[tractordoll]

Good morning all, thanks for letting come here. My name is Angela and I am a huge car fan. I became a fan of the Maserati brand from one of my coworkers who has a gransport. It is really quite a nice car. Along comes the Ghibli and this has caught my attention. I do have a bunch of questions which I am sure that others have asked over and over so please be patient

What I like about the brand is that the Ghibli is not only a very nice car, but it can be a daily driver as well, and that's important to me. My current daily driver is a 2013 Charger SRT8, which is actually another really nice car. But I am looking to kick it up a notch and the Maserati interests me. The Ghibli fills in a space, that $70-80k range with a nice car. But I have a few concerns.

My first is being able to insure it and keep it on the road. I currently have Liberty Mutual and what I like is "bundling" for discounts. I get a corporate discount, a bundling (car and homeowners) discount, and despite my fast cars a safe driver discount as well. So I can keep my insurance premiums in control. I worry about having 1 vehicle insured from someone else (I also own 3 others cars as well).


My second concern is maintenance costs. Today most Maserati dealers are also Ferrari/Lambo dealers that cater to people not only paying $200+k for a car, but outrageous repair bills to go with it. I'm worried about the "$1500 oil change" and other non-sensical bills. Maybe I am acting stupidly, but to me an exotic car dealer selling a $75K car is (a) not going to care about me as a customer and (b) not care if I get shafted later on repair bills.


I understand that a performance car needs more pampering than normal. In the past I also owned a Lotus so I understand the upkeep. Between my SRT Charger, a matching Challenger and a Ducati motorcycle I am well aware of upkeep. But with a Maserati I am completely in the dark. I don't really want to read reviews or watch videos about how the car sounds, etc. What I am interested in is how much will it cost to keep the car in the driveway.


Does anyone on here have any idea of the total cost of ownership will be say over 4 years?

 

[ratti]

Welcome to the forum.
For warranty purposes it's probably best to service your Ghibli at the dealership but you can always try finding an independent shop that specializes in Italian cars from Maserati and Ferrari, which would be cheaper.

You should try speaking to a service adviser at your local Maserati dealer to see what maintenance would cost you annually.

 

[Cupshot]

Maserati offers a maintance plan for the Ghibli retal is about $1700.00 that will keep you going for 4 years or 50,000 miles what ever happens first. After that you are looking at about $250.00 for an oil change on the car.

 

[giuseppeBoise]

Hi Angela, the Ghibli is a different car compared to the previous Maserati. Owning a Quattroporte F1 I can try to tell you the differences. The maintenance cost is relatively high for Quattroporte, GT until 2013. Once a year fluids changes for about 1600 dollars (oil change only was only 250 dollars) and belts, spark plugs, AC etc every other year for 2200 dollars. At the end the average was 1900 dollars a year for owning up to 2013 model. There is also the clutch that needs to be replaced every 10/15K miles and the cost is about 6.000 dollars. F1 gas pump is very famous to fail every 2 3 years for 1500 dollars bill. Driving my Quattroporte in winter with snow and snow tires is possible but I always struggle with the high throttle response that makes my car swinging in the back. The power coming from the rear tires let my car spinning even starting from a traffic light with the second gear 
Now let’s talk about the Ghibli.
No clutch issue since there is the F transmission so very positive maintenance cost saving
No F1 pump related issues
The SQ4 is all wheel drive and the regular RWD with a V6 should have a reasonable throttle response so I believe that 4 snow tires will make the car driving great.
The service adviser is working on the plans but without confirming the numbers we are talking about 500/600 dollars every two years for maintenance. At the end I believe that 500 dollars a year will be the reasonable number.
My car is on the book for next year and I believe someone is getting deliveries this and next week so hopefully we will have the right numbers in a month.
Hopefully this helps

 

[LivinginSanDiego]

I came, I drove, I will buy one for my wife. Bianco Alpi / Nero-Rosso Interior a perfect car for her being an Italian. Test drive for both of us was over an hour and half on all types of surfaces, road types and speeds. The experience is far better than the MB CLS and the BMW 640/650, maybe does not have all the widgets but it is a Maserati. Looking forward to others postings as I learn more and more about the car.

 

[McGrathDW]

I have a lot of the same concerns. Mostly they stem from me also riding a Ducati (1995 900 SS CR) and the quite impressive repair and maintenance bill that comes with it.

I am one of the race few who will not lease. I buy my cars, drive them every day, and keep them for 10 years. I have a long conversation with my dealer, who did his best to assure me the Ghibli would work in this context.

I have to say I'm not completely convinced.

But I'm going to give it a shot as I've totally fallen for the car. If I'm not feeling the service after the first year then I'll find an independent shop (maybe my Ducati guy???) or just take on some of the work myself. Worst case I'll dump it sadder and wiser, but I *really* hope it doesn't come to that.

Delivery in 3 weeks, so I'll let you know my impressions as I progress with it.

 

[mcorf]

Routine maintenance should only be 3 oil changes, spark plugs the 3rd year, and a pollen filter for a 36 month lease from what I am reading. Don't know the price though.

 

[mrpa1999]

And if all else fails and you don't want to pay the enormous costs you can always learn how to do it yourself. Changing oil is probably one of the easiest things you can do to maintain your car. Brakes are another costly replace if you choose to have the dealership do them. Everyone gets nervous when they think of brakes bc it may potentially cost you your life if you do it wrong, however it's almost impossible to screw it up and to replace pads is 15 min per wheel job, rotors and pad job is about 30 min per wheel, all simple stuff and will save you thousands of dollars.

I have a BMW 5, on the Bimmer Forums most guys maintain their own vehicles, it's just what a BMW enthusiast does. There are tons of DIY videos and step by step instructions for virtually every repair out there on BMW. The maserati forum has almost nothing. My guess is most maserati owners have cash, and if you can afford to buy the car to begin with then you can surely afford to maintain it. My thought is that the reason I can afford to buy a maserati is bc I work hard and spend my money wisely, otherwise I would be broke and driving a used Chevy. Those principles still apply here, in no way, shape or form will I even consider spending $2k for an oil changes and fluid top off. These are all things that I will do myself and keep a maintenance log.

You can even get yourself a good oil extractor and remove the oil thru the dipstick. I use this technique on my Mercedes. You simply slide the hose down the dipstick and suck the oil out. Very easy and clean, no tools required. Only thing left to do is change filter and add oil.

Example:

My old BMW x5 a complete brake job, pads, rotors, sensor cost $1200 at dealer. To do the maintenance myself cost $300, using Jurid pads and Brembo rotors. 2 hours of my time, saved me $900.

My guess is the maserati would be about double in costs.

If you still can't wrap your head around this you will need to find an independent garage that specializes in foreign cars. Whatever you do DONT go to any I those drive up Jiffy Lube places. Their oil is junk and do you really want a high school kid under the hood of your car? NO!

In the future I will start to add some DIY guides on simple / routine maintenance items. I assure you that most of you can do this, and furthermore you will actually enjoy it. Who is gonna treat your car better then yourself? No one!

 

[drivingschool18]

Hello
Routine maintenance should only be 3 oil changes, spark plugs the 3rd year, and a pollen filter for a 36 month lease from what I am reading.
Thanks

 

[sverzi]

Angela ! Welcome.
Well I had he same questions before I bought mine.

Insurance was a big thing for me...I had Geico price out the car with the VIN.. Obviously they didn t want to insure that kind of car. ( asking over $650/ month)
Then I decided to get an Insurance broker recommended by my Maserati dealer who combined all my insurances..plus I did the defensive driving course and paid the 6 months insurance fwd... which now ( because of my location and driving history ) less than half of what Geico priced me out ( Now using Progressive) .. Insurances are tricky get a broker on your side.
I also got the maintenance and the wheel and tire warranty got the 3M paint protection etc etc.. ( as I had change 2 sets of tires in the last 3 years from pot holes to nails..etc)

As far as design goes.. and driving the Ghibli..
Dodges...well they are all over the place .. the Ghibli feels a lot more refined and classy and it s 4wd ( SQ4 model).. and its got this "sleeper" feel to it.. which I like.
People don t seem to want to mess with you either nor "race" ( which i like too) , beside few angry Bimmer driver douches...(what s wrong with them btw?!! lol)
Anyway welcome to the forum... People are really nice here.. and Drama free!

 

[LMJS13]

Good morning all, thanks for letting come here. My name is Angela and I am a huge car fan. I became a fan of the Maserati brand from one of my coworkers who has a gransport. It is really quite a nice car. Along comes the Ghibli and this has caught my attention. I do have a bunch of questions which I am sure that others have asked over and over so please be patient

What I like about the brand is that the Ghibli is not only a very nice car, but it can be a daily driver as well, and that's important to me. My current daily driver is a 2013 Charger SRT8, which is actually another really nice car. But I am looking to kick it up a notch and the Maserati interests me. The Ghibli fills in a space, that $70-80k range with a nice car. But I have a few concerns.

My first is being able to insure it and keep it on the road. I currently have Liberty Mutual and what I like is "bundling" for discounts. I get a corporate discount, a bundling (car and homeowners) discount, and despite my fast cars a safe driver discount as well. So I can keep my insurance premiums in control. I worry about having 1 vehicle insured from someone else (I also own 3 others cars as well).


My second concern is maintenance costs. Today most Maserati dealers are also Ferrari/Lambo dealers that cater to people not only paying $200+k for a car, but outrageous repair bills to go with it. I'm worried about the "$1500 oil change" and other non-sensical bills. Maybe I am acting stupidly, but to me an exotic car dealer selling a $75K car is (a) not going to care about me as a customer and (b) not care if I get shafted later on repair bills.


I understand that a performance car needs more pampering than normal. In the past I also owned a Lotus so I understand the upkeep. Between my SRT Charger, a matching Challenger and a Ducati motorcycle I am well aware of upkeep. But with a Maserati I am completely in the dark. I don't really want to read reviews or watch videos about how the car sounds, etc. What I am interested in is how much will it cost to keep the car in the driveway.


Does anyone on here have any idea of the total cost of ownership will be say over 4 years?

I would check the insurance issue. I am in a similar situation with 3 vehicles and other insurance all with Donegal Insurance a PA company. Got call from my agent a couple of weeks after purchasing that they gave me 30 days notice of cancellation because they do not cover any Maserati. No accidents or tickets for 20 years didn't matter. My agent swapped out all my policies with another carrier and actually lowered my premium. I just had to pay new premium and wait for refund on cancelled one but it was a pain. Even looked on Geico site and they listed virtually all manufacturers except Maserati. To continue with discount you just need to move all policies

 

[schmarc]

I got my Ghibli insured through Geico, no problem and actually cheaper than I thought.

Maybe you have to give them a call to get a proposal


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[aznwhip]

Geico $400/6months. $500 deductible. Comp. Your quote seems unnaturally high.

 

[doubledeetob]

Welcome Angela

For anyone with a long-term relationship with a carrier and/or a multi-car discount, I don't believe there is an insurance cost issue with a Ghibli.

The Ghiibli is not a true exotic a la Lambo etc, but would have higher maintenance costs than a 'normal' car of course. As others have stated eloquently there are several sensible options for maintenance - at least for the first 4yr/50k; with imports the costs do tend to spiral after that in my experience

 

[Sharon]

I took my car in for it's first 10,000 service in Dallas and the price tag was $1,500... I wished I had of read the forum then I would have shopped around. Now it's time for my 20,000 mile service and I'm FOR SURE shopping around!

 

[MichaelNJ]

Sharon,

I'd be interested to see exactly what they did and how much each service item was.

 

[mrpa1999]

Wow $1500 for 8qts of oil and a filter. You guys think the prices they charge are crazy??? I disagree, I think you're crazy for entertaining them and paying it! For the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would pay $1500 for an oil change. No joke, your sales tax was higher than my 1st service.

If I recall the 2nd service is once again nothing more than an oil change and some visual inspections. Nothing is actually replaced other than the oil and the oil filter. Possibly a cabin air filter is included too in the 2nd but not sure without looking.

Go buy the oil filter from the dealer for $35 and take the darn car to jiffy lube if you don't know of any local shops. An oil change on a Ghibli is no different than an oil change on a moped. Or simply do it yourself for around $75.

The only reason the dealer charges $1500 is bc they have people who pay it. If you stop buying it, they will eventually stop charging it. Plenty of dealers charge $400 or less. I still wouldn't even pay that though, no f'n way.

To make matters worse, if you have 20k mile on your car the dealer is most def going to hit you w a front brake job, that's a $3000 job in addition to your annual service. I highly recommend you find a new mechanic quick, otherwise you're in for a $5000 bill for brakes and oil. I'm guessing if you're a woman they surely take advantage of you and prey on the assumption you don't know much about what's truly needed.

 

[BigBlu]

Geico insures mine. Rates aren't terrible. I'm in Florida which has higher insurance rates anyway.

Progressive refused to insure the car, which is very weird because they insure Porsches costing $25k-$50k more.

Insurance is hit or miss.

 

[Matthew Sallee]

I got to say I been looking at getting a S Q4 for a couple months now and just reading this post and some other research i am confirm getting one. Defiantly would want to do my own maintenance though. And to think I was about to get an M3.

 

[kns8y]

Parts prices can be surprisingly expensive, and for me owning the diesel model so is servicing. a lot more apparently than the petrol.
As an example i am due to get my front wheel replaced (20" Urano) after hitting the kerb. From reading various views it seems as though its almost impossible to get a match against the adjacent factory finish wheel when their diamond cut, due to the machining process. So as I'm fussy the new front wheel ( the rear even more expenisve as its larger) not a lot less than £800 which is a little over a $1,000 at current exchange rates, plus fitting of course!