[Glenn Wallace]

Rather than post the entire tale here, and possibly put the forum owner in a position where MNA might suggest the story be removed, I am hosting it externally.

Please click here for the full story, including the vanishing Repair Order, the very helpful but suddenly departed Service Manager, and much more:

http://www.magnetosport.com/seat/

Obviously, I am very unhappy with a) how I've been treated, and b) the fact that they're not repairing my seat under warranty. Cracks in the dye at 3,000 or 6,000 miles are a defect, and even if you do consider it wear, it is certainly abnormal wear when compared to any other car or one's expectations.

I had hoped to resolve this with MNA, but it has gone on too long. MNA NJ has not returned my 3 calls.

If you're about to buy a Maserati, I suggest you consider my experience before you make your purchase.

 

[M!]

This Is Unacceptable

How can Maserati NA deny to replace this under warranty?
at 3000 miles they believe it is normal to wear like that?

the leather in a Maserati is NOT as durable as in those german or british cows.

is your color avorio? mine is and it seems the leather is very delicate and thin... on the dash, you can almost see the leather is stretching underneath and the dye is peeling... i have one area on the rear console that is nicked, and i have to repair at my cost (even though i believe it is unacceptable to wear this quick).

on my seats, i almost have to pamper it. what i do not understand is why maserati / poltrona frau does not offer a leather maintenance kit that is available at the maserati dealer. (i believe you can call up poltrona frau the furniture company and they can supply you a leather care kit). i believe this delicate leather requires proper care, and your normal use just will not keep it perfect.

as a reference, i have a very light color leather (almost avorio) on my previous Audi A6 4.2, and some abnormal blue stains coming from wherever (under the leather, or from my jeans, or ?). Audi replaced ALL seat covers, front and back, no charge to me, at about 2 years / 20,000km of driving.

 

[haha]

That is just a complete BS... they should replace it and say thank you for putting up with it for such a long time...

 

[Glenn Wallace]

How can Maserati NA deny to replace this under warranty?
at 3000 miles they believe it is normal to wear like that?

Got me. Maybe they think I am trying to rip them off. I don't know.
It seems penny wise and pound foolish.

Do you think I'd buy a 430 after this? A QP?

is your color avorio? mine is and it seems the leather is very delicate and thin... on the dash, you can almost see the leather is stretching underneath and the dye is peeling... i have one area on the rear console that is nicked, and i have to repair at my cost (even though i believe it is unacceptable to wear this quick).

Everywhere else in the car, the leather is good. Rear seat (kids climb on it) passenger seat, dash (my car is two tone, so upper dash is Navy).

Just visually looking at this seat, you can see the dye is very thin on this cover. The rear seats, armrest etc look much more durable.

on my seats, i almost have to pamper it. what i do not understand is why maserati / poltrona frau does not offer a leather maintenance kit that is available at the maserati dealer.

Saab used to sell good leather conditioner.

I've conditioned these seats since new, my car is always well taken care of (dealer just remarked on this Saturday).

as a reference, i have a very light color leather (almost avorio) on my previous Audi A6 4.2, and some abnormal blue stains coming from wherever (under the leather, or from my jeans, or ?).

I do get some light blue staining from jeans on the lower seat cover but it comes off easily and doesn't appear to harm the cover.

Audi replaced ALL seat covers, front and back, no charge to me, at about 2 years / 20,000km of driving.

Well of course, they care about their customers, and want you to buy another Audi.

 

[kbrookings]

Rather than post the entire tale here, and possibly put the forum owner in a position where MNA might suggest the story be removed, I am hosting it externally.

Please click here for the full story, including the vanishing Repair Order, the very helpful but suddenly departed Service Manager, and much more:

http://www.magnetosport.com/seat/

Obviously, I am very unhappy with a) how I've been treated, and b) the fact that they're not repairing my seat under warranty. Cracks in the dye at 3,000 or 6,000 miles are a defect, and even if you do consider it wear, it is certainly abnormal wear when compared to any other car or one's expectations.

I had hoped to resolve this with MNA, but it has gone on too long. MNA NJ has not returned my 3 calls.

If you're about to buy a Maserati, I suggest you consider my experience before you make your purchase.

You have my sympathy . . . I know how frustrating this kind of thing can be. I just sent you an email.

Ken

 

[Florida Joe]

Guys I have to tell you. I am looking at purchasing a QP and have been researching this board for about 3 months.

Based on all the issues I have seen

Leather wear, short clutch life, warranty issues, outrageous maintenace expenses, unresponse dealers or an unresponsive manufacturer

I am now struggling with purchasing this car especially at the Quattroporte's price point. Yeah it may have a better road feel than a MB but ownership can last 2 - 4 years and in that time a lot can go wrong.

I have owned 3 BMW's and 2 MB's and no car is perfect but I have always been treated fairly by both dealerships and most importantly, the dealership and their manufacturer support their products.


My .02 cents

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Well, I passed on the MB CL55 because it looked like a doctor's car, I passed on the 645Ci because the interior styling was crap, I passed on the XKR because I had trouble getting in and out of it (nice interior though!).

I thought I was buying a car with a top quality interior. I also notice the warranty terms don't mention interior color. I did expect it to show scuff marks more easily, but I did expect it the dye to be durable.

 

[MVP]

Welcome to Maserati ownership. Ferrari and Maserati will always have their quirks and at times Ferrari or Maserati may not be the most helpful in warranty claims.

While I can't say I agree with the way they treat you, I wouldn't give up owning a Maserati or a Ferrari to a car like a BMW, Porsche, or Jaguar just because the car had premature seat wear. If you're new to Italian car ownership, these are things to expect. Most people live with it but some people really believe in the principal of things. If you can't live with it, may consider getting a new car because you may spend alot of your time being upset over things like these.

By the way if you think this is bad, you should see the bubbling interior on the Ferrari F355's.

 

[demoe]

Welcome to Maserati ownership.
While I can't say I agree with the way they treat you, I wouldn't give up owning a Maserati or a Ferrari to a car like a BMW, Porsche, or Jaguar just because the car had premature seat wear. If you're new to Italian car ownership, these are things to expect. Most people live with it but some people really believe in the principal of things. If you can't live with it, may consider getting a new car because you may spend alot of your time being upset over things like these.

.

If what Kevin says is true, in particular, "if you're new to Italian car ownership, most people live with it"

Well, this may be standard operating practice in Italy, but we are in America and Maserati is doing business in the US. Americans have this funny little expectation called, getting what they paid for. A common business practice is "adapt or die", seems to me, if MNA continues on the path they are on, they may just be losing their #1 country of export.

 

[demoe]

I could only think of 1 situation where MNA would be bordeline right in their denials

Glenn,

are you are unusually large person as to cause excessive wear when you get in and out of the car?

I'd say if you weighed over 400 lbs, I can see where MNA could have a point, albeit still weak...

othewise, MNA actions completely outrage and scare me...

 

[F. Yu]

Well, I passed on the MB CL55 because it looked like a doctor's car, I passed on the 645Ci because the interior styling was crap, I passed on the XKR because I had trouble getting in and out of it (nice interior though!).

eek! I'm a doctor! that that mean I should trade in for a CL55?
btw, I think the interior on BMWs are horrendous as well. they lost a sale of a 750Li to my wife because of that interior.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

are you are unusually large person as to cause excessive wear when you get in and out of the car?

I am 6'5" and 250lb or so. My large frame has NOT caused issues in other cars and this is one of the reasons I bought the coupe was the nice amount of space in the front seat.

At for BMW, they have completely lost the plot on interior design and styling. Go back 4 years ago and they were top.

Glenn

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Welcome to Maserati ownership. Ferrari and Maserati will always have their quirks and at times Ferrari or Maserati may not be the most helpful in warranty claims.

I can live with the quirks, after all it is an Italian car, but as part of the entire ownership experience I expected to be treated better than this. Again, why would I buy a 430 or 612 if this is how they stand behind their product?

 

[mmmmmm68]

MNA never returned my phone calls as well, I think that they do not care

about keeping their customers,I paid $338 to change the accessory belt of the trunk,I think that it should have been covered under warranty

 

[bundas]

dealers and then dealers

bad dealers are in every auto mark. i have had my share. and yes it was $$$ expensive. but i went through all the crap of watching service reps. thinking i did not know that they were [email protected]#$% me, i wanted a maserati for 50 years. chry. vw chevy. edsel dealers will i hope get theirs some day. but i have my maserati! and i am not going to let some jerk service personel spoil my fun.

 

[thebimbo]

Must be a US thing. Zap.

 

[surfnirnava]

I feel for you guys!
As 'the bimbo' said, I too think most Europeans get good service.
My previous 4200 had a bit of stitching on the seat come loose (about three stitches). All sorted under warranty with no questions and they lent me another car.
You may want to write / email Maserati in Italy to tell then your US importer is not giving the service you would expect.

 

[thebimbo]

You may want to write / email Maserati in Italy. If you can of course.

 

[squid]

It is very soft leather and I could see accellerated wear being a consequence. Also the seats are very narrow in the back, that could make it even worse for someone of more portly stature. I'm built like a jockey and it hasn't been a problem, save for a broken button scraping the heck out of it once.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

This is a very good idea as I'm sure they just don't simply know what is happening over the pond and rely on their US Operations folks, who will invariably say there is no problem. At a certain point if Maserati N.A. can't resolve your issue satisfactory you need to get some very emotional Italians involved!!

Coincidentally my company has an office about 50km from the factory so I will make it there at some stage.

One plan I had (but discarded) was to pay the dealer to remove the cover and take it to the factory in Italy and throw it down on the desk and say "fix it" (possibly in Italian).