Is anyone using a 3200/Coupé as a DD?

Variants:
- 3200 GT (manual)
- 3200 GTA (automatic)
- 3200 Assetto Corsa (a sportier version of the GT, never seen an automatic AC but please correct me if I'm wrong).

The good:
Beautiful car, handles great, very powerful engine, nice smooth suspension, easy to use, easy to park, very comfortable, it has a nice leather interior, the boomerangs kick ass!! A unique car that will surprise you in a good way. The Assetto Corsa is uber cool (Italian and UK versions are numbered)!

The bad:
The engine of the 3200 is not very reliable, it has several flaws derived from the Biturbo cars that it evolved from. In addition, the engine requires quite a lot of maintenance when it reaches a lot of mileage, the costs are just unrealistic. My personal opinion is that this car is not reliable enough to be a daily driver.

The ugly:
Spare parts are scarse, Maserati has stopped all production of spare parts. Thus, some things are not available anymore. Some people buy a second cheap or damaged 3200 and keep it for spare parts. If you damage the car, the expense to fix the car will be a lot higher than the cost of the entire car.

Verdict:
For a daily driver, I suggest you go for a MANUAL 4200. It has a bullet-proof engine, very reliable car, has everything the 3200 has (except the boomerangs) and a lot more. Stay away from the Cambiocorsa if you want it as a daily driver.

 

The 4200 is a superb GT car (note, I said GT car, don't try to compare it with a racing/track car).

There are no lack of spare parts that I know of, as far as I know there are plenty around for everbody.

Nothing bad to report about the 4200, other than to make sure that you know what you are buying. For example, the Cambiocorsa is a nice gearbox and I personally like it very much, but not everyone likes it. In addition, it does need you to learn how to use it properly otherwise you'll end up changing clutches too frequently (which is a very expensive job).

Without going into details, the 360 (or the evolition 430) engines are "related" to the 4200 engine, lets just say that they are cousins, share parts and design, but they are NOT the same, they are different engines!

My opinion is that the 4200 engine is also more reliable, runs at lower rpms and will probably last a lot longer. It is also a lot more efficient and consumes less petrol than the equivalent Ferrari engines (which are built for other uses, track, race etc thus there is no reason for all that). I've seen a QP 4.2 with 250,000 km and a 4200 Spyder with 150,000 km, both cars running fine and only needed normal servicing.

 

You should probably consider that Maserati Blue is a die hard hater of the Biturbo line of Maseratis. He never misses an opportunity to say something bad about them. That being said I have to agree that this engine will be a LOT more money to maintain especially once it's time to service the rear cam chains and adjust the valves. Think older Ferrari/Lamborghini expensive except that the car isn't worth all that much. There's also some know issues with the throttle drive-by-wire on these cars and when it's broken it's expensive.

If you want to learn more about what actual owners think about them I suggest some of the UK based Maserati forums. These are not universally panned cars. Many owners really like them.

When it was decided to have Ferrari design and build the new engine for Maserati it was a sea change for both manufacturers. No more belts or valve adjustments and the engine was a truly modern passenger car motor. Ferrari benefited greatly from this as well. It's a great motor IMHO.

 

staatsof, well said


PS:
About the engines. I always wondered if FPT (Fiat Powertrain Technologies) was involved in any of these engines... since they make engines for just about everything related to FIAT (motor boat engines, tracktor engines, small cars, etc).

 

About 10 years back, I had a 3200 as a daily driver. It was my only car (besides the car of the wife) and I did about 60 000 km in 4 years. I really enjoyed the car and every day I could drive the car was a great day.

As stated by Maserati Blue reliability is an issue and the car was at the workshop every 10 000 km or so for something unexpected. At the end this was the reason why I sold the 3200 and bought a 4200.

The 4200 is much more reliable and a better car in many aspects. But IMO it is a boring car. It is more a kind of a 911. Where the 3200 was a really special car you just had to love (with all it problems and faults) I never fell in love with my 4200 and sold it after 4 years (and 60 000 km as well) back to the dealer.

While I never missed my 4200 I always missed my 3200. So this August I was at my dealer and which car is still sitting there? My old 3200. The dealer could not sell this car in the last 6 years and so I had to buy it back. I know that there will be some issues with the car in the future but it is such a nice car, I just had to have it back (BTW I paid less for the car than I got from the dealer when I sold it to him. Plus I have new tires, a completely serviced car etc.).

Here is the full story if you are interested: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379485&highlight=3200

Now my old 3200 is my daily driver again (together with a Ferrari 575M) and every day I drive the 3200 is a happy day.

Markus

 

Great story

 

I also had a 3200GT as a daily driver for two years. Later, I bought a 456M GT and had that also for two years. The 3200 was a very bad ass car because it had an agressiv suspention and superb steering. (the one in a previous post stating it is comfortable is right when talking speeds in excess of 100 mph.) but under that, I think it is way to hard. That said, it is a real joy on twisty roads! The engine is usually reliable enough for everyday use. It was designed in 1998 when Ferrari bought Maserati, so it is build at MAserati's plant which then was owned by Ferrari. (The Quattroporte IV also got a HUGE quality and fit improvement on the 1998-2000 models named "Evoluzione"). There are some things to be aware of:

1) Throttle body... The first engine by Maserati to have "fly by wire" which is an electronic link between your accellerator pedal and the butterfly in the inlet manifold. I never had any problems with this in my 60.000 km period, but the next owner got this problem 3 days after he bought the car from me (bad luck!!).

2) Suspension. The dampers are "racing" style coil overs and they (usually) never last more than 7-10 years or 80.000 kms. They are expencive new, but a company in UK rebuild them at the cost of approx 2K USD.

3) The track rod ends are a solid unit of the wishbone arm, so when it gets worn (and they do!) you have to replace the whole thing and it is expencive... There are 8 bal joints on each side in the rear suspention, so a big job to replace them and adjust the angles!

4) Heater fan tend to go at 100.000 kms. Stupid to pay a lot for a boring thing like that.

5) No cruise control (the 4200 has this).

6) Consumption is down to 1,0 liters per 100 kph if driven at 90-100 kph and 2 liters in town.

7) No xenon lights.

Else, I think the car has a HUGE value for its money. And the sound is GREAT but too quiet for hard driving. An easy way to fix this is simply just add two sports mufflers.

The turbo whistle is also a nice detail of this car. at upphills in 6th gear they start to whistle.


There were in fact a few Assetto Corsa cars with auto transmission! All Assetto Corsas were numbered. It is not really much of a difference, except from 15 mm. lower and harder suspention, bigger anti roll bars and a few more upgrades. But they are more expencive and rare.

Cambio Corsa 4200 transmissions are the worst flappy gear system I have ever tried! But Formula Dynamics have a ECU-mod that make them much better. It also reduces wear and make the clutch last longer.


Good luck and post pictures.

 

Kind of too bad this thread didn't end up in the Maserati section.

Good to see that you enjoyed the car.