspects of the looks (in french blue it was a real looker)and performance - I've had a couple of breadvan's since and aside from having one stolen and burnt out the ownership experience has been far less painful - all that said by now the depreciation should have bottomed out (I lost £23k in 18 months)and with a rock solid warranty it may be worth considering (my firm bore the maintenance cost under protest). 330bhp and a maser chassis is fun as Harry Metcalf chronicles in the old Performance Car Mag (as others have noted above).

[mr_tony]

might be worth dropping harry a mail at evo - I did this 2 years ago when about to part with 24k for a ghibli cup. Harry was very sound and mailed me back with lots of useful info and a recommendation to 'make em an offer of 19k and don't budge'. Saved me from buying it actually. Fantastic to drive, exceedingly fast, crap driving position though but great interior (good ol maserati clock an all!)...

Big cost is turbos - if these blow they are about 2.5k each (there are two I believe).

Apparrently there are only 24 RHD Cups left in the UK (out of 27 or so)...