New Maz owner

[the.raven]

Finally got my dream motor - a 2001 3200 GT in Blu paid 19K off ebay!!! Thought I should say hello to all fellow past, present and future owners. Done about 2500 trouble free miles since getting it but had to have new clutch fitted. Had the job done by a decent local garage using genuine parts, for around 1700quid (Gray Paul 2700!!). So far I have to say they did a proper job working to the factory manual (again - ebay 150 quid) and they even washed it for me. Would be really interested if any owners out there had any good / bad experiences with independants???

[Carrera2]

Bold move that clutch thing. I just hope it's not a false economy for you..

Edited by Carrera2 on Friday 6th October 17:16

[Jonny5]

Carrera2 said:

Bold move that clutch thing. I just hope it's not a false economy for you..

Agree.... Did you approach Maser independants ?

[Robertf]

Hi there - I like your thinking. I've got the 3200GT manuals now as well, as an Alfa Romeo specialist I know is I think skilled enough to do most jobs for me.

[mazzer3.2]

Some of the main dealers are not too scary price wise. I take mine to Lancasters in Colchester, they have 25% off for cars over 5 years old so even pretty big jobs are not too wallet shattering.

[Oakey]

I really like the look of these and they seem great value at under £20k. What were they new? Shame about the running costs though

[stevenm]

i got mine a month or so ago. they are awesome cars but yes, don't let the purchase price deceive you - they are ferrari money to run.

also, i'm averaging 11-12mpg, best was 15 and worse was 4.

super fun though :-)

[3200gt]

Oakey said:

I really like the look of these and they seem great value at under £20k. What were they new? Shame about the running costs though

Mid - high £60's depending on spec and options etc.
I've had mine over 5 yrs now and still love it, you would need to budget approx £2k pa for service, £1k for tyres, count on 10 -15 mpg and hope nothing major goes wrong as the sparts are big numbers.
Total running costs obviously depends on useage but they are not like masers of old, they can be and do get used by many as reliable daily users.
Don't even consider one that doesn't have a full dealer history as mundane and simple they are not. Maintained by the wrong hands they could easily be a money pit. DO NOT expect to maintain it on ford money.
Get the right one and you'll not look back. (well you will, but only to admire it once parked)

[the.raven]

I thought very carefully about using an independant for the replacement clutch. The garage I use have looked after my previuos motors (Supra TT, Merc E55 AMG, Boxter). I let them look at the manual and procedure for clutch removal before they did the job and they were happy. They have professinal indemnity cover. He let me source my own parts and let me check the job as they went through it also. I used a company called Proven Parts who can get the full clutch kit direct from Germany for 595.00, that is around half the cost from a dealer. These are genuine Maserati `SACHS` parts. I did get some of the bits from Gray Paul in Nottingham and I have to say they were helpful and in no way `funny` about the use of an indepedant. They even advised him on a couple of issues. I`ve had the car back for a week now and all seems ok, the check engine light has flicked on a couple of times but I was advised by the garage to run it a few days and let it `settle` and it has. I am not a poor man but I can not send the car to a main dealer and pay `whatever` when it is done. The ownership of a 3200 for me is a passion and I have a budget to work within. I am an Engineer by trade and as long as the correct procedures are followed regular maintenance etc should be within the capability of `quality` skilled mechanics. I would never let a back street garage near the car. I will let you all know if this causes me problems down the line but so far so good.

[Robertf]

Hope it works out for you - I am thinking along the same lines. A quality experienced mechanic (not a fitter) should be able to do most things.