[Kirk]

To clarify here you're looking at the Maserati Coupe or Spyder with the cambiocorsa transmission right?

The block of the Masi Coupe is based on the F430 actually, not the F360. It's a superior design to the F360 as the F360 and F355 both used cam belts that required replacement every three years - which is a VERY expensive full engine out job. The F430 and Maserati Coupe engines use cam chains and require a lot less major maintenance. Also don't worry about the older 3.2L turbo - it was never brought over to the United States.

Check out www.maseratilife.com. There are a few threads talking about maintenance on these cars. The engines are pretty bullet proof and the maintenance is not nearly as costly as a Ferrari. It's actually affordable if you can do a freaking oil change yourself!

The F1 cambiocorsa transmission got terrible reviews by Car and Driver in two articles in 2002/2003. In automatic mod is shifts like ****************. Evidently it's great for track driving, but how often do you really do that? I would STRONGLY recommend the standard manual transmission. If the cambiocorsa transmission should fail you're looking at a HUGE repair cost. If the engine should fail though you can actually find low mileage units from wreckers for $5K to $7K (similar to the Boxster). So if you keep it simple with a standard transmission, standard shocks (not the Skyhook setup), and change your fluids yourself or through an independent repair shop, you could keep maintenance costs down to similar to the Boxster. I haven't seen reports of excessive maintenance being required. People just get screwed by paying $105/hr and for 10 hrs of work to get fluids changed! So a simple maintenance at the dealer can cost $1,000 for labor alone. Seems just foolish to me.

Kirk