3200GT

Author
Discussion

hughjayteens

Original Poster:

2,029 posts

274 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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There is some cracking deals around and my heart is telling me maybe I should look here instead of a Boxster next?

I just imagine the running costs etc to be scary - has anyone got any details of these?

Cheers all.

tailslider

271 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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All reviews tend to agree the auto box is the only way to go. Manual version and paddle shift are utter shite by all accounts. Looks damn sexy though.

ninja_eli

1,525 posts

273 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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Early ones are hassle too. My neighbour had to get rid of his car as it kept going back to the dealers for one problem or another. Boot leaked too. Wicked looking cars, but just get the feeling that they are trouble and thats why they are depreciating as such.

tailslider

271 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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In my limited experience italian cars are trouble. Our GTV developed so many major faults it's a joke. They're all fiat products at the end of the day, albeit wearing nicer suits. Style over content IMO. I'll alway buy german from now on.

craigw

12,248 posts

288 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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not going for the 348 then tailslider ?

tailslider

271 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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An alfa / masser is designed as an everyday car. A ferrari is a weekend toy really. I'll need a german car to see the winter through and for long trips.

jay_z

222 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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A chap I know has an Alfa GTV as a company car. Like you said tailslider, he has had nothing but trouble with it. I'm not talking silly little faults either. I'm talking about 1 new engine fitted & the gearbox being rebuilt twice + countless other bits and bobs.

Nice looking car, but I wouldn't want to own one!!!

trackdemon

12,266 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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:jumpstodefence: Just want to add that my experience of Italian/German cars is the reverse of whats been said. Fiat Uno did 8k miles no problem, Fiat Punto bought new 25k miles never a problem, Alfa 164V6 20k miles replaced ECU nothing else, sold to a mate who did another 60k miles in it no issues. Owned a VW Scirroco, it did the headgasket on the M74 and dropped 5th gear for no apparent reason. Also saw somebody blow their 996's engine at Bedford a little while back. The (much older) Ferrari's & TVR's ran just fine...

AlexHancock

466 posts

274 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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You will always find someone who has had a bad experience with any type of car you care to mention.

Personally, I currently own a 3200GT and I'm very happy indeed (see my posting about my recent trip to Italy) and I've owned a 3L Alfa Spider with very few problems.

Yes the manual 3200 is difficult to master but makes the car much more involving.

I would advise anyone buying a car from Ferrari or Maserati to take care because if you do buy a bad one without a good warranty ALL parts are very expensive.

pdv6

16,442 posts

267 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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:alsojumpstodefence:
I've had a few niggles with my GTV (see profile), but no show stoppers. Its used as a daily drive & racked up quite a few miles. In my experience, the problems tend to be with useless dealerships rather than the product itself.

Back on topic, a friend of mine's dad has a 3200GT as a daily drive and I'm not aware of any problems he's had with it.

dougt

120 posts

271 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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I have to say, my GTV hasn't had a single fault in the 10 months / 10k I've owned it (famous last words probably).

On the 3200GT, careful... Jamie Oliver's got one. Having said that Striling Moss has (maybe had ?) one as well, so they can't be all bad !

456mgt

2,505 posts

272 months

Friday 25th October 2002
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It's only Alex and Archi1 who have registered their Maseratis on PH. Like Ninja, my instincts say there will be niggles on this car but I have precious little to base it on. I saw one in Tescos car park a few weeks back and accosted the owner to ask him about it. He loved his car and said he would recommend it to a friend. He had had some trouble with it in the first year but it had been fine since.

The looks and the engine are fantastic. I had a manual for a weekend and can still remember picking up the car from Lancasters in Colchester. The first time I nailed it was the on ramp of the A12, and when the turbos kick in- woohoooooo. The auto blunts this response; at least it did on the one I tested earlier this year.

If you can live with the niggles I rhink it's hugely more charismatic than an equivalent 996, which in my estimation is the real comaparator. May be alone on this one but the 996 left me neither shaken nor stirred. After a pretty full-on 45 min test drive around Cambridgeshire the only person with an elevated heart rate was the salesman in the passenger seat, but he'd been pissing me around so I wasn't terribly merciful. This car was totally devoid of any charisma. Doms' 964RS has it, Steves' flatnose has it, Daz'turbo has it as does the GT2. A 996 with no charisma and cheap running costs vs a 3200GT with loads of charisma, niggles and maybe trouble. Genuinely tough call I think

>> Edited by 456mgt on Friday 25th October 19:27