Posts: 1272
Since: 21/12/2006
Status: offline
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Chaps,
The time has come....after something like 4 years of wanting a Maserati, 3 years of wanting a GranSport and more than 6 months of being car-less and seriously looking for my GS, I’ve finally put one on the driveway.
Here’s the long winded story which will hopefully be interesting and useful to others looking.
I’d done loads of research into the GranSport and have been borderline obsessed with them GS market (in the UK) for....well, let’s just say ‘a while’ now. The conclusion I drew was that I would have to buy the car from wherever it became available, be that either a main agent, privately or even at an auction.
Sites I used are:
www.autotrader.co.uk - grate coverage and if you register on the site, you can set up alerts for when new cars are added to your search criteria - well worth while on a GS as there are rarely more than 25-28 for sale at any one time
www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales - generally shows the same cars as the above, but can have the odd private car that doesn’t seem to make it on to the auto trader.
www.british-car-auctions.co..uk - free to register but these guys have huge volumes and do have Maserati's from time to time. I've physically seen three GS's go under the hammer and have known of 3-4 more (this year). They're rare, but they do come up. Good ones can get strong money mind.
www.manheimremarketing.co.uk - currently have a red GS listed for sale next week - will need some TLC but I suspect it will be cheap (initially, at least).
So.... my first wish for a Maserati was a 4200 facelift in Nero Carbonio/Avoiro as I think the combination is simply stunning, just so classy. Having bought an M3 3 years ago, I decided to stick with that and hold out until I could get a good GranSport with the spec I wanted. During the wait, I really got to like the Bianco Fuji but having done the research, realised that there was actually only 2 in the UK that met my criteria of being a 2006 or later car – one had just sold at HR Owen and the second wasn’t for sale as I’d spoken with the owner (there was only 5 Bianco Fuji GS's brought to the UK). Plan B was back to the Nero/Avorio combo but in near on 3 years of having an eye on GS’s, I’ve not seen ONE with this combo (I’ve seen avorio with tech which was nice, but full leather was on my wish list) so I didn’t fancy that I’d be able to find Holy Grail. Ho-hum, I'm not one to give up easily....
I had a think about what really mattered to be and relaxed my criteria a little – there’s only 375 GranSport's in the UK. From me research, I was told that the numbers are this:
2004 - 30 Coupes
2005 - 115 Coupes
2006 - 153 Coupes, 12 MC Victories, 21 Spyders
2007 - 77 Coupes, 3 MC Victories, 3 Spyders
From the cars I saw initially, I had reservations about the interiors which had technical cloth. I saw a couple which had what can only be described as turquoise (officially, it’s called 'blu metal' - tech cloth was available in three colours, grigio nickel and nero competizione being the other two). It’s a personal choice, and while I liked the tech cloth on Grigio Touring (Silver) and Nero Cabonio (Carbon Black) cars, I decided it wasn’t for me.
Having seen that full leather, while I believe it was always an option, is rare on early GS's but since 2006 when the Limited Edition (LE) pack was made available, it became a much more popular choice. In the UK, this cost around £3175. Other options were rolled up in to the LE Pack were:
- Red brake callipers
- CD changer
- 19" Trofeo mercury grey alloys (silver available as a no cost option)
- Heated front seats with drivers memory
- Full leather headlining
- Electro chromatic rear view mirror
- Black mesh grill
- Saetta logo with red accents
- Xenon headlights and washing system
- Auditorium 200 sound system upgrade
- Rear park sensors
So, as that was most of what I wanted my GS to have, I decided to go for an LE. This meant I'd be looking for a 2006 or 2007 car so the choice was a maximum of 230 cars.
During my search, I learned that you can ring Maserati UK and find out about the car you're thinking of buying. If you ring the UK HQ and ask for Maserati Technical, quote the last 6 digits of the VIN they can tell you the detailed spec and other little bits of information such as date of manufacture.
It’s also relatively easy to confirm any history the car has and, for me, this was the biggest revelation. I really thought that a Maserati would be an enthusiast car, a car that was bought by people who knew about looking after a car. Of the cars I called about and got the VIN/service history on, I was very surprised how many were not serviced on time or were barely serviced. The two most surprising was a 56 plate which was advertised with FMSH but on closer inspection had only had one service in 4 years and then a stunning (in the pictures) 2006 car which had FSH at a main dealer. When I rang the dealer, the chap I spoke to said "no, we've seen it once.....2.5 years ago".
Basically, check the history. GranSports need servicing based on mileage AND time bound, not one or the other and it really is surprising how few actually have this.
So, check the spec, check this history. Next, I'd go and see the car. As is always the case, what one person describes as immaculate, another would describe as rough. If you go and see an immaculate car with full Maserati service history and it actually turns out to be, the next step is to get an independent inspection. If you only glean one piece of advice from my ramblings, it is GET THE CAR INSPECTED BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THESE CARS. It’s relatively cheap and will give you a good idea of what you're taking on.
For the inspection, there are lots of options. Ask on the forum for one local-ish to you but these PPI's (pre-purchase inspections) can be carried out by main agents or a specialist. Me personally, I used Bill McGrath's and paid £150+vat. They needed to have the car taken to their workshop and needed it for between 2-3 hours.
What the inspection will do it save you from yourself, because when you first get in a GranSport and press the start button, you'll have your wallet out before you even selected 1 and moved off! Get the inspection and you'll look at the car with knowledge given to you by someone who's impartial and had the knowledge to compare this particular car to others - they'll almost certainly have seen more GS's than you!
The inspection I had done listed something like 14 items which needed addressing. These varied from wheel scuffs to an unknown suspension rattle (which, thankfully was easily sorted post-purchase) and should include a clutch reading. The clutch can be expensive and I'm told can be used until the wear is indicated at 90%, however the readings are not 100% accurate or totally reliable...but they may give you a bargaining point. I also found it comforting to have a specialist comment on such things as panel gaps, how well the car drives, if the condition stacks with the claimed history/mileage and, ultimately, if the car is a good one and worth perusing.
At this point, I had asked McGrath's to cost in the bits they had identified and to give me an overall opinion of the car. Of the bits they identified, some I saw as needing doing immediately, some needed doing at some point, some were just FYI. While the particular car I have bought was bought privately, I would use the same approach when buying from a trader. I took a realistic approach and decided that I wasn't buying a brand new car and some wear and tear was par for the course. Also, if I was the seller, I would not think it realistic to expect the car to be as new. The inspection more than paid for itself as it gave me an idea of what I would need to be paying on day one and within a short time so I was able to price what I thought the car was truly worth to me.
Once I had decided on a price, the negotiations began and as I am not a great negotiator, I said what I thought the car was worth and left it at that. Naturally, the seller asked for more but I wasn’t prepared to offer more and was more than happy to forego the inspection costs as if I'd paid more than I thought the car was worth, I'd have not been happy.
By the time I'd got the deal agreed, it was time to sort out the insurance. I'm not 100% but I believe the GS's came with NavTrak ADR as standard. The car I bought came with 8 months of subscriptions paid up. If you buy privately, this is transferable. I have spoken to NavTrak and found them to be very helpful - I had to pay an admin fee of £25 to transfer over to me, but other than that, it’s all been pretty pain free. As a part of the transfer process, they test the system. They've done this with me and confirmed that the system works. They've also been kind enough not to re-register my cards so I've had a call the last three times I've used the car (this is now sorted).
And then it’s time for insurance. I'd done some research into insurance and had constantly heard good things about MWA - www.mwainsurance.co.uk. I spoke to several different companies and I can say from my experience that MWA have been very good to deal with. I dealt with Denrick Smith and would recommend him. Prices can be very reasonable if you're not planning on doing too many miles. Personally, I went to more than enough to cover me using the car for every mile I do and it wasn’t much more than a limited mileage policy. It’s worth remembering that insurance premiums have gone up something like 40% in the last three months!
The other question that I wanted to answer was "what should I do re a warranty?" As I bought privately, my car didn’t actually come with a warranty. I have paid for warranties in the past and felt like I wanted to use them to get value for money. With my GS, I've decided not to go down the warranty route. From what I gather, a Maserati warranty (if you have one now and are looking to re-new - these cannot be added if you don’t already have one) is £2200 per year. As I've read and been told that these cars, particularly the later models, are pretty durable if looked after, I've decided not to go for a warranty and instead put the warranty money in an account should the need arise. £2200 covers a fair amount of work at a specialist! In a few years, I'll come back and let you know if the gamble paid off!
I think that about it for now....I've probably missed off come really crucial bits, but this is the first brain-dump of what I did when looking for my GS.
The only thing left to say is that I bought a 30k mile 2007 GS LE in Nero Carbonio with full beige leather and leather headlining. It has two previous owners and has full (and I really mean that :)) Maserati main agent service history. The 31k miles service has just recently been carried out by Bill McGraths who I hope will look after the car throughout my ownership. Unfortunately since I've had the car it’s been freezing cold and I've not really been able to properly drive it and open it up a bit. Even a trip down to Luxembourg didn’t really give much opportunity for opening her up as it was just as icy/snowy down there!
See below for a couple of before pictures and one after.
I hope the above is useful or at the very least interesting! I'll have a think about some more specific information and will add as and when I think of it.
In the meantime, I hope you like the pics.
Happy motoring
Woody - the latest forum member to join the ownership ranks, finally! :)
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2007 GranSport LE, Nero Carbonio with full beige, nero piping
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