[sjn2004]

I'm still pondering buying a QP here in the UK. I've been watching the prices over the last 3 -4 months closely and nothing has really moved downwards. A while back, the doomsters predicted that the Qp was a depreciation pit, however from what I'm seeing they are anything but. Black cars seem very rare on the secondhand market and the cheapest I can find are 60K.

If I go ahead and buy, I'll be financing the purchase, what % residuals/balloons are being offered in the UK?

thanks

 

[JonnybravoM3]

I'm still pondering buying a QP here in the UK. I've been watching the prices over the last 3 -4 months closely and nothing has really moved downwards. A while back, the doomsters predicted that the Qp was a depreciation pit, however from what I'm seeing they are anything but. Black cars seem very rare on the secondhand market and the cheapest I can find are 60K.

If I go ahead and buy, I'll be financing the purchase, what % residuals/balloons are being offered in the UK?

thanks

Why don't you wait on the new Coupe coming out next year? You get the QP looks with 2 doors and perhaps a more powerful motor.

Unless its a family sedan you're looking for, in that case, you can find a lot of great condition used models but I recommend you look for a 2006+ model as this is the year that they updated their tranny's and solved a lot of their engine probs... I used to have an '05 with the wobbly shifts, and engine failure warnings at least once a month - and the temperature gauge skyrocketing towards the redzone ...

Sold it to my dealer for a buy-back contract as soon as the '06 models were released and paid the difference.. Its pretty good since I managed to get the '06 for £10,000 with the trade-in... My '05 quickly found a new home I believe so I guess thats why they were pretty generous on the buy-back value since they had already found a buyer.

Great thing was, until my new '06 was ready (insurance, registration, etc..), they gave me a 4200 GranSport for a week and a bit to play around with!

 

[Toffe]

I watched the market for a few months in Jan/Feb 2006, which at the time was about £55-60k for a 2004 QP. Now the market for the same is around £50-55k. I calculated that I would be loosing 10-12k per annum, but like you say, its been less than this.

The two reasons I would suggest are that there are many buyers on the sidelines, which will keep the entry price relatively firm. The new entry model QP is likely to be more expensive rather than less expensive (move from Ferrari to Alfa camp allows move up in price range).

I wouldn't think there are going to be big gaps appearing in the next 2 years, but a steady decline. You could wait for the new QP in 2007, which will bring some new stock to the market, but as before the demand is higher than supply for the entry (2004 models), so might only affect 2005/6 prices, not 2004.

I don't think that a Coupe is the same market as an QP despite the engine. QPs is an executive car and "family" sports cars (people that need four doors).

- Toffe

 

[sjn2004]

I think part of the reason is due to the low volumes made and the increasing awareness of Maserati, only this weekend the QP was mentioned in an article in one of the Sunday magazines about JK(who owns one) where they said that it was more exclusive than a Bentley.

Whats ironic is that cars like the new M5 are currently dropping 1k per week at the moment, so much for the urban myth that Maserati's bomb in depreciation.