Granturismo Prices - How low can they go...?

[NicoG]

Hi All,

Have been lusting after one of these for some time since selling my CSL and often window shop the classifieds....

I'm after a 4.7 and £30K seems to buy a decent car, (even an MC Shift as opposed to Auto) though I can see the 4.2s are now regularly coming up for less than £20K these days.

How much further can these fall?
It's not that I can't afford one at the moment, more that I could justify it to myself more easily manmathematically if I thought they weren't going much lower and so I could rely on depreciation factor free running costs...

Will we see these close on 4-figure asking prices like the 3200s and 4200s, and even more recently QPs for less than £10K ??
Or are they a bit more special and so might never get below £20K for a looked-after 4.7?

They seem incredibly good value already given what an F430 cost (yes I know it's a very different car, but you also know why I make that comparison)

Cheers

[Kettmark]

None of us have a Crystal ball obviously so if you really want one, go & get one. I bought my 4.7s auto nearly 3 years ago & can't see myself selling. Only used sparingly so still only 40k on the clock.
Yes I've lost money but it puts a smile on my face each time I drive it and it's a special special car.
Can't see the 4.7 versions dropping below £20k but you never know. Likewise the 4.2 will level out at 15k i would suggest.
My advise would be get a 4.7.

[Superleg48]

This gets very tiresome and comes up too often. I want to buy xxx because i’ve always wanted one, but I don’t want to lose money.....

You are buying a car. A car is designed for driving. This will increase the mileage. Cars also, on the whole, depreciate. This depreciation is further exacerbated by driving them which is what they were designed for. Vicious circle.

At that level, you are not going to lose your shirt and depreciation should really not get in the way of your true objective. To fulfil an aspiration. Just buy the best you can afford, drive it...lots and in time you’ll get what you get for it. Whilst you are driving it, you will smile a lot, you will have fun, you will be proud of your toy, you will bring joy to others. These things, if they had monetary value, would far exceed any depreciation you may incur.

Life is just too short to get hung up. Please, just enjoy and stop worrying!

[todea20]

Brakes around 2.5k-3k,clutch around 3k,tyres around 1k,variators around 3k..buy a cheap one and you will cry for the rest of your life!
Buy cheap buy twice! Maserati have the running cost just like a Ferrari or Lamborghini!

[jrinns]

Interesting and as others say, if you want one go for it.

I'm about to take my first leap into an exotic but I am going to wait until building work completes, but a good point to make is what ever the price it is good value compared to the competitors for equal smiles per mile.

I fancied a Maserati, then keep drifting to a 430 or McLaren but not sure I can justify those prices, 30-45k on a 4.7 MC seems fantastic compared to 80-90 on the other 2..


Just my 2 pence worth, If I end up in one of the other 2 I am a mad man.


On a plus note, just ordered a new pickup so can always tow any of these exotics home....

[todea20]

jrinns said:

Interesting and as others say, if you want one go for it.

I'm about to take my first leap into an exotic but I am going to wait until building work completes, but a good point to make is what ever the price it is good value compared to the competitors for equal smiles per mile.

I fancied a Maserati, then keep drifting to a 430 or McLaren but not sure I can justify those prices, 30-45k on a 4.7 MC seems fantastic compared to 80-90 on the other 2..


Just my 2 pence worth, If I end up in one of the other 2 I am a mad man.


On a plus note, just ordered a new pickup so can always tow any of these exotics home....

Or you can buy one in a Ferrari colour for half the price of an F430
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[dimots]

I think the design is classic, engine is fab, but the interior is a massive let down and will drag these down in value. I think they will go lower but may be near bottom...could see them at £15k but they will be an absolute bargain at that price and as soon as they acquire a bit of nostalgic cool they’ll be shooting back up again.

In quite a dodgy place image-wise right now which is why I think they’re reaching bottom.

Anyway, just my opinion. Wouldn’t buy one right now personally I’d get a 996 or 997 or even a massive engined AMG like the CL600 but I think these are a decent motor and can’t be on the slide forever.

[anonymous-user]

dimots said:

In quite a dodgy place image-wise right now which is why I think they’re reaching bottom.

Anyway, just my opinion. Wouldn’t buy one right now personally I’d get a 996 or 997 or even a massive engined AMG like the CL600 but I think these are a decent motor and can’t be on the slide forever.

The three cars you mentioned are in a dodgy place image wise especially the 996 and big old AMG Merc, the Maserati is too rare to have a dodgy image. The 996 now has brought the Porsche 911 prestige name tumbling down imho.

[anonymous-user]

Superleg48 said:

This gets very tiresome and comes up too often. I want to buy xxx because i’ve always wanted one, but I don’t want to lose money.....

All well and good but everyone would like to think that they could recoup a fair chunk of their initial outlay back if they come to sell. The Porsche GT4 boys have even got a thread monitoring how well the cars price is holding up regarding the ones for sale.
To the op my advice would be to monitor the market carefully, get over to Sports Maserati for sound advice on pros and cons of model years, colours etc.

[NicoG]

dimots said:

but the interior is a massive let down and will drag these down in value..

Yet you suggest getting a 996?
I appreciate the interior isn't great in the Maserati, but for me, the quality of the materials makes up for it - that's more important to me...

Each to their own, but I struggle to think of any car with an interior so woeful given the cars value than the diabolical offering in the 996.
I got rid of my GT2 mainly because I just couldn't live with all that crap plastic. (that and the fact that it kept trying to kill me...)

Granted the 997 is a massive improvement, but it bloody well needed to be! - The 996 is truly shocking for a car that cost what they did new...

[WCZ]

todea20 said:

Or you can buy one in a Ferrari colour for half the price of an F430
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

insane value for money, the status you get with these for £33k in such a nice colour is crazy

[Bluebottle911]

Superleg48 said:

This gets very tiresome and comes up too often. I want to buy xxx because i’ve always wanted one, but I don’t want to lose money.....

You are buying a car. A car is designed for driving. This will increase the mileage. Cars also, on the whole, depreciate. This depreciation is further exacerbated by driving them which is what they were designed for. Vicious circle.

At that level, you are not going to lose your shirt and depreciation should really not get in the way of your true objective. To fulfil an aspiration. Just buy the best you can afford, drive it...lots and in time you’ll get what you get for it. Whilst you are driving it, you will smile a lot, you will have fun, you will be proud of your toy, you will bring joy to others. These things, if they had monetary value, would far exceed any depreciation you may incur.

Life is just too short to get hung up. Please, just enjoy and stop worrying!

Quite right. I bought mine new 3 years ago and I know I've lost a packet on it but I don't regret it one little bit. The experience of collecting it from the factory and driving it home was beyond price.

If you are hung up about depreciation, get a bus pass.

[Superleg48]

Raygun said:

All well and good but everyone would like to think that they could recoup a fair chunk of their initial outlay back if they come to sell.

Well, for the most part, that is just an unrealistic thought. It just is. People forget, as I explained further on in my post, the “value” of everything else the car brings to you which more than makes up for any depreciation in value.

Cars in general are not investment vehicles (pun intended) apart from a very very few relative to the overall market. They are, however, very much “experience delivery” vehicles (again, pun intended). In my opinion, way more important.

OP should source the very best Maser he can within his budget, buy it and start smiling...

[anonymous-user]

Superleg48 said:

Raygun said:

All well and good but everyone would like to think that they could recoup a fair chunk of their initial outlay back if they come to sell.

Well, for the most part, that is just an unrealistic thought. It just is. People forget, as I explained further on in my post, the “value” of everything else the car brings to you which more than makes up for any depreciation in value.

Cars in general are not investment vehicles (pun intended) apart from a very very few relative to the overall market. They are, however, very much “experience delivery” vehicles (again, pun intended). In my opinion, way more important.

OP should source the very best Maser he can within his budget, buy it and start smiling...

It's not an unrealistic thought on some cars, some in our household in recent times include a 2004 996 RS GT3 bought for £60k in 2006 and sold £100k(which would be a bargain now) a Ferrari F430 bought for £82k sold for £79k three years later, a Porsche Boxster Spyder 3.8 bought brand new in 2015 and sold this week for £5k more than when bought new, Triumph Stag bought in 2006 for £4.5k and sold last year for £12.5k. I'm hoping my Maserati Spyder with the rare option of manual transmission holds it's money which at the moment seems to be the case.

[slarti650]

Special is relative to your experience of other cars. If you're coming from a Bmw then it special. If you already have a Mclaren or ferrari then it's a shopping car with a nice sounding engine. Imho it's not special enough to maintain any reasonable value. At 20k they're still expensive to own and run. It's a slippery slope for cars like this as the people willing to pay the running diminishes quicky and they become harder to sell. On a 30k car I would expect to lose about 3k per year

[jakesmith]

I had one for 2 years & just sold it
Paid £30k, spent £8k on running & upgrades not even including a service, traded it for £18.5k
Only one word = ouch
I lost less than that in 4 years on a 997
I didn't expect wonders but even I was supprised. If I had held on for a better offer I could have maybe got £2k more privately but was in a hurry

The car is all about the looks and sound. With the Larini X pipe, it is possibly the best sounding car out there
The interior is not amazing and the seats are not comfy on long journeys
It is generally reliable and as well built as a 997
It's also a very very impractical car to own and drive, it is ridiculouslyy low and grounds on everything even the most gentle ramp or driveway, it is very easy to kerb wheels going into carparks or parking, you can't really leave it in a supermarket or a station car park and I ended up buying a Brabus Roadster Smart followed by a Boxster S as a daily runabout instead

The image is pretty special and light year ahead of a 996 or CL Merc, silly suggestions

Maserati is suffering at the moment as all their new cars are pony and therefore the desirability of the brand is falling right off, also as others have said the running costs are mega - easily £2k-3k a year onnce they are a little older. I think there is a limited pool of people able to spend that.

You need to make sure the variator issue has been properly addressed, it costs a fortune to fix otherwie c. £4k. The stock sat nav is vile too.

[Murph7355]

Comparing them in any way to an F430 is folly. They are massively different cars for massively different purposes. Compare to a 612 or an FF by all means, but not an F430.

If you don't need 4 seats, buy an F430. Even at twice the price. It's a much better car.

On reflection, if you can afford an FF I'd say that would also be the way to go.

GT's are great cars in many respects. They look amazing both in photos and in the metal. They sound epic. If it's been well spec'd (lots of carbon and alcantara) then the interiors are lovely places to be (not well spec'd and they are verging on low rent frankly), they have plenty of room in them and they can be hustled along. But...

As jakesmith notes they are ludicrously low and they are very big, heavy cars. You also have challenges with massive doors compounding parking issues, and whilst they can be hustled, it's under protest when the roads get challenging. They are best suited to smooth, flat A-roads to and from places with spacious private parking and if that's your driving staple then get one. Mine isn't like that, which ultimately prompted its sale after 2yrs - it simply wasn't straightforward enough to jump in and drive for me (much as my heart loved it).

It underscores why so few have been sold.

I'm glad I owned one for a while, and in specific circumstances for well spec'd cars they are hard to beat. But they are compromised. Proceed with care and honesty to yourself

(I replaced mine with a 997. Very different car - another itch I needed to scratch. Much more jump in and go. Elements of it not as exciting but as a regular use proposition it's very easy to see why they sell in much higher numbers. My heart's still all for Italian cars though...so when the kids are older I'm sure I'll have one last Italian hurrah But I'd be surprised if I don't keep the 997 longer than 2yrs).

[jakesmith]

Murph7355 said:

Comparing them in any way to an F430 is folly. They are massively different cars for massively different purposes. Compare to a 612 or an FF by all means, but not an F430.

If you don't need 4 seats, buy an F430. Even at twice the price. It's a much better car.

On reflection, if you can afford an FF I'd say that would also be the way to go.

GT's are great cars in many respects. They look amazing both in photos and in the metal. They sound epic. If it's been well spec'd (lots of carbon and alcantara) then the interiors are lovely places to be (not well spec'd and they are verging on low rent frankly), they have plenty of room in them and they can be hustled along. But...

As jakesmith notes they are ludicrously low and they are very big, heavy cars. You also have challenges with massive doors compounding parking issues, and whilst they can be hustled, it's under protest when the roads get challenging. They are best suited to smooth, flat A-roads to and from places with spacious private parking and if that's your driving staple then get one. Mine isn't like that, which ultimately prompted its sale after 2yrs - it simply wasn't straightforward enough to jump in and drive for me (much as my heart loved it).

It underscores why so few have been sold.

I'm glad I owned one for a while, and in specific circumstances for well spec'd cars they are hard to beat. But they are compromised. Proceed with care and honesty to yourself

(I replaced mine with a 997. Very different car - another itch I needed to scratch. Much more jump in and go. Elements of it not as exciting but as a regular use proposition it's very easy to see why they sell in much higher numbers. My heart's still all for Italian cars though...so when the kids are older I'm sure I'll have one last Italian hurrah But I'd be surprised if I don't keep the 997 longer than 2yrs).

I had a 997 before my GT, much better drivers car, different world. But a lot less special.
Traded the GT for a V8 R8, much better clearance, and a very sharp responsive drive. Looks properly exotic too
Sound track though, the GT absolutely destroys them both, and that's even with a £3k exhaust on my R8 / PSE on the 997. THe Maserati is simply the best sounding car out there
One thing it does really well is you can get 2 adults or 2 child seats in the back in complete comfort whilst it is still a nice looking coupe - not many can do those 2 things apart from the Conti GT and the Merc CL.

ETA, saw you kept yours 2 years too, same as me. Scratched the itch I guess.

Edited by jakesmith on Friday 7th December 22:42

[Kettmark]

I'm fortunate enough to have both a GT 4.7s (auto) and a 997.1 c2s (manual). As others have said, night & day. Misses doesn't get the Porsche but loves the Maserati. I love both!
Maserati much more of an event & the sound is out of this world. Makes you feel a million dollars when you get in it or look at it.
Porsche is a drivers car, pure & simple.
I'll get my trousers pulled down if/ when I sell the Maser but should get back most, if not all of my outlay on the 911.
I've got the best of both worlds in these cars (plus others in the stable). For the price, what else could I get that's better in each case? Nowt!
To answer OP question, I'd (hope) say a 4.2 will bottom out at £15k & a 4.7 at £20k.

[jakesmith]

Kettmark said:

I'm fortunate enough to have both a GT 4.7s (auto) and a 997.1 c2s (manual). As others have said, night & day. Misses doesn't get the Porsche but loves the Maserati. I love both!
Maserati much more of an event & the sound is out of this world. Makes you feel a million dollars when you get in it or look at it.
Porsche is a drivers car, pure & simple.
I'll get my trousers pulled down if/ when I sell the Maser but should get back most, if not all of my outlay on the 911.
I've got the best of both worlds in these cars (plus others in the stable). For the price, what else could I get that's better in each case? Nowt!
To answer OP question, I'd (hope) say a 4.2 will bottom out at £15k & a 4.7 at £20k.

That is a good 2 car garage! I was running a 987S Boxster along side the GT as my engaging drivers car which it does pretty well