....what a car!

[Rudeboy350z]

Hi all,

I currently drive a 350z, but I have fallen in love with another car - an 05 Maserati 4200 Gransport Cambiocorsa. I have been reading up about the car but you never get to hear about what to look for when buying a car like this before it is too late! I am a memebr of a few car forums myself so I know good advice can be found in them.

The car has done 41k, and is for sale at 31k. I know about the change on the automatic gears are far from smooth/quick - incidentally I have not taken it for a test drive yet - but those are niggles you put up with on a car like this! So what else should i be looking for - i dont want a pup that requires an engine rebuild further on down the line - ferrari engines are expensive like that!

I would really appreciate your comments on this.

G

[Chris_VRS]

As with any decent car a full dealer history or well thought of specialist is a must...as I'm sure your already aware.

Engine wise fairly hardy, if possible get a clutch wear check carried out @ a dealer...plug&play with the 'SD' machine.
Rough/uneven idle and/or engine warning light usually traced to the o2 sensors.
Rear lower suspension bushes can give excess play - new arms required.
Creaking from rear will be ARB bushes.
Check electric seats as some suffer from faulty 'easy access' units where the seat doesnt slide forward using the lever on the seat bolster to allow entry to the rear seats.

Cracking cars...enjoy!

[LittleBro]

If its the car I think it is (Silver (Grigio Touring)?), its going to be due a service in the not to distant future which makes some good ammo for heavy negotiating (a chap on another forum looked at it and priced the next service at £2.5k!). IMO, at £31,995 its only a couple of grand away from some much better spec'd/sorted cars so take a good look around.

In terms of advice, you could do worse than spending an hour or two on www.maseratiforum.co.uk

Best of luck with the search.

[Rudeboy350z]

Chris_VRS said:

As with any decent car a full dealer history or well thought of specialist is a must...as I'm sure your already aware.

Engine wise fairly hardy, if possible get a clutch wear check carried out @ a dealer...plug&play with the 'SD' machine.
Rough/uneven idle and/or engine warning light usually traced to the o2 sensors.
Rear lower suspension bushes can give excess play - new arms required.
Creaking from rear will be ARB bushes.
Check electric seats as some suffer from faulty 'easy access' units where the seat doesnt slide forward using the lever on the seat bolster to allow entry to the rear seats.

Cracking cars...enjoy!

Thanks very much - when you talk abot the 02 sensor is that the lamda sensor - can have same problem with the Z if you replace the exhaust/headers?

Thanks for the other advice - much appreciated.

[Rudeboy350z]

LittleBro said:

If its the car I think it is (Silver (Grigio Touring)?), its going to be due a service in the not to distant future which makes some good ammo for heavy negotiating (a chap on another forum looked at it and priced the next service at £2.5k!). IMO, at £31,995 its only a couple of grand away from some much better spec'd/sorted cars so take a good look around.

In terms of advice, you could do worse than spending an hour or two on www.maseratiforum.co.uk

Best of luck with the search.

Thanks very much - I joinrd the Maserati forum last night and posted the same question - surprised that there were a few 3200 buyer's guides but no 4200s!

Yeah I think we are both talking about the same car here - it's always the way really with a car like this - if it ends up as a trade in at a place like that you know there are a few nasty surprises waiting for the new owner as the last owner probably saw big pay-outs around the corner and got shot of the car.

Am I right in saying that if you go to a stealer you will be paying over the odds for one?

[LittleBro]

Rudeboy350z said:

Am I right in saying that if you go to a stealer you will be paying over the odds for one?

That's open to discussion. IMO, not if you buy from a good spcialist. I think with something like a GS/4200, the car definately needs looking at by a specialist before buying anyway. If you're doing this at £300 a pop, you're possibly as well to just buy from a specialist in the first place.

Dealers are there to make a few quid, thats how they survive, but chose a good one and for the extra, you'll get a wealth of knowledge worth every penny of any premium. But choose a bad one, and yes, you'll likely end up paying over the odd's (due to the car needing bits doing to it post-purchase etc)

All just my opinion, of course.

[3200AC]

the creaking sounds like a problem I've got with my Assetto Corsa, can someone confirm what an ARB bush is please? Hopefully a standard item available from Eurospares

[LittleBro]

3200AC said:

the creaking sounds like a problem I've got with my Assetto Corsa, can someone confirm what an ARB bush is please? Hopefully a standard item available from Eurospares

ARB = anti-roll bar

[Nally1704]

I just picked up an 05 gransport on friday, i was really suprised how good the gearchange is, in sport mode i recon its easily as quick a manual and it blips the throttle on the downshift(sounds so good!!!) in auto its ok and in normal mode its slow but civilised. i was really concerned about the gearbox as im NOT an auto fan in sports cars but i was really pleased with how it behaved (far better than most german systems in mho!). 31k sounds really cheap but i would worry, i decided to go to a dealer and got a well checked out car with a good warrantee and nice miles but thats just me, i did pay alot more than 31k, its always a gamble i could have loads of problems in the future and you may have none!!

One things for sure, the gransport has impressed me more everytime i drive it, and to think i nearly brought a 911!

[Rudeboy350z]

LittleBro said:

If its the car I think it is (Silver (Grigio Touring)?), its going to be due a service in the not to distant future which makes some good ammo for heavy negotiating (a chap on another forum looked at it and priced the next service at £2.5k!). IMO, at £31,995 its only a couple of grand away from some much better spec'd/sorted cars so take a good look around.

In terms of advice, you could do worse than spending an hour or two on www.maseratiforum.co.uk

Best of luck with the search.

Hi there,

I had a look at the same 4200 overthe weekend again and the owner said he would take a grand off it even though I mentioned that the brake discs were lipped and would need replacing plus also passed on the information that it would take an additional 2.5 grand to service car - i mentioned what you guys had said on the forum and his reply was 'those people on the forum the would say that'! Apart from what you guys said it just did not feel right the whole experience so I did not take it further - too much risk!

G

[LittleBro]

Rudeboy350z said:

LittleBro said:

If its the car I think it is (Silver (Grigio Touring)?), its going to be due a service in the not to distant future which makes some good ammo for heavy negotiating (a chap on another forum looked at it and priced the next service at £2.5k!). IMO, at £31,995 its only a couple of grand away from some much better spec'd/sorted cars so take a good look around.

In terms of advice, you could do worse than spending an hour or two on www.maseratiforum.co.uk

Best of luck with the search.

Hi there,

I had a look at the same 4200 overthe weekend again and the owner said he would take a grand off it even though I mentioned that the brake discs were lipped and would need replacing plus also passed on the information that it would take an additional 2.5 grand to service car - i mentioned what you guys had said on the forum and his reply was 'those people on the forum the would say that'! Apart from what you guys said it just did not feel right the whole experience so I did not take it further - too much risk!

G

It's also been reduced a grand today on the ad. If the car is of interest, I certainly wouldnt take one mans word for the cost of the service etc, find out what will need doing and get the work quoted independantly.

[Rudeboy350z]

LittleBro said:

Rudeboy350z said:

LittleBro said:

If its the car I think it is (Silver (Grigio Touring)?), its going to be due a service in the not to distant future which makes some good ammo for heavy negotiating (a chap on another forum looked at it and priced the next service at £2.5k!). IMO, at £31,995 its only a couple of grand away from some much better spec'd/sorted cars so take a good look around.

In terms of advice, you could do worse than spending an hour or two on www.maseratiforum.co.uk

Best of luck with the search.

Hi there,

I had a look at the same 4200 overthe weekend again and the owner said he would take a grand off it even though I mentioned that the brake discs were lipped and would need replacing plus also passed on the information that it would take an additional 2.5 grand to service car - i mentioned what you guys had said on the forum and his reply was 'those people on the forum the would say that'! Apart from what you guys said it just did not feel right the whole experience so I did not take it further - too much risk!

G

It's also been reduced a grand today on the ad. If the car is of interest, I certainly wouldnt take one mans word for the cost of the service etc, find out what will need doing and get the work quoted independantly.

No as per the ending of my previous post - I was not 'feelin' the car. If the brake discs were left to get in the state they were what with the lip it had on them then god knows what else is wrong with it - could turn into a right growler. I was not happy with the mileage as well. All equals walk away :-), and as someone else said on here - you can get a lot more for spending just a bit more money!

[Nally1704]

Just a thought, when i was looking i came across a gransport at a main dealer with 18,000 miles in black at £35k,i think it was in nottingham and may have been(bugga just looked and its not there now,must be sold) there is a silver with 13,000 miles at £37,900 at a dealer and you may get a deal off that!! i looked on www.maseratipreowned.com . its more money but it maybe a fairly safe bet with good miles from a dealer!

Paul

[LittleBro]

Rudeboy350z said:

LittleBro said:

Stuff

No as per the ending of my previous post - I was not 'feelin' the car. If the brake discs were left to get in the state they were what with the lip it had on them then god knows what else is wrong with it - could turn into a right growler. I was not happy with the mileage as well. All equals walk away :-), and as someone else said on here - you can get a lot more for spending just a bit more money!

Yeah, I think that was me. Granted, its a private sale so not entirely comparable but this is a similar car which reads as if its good to go. (I'm in no way connected to the seller)
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/522266.htm

With regards to Nally's post above, the black GS in Nottingham was a 2004 with a shade under 20k if my memory serves. It did the rounds a bit (was in Scotland for a while) but must have sold recently. It did look lovely, mind.

EFA on GS's milage

Edited by LittleBro on Tuesday 20th May 18:08