3200GT buying advice

[Beasty]

Following on from this:

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=70186&f=23&h=0&hw=thread+about

Mrs Beasty and I went to look at a nice Verde 3200GT yesterday. Didn't get a chance to test drive it as it was pg it down and there didn't seem much point. However, Mrs. B seemed happy, so it looks like this might be a goer, subject to test drive.

The problem is that we were just passing the dealer on the way back to London from the Isle of Wight. If we decide to go for this car, I'm not going to want to take it down to the south coast every time I want any warranty work done. Does anyone know whether my local dealer would be able to carry out warranty work on behalf of the south coast dealer?

Also any horrors I should know about before I dump a load of cash on this?

[mustard]

Good man beasty! go for it!

[456mgt]

Shouldn't be a problem with the warranty-related work at another franchised dealer at least with Ferrari, and therefore I assume with Maserati. It's a Ferrari or Maserati warranty not a dealer warranty. I've not had a problem with having warranty work done at Graypaul for a car bought from Maranellos.

Others on here can chime in from their own ownership experience.

Good luck!

Kevin

[AlexHancock]

Good choice!

You don't say where you live - but I live in West London and get my 3200 serviced at Maranello but could also use H R Owen. From your previous thread the car you buy might be out of Warranty and therefore you might want to consider Verdi.

If you've decided to spend a bit more than you're original budget I'm probably going to sell my 3200 in January.

[Beasty]

From a search on the web yesterday I found a late 2001 model with 14,000 miles at Graypaul for £36,500 as opposed to a 2000 model with 18,000 miles for £35,995 at Meridien, which is a bit of a no brainer. And given they are both trident approved cars I'd get a 12 month Maser warrantee anyway.

Trouble is, I also found a 2002 Spyder with 6000 miles for £39,950. Which is no good because it only has 2 seats, doesn't stop me wanting it though.

[stuh]

Morning all

I'm also on the lookout for a 3200. I've seen private cars for under 30k on "w" and "x" plates.

Is it a car that really needs a warranty after a couple of years ?

Anything to look out for in terms of known issues ?

Sorry for nicking your thread beasty

[AlexHancock]

You don't need a warranty if nothing much goes wrong or, if it does, it only happens every few years. Maserati parts are expensive. Mine's been very reliable but has just had a gearbox problem repaired under warranty which probable would've cost me a grand or two.

Beasty, my car's a Jan. 01 with 20K miles and a new clutch. It'll also have new paintwork before the end of January and could have twelve months extended warranty. I'm planning to advertise it in the classifieds section but if you want first dibs drop me an email.

[exint2]

There is this one for sale now - slightly high miles but they are asking £29K - I guess they'd take £27K

www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=17757&s=209

To both the guys looking to buy - the market is very soft at the moment you should be able to get (with some negociating - ignore the sticker price at the franchised dealers its a wish price not reality) a low miles 2001 for under 32K (man) £33K (auto)

Also some dealers are more realistic than others - Marenello will try to keep the prices high to create a market - others will let them go for less to make some money!

[v12v8]

I've heard (from a pal who works on 3200's) that the car has a weakness with the head gasket which tends to go at around the 20k-25k mile stage. Anyone had this problem?

For anyone with a low mileage 3200 and a warranty fast expiring, the advice seems to be - extend your warranty. I'd appreciate hearing anyone's experience as my Assetto Corsa has 17k on it and 3 months of warranty left. Gulp!

Also, anyone know how much an extended warranty costs?

[craigw]

the head gasket weakness was on the early cars and any late car should have had it sorted as part of its campaigns(recalls). Extended trident warranty is about £900 I think.

[Andrew Richmond]

Mine was an early car - 99V - and the cylinder head gaskets went at 16k miles. I'd heard also that it was mainly an early car problem. Check your chassis number, especially the last four digits. There were approx 5000 3200GT's made and the AC's were all pretty late [On my car the last digits were <1000].

Craig, the warranties' used to cost that but due to claims they have gone through the roof and are now at least £1500 pa dependent on mileage and the cost of an inspection if required.