Been offered Maserati GranTurismo.....?

[TimDogg]

Guys, I've been offered a Maserati GranTurismo at a reasonable price and am toying with the idea. I need guys to tell me that I don't want to own a Maserati and the reasons why. I have no kids or dog and really don't need rear space so it's not a space issue. What am I gaining from 'stepping up' to the Maserati?

See, I don't particularly want to get rid of the RS4 but something just says 'yes' to the GT - and it's in black with red leather interior.

Need help - thanks!

[amanda1]

Oh dear ....you get way bigger bills and way less reliability!!! You take your chances but I know which way I would stay

[Ian_C]

If you can stomach the depreciation, go for it!

[Timster]

Great looking cars but I have no idea what they're like to drive.
If it were me and the drove as well as the RS... I'd consider it.

(I suspect however..... that they don't )

[TimDogg]

Depreciation has already happened luckily - I think Amanda might be right as usual. Maybe I'm moving into another generation's territory before my time. I'll drive it over the weekend.

[svassileou]

This is the standard Granturismo (4.2 litres, from memory), not the Granturismo S (4.7 litres)?

I drove the Granturismo S auto a while back - nice car, and the power delivery seemed just about right. I'd hazard a guess that the 4.2 litre Granturismo might be a little bit lacking in punch (it's a big car) compared to the RS4.

See if you can get comfortable in the front seats - they're an acquired taste (the forthcoming version of the car has restyled front seats). Space for rear passengers is impressive; the exterior of the car disguises this well. The engine will apparently leak oil after a while - a case of "TADTS", nothing too serious. Other than that, see if you can find Evo's Granturismo buyer's guide online.

[Terry1948]

I think they are beautiful looking cars and most of the people that drive then probably had a Jaguar before. The black and red would go great with silver hair

[TimDogg]

It's the 4.7 but I understand what you're saying about the size if the car, it is big. As for the grey hair comment I'm now thinking of 'Just for Men' - I'll let you know what it's like, hopefully playing with it today.

[P_G]

GTS's are the ones to go for, 4.2's are gutless, MC Shift even better. To get anywhere near the handling you have in the RS4 you'll want Skyhook on it because even with the Skyhook it is a big car and a fair weight for its size. The bit that always got me after test driving them was how much more nimble and fast the RS4 seemed and I have an Avant. If you are after a beautiful GT and that is what it is a GT with fabulous sountrack as standard then it is a fabulous car. The only bits that stop me trading up is the naff boot space as I do have kids and their horrendous servicing costs £1k+ for standard 10k mile service and that is just oil + filters. It is a Masserati so expect premium servicing and part prices and few independents that can supply parts of fix them . I know some complain about the price of RS4 ownership but a Masser gives you a reality check on that.

For me once they get into the 30's they will be a bargain for a relatively low mileage one but personally they still have a long way to go and a lot get ditched post warranty and replaced with new Massers according to someone at HR Owen who sell them.

[TimDogg]

That's great advice P_G thanks, I need to work out the year of this one as it's on a private plate and I don't think it has Skyhook. Not looking hopeful

[P_G]

Early GTS's were 2009 on 09 and 59 plates and can be had for anywhere from £45k upwards. I nearly traded up for a Bianco Fuji GTS, carbon pack, anthracite wheels MC Shift and Skyhook with Grigio Nero interrior until lady P_G intervened and made me see sense.

[TimDogg]

Right then. It was a '97 4.2 model, it had the Skyhook and was fully loaded. Thing is, it had 40k on it and he wanted £41k for it. The lease company were buying it back off him for the same money so he has nothing to lose. I didn't like it, I always felt that the noise it made didn't match the acceleration I was feeling; it felt slow. The tip-tronic box seemed tight but would change up when you didn't want to really - you could change that apparently but it never felt 'urgent', maybe a GT doesn't, I don't know. It has less power than the RS4 and, as much as I liked the Skyhook suspension, the steering felt 'woolly' - is that the right word. I just felt that I wasn't really engaged with it; I always expected more power to appear and it never did. To be honest I felt that it needed power in the late 400s, maybe 480-520 bhp and it would have been very capable. 400bhp wasn't enough for a car that weighs 1.8T. I didn't even think that it was that comfortable - P_G warned me about the seats. Good legroom in the back, deceptive though as you wouldn't expect it. It IS a big car though but I think Amanda's right about the servicing costs, I called a garage and they are WAY above the RS4!

I will stay with my Sprint Blue. Why do more people not buy the RS4, I can't work it out?

[svassileou]

TimDogg, your conclusions didn't surprise me, I have to say.

If you don't need adult sized rear seats and you're really after a (quasi-)GT car, it would be hard to justify the GranTurismo at that price & with that mileage when, even at Nissan dealerships, 15,000 mile 09 plate GTRs are now starting to show up at around the £40K mark, and you can pick up a 40,000 mile 996 GT2 for less than £50K at an independent Porsche dealer. Don't forget the Jag XKR too.

[sakimano]

A friend had one for a weekend , borrowed from a relative because he was thinking of buying one, and we were surprised how fast it wasn't. Sounded INCREDIBLE. Looked INCREDIBLE. This was the newer model with the 4.7. Don't think it was the newest S one though. I can't remember.

But I think it weighs something absurd like 4200 lbs or something...and is quite large. It was basically RS4 fast (I followed him home from a golf course in mine). It felt like it was just castrated slightly, to keep it comfortably slower than the California and F430.

Still, I found it a really fun and exciting car. I'd enjoy owning one (as long as it had a warranty!). He didn't buy one...but not because of the test drive. He was 'sold'....but he just wanted to wait a bit. I think he'll get one eventually. His previous car was an SL55...another collossally heavy GT.

Every day around 2pm, a silver one drives past my office...and every day I spin around in my chair to watch and listen to it as it goes by. That should tell you something...it doesn't seem like a car you'd be 'disappointed' to own.

[TimDogg]

That's great sakimano, I agree about keeping it slower that the F430. It does weigh an absolute ton too. I think I might grow into one but no time soon - maybe I'm not quite ready for a GT yet. My mate just bought a 360 Modena which I think will prove costly and I'm not yet into that league and not a huge Ferrari fan (California, 599 and 458 aside).

I would have thought the 4.7 (or 'S') would have solved the power issues - I had a 3.0 V6 Ford Mondeo (ST220) that always sounded like it should be going faster than it sounded, lovely car though, just too slow.

I guess I'm struggling to step out of the RS4 - I think it would have to be a GTR or a CL63 AMG Black Series but both have huge running costs and the RS4's lack of these make it still so appealing.