anyone have any experience with cambiocorsa?

[djomlas]

well, unless its impossible for me to do, then i would have to take it to a shop, otherwise, just like this porsche, i do everything myself...how much is an oil change at the porsche dealer? yeah, im not paying that, same with everything else, like doing pads and rotors and shifters and so forth, i do everything myself.
the only time that i took any of my 10 cars i owned to a shop was to replace the transmission on a bmw, thats all...
i did a suspension swap on the porsche myself, shofter install, oil, pads, rotos, brake fluids, lights...blav bla, and then mod list gets bigger and bigger with my other cars that had cheaper parts to get (ls1 mods)...

so all in all im not scared to do anything that anyone else can do (as long as it doesn't require an expensive piece of machinery that cant be replaced by something that i would have in the garage)

[Blkboxster]

Trust me i was soooo close to buying a 06 grandsport.. only get one of you have warranty, and if you dont get a warranty save about 20grand for repairs, i guarantee u will need it

[djomlas]

Originally Posted by Blkboxster

Trust me i was soooo close to buying a 06 grandsport.. only get one of you have warranty, and if you dont get a warranty save about 20grand for repairs, i guarantee u will need it

20 grand of repairs?
what do u expect to break? and y would it break?

[Blkboxster]

Originally Posted by djomlas

20 grand of repairs?
what do u expect to break? and y would it break?

everything lol, my bro-in law has already spent about 16k in repairs in his 2003 coupe, ill try to get a detailed write up of what services were done and what was replaced..

[Kirk]

Again, go to www.maseratilife.com and do a search for "cost of ownership". You'll find several posts addressing this issue.

YES, it can get VERY, VERY expensive to own one of these cars. Remember that for repair or maintenance work you're going to be taking it to a Ferrari dealer. So if you take it in for a regular maintenance check up you're going to pay at least $1,500. A clutch replacement is like $3,500 (on the manual, not F1 transmission). Either the Coupe/Spyder with the F1 trans or the Grand Sport (only comes with the F1 trans) are going to be more expensive because the F1 hydraulic pump goes out and costs $1,300 just in parts, plus you'll have to change the clutches and I think you need special tools to do this on the F1.

Take a look at this website that sells OEM Maserati parts at a big discount:

http://trident-parts.com/coupe--spyder.html

Looking here you can see that actually it's not too terribly expensive for parts for this car (when compared to the Porsche, not a Hyundai). So... IF you do the work yourself, then it's NOT very, very expensive to keep one of these cars running. That $1,500 service at the Ferrari dealer would be MUCH cheaper - $26 for the oil filter, $26 for spark plugs (cheaper than the Boxster), 0W40 Mobil 1 oil same as the Boxster with 10 quarts at $6.50 each. Coolant, power steering fluid, and brake fluid are all standard stuff, nothing exotic. So you could completely go through the car, flush all fluids, replace the plugs, belts, filters, etc. for maybe $250 in parts. Do that every year and the car will just keep humming along happily, as will you.

More major work, like clutch change, gets pricey because the parts are pricey. Again, that's why I would stay away from the more complex systems available - like the F1 transmission and the Skyhook suspension. R&R on the standard suspension (all shocks and springs) is like $2,000 while the Skyhook R&R is over $5,000. Keep it simple stupid. If you still really want the F1 transmission check out the Top Gear review on YouTube - they hated it, as well as the handling.

So you can buy an '04 Coupe 6MT with 25K miles for $35K. Set aside $10K and expect that every year you'll have to spend $250 in maintenance parts, $1,500 every two to three years for a new clutch and throw out bearing, $1,000 every two years or so for new tires, and $2,000 sometime in its lifetime for a complete suspension change. You could then drive it reasonably for 10 or more years.... as long as you stay out of the Ferrari dealership.... and you're lucky that nothing major breaks.

Kirk

[djomlas]

so, quick Q on the clutch?
is it just pretty much ********************ty design that makes them go out that often or what? i never needed to replace a clutch on any of my cars...just curious. (talking manual, no that F1 flappy garbage)

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by djomlas

so, quick Q on the clutch?
is it just pretty much ********************ty design that makes them go out that often or what? i never needed to replace a clutch on any of my cars...just curious. (talking manual, no that F1 flappy garbage)

Good question. I don't know the answer for sure, but I can guess. I don't think it's the design. I think it's more of an issue of how much power you're applying to the clutch. I think that Vipers and Ferraris eat through clutches quickly too. 385 hp on the Maserati is a substantial amount of power! You'll probably be tempted to do some hard launches, maybe smoke the tires a little. That's all extremely hard on the clutch. So if you baby it, it will obviously last longer, but that will be hard to do as the temptation to use the 385 hp to its full extent would be awfully strong.

BTW - I just test drove a Mazda RX-8 and Infiniti G-35 today. I'm pretty serious about replacing my daily driver with a 2+2 coupe. I was not impressed by the RX-8, but the G-35 was mighty nice with a really decent rear seat. I also got into the back seat of a Lexus (their sporty 2+2) and a Jaguar XK8... what a joke!

Kirk