anyone have any experience with cambiocorsa?

[lucky_topher]

prices on these have dropped a LOT... can be had for under 30k easily.... from my research, maintenance is VERY costly and VERY common... i'd look at that

its what convinced me NOT to buy one and got the box instead

[smagerstein]

HI,


I ALSO LOVE THESE CARS AND WOULD CONSIDER TRADING UP WHEN THE TIME WOULD BE RIGHT!

This is what I hear about them.

Early models with 3.2 Turbo....Stay away.

Later models have a 'detuned' ferarri F360 4.2 Lt V8 engine.

Engine is FANTASTIC...Handling Sux.

But they are supercool.!!!

Good Luck

[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

[blue2000s]

I've driven one. The ride is much less refined than I had expected. I like it, but it's not sprung for long drives. The transmission sucks. I hate manumatics anyway and this thing was pretty jerky. It only had about 10k on it and the transmission had already been replaced once. The wheels were so low profile that they got bent out of round and had to be replaced from just driving the car on public roads. After numerous problems with the second transmission, the owner traded it for a new Jag.

I will say, the interior is gorgeous, as is the exterior. The seats are really supportive and it has a perfectly sized (small and thick) steering wheel. The back seats are a joke. The 400 hp is definitely there. Acceleration is great fun, but it would be 100x better with a real manual transmission.

I'd say that if you think the Boxster is expensive of temperamental, you'd be in for a miserable experience in owning a Maser. Personally, If I was going to own an expensive Italian car with only two seats, I would not bother with anything but a Ferrari.

[djomlas]

thx for the replys guys...
first of all, Ferrari is out of the picture for few more years at least, so im not even looking at that.
id like to get one with actual shifter, not that little puny thing and floppy pedals on the wheel

id have to go drive one

[Kirk]

Good luck finding one to test drive. Maserati only made them from 2002 - 2007, so you won't find one new at the dealer. Still living in Chicago you've got a good bet of finding a used one to test drive somewhere. Report back on your impressions!!!

Personally I think it's worth checking out. With the back seats and trunk it's actually somewhat practical, and for an exotic it's somewhat affordable. If you want the prestige of owning a fine Italian machine, than it's really not a bad choice. I'm actually strongly considering one to replace my old daily driver. I don't think it's an even replacement for the Boxster. The Boxster is most definitely a sports car, while the Maserati Coupe/Spyder is not, it's a grand tourer. So I'll be keeping my Boxster for weekends, as I use it now. But the Maserati might work for me as a DD, especially as I actually enjoy working on cars and have a second car to drive when I am inevitably doing some work on the Maserati. I just have to be lucky and not run into major and very expensive repairs. I'm also considering the Audi TT, Infiniti G35, and RX-8 as those are also more practical 2+2 sporty cars. Unfortunately the Jaguar XK8 and 911 do not have practical (for my pre-teen daughters) rear seats.

Kirk

[djomlas]

honestly i dont care for backseats at all...i have nothing/noone to carry there...and for summer i ridy my bike, so i need somethign to drive daily, but dont want to 'downgrade', and honestly boxster is not doing anythign special for me anymore
i use it as winter car hahaha, and scraping everything daily haha