Are there Maserati's that are good investments, and which appreciate in value?

highlander

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Of the "newer" masers, good 3200 IMO will significantly rise in value in next 5 years, maybe even beyond GS prices. It is the last maser with a true maser twin turbo beating heart, the last maser with classic individual style, and good ones ( AC and low miler manuals) are rarer than hens teeth now.
Personally, I bought marci ( non AC and non manual ) in full knowledge that as the model goes, she will never achieve full pay back..........do I care, no.
 

alfatwo

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5,517
The valuation on 996 Turbo is very adrift. Prices have more than doubled since 2012!
Entry to a 996 Turbo in 2012 was low £20k. Today it is mid/high £40k for slush box auto cars whilst clean low mileage examples with good history and manual gearbox are mid £50k's.

GT3 prices have softened. GT2 are stratospheric prices (£150k?).

997 gen 1 & 1.5 are rising slowly but still have concerns over the chocolate engines.
997 Gen 2 cars are firm (non Turbo cars are around £55k) and of course 997 Turbo cars are holding up well with a gen 1 turbo (last of the Mezger) around mid £50k with auto slush box but gen 2 (DFI engine) turbo with PDK box around mid £70k.

These are impressive gains for a car that us high volume production versus Maserati.

The GT3 appeals to track guys and is hardly a daily driver. The Turbo is ballistic fast and a daily driver. I have some friends with GT3's and in normal roads, my Turbo leaves them standing. The 996 GT3 is only 380bhp and much less torque than a Turbo. It lacks the Porsche Stability Management system, is 2 wheel drive where the Turbo is 4 wheel drive. The GT3 sits 20mm lower than the Turbo which sits 10mm lower than the NA car, and makes the GT3 constantly grounding on roads and speed humps. But the engine revs to 8k, its only manual gearbox with a Limited Slip Diff and has to be revved to keep it in the power band. The Turbo doesn't need a gearbox. It has torque whichever gear one us in. A friend list his GT3 on track, spun it into the armco barrier.
£12k fix for relatively minor damage (it was still driveable).

As for GT3 RS, don't get me started. Now they are small numbers and anything with the coveted RS badge is sound investment (RS is Renn Sport by the way).

The mention of the 997 Sport Classic is good. Price of one of those rare cars has gone through the roof. And the 50th Anniversary car also.

Owners outside of Mezgers and GT3 models take the view that prices are climbing - but a lit slower rate.
I'm not sure. Too many worries with the engine and large production runs don't correlate with these owners dreams in my view.

Old porkers are great, I used to own an old rusty 1970's 911 RS. years ago..

Seems you haven't had a run in a proper old school 3200GT yet ;)...ok there heavier than most Porsche's but they'll still scare you shitless!

4200's,GS etal and the later stuff are far too heavy..


Dave
 

Ewan

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6,757
Greg - not sure about your "true Maser twin turbo beating heart" stuff. In their 101 year history they only used twin turbos for about 20 years, and only got it vaguely right for the last half of that. I'd say that the heartbeat of a true Maser is more generally accepted to be a normally aspirated V8, as seen through the 50's, 60's, 70's, then 00's and beyond.

Only the Shamal, the 3200 and the QPIV ever had a twin turbo V8. But having owned 6 of these I'm happy to say they were all great fun. And all are rising in value.
 

allandwf

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10,958
Not strictly correct, the V8 only really came in from the 60s, the 3500 was a straight 6, the V8 was used for 25 years, then V6s from Citroen years, until the V8 of the Shamal, which found it's way into the 3200, so it could be argued this is the last of the Maserati designed V8s. As you say, all great fun in different ways :)
 

Corranga

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1,219
The way I see it, there are problems with any of these cars as an investment.
The are limited production, this means that parts will become an issue at some point, and getting bespoke parts made is more costly as there are less other others likely to want the part - so little cost reduction on volume - says the guy with perhaps the rarest of all parts wise, that 4200 manual box :S
That's good and bad, as broken expensive parts are likely to lead to less cars. We've already seen some more or less abandoned 4200 manuals based on broken gear cables..

They aren't cheap to run, and sticking one in a garage is fine as long as you keep it maintained, which obviously costs money.
If you want to invest in something for approx the cost of a Maserati Coupe, that won't cost a fortune to run, but will appreciate, I'd be looking at a Rolex sports watch or something, much less maintenance, and easier to store!

The other option (dare I suggest it) is to not bother maintaining it (within reason obviously). Providing the car still looks good overall, and works, it'll sell. And if the market goes up and up, cars at the bottom end of the market will still appreciate and continue to sell - less money in = more money to make on an average car..
Look at the Ferrari 308.
10 or so years ago, you could pick up a GT4 for £8-9k and a GTB / S for £10k and up.
Now they are £45-50k+
Who's going to tell me that all the no service history, high mileage piles of Italian rust are all perfect now to make them worth that much..?

Then you have the price differentiation between a regular, or facelift 4200, or even a 3200 and a GS is too big at the moment. The GS is seen as the halo car, not the 3200. That will take a lot to change.
The next issue is that each car has it's merits, so there isn't really a straight forward answer to which to buy (perhaps the 4200 being the least distinctive of the trio is why it's the lowest valued one?)

Also, on the whole, these are largely forgotten cars. The Porsche GTx, and older air cooled cars are poster cars. The GTx cars are perceived as being amongst the best at what they do. The Maserati Coupes are neither - perhaps the GS could be a poster car I guess..

So... after all that.

Sod it. Buy a car to enjoy, not for investment, and you won't go wrong. Buy for investment and you'll either never use it, or you'll be full of regret if it either doesn't appreciate, something expensive needs fixed, or if the bubble bursts and your stuck with it.
 
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Investment potential for Rolex Sports watches is greatly exaggerated. Yes a used one costs more as years go by. But when you factor in service costs (yes, they are more desirable if regularly serviced by Rolex) and inflation, the returns are nowhere near as good as they appear. It is really important to look beyond the 'used watch in the jewellers window' prices.

Remember, when you go to sell to a jeweller to release the cash in the watch, you'll likely be offered around 65% of the window price initially before you push back and haggle and you'll shake hands at 75% of window price- he makes a huge margin because who is going to buy a Rolex privately and run the risk of buying a Turkish 'genuine' replica?

Now Audemars Piguet, Patek Phillipe and vintage Rolex, completely different.
Common denominator? Very small total production numbers and own in-house movements.

Scarcity does have an influence on future values and perhaps drives desirability which drives prices upwards due to scarcity of supply.

But if you like a Rolex on your wrist, buy it. Buy any watch if you like it on your wrist. Don't buy to make a quick buck.
I know guys who have 3 Rolex Sports (Submariner, GMT Master and Explorer). They like Rolex.
On the other hand, I'd consider an Audemats Piguet Royal Oak Offshore or a Patek Phillipe in that budget, recognising I'd not wear either every day, but I would the Rolex.
 

safrane

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16,748
Interesting read.

I have a GS, low owners and serviced every year. Its done just over 50k.

Last year it was worth c £26k this c £28k, but tax, insurance, services and maintenance have cost £4k...and miles this year less than 500.

Needs to go up a lot more to make it an investment.
 

bigbob

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8,952
Interesting read.

I have a GS, low owners and serviced every year. Its done just over 50k.

Last year it was worth c £26k this c £28k, but tax, insurance, services and maintenance have cost £4k...and miles this year less than 500.

Needs to go up a lot more to make it an investment.

Very true. Lots of people confuse gross profit with net profit and also neglect the fact they may have a large dealer margin to recover as well. As Corranga says buy other things to make money.

To my mind the whole classic car thing is a giant Ponzi scheme which I would not want to be in for financial reasons. Different if you like the cars and buy them for the long term to cherish rather than hope to job on.
 

Contigo

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There are very few cars that actually will make you money these days. Phil W mentioned Fezza's which had he had a crystal ball (and me) would have kept them knowing they have doubled in value since 3 years ago. Porsche also especially 911's have gone mad. Hot hatches too have recently had a rerating and I'm holding onto my MK1 Golf as it is a banker,costs me peanuts to insure and maintain and is reliable.
 

alfatwo

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5,517
You can't drive a watch, and like many pieces of art there only there to look at......but with a cars you get involved in three D!

Dave
 

D Walker

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Well - I have sold the house and you lot have convinced me my next car needs to be a citroen C1. And I dont consider a Rolex to be a particularly good watch, advertising - so will stick to my Glycine or Stowa for now, all though have my eye on a Bell & Ross!!!!