[Dr. Larry Kauffman]

I'm getting very bad vibrations from the clutch trans operation on this Italian marvel of engineering. I'm curious how Maserati would actually look at a low milage car with a bad trans/clutch. The trans would certainly be covered, but what about a slipping clutch. I drive in sport mode most of the time, if not always. I down shifted this am turning into a driveway and I thought the trans fell out of the car. Absolute bullsxxx. $105,000 car. I am REALLY disappointed at my own judgment in buying this POS. CD player is a joke, no AM radio, bad waterpump, rattles, lifter noises, can't back-up an incline.
Sorry to be so negative but I had to vent. I have really learned a lesson.

 

[RQ]

I agree that this shouldn't happen, but you seem so conflicted about your "100k car" that maybe you'd be happier with something else?

The M is a nice ride but yours seems to be stressing you rather than making you happy, doesn't sound worth it.

And I'm not trying to be a smart-a** here, really.

 

[demoe]

well it didn't take long for the honeymoon to end.... :lol:

welcome the club.....just feel fortunate that you have a good/responsive dealer......not to name names, but i've had issues living on the northern side of California just getting a return call.

right now my roof remains unable to close/open due to a malfunction where the roof did not go back far enough, then tried to close, and in the process breaking a metal guide and forcing the roof to the right, scraping the right side rollbar, leaving a torn bit of leather.

my clutch after replacement rattles at over 4000 rpm.

my trip odometer is broken, they need to tear the old cluster out, send it to new Jersey and then reinstall it...

all in all. I am enjoying the car too much to leave it at the dealer, as I expect at least a 2 week downtime.....


I have the same issues with my radio/nav/cd player....ever try to hit the back button on the cd player when trying to replay a track?, it is like a game, it jumps back 2 tracks, hit the forward button and goes forward 2 or 3 tracks...

stick it out though, I've put 4,000 miles on my car and it does get better every moment. ...i was in the same boat as you for the first 3500 miles, questioning if the hassle was worth it.......i dropped in a BMC airfilter and did some exhaust mods in addition to my Tubi and now the car is a blast to drive.....of course, i am looking at some serious downtime soon

 

[RickBullotta]

I think Maserati would, well, look at it as a low mileage car with a bad trans/clutch if that's what's wrong. They'll warranty it if there's a problem that isn't from thrashing it too much. The clutch does seem like the weak link of the CC - every time I have to back up a driveway or slog through stop-and-go traffic, I cringe. I love, love, love the car, though. Barring some type of extended warranty, though, I'll probably move on as the warranty expires.

I'm not that fond of the electronics package either - my backup sensors don't work in addition to all of the CD/radio/nav ills - but to be honest, I really don't care a great deal, since I didn't buy the car for those features. Under the hood is where my lust is focused. :wink:

I'm at about 5K miles right now on a 2003 - if, at 10K miles, the old girl is starting to get finicky, then we'll see. I'm down on the wait list for a new M5, but that probably won't come into play until next spring or summer, so we'll see then.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy my time together with the Maserati and overlook her "unique features". Think of it like dating a supermodel...

 

[surfnirnava]

Quirkiness of Maserati

I know it can be frustrating but these are not regular cars. I've now done 18k miles in my 2003CC and had a few niggles on the way. I knew a Porsche would be more reliable but I didn't want one - I wanted something a little different and with that comes a little quirkiness.

It is down to how good your dealer is. So far my car has had a leather seat cover replaced when some stitching came undone and a new gearbox. The dealer never argued. The gearbox worked fine but developed a whine at 80mph - I asked them to fix it (as I will every niggle while under warranty) and Maserati authorised a new gearbox and gave me a BMW to drive about while they did it. They took three weeks as they had to ship a new 'box from Italy so I told them it was not acceptable. We settled on the next service bill (£900) being split three ways as compensation - third to me, third to the dealer and a third to Maserati. Again, they did not argue - I got it simply be asking.
My dealer is Dick Lovett in Swindon, UK - excellent service.

 

[Dr. Larry Kauffman]

I apologize for my rant yesterday but yesterday was the day from hell. I had conversation last night with a very knowledgeable car person and I felt much better after talking with him. He says the Maser will have growing pains when new but the dealer will take care of them.
I found out that my car functions better if I don't manually downshift when coming to a stop. Once I'm under 10 mph its okay to shift into 1st.

The car ran beautifully this morning and even the CD worked!!


The sky is not falling.

 

[calcoupe]

Good Day All,

First love the fact that the site is heating up... I drop in every day to see how other owners are doing (cars as well).

So far I have been lucky (2002 CC coupe) and had very few problems "knock on everything". I as well am looking in to the extended coverage plan, if not the car will have to go, mabe lease a GS or 90th spyder.

I have racked up 22K on one clutch, and was told by F&M of SF that I still had 60% left???? mostly FW miles. I never back up, uphill and try to stay far away from stop and go traffic. But still wind up in some bad trafic from time to time.

But I love the car, it is by far the most fun and engaging ride I have every owned (2M's 1AMG, 3 Alfa's and a few others in the pot).
I keep waiting for it to break but so far so good...

Paul

 

[RQ]

I apologize for my rant yesterday but yesterday was the day from hell. I had conversation last night with a very knowledgeable car person and I felt much better after talking with him. He says the Maser will have growing pains when new but the dealer will take care of them.
I found out that my car functions better if I don't manually downshift when coming to a stop. Once I'm under 10 mph its okay to shift into 1st.

The car ran beautifully this morning and even the CD worked!!


The sky is not falling.

Great to hear!

Mine was spectacular this morning as well, MSP off for my 20 mile commute, was tough staying on the right side of "responsible".

 

[surfnirnava]

You will grow to love it!

Larry
I can understand your frustration - trust me, you will get used to the quirkiness. I also believe it is a car you learn to drive. First couple of days in a CC are pretty jerky then you develop the 'feel' of the car and know how to use the gears with the accelerator. You will understand - these comments will sound odd to people who havent experienced this type of car. I think getting to know it is a fun part.

Also, approaching lights etc, I often pull back on both paddles to stop the car dropping through each gear. It feels smoother and, I guess, has less wear on the gearbox and clutch. If the traffic moves off before you have stopped, the car will always find the right gear for you.

 

[demoe]

"I found out that my car functions better if I don't manually downshift when coming to a stop. Once I'm under 10 mph its okay to shift into 1st. "
"

Just wondering why you would manually downshift into first?, i did this on accident one time and it was the roughest shift i've ever experinced, something I told myself never to do again......the car jolted and the tranny felt it was going to drop.....

I let the car downshift automatically or will hit both paddles and drop it into neutral and use the brakes to stop........

of course on occasions I drop the car into 2nd when taking a corner a bit over the suggested speed limit.....however 2nd is the lowest gear i've used....

 

[kbrookings]

Maseroptimism

Larry, glad your getting happy again. These cars sure aren't perfect. I have an 05 QP that I bought looking for some adventure so I was ready for issues. Remarkably, except of going thru tires pretty fast I've had no problems, clutch or otherwise, in 18.6K miles.
I think Maserati is getting their act together. And the cars sure are fun.

And glad to see this board getting busy.

Ken

 

[RickBullotta]

So what's this stuff with "not backing up a hill". Hello? My driveway is on a hill. So are 95% of my neighbors. Since when is this considered "hard on a car"? If this wears my clutch and it isn't covered under warranty, I'll be one smokin' angry fella. :evil:

 

[squid]

The whole concept of an automated manual is a new one, the manufacturers are still ironing out the bugs and nobody knows the longevity of it. That's why I got a manual.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

If this wears my clutch and it isn't covered under warranty, I'll be one smokin' angry fella. :evil:

Clutch wear isn't covered (unless there is a premature failure) and I was warned by the dealer that driving slowly up/down slopes or using auto mode a lot would accelerate the wear.

In fact, the owners manual says "this isn't an automatic transmission" so you can't drive it like it is one.

In traffic I will let a gap form ahead of me and then move off, rather than having the car slip the clutch to crawl at 2mph.