I have long lusted after owning a Maserati Quattroporte, which to me seemed to be the last (non-Bentley) word in luxury touring cars:
It combines everything I like about cars: exquisite styling, a sumptuous interior and, lest we forget, a Ferrari-derived 3.8-liter V8 engine.
This morning, however, I took an Uber passenger to the airport, and in chatting about cars, I mentioned my yearning for the above Mazza.
“Nah,” was his comment.
“Why not?”
“Quality isn’t that good.”
“It’ll break down every week?” I said in jest.
“Not every week…”
I should point out that said passenger was once a senior exec at Maserati USA.
So much for that dream.
Reminds me of an line I read from years ago: “I own a Volkswagen and a Ferrari. The Volkswagen is faster. It runs.”
“Not every week…”
Because those weeks it’s in the shop waiting for the parts to be made from old Cinzanno signs .
…. and the Ferrari customers get priority by the shop because they are bigger cash cows.
A friend bought a Quatroporte. His experiences were just what your passenger claimed.
This friend, traded the Maser in on a Jag XJ and is very happy.
And you know the Maser is bad when the Jag is a step up.
“My good man, if you cannot afford a heated garage, then you don’t need to be buying our automobile. Good day sir.”
A quote from Ettore Bugatti!
Well, I knew I’d heard it from a snotty car salesman somewhere; I just couldn’t remember the guy’s name.
The Jags are Tata vehicles now.
As the saying goes, Italian cars rust in the catalogue, French cars rust on the drawing board.
What do people expect? Owning a European sports car is like dating a supermodel with a cocaine habit. You may be the envy of your friends, but sure as shit there’s a brutally expensive breakdown just around the corner.
It’s a sad sign of the times that the only company seemingly capable of building a reliable car is Toyota.
I’ve had my VW for over 5 years. It’s never let me down. Only 1 thing got damaged, and that was a drive belt when some loose gravel got stuck between it and a roller through a freak coincidence (which the dealer reported to VW and got told they’d never heard of that happening in the 5+ years that specific model had been on the market at the time).
Similar with the Ford Focus I had years ago, never let me down.
Another Ford I had I got into a crash that totaled it after a year and a half, but that one worked just fine as well up until that point, and it was totalled only because the car I hit had a towing hook that burried itself in the engine.
Just stick to Ford, VW, Seat, and Skoda and you’re golden. Stay well clear of anything Italian or French.
Kim, it’s just verification of the old truism, “Never meet your heroes”.
I’ve driven a Quattroporte. As a motorway car it’s very nice to drive indeed.
So the unreliability issues weren’t cured in the nineties.
Liars. And yes, a punctured dream.
I once had the chance to drive a Ferrari Berlinetta (sp?) a few blocks for a drunken frat guy. Think 1980’s Tom Sellek/Magnum PI car, complete with t-tops. It was the single most uncomfortable car I have ever driven. Seats like concrete, cornered like a tank.