4200 problems!

[ps1]

Hi everyone,

Just to conclude on the recent issues i've been having.

Took car to Matthew at Giallo this morning. Absolutely brilliant guy and incredible set up he has. Sharon his wife was so welcoming and knowledgeable, and Matthew was super professional and super efficient and had figured the problem out in no time at all.

The cats were completely shot on both sides. Air pumps etc are working fine. Matthew tells me I was lucky to get to him without the cats getting sucked into the engine and causing a whole host of problems. However - he also saw that the exhaust system from the cats onwards had been changed to one sports exhaust system and separate back boxes (he seemed to think it might be an RPI set up?), and with this set up he thought any chips from the cat would get blown out the back rather than sucked into the engine.

Anyway - he told me not to move the car until new cats were on her - and of course he suggested Larini sports cats! Downside is they won't be ready til Jan so I won't be able to show off the beautiful car to all my relatives visiting for Christmas and New Year...!! But she's safe with Matthew until everything is fitted.

Leaves me absolutely cold and pretty ****** off when I think of the 800 quid i left only a few weeks ago with Lancaster to do the service and SPECIFICALLY check out the problem of the engine light - and he let me drive out of his garage with the cats in the state they were. I actually think it is outrageous, and will be calling Simon Kydd on monday to ask for an explanation.

As far as warranty goes, Nareman confirmed that unfortunately the cats are never covered, and Matthew confirmed that he hasn't heard of a warranty that does. Nareman has however shown again why he has such an incredible reputation, and is so highly thought of on this forum (one of the main reasons I bought from him in the first place) and has confirmed he will cover the expense and labour of replacing the cats. Really decent and top notch professional, who takes car dealing to a completely different personal level. It really isn't just the sale to him, and I can't thank him enough.

This leaves the last couple of niggles I mentioned at the beginning of the post:

The info centre issue - when it's cold first thing in the morning it keeps rebooting cyclically until the car warms up a bit, and then it works fine. No loose connections - and Matthew had never heard of anything like it before. I might ask him to take a closer look as he'll have the car on these cold days!

The manifold rattling I think i will have to get used to. I might ask Matthew if there's anything he can do while he has the cats dismantled.

Thanks so much everyone for all your help, advice and support. It's been an awesome introduction to the forum, and I really love the brilliant world of maserati passion that you have created.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and New Year planned!

Happy festivities, and a 2015 full of great things!

P

 

[CraigWaterman11]

I am glad you got it worked out brother! Like I was saying before, no offense to any of those guys you worked with but sorry if they have ever worked on cars there's no way they didn't know they weren't gone. I'm glad he's covering it but you don't drive a car off the lot and then within a few weeks, "oh so sorry the cats are gone", that won't work for me. But let's celebrate to you getting it worked out that's more important, and you'll have a set of nice ones on it!

 

[voicey]

I'm glad you've managed to find the issue of the CEL and that the vendor is covering your expenses. Your experience at the main dealer sadly mirrors stories up and down the country. I always think it is better to forge a good relationship with an independent who cares about the cars.

Did your tech give you any insight as to why both cats had been damaged at the same time? I would want to make sure there are no other faults that causes the cats to fail.

BTW: The sucking of the cat into the engine is a real danger to F430's. The valve overlap is quite aggressive and if the pre-cat has broken up little particles do get sucked into the cylinders.

 

[maverick]

Well done to nareman and all concerned , the plus side is those Larini are going to sound epic . I hope you got understanding neighbours .

 

[conaero]

PS you have PM

 

[SimonCC]

Paolo - good news to hear Mathew has identified the problem and will do the work for you.

BTW - Mathew and Sharon aren't married or even a couple. Giallo is Mathew's business and Sharon runs the office side of things. You're right though that they are great to deal with, very knowledgable and friendly - we are fortunate to have them local to us!

Look forward to catching up in the new year!

 

[ps1]

Oh Lord....what a gaff!!! So sorry Matthew, and Sharon....! But so great to meet you today. Thanks so much for being so awesome when I really needed to be confident in what was being said. Thank you!

P

 

[zagatoes30]

The good independents are what Maserati should try to emulate. Solid advice with commitment to find the problem but unfortunately this is often the case in the motor trade, I can't think of a single Alfa dealer that can match the independent specialists.

 

[ps1]

Well.... Matthew at Giallo's my guy from now on..... Will be getting to know the train ride back into town pretty well...but small price to pay!!

 

[allandwf]

^ That's why independants thrive.

 

[CatmanV2]

Great news. My money ref the info centre would be a dry joint on a board flexing under thermal expansion.

C

 

[ps1]

Spoke to Simon Kydd at Lancaster Maserati regarding the gross negligence in letting my car out of his workshop with shot cats after a full service and specific issue with the warning light. He was very apologetic and said he would look into why his diagnostics didn't bring to light any of the cat failings.... He hoped he'd see me next year for another service, but I reassured him that I had lost all confidence in his workforce, and that I was going to invest in Giallo from now on. Quite frankly I would expect him to reimburse the 800 quid service and offer next year's for free after risking my engine's life!! Goes to show however good the interpersonal skills are (and Simon had excellent interpersonal skills I have to say), you just never know what's actually being done under the bonnet!!

But hey ho...Christmas cheer and all that!!

P

 

[safrane]

Main dealers are mostly intrested in selling new cars and doing the first couple of years fluid changes only...they are not there to do the older more complex issues found after 4 years plus.