Newbie (and long time lurker) - QP Sport GT S

Wagons-Lits

Member
Messages
250
Hi guys,

My name is Jon and I'm the owner of a 2011 QP Sport GT S, my first Maserati; I believe my car previously belonged to another forum member (Charlysparrow). I've been a member of this site for a number of years now but never got around to posting, though plenty of reading and I figured it was about time (and I finally have some) to introduce myself and give you an update on the car.

I purchased the car in Oct. 2016 and have put 6.1k or thereabouts miles on it (now at 29,9xx); I purchased it from JCT Leeds with 23,800 or so after it had been sitting there c.18 months on a PX (the 612 that Charlysparrow bought?). Combined with the (insert joke) red interior, I got (what felt like at the time, haha) an amazing deal. I like to find an arbitrage when buying cars and whilst I know it's not to everyone's liking I absolutely love it. It's our family car and I can't think of anything else at the £30-40k price point I'd rather have or that could top it; from here - and it's certainly some years down the line - I think an FF/GTC Lusso is the only possible, and substantial, upgrade.

The car is doing well and I think is mechanically tip-top; living in London I'm not that bothered by various dings/scratches/kerbed alloys that might kill other people. Same with cleaning, I typically don't bother although come spring I'm going to give it good once over. This is not to say I don't stay on top of my cars: since I've had it, I think c. £8k+ has been spent (thankfully the bulk under warranty):
- 2 yr service at Joe Macari
- broken EPB (damaging the wheel hubs both sides plus broken shoes); this was my big drama, the EPB somehow stayed on while the car was driving costing £4.5k to rectify. Fortunately after a month of fighting with the dealer Warranty co (who initially denied the claim) they agreed to pay in full and I now have an (almost) entirely new rear suspension. Joe Macari and JCT sales/service were super helpful but it was an annoying battle.
- new dash cluster (JCT did before delivery)
- bushes refreshed
- new Conti Sport Contact 6s all around
- new AGM battery
- various odds and ends

To be honest the best part of buying a Maser has been the people: I've got to give special thanks to Richard Grace (who I met back in 2016 and almost bought a QP S from - before I realised I was trying to "build" a Sport GT S though wheels/grille upgrades etc.) who was very kind and patient. I would absolutely buy a car from him. Aldous Voice (and Harvey) - they have been looking after the car and helping me address/rectify/stay on top of everything; Aldous is always just a phone call away (even over the holidays - sorry Aldous) and I feel bad for anyone who can't take their car to AV or get to know them. The Joe Macari people (Adam et al) have also been great and a pleasure to deal with; I like to have my service book stamped by a main dealer hence working with both Macaris and Aldous.

I've been to Brittany and around the UK including the Brecon Beacons in Nov; with a preschooler it's hard to convince my wife to take long road trips but hopefully in the next year or two I can do some proper trips.

About me? I'm an American and have lived here for over 10 years, currently in Dulwich (London) with a 3 year old and another on the way later this year.

You have one of the best forums and it really is an invaluable resource for anyone remotely interested in the marque. And now having gotten my first post in, I'm off to the Ace Cafe! Look forward to meeting some of you in person
 

Wagons-Lits

Member
Messages
250
Morning all,

Just adding another post to bump up my original thread (which was pending validation) on my experiences so far with the QP V Sport GT S. Enjoy the rest of your weekends
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
Welcome among Jon, thanks for the mention and glad you’re enjoying the car.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
It was great to meet you at Ace Jon - a lovely car you have there.

It seems you have had a bit of a baptism of fire but now you can get on with enjoying your car!
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,746
Sounds like you are smitten.

I have seen a couple of cars with the bright red leather...and to be honest they look much better when you sit in them as they do on the photos...After all it was the launch colour for the GT and Maserati know far more than me about style.

Enjoy the car and hopefully the future trips...maybe a trip to a nice Châteaux in the Champagne region would encourage the wife?
 

rs48635

Member
Messages
3,181
Hi Jon

Thanks for jumping onboard and joining the active community. This bunch of "apparent lunatics" help keep me sane while the rest go life lurches from calamity to celebration. It is a really nice validation of the work done by the team at Sports Maserati.
Great to meet you at the Ace too, always leave a meet feeling uplifted and energised. Does my car also run a bit better too?

*btw you have the best colour combination, red leather with black paint. wrong gearbox though, but you can't have it all. In real life Lias Faulkner has a big wart on her chin. Still loverly though.
 

Wagons-Lits

Member
Messages
250
Thanks everyone for the kind words;

Zep and Rob it was great to meet you guys too. Rob, I have often wondered <assuming it was possible> what the QP would hv been like if they'd kept going w the Robotised Manual on the facelift cars - maybe we'd have ended up with the correct transmission & MC Race Shift software in the Sport GT S? One can only dream ! I drive my car (in London) in sport mode and manual 95% of the time; I find it makes navigating the malicious web of speed humps easier and smoother, as for some reason the auto shifts favour a faster lope than the suspension can keep up w/ around 20mph zones (e.g I'm approaching the humps in what feels like the wrong gear). Maybe the FD ecu is worth checking out.

My thoughts on the Rosso Corallo interior went from how would I ever sell this on to actually I don't care and rather like it to I think it really suits the switchable nature of these cars. My only thought is the steering wheel needs swapping (to black airbag and surrounding leather) which I'm in the slow process of investigating. Perhaps I'm also biased bc I came from back to back "traditional" dark blue / cream (with wood) schemes <E38 7 series and a Turbo R> and fancied a change. It also puzzles me that Maserati didn't make the effort to get the matching shade of Alcantara made; Alcantara do a red (4996, the Lamborghini red) which I have a sample of and to the naked eye under natural light it looks pretty dang close to the Rosso Corallo. Significantly better than the contrasting black I've seen some GT's spec'd with.

Safrane I think you're on to something - we did a Champagne region trip before we had our son in the Turbo R and it was epic. Can't wait to do it again. Btw Peter (urbanmaser?) took me for a spin in his Gransport LE - what an amazing car you have. It has jumped up a fair few notches in my fantasy garage