[Viperchad]

Hello all. I am a newbie here. So I have been told to stay away from anything older than a '07. Is that true? What are the major service issues? What if you stay away from the duo trans? Does it matter? Although I am a sports car enthusiast, I'm not sure I see the benefit of the duo for what I am looking to do with the car. I just want a weekend cruiser and something to head out to dinner in. If I want to go fast, I have something else for that. I have heard that the clutches are prone to go bad often....what do you think guys? Anybody looking for a sweet A8?

Thanks,


Chad

 

[paradon]

There are a number of threads on this subject along with a list of things to look for when buying a used car.

The clutches usually don't "go bad", they wear out. Clutch life on any of the duo-select QPs is 15-20k miles on average. You will avoid having to replace the clutch on an automatic transmission but you will still need to deal with scheduled maintenance, tires and brakes which are all expensive as well.

The cars are really fun to drive but expensive to maintain.

 

[Maserati Blue]

In general, don't buy anything older than a 4200 Coupe/Spider (2004?), everything older was made back when Maserati wasn't joined with Ferrari and they didn't have the new manufacturing plant, which means it was "hand made" and the quality is as bad as it gets (the local service once told me that they made their wages from those cars ) and its true.

You shouldn't have a problem with the QP, as long as you understand that running costs are very high (higher than other cars, like an AUDI for example).

 

[JACIRO]

Qp What Year To Buy

Maserati Blue Probably Never Owned An Audi To Verify The Maintenace Costs I Have 2 Audis Now And 3 Masers!



06 Qp Sport
06 Gs Spyder
06 Gs Coupe Incoming Today

 

[Maserati Blue]

Actually, i own an A3 (~2004) for running around in the city and running costs are negligible.

Sure, its just the 1.8T, not the S3 or some beast like the RS4, but apart from the regular service, it hasn't needed anything else, even the oil and the tires are cheaper (Pilot Exalto). You still can't compare the two cars price-wise, but i'd be interested to know if an RS4 or an A8 have different running costs from my A3.

 

[FormulaDynamics]

Honestly we haven't seen many problems with any of the modern Maserati's even back to 2002 Coupes. The cars do go through clutches but really there's no difference with the newer years either. In fact some customers prefer the 2002 Coupes over the later years as the software was actually more aggressive for the CC Trans in those years.

Regarding the QP directly, we have customers that have nearly 100K miles on the 2005 QP.

I believe what's more important is picking a car that was well taken care of and is currently in good mechanical shape. Of course it's best to get a car in warranty at least when you purchase it and that's very easy to find as the warranty period is 4 years from date of purchase.

Best Regards,
-- Jeff

 

[fade2grey]

RS4's & A8's do have higher servicing costs than an A3.. I've had an S4 & an RS4 & they are similar numbers to the Maz over a year when you look at all in costs.. 2-3k a year inc tyres etc.

 

[Viperchad]

RS4's & A8's do have higher servicing costs than an A3.. I've had an S4 & an RS4 & they are similar numbers to the Maz over a year when you look at all in costs.. 2-3k a year inc tyres etc.

Yah, agreed. It doesn't get much worse than the A8. Sounds like the only diff is the clutch on the duo. I might be better off going with the auto. Thanks for the info.

 

[locates]

I have an 05 QP.

Excellent car. I've had it for a little under 2 years now.
I think I have spent a total of 10k on it so far. Not bad.
5k for a new clutch, 1.5k for breaks, 1.5k for 18k service + misc stuff.
I expected to spend that much when I bought the car. I drove and tested about 20 different QPs before I bought mine. The key is to buy one knowing that the previous owner has taken good care of the car. Because trust me, there are some QPs out there that drive horribly.

Regards

 

[M3s2k]

06 QP sport GT here. I've had it for a year and 3 months now. Spent a grand total of $1700 (18.5k service) in maintenance and put about 7k miles on it. Car is at close to 22k miles and there is 52% remaining on original clutch!