maserati help for a fellow ph'er please.

[rick111s]

hi guys,

a friend on mine in the motor trade has been offered the following car and can get it at the trade in price. Her idea is to run it for a year and hoepfully not loose too much money due to the fact that she can buy it cheaper to start with. I have no real knowledge of these cars so any comments would be great.

Maserati GT 3200 Coupe Auto, 2001 Y Reg, Mistral Verde 35,000 miles Full Maserati History

thanks in advance
Rick

[Marki]

How much can she get it for ?

[rick111s]

not sure but she said it's about 5k short of the current value so she is hoping to use it as a weekend car then sell it on in a year or so and ideally not loose too much money.

[3200gt]

As long as it has the red key and the recalls done it sounds like a reasonable buy.
Without the red key a £5k saving is worthless.

[Robertf]

as well as the red key worth checking if its had recent tyres, cambelt service and rear exhaust boxes. If not thats going to use up a big part of the £5K saving anyway!

[ravix]

3200gt said:

As long as it has the red key and the recalls done it sounds like a reasonable buy.
Without the red key a £5k saving is worthless.

FWIW, I checked mine out before I bought it (gave VIN no to main dealer) and found that the steering recall hadn't been done. I subsequently bought it and had the work done by a main dealer for free as it's a safety recall.

[3200gt]

ravix said:

3200gt said:

As long as it has the red key and the recalls done it sounds like a reasonable buy.
Without the red key a £5k saving is worthless.

FWIW, I checked mine out before I bought it (gave VIN no to main dealer) and found that the steering recall hadn't been done. I subsequently bought it and had the work done by a main dealer for free as it's a safety recall.

I was thinking more along the lines that if the previous owner hadn't had the recalls done, which are as you free, what has been skimped on that would have cost?

[POORCARDEALER]

£5k LESS THAN RETAIL PRICE OR £5k LESS THAN TRADE CASH PRICE?? If its the latter she is laughing provided no big bills arrive, if its the former she is on a loser

[nigelo]

Robertf said:

as well as the red key worth checking if its had recent tyres, cambelt service and rear exhaust boxes. If not thats going to use up a big part of the £5K saving anyway!

To properly cost these items, allow:
- Tyres £700/800 fitted (depending on spec) courtesy of Micheldever Tyres
- Cambelt change only: £395 / with Major Service: £1,250 courtesy Grimaldi Engineering
- Pair Rear boxes in SS with 25 year guarantee £700 courtesy Eurospares

3200gt said:

Without the red key a £5k saving is worthless.

No, without the red key a £5K saving is worth £2K, allowing for a new engine ECU / immobiliser and key set plus fitting

Pay attention to clutch and suspension joint wear as both are expensive for a short term ownership.

Hope this helps

[LittleBro]

For the uneducated, whats the deal with the red key?

[3200gt]

LittleBro said:

For the uneducated, whats the deal with the red key?

Couldn't be arsed with a high res pic. sorry!

[Ravix]

3200gt said:

I was thinking more along the lines that if the previous owner hadn't had the recalls done, which are as you free, what has been skimped on that would have cost?

Fair comment. Did have mine checked over first!

[mr_tony]

POORCARDEALER said:

£5k LESS THAN RETAIL PRICE OR £5k LESS THAN TRADE CASH PRICE?? If its the latter she is laughing provided no big bills arrive, if its the former she is on a loser

Although, big bills tend to arrive with cars when you need them not to...