I'd give up now

spkennyuk said:

The Alfa diesels were frowned upon in the same way at first. That is until people realised how good an engine they were in particular the 2.4 20v version. Like most diesel cars i am sure the ghibli diesel would benefit from a remap to unleash its full. potential

Click to expand...

2.4 .... Yes good engine until it goes wrong........and they so......

Andyk said:

2.4 .... Yes good engine until it goes wrong........and they so......

Click to expand...

Or you're behind an old one that's accelerating hard. They suffer from the same problem as other diesels and billow black smoke.

Of course it doesn't have to be this way. The owners could get the injectors cleaned and the DPF replaced. The reality appears to be that people who like the lower cost of motoring skimp on maintenance too so you get DPFs removed and, as long as it passes the MOT, it doesn't matter what happens under load because it's behind them.

If this is seen as a hate on diesels fair enough. It's not just the Ghibli diesel though, it's the Alfa too, and pretty much all of the others. Bags of torque and driveable yes, but nasty polluting lumps all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Andy, there are a number of Ghibli haters on here. And unfortunately they are pretty noisy. That's why there are so few Ghibli owners on here relatively. You have to be pretty thick skinned to ignore it. Or also be here because you own some of the older cars that predominate on this forum. I would imagine there have been plenty of Ghibli owners that have lurked on here, and seen some of the comments, and decided it's not the place for them. It's the same with the other Maserati forum. That's why there is a separate Ghibli forum. And it rather funny this thread really because no Maserati has ever been as good as its competition if you look at car magazine reviewers reviews historically.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its not just the Ghibli that the haters criticize there are a few that think the pre facelift 4200 is not a good car but I have driven them all and worked on them too and they all have their plus and minus points depends how deep your pockets are.
Some much deeper than others for sure.
Time for another glass of red now

Agree, throughout Maseratis history they have been nearly there as far as reviews are concerned..Closest was the GS which had great reviews EVO said is was a true 911 rival.......but none of this matters to someone who must have a Maserati. We have always said you get it or you don't. With the diesel Ghibli it's different as aimed at a totally different market. There is a reason why people like MAF have a Ghibli for day to day stuff and a GS for fun. It's Maserati going in a different direction and this is to survive. I certainly am not a Ghibli hater...it's a great looking car against the opposition.

After initial doubts when the Ghibli was launched I am now an ardent admirer.
So much better in the flesh than on paper. better looking than the the Germans (imho) and I would take one in a heartbeat.
Don't care about lazy journalistic reviews and yes it may be inferior to some Germans but it has a style and a class of its own that the masses just do not get. So let them go their way and I will go mine. That is as it should be.
Never really liked diesels in any car and they are polluting, just look at all the major capital cities around the world that are enveloped in a diesel smog

Most of the Ghibli haters have either never even been in or driven one or haven't spent enough time with one. I've had mine a year and I think it's a brilliant car, perfect for what I want it to do. It's different to most things on the road, quick, comfortable, stylish and feels special. I've had a Ghibli S for a week and IMO the diesel is the better car. The S is much too laggy for me, mine takes off like a Tesla in comparison. The biggest point I'd make about these cars is that spec is everything. Mine has loads of extras including the 20" wheels and anything less just wouldn't stack up for me.

MrMickS said:

Bags of torque and driveable yes, but nasty polluting lumps all.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Paris has just declared diesels will be banned from 2020.

Doubtless others will follow suit. Diesel is nasty, it's taken a while to wake up to this but now it has become common knowledge, diesels are toast.

TridentTested said:

Agreed. Paris has just declared diesels will be banned from 2020.

Doubtless others will follow suit. Diesel is nasty, it's taken a while to wake up to this but now it has become common knowledge, diesels are toast.

Click to expand...

Clearly all opinions are valid, however this one is completely lacking in fact. The Euro VI compliant diesel engines now produce similar if not quite as low levels of NOX as petrol and are continually being improved. And anyone who thinks that petrol engines won't next be targeted in an attempt to get everyone to go electric is naïve. In fact those same people who want to ban diesel are probably the same green supporters who would like to ban the car full stop.
Moving back to the topic, and at the risk of repeating myself, below is a comment I started in the Ghibli section of the forum. And given that I probably represent the target buyer for such a vehicle, the fact that after a year I remain very pleased with my choice shows that Maserati are on the right track.


Firstly apologies for not providing a link to the article, but if you go to the Autocar website you will find the article.
As it says it's a first drive of the recently updated car, and in common with other such articles it's far from complimentary!
For those on here who think the Diesel model is the devils work, they will feel vindicated but Autocar's comments.
Whilst the rest of the article mostly finds fault with the rest of the car when compared to a 5 Series and the new E class. To be honest if you look at the Ghibli in simple terms against those they are probably right. However albeit IMO that rather misses the point. Dynamically and technologicaly Maserati even with the backing of its parent company will always struggle. BMW and Mercedes are at the absolute cutting edge with Audi and now Jaguar not far behind. That's why these brands mid size executive saloons, and the S class are the choice for the executive chauffeur and mini cab business because they are so ruthlessly efficient at what they do. But at the same time they are about as individual and stylish as that other taxi, the London black cab. Like that, no one will give its looks more than a second thought, or feel in anyway anything special or stylish about the way it looks.
The German cars, are brilliantly engineered tools to get from A to B.
So whilst in that sense the Maserati is not quite as good, but I don't think a million miles of the mark, the Ghibli's looks and style are a million times better.
For those that want an appliance buy German, and for those who want style buy Italian.

My problem with Diesel engines revolves around the DPF and the fact that the MOT doesn't test under load.

It's cheaper to remove the DPF than replace it leaving you with a car that pumps a lot of rubbish into the air. Combined with the fact that the particulates only seem to appear in mass under load which isn't tested means that we have a lot of cars and vans on the road that are polluting at far higher levels than they should be.

All engines will be targeted but diesel are more polluting, especially older ones.

I agree with the German boxes being A-B cars and Maserati have created something different in the Ghibli. I can't stop driving mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MAF260 said:

Most of the Ghibli haters have either never even been in or driven one or haven't spent enough time with one. I've had mine a year and I think it's a brilliant car, perfect for what I want it to do. It's different to most things on the road, quick, comfortable, stylish and feels special. I've had a Ghibli S for a week and IMO the diesel is the better car. The S is much too laggy for me, mine takes off like a Tesla in comparison. The biggest point I'd make about these cars is that spec is everything. Mine has loads of extras including the 20" wheels and anything less just wouldn't stack up for me.

Click to expand...

Agree on spec Mark....the wheels make a massive difference to how the car looks and some are on some very weak looking wheels. Yours looks fabulous.

MAF260 said:

Most of the Ghibli haters have either never even been in or driven one or haven't spent enough time with one. I've had mine a year and I think it's a brilliant car, perfect for what I want it to do. It's different to most things on the road, quick, comfortable, stylish and feels special. I've had a Ghibli S for a week and IMO the diesel is the better car. The S is much too laggy for me, mine takes off like a Tesla in comparison. The biggest point I'd make about these cars is that spec is everything. Mine has loads of extras including the 20" wheels and anything less just wouldn't stack up for me.

Click to expand...

I'd agree with most of this. Getting the S to move does mean keeping the turbos spooled up, so 2500 rpm and above which is a completely different drive than the diesel. The extras are everything. The Skyhook changes the feel as well. It should do for the cost

What a negatively slanted review. Its easy for a journalist to do so. Contrast with this review
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-ne...hibli-diesel-vs-bmw-530d-m-sport-2014-review/

Anyway, I also love my Ghibli. It is a diesel. I would prefer a petrol. I do a lot of miles a year and its my daily driver and only car. I came to it from an Alfa 156 GTA with the 3.2v6 petrol which I loved (and covered 160k miles in).
The fact is if Maserati hadn't made a Ghibli diesel I wouldn't be driving a Maserati day to day. And I for one am glad I can drive one day to day. Better for me than having one that I barely use.
Its just gone past 40k miles with only 1 blip.

Ghibli are great, but they are a different animal to the cars we love and hence the tentative acceptance of them.

If we look at any other make, bar Ferrari, they all have diesels, Maseratis shortcoming is they waited too long to introduce them, Alfa offered this engine nearly 15 years ago.

Maseratis other short falling was they tried to replace one model (QPV) with two models (Ghibli and QPVI) which basically killed off the QP.

If Maserati use their new found sales and finance to produce 4200 and GT replacements then I don't see the issue.

Then there is the debacle of the Alfieri but we will see this styling finally translated in to the 2+2, Cab and GT shortly.

Conaero said:

If Maserati use their new found sales and finance to produce 4200 and GT replacements then I don't see the issue.

Click to expand...

What sales and finance?

Quote from FCA statement in July:
Maserati's EBIT fell 16 percent to 36 million euros, primarily due to lower volumes, along with higher industrial and commercial launch costs for the new Levante SUV and restyled Quattroporte

€36m? There's no new model coming out of that anytime soon.

...and that's a fall on 2015, for both revenue and EBIT. The Levante is going to have to sell incredibly well to even keep its head above water.

There's the small matter of €5.5bn in debt to service.

*Dreams shattered

Conaero said:

*Dreams shattered

Click to expand...

Sorry OB

On the plus side, the Chinese have started buying again, with a 20% increase on 2015. Unfortunately the Europeans and Mercuns have stopped, making for a 17% reduction in shipments year on year.

If the Chinese market would accept a sports car, Maserati would be quids in and we'd have our new models.

drewf said:

If the Chinese market would accept a sports car, Maserati would be quids in and we'd have our new models.

Click to expand...

State of the roads over there, a supercar will struggle to last; miles of splendid blacktop interspersed with whole sections of un-metalled and dug up bits, 100mm steps in the surface are commonplace and would burst tyres and shatter rims. Seems anyone can dig a road up for any reason and they do! City and rural areas are no different; head south west from Shanghai about 100 miles and there is a two mile section of six lane motorway that has no tarmac whatsoever!

A rather decent review from Car magazine that also seems to get why people might choose the Ghibli

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/maserati/maserati-ghibli-diesel-2016-review/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk