Sad day but sleeping better

[Swissqp]

Gents,

After a wonderful 14 months of owning a 2006 QP, I have had to say enough is enough. Many thanks to all who have posted advice - much appreciated. I will keep watching from a distance.

Whilst I have ensured the car is in perfect condition, done the PPI and budgeted for a significant maintenance hit, I just couldn't go on with the daily worry of what expense would come next. In fact the car never let me down, the problem is here in Switzerland there are very few indy's so it stealership all the way. This was poisoning my love affair with the car.

I did 20k miles in bella (taking her to 86k miles) and have many, many fabulous memories. However, with young kids, spending GBP2-3k every time there is an issue means not going on holiday or other things.....so its a no brainer. My love affair with the brand is definitely not over and I hope that I can get a warrantied Ghibli in 18-24 months time. Just for the record here is a list of repair work (excluding services and winter/summer tyres) which amounts to over GBP 10k in 14months:

- Replaced variators
- Replaced engine mounts
- Replaced alternator
- Replaced and lube drop links and roll bar
- 2 coolant leaks - replaced radiator and heater valves
- Window sensor

Since I only do a round trip to work of about 20miles (and on decent days I ride to work on my road bike), I decided to go with a low mileage Alfa MiTo 1.4TB Quattro foglio/Cloverleaf (170bhp)....ok not a QP, but still Italian.

So that makes the car tally: Mito, Maserati QP, 159 3.2Q4, 159 2.4JTDm, GT 1.9JTDm, Alfa 166 2.0 Facelift, 156 2.4 20V, 156 2.0TS, Volvo S40, VW Passat 1.8T, Audi A4 1.6, Mondeo 1.6LX, Astra 1.4 LS, Metro 1.3

All the best,

Tim (Swissqp aka 166lover on alfaowner)

 

[dem maser]

We feel lucky to have many places to take them....all the best

 

[hodroyd]

Tim,
Can understand that decision, you reach a point where you say what next, or nothing more left to do now and it's a point to decide which way shall I go..!! Best of luck with the Alfa, they are a good car and keep looking out for another Maser, you never know..??
Cheers
R

 

[mowlas]

Tim, good luck with the sale and the next car. Really sorry you had such bad luck with your QP. I know from your posts on this and another Maserati site that you have really loved and done the best by this car.

I was lucky to have had my car under 2.5 years of warranty which gave me a chance to really sort her out. Sounds like that's what you have done except without the benefit of warranty cover. I guess the next owner of your QP will be quite the lucky person to be inheriting something that has been sorted.

 

[Andyk]

Sorry to hear that your love affair with your QP is over........A great car as is all Maserati but theabove just shows how hard it is to use these cars as a daily drive without having very deep pockets...A real shame as something like a QP used be able to be used daily......I hope this has been sorted with the new cars as Maserati are advertising these as daily drives.

 

[conaero]

Tim, it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all!

All the best with the Mito. As someone who has gone from a 1.9GT to a 159 Diesel can you tell me if this is a good thing to do? I'm considering it and getting a 1.9 or 2.4 159 SW and want to know if its a step backwards?

 

[TridentTested]

Sorry to hear you are leaving Trident ownership but can understand your reasoning.

Ironically it was actually the same reason which got me into Maserati ownership. I was running a Citroën C6 and every little thing had to be done at a main dealer, I searched and searched for a local indie but none would deal with it. In the end I decided if I was going to pay these running costs I may as well have an exciting car. Hence the QP purchase.

We do moan about crowded UK roads - witness the London thread - but the flip side is we have a great choice of cars here and more importantly a great network of independent specialists.

I'll look out for you on alfaowner

 

[Swissqp]

Tim, it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all!

All the best with the Mito. As someone who has gone from a 1.9GT to a 159 Diesel can you tell me if this is a good thing to do? I'm considering it and getting a 1.9 or 2.4 159 SW and want to know if its a step backwards?

Thanks, Sir.

Now, the GT and 159 are chalk and cheese. The 159 is a great car but is heavy (solid and very safe). The 2.4JTDm is a great engine but thirsty (sub 30mpg) and both the 2.4 and 1.9 had DPF issues. Be careful about those who have remapped and fettled with the cars......The GT is like a go-cart in comparison, a blast and the only issues I had were noisy drop links and to replace the upper front arms and EGR valve getting sooted up. All in all both cars are fantastic and under rated.

 

[DaveT]

Tim, it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all!

All the best with the Mito. As someone who has gone from a 1.9GT to a 159 Diesel can you tell me if this is a good thing to do? I'm considering it and getting a 1.9 or 2.4 159 SW and want to know if its a step backwards?

Matt

As someone who has done it I'd say from my POV it isn't a great idea.

Yes the GT is old tech compared with 159 but the 159 1.9 Diesel I had felt heavy and slow in comparison to the GT although undoubtedly more comfortable and refined but still not fantastically frugal.
The 2.4 I hear is a better choice but still not that great in the MPG dept. I sold my 159 after less than a year.

The least Alfa-esque Alfa I have had - I'm on my 10th one currently - everything from 166's to Mito and all points in between.
GT much more fun if more raw.

 

[MAF260]

Came close to buying a new 159 Ti SW a couple of years ago for the Mrs. We drove the 2.4 which had plenty of oomph but the mpg was pretty shocking for a diseasel. Emissions weren't great either, so road tax isn't especially cheap. Given we were changing the existing car at the time for something more frugal the numbers just didn't stack up.

 

[dem maser]

159 had the baby issues on the other thread....wont buy one after seeing it