Newbie looking for a Maserati

[massa]

Hi All,

I thought I would introduce myself to the forum given I have been lurking about for a couple of weeks.

Having come from a 'safe' background of German performance cars, I am looking to venture into something a bit more exotic and a Maserati 4200 certainly fits that bill.

I have been speaking to a forum member Rockits about his car, and whilst it has a lot of variables to consider it is something I am keeping updated on regularly as he works through the various issues before putting it up for sale. I have also looked at a CambiCorsa and really did enjoy the F1 style paddle shifting too so am keeping my options open at the moment as I have a fairly fixed budget range and just have to try get the best I can for the money.

I would welcome any opinion on Rockits car from anyone who has actually seen or driven it as I don't really have a benchmark to compare it against (p.s. Rockits mentioned he is fine with me asking this )

I also have a few queries as having seen a couple within my budget I have seen a couple of themes emerging:-

1) The cars I have seen all have some sort of suspension issues to consider. Is there a list somewhere of suspension components that can be replaced on their own and where you have to replace the whole arm/end?

2) In my price range the cars do seem to have some service history missing (does this impact on the cars value and re-sale a lot as these cars are now 10+ years old in most cases).

3) If there are any problems in future with the 4200 once I buy one can a competent mechanic work on it or would you say they must be worked on by specialists? I have called round a few specialists and they are quite pricey.

Sorry for the pure beginner questions, I am just slowly learning about these cars through this forum.

Cheers

 

[spkennyuk]

Speak to beau about rockits car. They will both be honest with you about it and its got the benefit of the recent inspection report. The majority of the items are easy to fix and rockits is working through them.

The other forum car that springs to mind that would fall into your budget is wack61's (Darren) car. That benefits from a new coat of paint and is a known forum car. Previously owned by catman v2 (Chris) this car is a classico version of the 4200 and as far as i know there are no suspension issues. Its higher mileage i think but is a good looking solid car. It has a slight issue with the key ignition switch but that is being changed for a new part. Other than that the only thing that may need doing is the near future and probably only for cosmetic reasons would be the brake discs as they look a little tired.

There is a 3rd forum car with good service history and condition i cant recall who that ones belongs too. The mileage is 99k though if that prompts someones memory. The only reason they are selling is because they wanted a change when it got to the 100k miles area.

3 different 4200s but all good cars or will be good cars with some tlc applied. To be honest if i had the spare cash i probably would have bought the car that rockits has when i first saw it for sale before beau bought it. Wacks car i would buy if i had the cash and was looking for a classico but i prefer the facelift cars.

Appologies rockits if it appears im trying to scupper any sale thats not my intention. Im just trying to give some viable options within the budget.

 

[CatmanV2]

Brake discs on Darren's are a couple of years old if I recall. Should be good for plenty more. Suspension had all new bushes at the front, and one arm was professionally welded. Darren was thinking about replacing that, but not sure if he did.

Other than that, in honesty, I'd buy it back if I had cash and space....

C

 

[safrane]

4200 is a great car...I've had two and now kn a GS.

If you budget is tight please do not think the 4200 is in anyway not as good as a GS.

Dont worry if the odd service ia missing as the cars are now 10 years old...just try and get one with frequent services nkt one that has missed them year after year as this often means other items have been scrimped on.

My first one went at 72k and to be honest I was a fool to sell for a newer one as the extra 10 would have kept it in fine fettle for another 10 years.

Good luck pal.

 

[rockits]

Don't worry about me guys I just want you to all be honest. I'm not looking for any bias or favours just brutal honesty however bad/good it is.

I have been totally transparent/honest from the start & would prefer to keep it that way. We are all here as one big happy family to look after each other & keep these beauties on the road.

 

[Contigo]

My opinion is this and I have seen the car in the flesh so to speak.

If you want a car which can be improved over time and gives you all the aesthetics of a GS at a fraction of the price then buy Dean's car. The major advantage of it is that it has had an inspection at McGraths and there is a list to work to now. Most people buy blind and then get a **** of a shock when they get an inspection done after buying! At least you are going into ownership with eyes wide open and Dean has been as transparent as can be.

You could easily buy a car for say 30% more and end up spending on it anyway so why not get one which has had the snagging list done and is good for another 10k miles of use without a big spend?

 

[philw696]

Another one to consider is my old 4200 that Simon has down in Kent and still looks good asking 8,200 so bargain for a non cat car.

 

[Wack61]

Brake discs on Darren's are a couple of years old if I recall. Should be good for plenty more. Suspension had all new bushes at the front, and one arm was professionally welded. Darren was thinking about replacing that, but not sure if he did.

Other than that, in honesty, I'd buy it back if I had cash and space....

C

I didn't bother in the end, despite my initial concerns I had it looked at , he said it looked stronger that the original metal, given the price of them I'm surprised more don't get repaired

I've ordered the switch from eurospares so it should be fixed by Christmas

 

[spkennyuk]

Another one to consider is my old 4200 that Simon has down in Kent and still looks good asking 8,200 so bargain for a non cat car.

Thats the 3rd one i was thinking about Phil. I couldnt remember who had it. It is netto blue as well iirc.

 

[massa]

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I have seen one other which is a facelift for the same budget so have that to consider also. I will have a closer look at the other two cars mentioned. I appreciate I am at the bottom end of the price bracket for 4200s but am so inexperienced with these cars I don't want to end up with something with issues that will ruin my first experience of the brand.

 

[beau]

Welcome

Well having previously owned the GS styled 4200, then I have done a fair bit of driving in it, long distance and local, honestly it drives spot on, it is a good car, it has only had a few owners too

Depends what you want really, there will be cheaper 4200's out there but nothing looking like this, looks
Like a gransport / facelift, and the body kit etc in my opinion really makes it look the part, I would not have bought it if it wasn't fitted with the kit, I personally am not that keen on how the standard 4200 looks

 

[massa]

Thats the exact thing beau that is attracting me to the car. If i followed the standard rules of buying a car such as condition, service history, paperwork, faults etc i think i would have fairly quickly moved on from this car but the GS kit makes the car and has me interested. I believe you serviced it also when you had the car, was this the equivilent to an annual service or a more complete service?

 

[beau]

Thats the exact thing beau that is attracting me to the car. If i followed the standard rules of buying a car such as condition, service history, paperwork, faults etc i think i would have fairly quickly moved on from this car but the GS kit makes the car and has me interested. I believe you serviced it also when you had the car, was this the equivilent to an annual service or a more complete service?

Well I wouldn't worry about the list of faults too much, as that was a very detailed report, I would expect you would get a similar report on any 4200 unless it's for sale by a specialist, it certainly isn't a bad car at all, engine sounds very good and since I fixed the ball joint on the back i couldn't fault how it drove, and regardless what is actually necessary will be fixed

Yes it was just annual service, genuine oil filter and genuine Ferrari approved shell engine oil, I didn't feel it needed any more really

 

[massa]

Great thanks for the response beau. As there wasnt much recorded history for a good while before you did the service I was just wondering whether it may have been wanting for additional fluids or spark plugs etc. I agree on the list of faults being worked on so thats a good thing and I expect others will have similar issues especially at my budget. As Dean said there are a couple of big items called out and depending on whether these need attention and what the end bill tallies upto will probably be the decided factors. You are certainly right that there aren't any GS styled 4200s for sale and if I do go for another I think I will have to settle for a standard look.

Having seen a couple now i have certainly made my mind up though that a Maserati is the next car for me !

 

[Wack61]

Whatever you buy go into maserati ownership with your eyes open , they're 80k cars with a Ferrari derived engine , any major breakdown is going to be expensive £1500-2500 for a clutch £1000 a corner for wishbones and that's just parts ,20mpg with a light foot , 10 with a heavy foot ,£350 for a wheel hub

Some parts are available in an alfa box for 1/3 the price but many are still maserati only

Luckily quite a few are in breakers now so used parts are available

And remember spending more money buys you a newer car but doesn't guarantee anything in reliability terms

 

[CatmanV2]

WHS^^^

Massa I was in the same boat when I bought Darren's car. Never looked back. Still am in the same boat, really

C

 

[Andyk]

Welcome Massa...as you can see you will get some great advice from here to help you get your perfect car. Get luck with the search.