[Laurie]

I've found a nicely equipped '04 out of state for $54K with under 10K miles. Unfortunately, it's not at a Maserati dealership but a "high line" pre-owned store. Or as the offended salesman said, "We are not a manufacturer specific company!" (This scares me because I have a friend who worked at such a dealership & was amazed to hear the things they did to "beautify" icky cars. They were just band-aids that were meant to last a year or so.)

Questions: Should I be nervous at buying one from a dealership I know nothing about that is 1200 miles away from me? From researching prices recently, it seems to be quite a bit lower than what other comparables are "asking" - "if it's too good to be true...". Does this price sound too good to be true? Or should I feel safe that the carfax looked fine & I'd still have warranty coverage?

Thanks guys!

P.S. Can anyone recommend a careful & reliable convered transport company?

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

Ferrari and Maserati use Horseless carriage. Of all the transport companies I've worked with, they are my personal favorite. I've never met a driver for them that wasn't in some way a car enthusiast, and frankly, thats the type of person you want to be hauling your car.

(I have received and shipped cars through probably 80 different companies over the years, and if it were my car and my money, they would be my choice every single time.)

Depending on where you are, and where the car is coming from, covered transport will run $800-2500, and can take up to a month. Usually turn around time is 2-3 weeks. Time of year, and endpoints make a big difference.

Open transport usually runs $500-1400, but I wouldn't recommend it for a Maser.

Keep in mind, auto transport is nothing like shipping a package UPS. You get no tracking numbers, and getting a progress report is next to impossible. Horseless Carriage is usually pretty good, but it's one of those things that they do at their own pace.


Being a dealer, I clearly have a bias as to where you should buy your Maserati from, so I will let the other board members speak on that subject. If you do purchase from a non-dealer, make sure they have some kind of maintenance records, and run an autocheck report. (similar to carfax, only much more detailed. we will be switching to it soon for our dealership.)


- Mark

 

[F. Yu]

I bought my '03 Coupe from a private dealer (The Sports Car Company in San Diego) and Jim was a great guy to deal with. The car, as he promised, was in immaculate condition. His company, however, has a fairly good reputation in the SoCal area, I don't know about your dealer out-of-state.

I would say, if you've seen high-res photos of the car and there is no obvious signs of wear/abuse, and the CarFax is clean, it probably would be worth the trip out to see and test drive the car given that the price seems pretty good. Is it "too good"? No, I don't think so. I paid $60k for the '03 several months ago, it had only 5k miles on it, and was in perfect condition and had several options I was looking for like Auditorium, seat memory, aftermarket exhaust.

I would also get the car's service records if possible; however, when I tried, the local Maserati dealer refused to release them even though I was the new owner of the car.

 

[MVP]

What dealer? I can probably give you some feedback direct or indirect.

I'd go with authorized personally. My two favorites are Maserati of Minneapolis and Maserati of Central Florida.

I'll make a seperate thread shortly recommending a few shipping companies.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Jalpa_Mike]

Go with Roy Cats for shipping. One of the best here on the west coast. He makes runs up and down the I-5 corridor all the time between Seattle and Gilroy (where his Lamborghini shop is at). Every person I have spoken with, has been extremely happy with his shipping.

http://www.catsexotics.com/

Mike

 

[Laurie]

Thanks for the transport recommendations. I'll try to find contact info on them. And if you put a list together Kevin, that would be awesome.

I will definitely try to get as much info as possible re: service history. And I'll also find the nearest authorized dealer to find out about a pre-purchase inspection.

I'm hoping this one works out because I can't wait to get my 1st Maser. Thanks for helping me out!

 

[squid]

I bought mine at a Cadillac dealer in North Carolina. She was an orphan in a strange land! Worked out fine for me. I used Thomas Sunday transport, they did great work and did it for a few hundred bucks less than anyone else.

Dig the sweat line up the guy's back. Yeah, he sat in my car!

 

[Steeldream]

Horseless Carriage and InterCity are all over the peninsula Monterey Week - that's a pretty good reccomendation as far as I'm concerned.

Got mine thru a Mercedes dealer in Denver - car was sold locally thru FM of Denver and they were very good about sending me the maintenance records (After they blacked out the owner's name and address).

Saw the listing on Monday, closed the deal Wednesday, flew to Denver on Friday and had it home the next Monday (Grand Junction, Colorado is a way cool little town). Everything as promised and never looked back.

 

[willie]

My two favorites are Maserati of Minneapolis and Maserati of Central Florida.

i agree,

Maserati of Minneapolis has a great selection and they are great people.

 

[Ron Avery]

Used Cupe

I bought my 2003 Coupe Gt from the same dealer I bought my Lotus from in 2005. I found the car on the web this July. I called the dealer and talked to the owner. He remenbered me from my Lotus purchase and told that he had owned the car for over 1 & 1/2 years(he has a small car collection and the Maserati was one them). He had purchased the car at auction after it was returned to the original dealer at the end of it's two year lease. He also told me the car's origninal dealr name and that it was still under warranty. He emailed me many photos of the car.

The dealer was near my house and I was able to have them print up the service records(with out the old owner personal info). I also ran a Car fax report. I also got the sales department to print up the orignal order info for me. After I bought the car Maserati reprinted the Window sticker as well.

The Lotus dealer was asking $59,000. The car had 14,000 miles on it. The condition of the car was very good but not perfect. I bought the car for $51,000. The sticker price was around $93,000.

 

[treuter]

One thing to check on these cars is if they have been serviced and "updated". I can think of at least 10 service campaigns on the 2005 Quattroporte and about the same # for pre 2006 coupes. Most of these are very minor things but the computer ECU reflashes and reprogramming are important in my mind.
Basically, as long as you do your homework on the car and make sure it is up to date with all the campaigns and updates, it should be ok.

Let us know if you need any help.