[Shark01]

Hi,
Just saw my first Maserati's in person today at Maserati of Houston. I have been lurking for about a week, and have a few questions that I haven't seen asked/answered in the past 6 months (after looking in the archives).

1. I am surprised by the level of depreciation these cars are seeing. '02s with minimum mileage are in the low $60s (ask) from a $100k sticker. What do you attribute this to?

2. How do these compare with the German makes (Porsche, MB, BMW) in reliability? What would you estimate annual repair costs to be when not in warranty? This is the subject that scares me away from Ferrari.

3. How are the interiors holding up after nearly 4 years? This is a real problem for Jags.

4. Are performance modifications feasible? What have you seen done?

5. For coupe owners, can adults REALLY ride in back? In my case, can one kid booster and one full baby seat fit?

6. Does anyone have any comment about Maserati of Houston?

These cars seem to be tremendous values for the exclusivity that you get, and will be looking at them closely. Other cars on the short list are:

'01 Porsche twin-turbo coupe (low $70s)
'04 MB E55 AMG (drove one today, a great rocket ship sedan) (mid 70s)
'03 Dodge Viper (mid $60s)

Thanks,

Shark

 

[iufan993]

Hi,
Just saw my first Maserati's in person today at Maserati of Houston. I have been lurking for about a week, and have a few questions that I haven't seen asked/answered in the past 6 months (after looking in the archives).

1. I am surprised by the level of depreciation these cars are seeing. '02s with minimum mileage are in the low $60s (ask) from a $100k sticker. What do you attribute this to?

2. How do these compare with the German makes (Porsche, MB, BMW) in reliability? What would you estimate annual repair costs to be when not in warranty? This is the subject that scares me away from Ferrari.

3. How are the interiors holding up after nearly 4 years? This is a real problem for Jags.

4. Are performance modifications feasible? What have you seen done?

5. For coupe owners, can adults REALLY ride in back? In my case, can one kid booster and one full baby seat fit?

6. Does anyone have any comment about Maserati of Houston?

These cars seem to be tremendous values for the exclusivity that you get, and will be looking at them closely. Other cars on the short list are:

'01 Porsche twin-turbo coupe (low $70s)
'04 MB E55 AMG (drove one today, a great rocket ship sedan) (mid 70s)
'03 Dodge Viper (mid $60s)

Thanks,

Shark

I'll give it a go because I was looking at some of the same cars.

1. Depreciation I think has a lot to do with the dealer networks. Masers were never marketed well and a lot of them sat in Ferrari dealerships where the "common man" would not dare to go. It's easy to get your wife into a Porsche dealership because they sell cute little convertibles and SUV's (and often Audis), but just try to drag her into a dealership where the cheapest car is over 100K. The dealers often sell new Masers for 15-20K below sticker, but this seems to be a secret. When you realize that many 100K Masers sell for just over 80K, then the resale doesn't look quite so bad. The real bargain here is that Maser owners drive their cars like Ferraris, so there are many good used cars with low mileage. I couldn't find any M-B's or Audi RS6's with low mileage. Porsche is the way to go if you want resale value in a used car.

2. My '02 Coupe is under warranty until 2007, and I don't plan on keeping it past this date. The key is to find a good Ferrari mechanic outside of a dealer who can work on it (and most will). Dealer labor out of warranty is prohibitively expensive. Even under warranty, expect 2-3K for a clutch and $500 for oil change. Major service interval 18500 miles may be $3000. Clutch wear seems to vary widely (see other posts)

3. The interior of my car is beautiful, and has held up great. No leather cracks, good support, no areas "prone" to wear, no loose parts. But I only have 8800 miles, so maybe not the best person to answer.

4. Modifications are few and far between. I had an Audi S4 which was easy and fun to tweak, but you won't see many mods here. There is a company which does ECU remapping, but no feedback as to whether it is worth it. A lot of guys get TUBI or similar exhausts. A few lower the Skyhook suspensions (which is easy). Aftermarket wheel options are limited to custom fits such as HRE and Kenesis (no Tire Rack). Hell, most don't even change their own oil for fears of voiding the warranty.

5. Yes on the booster seat and the baby seat. Plenty of room for this, but not for adults over 5'8"

6. No info.

Good luck.

I was a short timer in a 996 4S, but the interior is ugly, the engine sounds are boring, and most of the time I felt like I was driving a Honda. Other Porsche owners seem to notice your car, but that's about it.

The Maserati is the antithesis of the above.

 

[demoe]

Ok..I will give my take

Hi,
Just saw my first Maserati's in person today at Maserati of Houston. I have been lurking for about a week, and have a few questions that I haven't seen asked/answered in the past 6 months (after looking in the archives).

1. I am surprised by the level of depreciation these cars are seeing. '02s with minimum mileage are in the low $60s (ask) from a $100k sticker. What do you attribute this to?

2. How do these compare with the German makes (Porsche, MB, BMW) in reliability? What would you estimate annual repair costs to be when not in warranty? This is the subject that scares me away from Ferrari.

3. How are the interiors holding up after nearly 4 years? This is a real problem for Jags.

4. Are performance modifications feasible? What have you seen done?

5. For coupe owners, can adults REALLY ride in back? In my case, can one kid booster and one full baby seat fit?

6. Does anyone have any comment about Maserati of Houston?

1. I attribute the depreciation due to several factors, some which have been discussed before and the follwing.

a. many people do not want to touch an Itialian car for their history of being "italian" ie, expensive to fix, quirky, especially given the prior issues of reliability of Maserati in the past.
b. German cars have done well establishing themselves as well-built, reliable vehicles, therefore people aren't scared to drop $$ on a Porsche, MBZ, BMW
c. I feel lexus, MBZ re-sale pricing has been helped by their "certified pre-owned" which is really an ingenious marketing campaign, call it CPO and get more $ for a used vehicle.

2. I too am considering selling my 2002 Spyder when the warranty expires as I've been told there are parts on this car which cost more than a new Toyota. Drop an engine?, $40k. A Hydrolic pump, $18k. ...Oh,yeah and you need someone to install those parts at $140 hr.

I am looking into an aftermarket warranty if I decide to keep it past the warrranty period.

In terms of Upkeep, I have done quite a bit of homework on this subject..
supposing you drive 10,000 miles a year, I would expect the car to cost $3500 a year to maintain.

My car is with the dealer now for a Clutch replacement (18,000), and the 18.5 service, the clutch is $3800, the service im told, will run anywhere from $500-$2000.

3. the interior has been a plus, mine at 18,000 still looks and smells new.

4. Ive put 19in rims on my car made by Azev, there are ECU mods, supsension lowering....but I think once you drive the car, you will feel the car has enough to not get an major urges to tweak.

5. don't own the coupe, Have sat in one at the dealer and it looks like 4 adults could fit comfortably

6. I don't live near your dealer...however, buying a Maserati, I had expected a notch about the dealers of cars I currently own, MBZ, Lexus, and Lotus....so far, I have been let down with the level of service I have rceived at dealers.

I should preface my comments, that one of the dealers that I had tried to deal with (and gave up), just openned, however after waiting 3 days and placing 3 messages to try and set up a service appt, I do not find acceptable. My response when I CALLED a 4th time was. "oh, I got your message, I was going to call you back when I got a chance" I don't think persons in my own field of work could get away with that......compare that with the Lexus dealer where they make you feel you are at some Hollywood Premiere party with their Concierege service.

To sum up my experenice, I bought my 02 Spyder to become my daily driver,...I too have a MBZ AMG, ...I've found myself often not finding taking the MBZ AMG as a letdown as much as I thought it would be.