urbanmaser
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Kamaii one day I ay just take you up on your offer 
A Swiss in the Forum
- Thread starter kamaii
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Gullible
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Dont really know what to say.
what did you pay for the car Kamaii?
I would sugest that the carchex would be responsable for the lack of due diligence in not reporting that specifically the airbag had been detonated.
Therefore the rest of the report would be suspect based on the evaluation of the car by a person unfamiliar with maserati.(ref spare wheel etc)
How ever i am somewhat familiar with a car being rather photogenic but exhibiting problems.
I am not sure how the dealer has come to the conclusion that £30k will fix it as you could buy a 2002 for around £19k...?
very odd.
whats the service history and is it a categorised insurance writeoff?
what did you pay for the car Kamaii?
I would sugest that the carchex would be responsable for the lack of due diligence in not reporting that specifically the airbag had been detonated.
Therefore the rest of the report would be suspect based on the evaluation of the car by a person unfamiliar with maserati.(ref spare wheel etc)
How ever i am somewhat familiar with a car being rather photogenic but exhibiting problems.
I am not sure how the dealer has come to the conclusion that £30k will fix it as you could buy a 2002 for around £19k...?
very odd.
whats the service history and is it a categorised insurance writeoff?
OzzieAl
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Hi Kamaii,
Sorry to hear about your tale and welcome. I am one of the lucky ones as a result of finding this board first and from discussing aspects and PM ing between different members I was able to buy a very good car from a dealer but made sure I got it independently checked first by a neutral third party. Its the first time I have ever bought a car unseen and it worked for me.. I am sure you will find a lot of help on this board, and everyone is sincere in their assistance. If you have any questions or topics to discuss just post it up.. and your english is extremely good don't worry about that...look at the response you have received so far. good luck....
Sorry to hear about your tale and welcome. I am one of the lucky ones as a result of finding this board first and from discussing aspects and PM ing between different members I was able to buy a very good car from a dealer but made sure I got it independently checked first by a neutral third party. Its the first time I have ever bought a car unseen and it worked for me.. I am sure you will find a lot of help on this board, and everyone is sincere in their assistance. If you have any questions or topics to discuss just post it up.. and your english is extremely good don't worry about that...look at the response you have received so far. good luck....
kamaii
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Kamaii one day I ay just take you up on your offer
It would be a pleasure to meet you. It is a beautiful place to sojourn. ;o
kamaii
New Member
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I paid USD 21'000 with 11k miles. Kelly's blue book value was USD 26k. In cars.com, Spyders with 20/30k miles were about USD 23'000. I assumed that with the difference of 2k dollars, the car should be in excellent condition.
Carchex says that it takes no responsability for bad inspections. My lawyer tried to contact them but they refuse to answer. It's the most important company for independent inspection in the USA. (???) In the report, they say that the airbag detonated but that the dealer said it would be replaced.
Reparation prices at Maserati and the price of these cars are quite exorbitant. A Maserati Spyder with 11k miles in Switerland would cost more than £40k. The Maserati dealer told me that they have a new politics for imported cars. The amount of parts to fix the car was about £14k, homologation £10k, and about £6k of work. Maserati in Switzerland is almost like Bentley in Uk.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the car was broken into during the transport. Service book, documents were stolen. But according to the carfax report, it was well serviced. This report mentionned also a "little" accident. When I read this report (it was before I paid for the car), I contacted the dealer and he said that there is a law in California that says that if an airbag detonates, the insurance declares it salvage. Let's say I'm stupid.
But in this case, the thing that irrittates me the most is the swiss transport company. When they checked the car in the USA, the only thing they noticed is some missing light bulbs. It's just incomprehensible.
Parisien
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Sorry again for my excessively bad english.
Kamaii, no need to apologise at all, perfectly understandable.
Yes it seems the forces of darkness and greed were alive and well waiting for yet another individual to come their way, it isn't a Maserati only issue only!
The inspection company is plainly at fault, surely they are worth pursuing, whether they want contact or not........in a country like the USA with 10 times the number of lawyers per head of population compared to the UK, there must be a way to sue the A*S*S*E*S off the S*O*N*S O*F B*I*T*C*H*S......
.....sorry for swearing.....well not really....What about placing a message on the USA Maseratilife forum ...ask for advice, feedback?
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/
The cost of getting this car back to where it should be is prohibitive.........even possibly not worth doing....
....?P
kamaii
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Kamaii, no need to apologise at all, perfectly understandable.
Yes it seems the forces of darkness and greed were alive and well waiting for yet another individual to come their way, it isn't a Maserati only issue only!
The inspection company is plainly at fault, surely they are worth pursuing, whether they want contact or not........in a country like the USA with 10 times the number of lawyers per head of population compared to the UK, there must be a way to sue the A*S*S*E*S off the S*O*N*S O*F B*I*T*C*H*S......
What about placing a message on the USA Maseratilife forum ...ask for advice, feedback?
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/
The cost of getting this car back to where it should be is prohibitive.........even possibly not worth doing....
P
I left a post. Let's see what they answer...
Gullible
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In any country any company that offers a service or product is liable for the degree of professionalism they afford that service or product.
I cant see that in a country of "sue sue sue" they would neglect to cover this service.
However,you say you were advised that the airbag had detonated and still paid for the car...this in itself is acceptance of an impact but i still sugest you look to USA law (as the car is govourned by this) and see if the country does have a polocy for writting off cars for airbag detonation.
I am still unsure of what you have accepted though as you stated that you had a vehicle accident check (HPI or similar)and that this exposed a cat insurance writtoff and then the carchex declaired the airbag had been detonated.But through this the car salesman stated that it was a light impact and in the usa a car is written off when the airbag is detonated?
I am guilty myself of buying a car without seeing it.But i got some of the costs back from the trader to help get the car right(i was very lucky as its a lovely car now)
I didnt send anyone to view it either but then if i had i would have had nothing to complain about as the car would have been viewed by an approved(by me)inspector.
THe idea of this inspection is for a 3rd party to charge you a fee to give the car a thorough checkover mechanically as well as physically.
The real problem is that if the inspection is done by someone who has not got a clue what maserati should behave like,then its wasted money really.They could say the panels are in good condition but may not note that they are missaligned indicating impact and/or replacement.(or so on)
Did they test drive it?
It seems homogolisation is a large part of the cars repair costing..what do you mean by this? is it to make it acceptable for swiss roads?
I cant see that in a country of "sue sue sue" they would neglect to cover this service.
However,you say you were advised that the airbag had detonated and still paid for the car...this in itself is acceptance of an impact but i still sugest you look to USA law (as the car is govourned by this) and see if the country does have a polocy for writting off cars for airbag detonation.
I am still unsure of what you have accepted though as you stated that you had a vehicle accident check (HPI or similar)and that this exposed a cat insurance writtoff and then the carchex declaired the airbag had been detonated.But through this the car salesman stated that it was a light impact and in the usa a car is written off when the airbag is detonated?
I am guilty myself of buying a car without seeing it.But i got some of the costs back from the trader to help get the car right(i was very lucky as its a lovely car now)
I didnt send anyone to view it either but then if i had i would have had nothing to complain about as the car would have been viewed by an approved(by me)inspector.
THe idea of this inspection is for a 3rd party to charge you a fee to give the car a thorough checkover mechanically as well as physically.
The real problem is that if the inspection is done by someone who has not got a clue what maserati should behave like,then its wasted money really.They could say the panels are in good condition but may not note that they are missaligned indicating impact and/or replacement.(or so on)
Did they test drive it?
It seems homogolisation is a large part of the cars repair costing..what do you mean by this? is it to make it acceptable for swiss roads?
kamaii
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Well, in certain states of the USA, it seems to be true that a car can be considered salvaged/totalled only after a detonation of an airbag. The reason I bought the car is because I had a report from carchex that said it was in perfect condition and fully ready to drive. Then I said to myself, if there's a problem, the transport company, which was also supposed to check it again before leaving to Switzerland, would tell me. I considered the risks of buying a car I never saw, that's why I had it checked by two different independent (?) companies that didn't make their job.
Yes, according to the carchex report. Which means, I don't know.
Yes, as I tried to explain, Maserati Switzerland has new politics on imported cars. To make it acceptable for swiss roads, the only thing they have to do is change xenon lights and make a Certificate of Conformity. But they make the customer pay a lot of money in order to dissuade to import american cars.
chippiepilot
Junior Member
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Maybe you can contact these people here
http://www.bahmancars.ch/
they have been on a website called Enrico's http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/ having restored a classic Maserati - they may be able to help/advise you likewise if you contact Enrico he might be able to put you in touch with people who might be able to help.
http://www.bahmancars.ch/
they have been on a website called Enrico's http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/ having restored a classic Maserati - they may be able to help/advise you likewise if you contact Enrico he might be able to put you in touch with people who might be able to help.
what b.a.s.t.a.r.d.s hate people like that, making life upsetting for you and everyone around you, this is the best forum to get you back on your feet i know it, we need loz to come in on this thread as hes used to getting parts for the cars
i hope it goes well and in the end it cost less than it would of to buy from there welcome and dont worry, i also want to say your english is fab no need to be paranoid, you type it correctly
i hope it goes well and in the end it cost less than it would of to buy from there welcome and dont worry, i also want to say your english is fab no need to be paranoid, you type it correctly
conaero
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The car got broken into on transit and they stole the paper work.
Year right, they must think we are stupid.
Can I just make this point, sportsmaserati.com does not recognise http://www.carchex.com/Default.aspx as a worthy service and advised its member never to deal with this company based upon its total lack of professionalism and knowingly selling on salvage cars and masking the true condition of its cars.
Year right, they must think we are stupid.
Can I just make this point, sportsmaserati.com does not recognise http://www.carchex.com/Default.aspx as a worthy service and advised its member never to deal with this company based upon its total lack of professionalism and knowingly selling on salvage cars and masking the true condition of its cars.
Parisien
Moderator
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And these people aint highly though of either in the USA!
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10470
P
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10470
P
kamaii
New Member
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Carfax is not the same company. In their report form my car, it was written that it had an accident but no frame damage. I think they are right.
Carchex send a guy that inspects the car personnaly, makes a test drive and write a report.
However, neither are reliable. Too bad that I learned this the most painful way.
Parisien
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Gullible
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Logically:
You decided to buy from a foreign country ?
You did a form of HPI vehicle check and the car came up as a catagory writeoff?
You accepted a car that you had never seen before by commissioning a 3rd party to view ,test drive and inspect it on your behalf?
You then read the report by carchex (not a reputable maserati company IMHO) and still determined that the car was a good purchase based on what you knew and where advised at the time and the price you were getting it for?( been in an accident,airbag detonated etc)?
You had already got an estimate of approx £10,000 for homogolisation to your countries specific road legislations ? (Xenons are not that expensive by the way)
The couriers insurance will be responsable for this cars damages during transit and i sugest you place a claim for devaluation of the car do to damage and loss of service records and spare keys etc..Remedying this will be very time consuming and expensive and they are responsable for the cars safety.By agreeing to ship the car and accepting your money you both entered into a contract,you would pay them the price they asked and they would deliver the item to you in thecondition it was collected in and maintain its safety during transit.
Was there any real investigation into how the car was broken into?
If the courier was so neglegent as to leave the roof open, then they did not properly protect or maintain the security of the vehicle in there charge.(bit like some idiot in a bank leaving the safe open and going to the toilet....You just dont logically do this sort of thing)
I would gather the images of the service records etc.. are perfectly viewable and do relate to the spyder and not some other car?If so you can apply for duplicates but ask yourself this...Why on earth would someone want to steal a maserati service book? Why not just debadge it or vandalise it? ....again not logical really..... Theres a nice maserati emblem on the front grill and the middle of the steering wheel etc...
I really do sypathise with you... but there (as with me,so i cant talk) has been an element of head and heart not really being on the same continent really..... let alone used in the purchase together.
You bougt with blind passion and seem to have confounded almost every decision by selecting the worst of each profession,Vehicle checks,transport and then you have ignored all the signs that the car had been damaged and repaired and accepted whatever the dealer stated to you.
My case was similar but was differnt as
I bought without seeing the car
I paid over the odds for what i hoped was a perfect example.
I bought from my own country so was protected by our sales laws
I was permitted to view the car prior to acceptance (although when i first rejected it i had problems)
I recieved a car that had not been recorded as in an accident.
It was not in the condition it was described in so had to have a lot of cosmetical tweeks.
I am now... after spending almost £5000 on the car ...left with a very nice MY2004 car that needs nothing for 14,000 miles bar an oil change and filter next year...
But bear this in mind....I was Lucky...it could have all gone very very badly for me and almost did.
I found expensive parts relativly cheaply and a lot of stuff i managed to get working using my skills as an electronic engineer and It hardware engineer.
My MY2004 spyder was in my opinion worth keeping and "doing up" because the MY2004 spyder was by far, a better car than the earlier model 2002.
My car will probably sell for around £22,500 in early 2011 (approx)
It was just not cosmettically in the best condition and needed a full major service as well.
I managed to get the delaership to repay me £3000 from the original price and used this to suppliment the fixes i did to the car and the servicing.
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kamaii
New Member
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I understand your point of view and the primary reason I posted on this forum is because I needed help for the parts. I hope that what I'm telling here will also prevent other buyers not to make the same mistakes I made.
I was perfectly aware of the risk I was taking in buying this car and that's why I contracted two different companies to inspect the car twice. I'm not realy mad at the dealer. Altough he lied to me and bought me a car in execrable condition, he was doing his job. No comment on how he works and waht a conscience he has.
BUT, those two inspections should have been done properly and until the car hadn't left the USA, I could have refuse it.
I'm not looking for compassion and please believe that I spend some nights without sleeping thinking about this story. I have my share of mea culpa.
I'm writing this without any animosity. Don't misunderstand me. It's very difficult to express feeling in a language I don't dominate (no paranoia).
Gullible
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Sorry Kamaii,thats not what i really meant.
What i am saying is that (like me) you were advised of certain issues but that you thought that they may not be as bad as you think or easily repairable.
These are wonderful cars and if the roof worked but then didnt it could just be inactivity or a fuse or something simple or it could be an ebtire motor...
This is the risk we all take because we love these little cars.
they are expensive to run and expensive to fix when they go wrong(not if they go wrong)
This forum is the best and we will offer advice and aid with parts wherever we can but remember that the car is yours now and the sooner you get to drive it ...the better everything will seem...
My advice at this stage is to contact all the maserati spares suppliers like david askew and eurospares and file claim with the transport company for failing to secure a vehicle inthere charge.
Get a valuation based of a full srevice history car of the same age and milage against one with no history (as your car is now) and sue for the difference in value (which will be a lot).
Please dont be afraid to ask anything of anyone here and do keep us informed of the parts still needed as we will collectivly look out for them for you.
Good luck and By the way..the car looks lovely!
What i am saying is that (like me) you were advised of certain issues but that you thought that they may not be as bad as you think or easily repairable.
These are wonderful cars and if the roof worked but then didnt it could just be inactivity or a fuse or something simple or it could be an ebtire motor...
This is the risk we all take because we love these little cars.
they are expensive to run and expensive to fix when they go wrong(not if they go wrong)
This forum is the best and we will offer advice and aid with parts wherever we can but remember that the car is yours now and the sooner you get to drive it ...the better everything will seem...
My advice at this stage is to contact all the maserati spares suppliers like david askew and eurospares and file claim with the transport company for failing to secure a vehicle inthere charge.
Get a valuation based of a full srevice history car of the same age and milage against one with no history (as your car is now) and sue for the difference in value (which will be a lot).
Please dont be afraid to ask anything of anyone here and do keep us informed of the parts still needed as we will collectivly look out for them for you.
Good luck and By the way..the car looks lovely!