[squid]

Hey all--I'm looking to buy a coupe 6spd, 02-04 probably. I love my M5 but now it looks like I'll have a truck, so I can afford to get something a little more weird, exotic and tempramental I was hoping the owners around here could pitch in with some advice. What should I look out for, as far as wear items, major break areas, etc.? How long is the warranty, and is an extended available? I've heard rumors of outrageous service costs at the 15k service, is that true? Any Los Angelenos have a good place to recomend for service? While this won't be my only car, it will be my primary car, so I'd rather it wasn't out for the count for a month at a time or anything.

Thanks in advance!
-s

 

[STARDOC]

There was a 6 speed '04 for sale a few months ago which I don't think they have sold yet at Maser. Orange county. There is another one that has been for sale for 3.5 months an '03 at a Corvette stealer in Texas, just check autotrader or cars.com and they're probably still there.
Should be able to negotiate a sweet price as the 6 speeds are not popular. I got out of an M3 and I didn't really enjoy the Maser. manual as shift engagement requires some acrobatics. Pretty good reliability.
Great cars for the money. Only issues are early clutch wear which the stealer should be able to determine prepurchase. And if possible stick to an 03-04.Good luck.

 

[squid]

What's wrong with the '02s?

 

[Christian]

Nothing, I have had mine for over a year, I have put around 5k miles on it and it is problem free.

Christian

 

[v12gte]

When I was shopping I found that there was a lot more demand for 6 speeds than for CC cars. 6 speeds also fetched more in the market. It might have something to do with a CC pump that costs $18,000 to replace, and they do have a history of going wrong. Or the much shorter clutch life on the CC. Two factory mechanics I spoke with at different dealerships (Texas and California) told me that the average R/R is about 18K miles. 6 speeds last a lot longer, or one said he has not even changed one out yet.
02 Spiders have defficient reinforcements, but 02 coupes are just fine. Major changes between 02 and 03s occurred with the CC cars (different clutch design, different software calibration, which can be updated).
Search the forum, all the other info is here about reliability and people using them as daily drivers...
Hope you get one !
(You can have mine, but it will be Nov of 2006 at the earliest. I will be lining up for a pearl orange Gallardo right about then, along with some black balloons perhaps !)

 

[STARDOC]

As stated above there were some upgrades on the '02's including the radio/Nav and a change from a single 'tang' clutch to a double 'tang' clutch which helps to reduce early wear. for the cambi. Also bear in mind that if you plan to keep the car for more than a year, extended warranties on these cars are very costly if at all possible. Personally I would much rather have gone with a 6 speed as I find it a lot more involving. In speaking with a few reputable Maser. dealers, pre-puchase, I was told that their resale is more difficult and tend to carry a lower price as a result. In fact the Maser. dealer in Scottsdale will not carry any used manuals in their inventory. For me the wife just could not get used to the notchy set up so we ended up with a cambio. In '04 Maser. tried to comply with a mostly American demand for a smoother manual trans. and some minor changes were made but IMHO it is not as user friendly as say a BMW. Wish they took a page out of the Honda s2000 transmission handbook.
good luck

 

[PacoSaca]

There was a 6 speed '04 for sale a few months ago which I don't think they have sold yet at Maser. Orange county. There is another one that has been for sale for 3.5 months an '03 at a Corvette stealer in Texas, just check autotrader or cars.com and they're probably still there.
Should be able to negotiate a sweet price as the 6 speeds are not popular. I got out of an M3 and I didn't really enjoy the Maser. manual as shift engagement requires some acrobatics. Pretty good reliability.
Great cars for the money. Only issues are early clutch wear which the stealer should be able to determine prepurchase. And if possible stick to an 03-04.Good luck.

"stealer" GOOD ONE MAAAN... HAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[v12gte]

The 6 speed is notchy and the cambiocorsa is smooth?
If you read any of the 2002/2003 articles in Road and Track, Car and Driver, or Autoweek, you will realize that you are filing a minority opinion. Dealers will always steer you to the inventory that they have on the lot (most are CC cars).
My wife nearly took out a Miata on a test drive of the 02 CC at Ferrari of San Francisco, while she drives our GT just as smoothly as she did the M6, the E-type, or any other manuals we had.
I know.....to each their own when it comes to transmission choice. Besides....resale value of cc vs gt is irrelevant when the thing plummets $35K in value (compared to stickers) in two years.

As stated above there were some upgrades on the '02's including the radio/Nav and a change from a single 'tang' clutch to a double 'tang' clutch which helps to reduce early wear. for the cambi. Also bear in mind that if you plan to keep the car for more than a year, extended warranties on these cars are very costly if at all possible. Personally I would much rather have gone with a 6 speed as I find it a lot more involving. In speaking with a few reputable Maser. dealers, pre-puchase, I was told that their resale is more difficult and tend to carry a lower price as a result. In fact the Maser. dealer in Scottsdale will not carry any used manuals in their inventory. For me the wife just could not get used to the notchy set up so we ended up with a cambio. In '04 Maser. tried to comply with a mostly American demand for a smoother manual trans. and some minor changes were made but IMHO it is not as user friendly as say a BMW. Wish they took a page out of the Honda s2000 transmission handbook.
good luck

 

[STARDOC]

Hmmmm, the '02 cambi. was considered "jerky" mostly on the this side of the pond. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the '04 software upgrades took care of that issue. Secondly, the shift linkage system in the manual is a relatively antiquated '90's version from Ferrari ,and one of the reasons why Maserati dropped it on the Grand Sport. Be that as it may, I prefer a manual over a cambi but think that for a $90k car they could have done a better job.
:wink: