[scott70]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

Inspired by an episode of "Wheeler Dealers" on cable TV in which they found a bargain Maserati 4200GT with a couple niggling problems (hydraulic shifting servo leaks) that wound up being a beautiful car, I set out to find one for myself. The motor is a 4.2L sourced from Ferrari along with the dual disc paddle-shifted automatic trans (called a Cambiocorsa). The cars sold for $100K new but are pretty much unloved due to lack of reliability and replacement parts cost. I set out on a similar quest for an American Spec Maserati CambioCorsa GT as an occasional-use around town car. My logic may be flawed but I was thinking "if the miles are low and you don't drive it a lot, it shouldn't break down a lot, right?" I checked the usual sources for parts like alternator and starter and they are available and not outrageously priced so I decided to get serious.

I found a 2004 with 46K miles listed on CarGuru's locally for cheap. The pics showed a beautiful silver-gray car that looked incredibly nice for the price so I called the dealer. I even searched the internet for the source of the pics which came right back to the dealer's ad so I assumed they were legit.

Moe (short for Moses I assume) at the dealership tells me "Great car, bought it at auction a while back and can't seem to find a buyer for it. They have a reputation for being expensive to maintain but for a weekend cruiser it is a great car. Everything works, yada, yada." I question fluid leaks and am assured everything is high and dry. Clutch slippage? "Nope we had it dealer scanned and it had 76% clutch life left." CarFax says no accidents but notes frame damage? Moe says "Yeah, it's a Florida car and has some surface rust underneath and the auction is required to note that. Nothing structural, looks like a normal 2004 car underneath."

So I take the 1-1/2 drive into the bowels of Cal-City near the Indiana border with a buddy. We arrive at the lot and walk around looking for the car. Based on the pics it's a Silver-gray coupe. I finally spy the front end and staring back at me is a sandy beige metallic Maserati with headlight covers so sun-faded they are almost brown. I had to laugh to myself that the pics were not even this car. A quick look at the interior confirmed this as the center console bezel in the pics was silver and this one was wood-grain. My buddy who saw the pics says to me "Is this the right car?" I just laughed and said "The pics were somebody's car but not this one."

The paint is sun faded and rough as a corncob with a couple spot painted rust repairs on the roof. I walk around to the passenger side and the wheel arch lip is so badly bubbled from rust underneath you could push your finger through.

Moe, undeterred, says "You want to hear it?" He fires it up and I hear the metallic clanging of the cam chain slapping from a sluggish tensioner building up oil pressure. It's loud like a car with a rusted out exhaust which came as no surprise. I'm listening as the idle is jumping up and down as the A/C condensor keeps kicking in and out like it's out of freon. Moe pokes his head out and says "I know I said everything worked but now the A/C fan isn't blowing. It's crazy, it worked last time it was started." I replied "You sure it doesn't just need a recharge? (the famous line every used car salesman tells a customer when the A/C is fubar)" Moe says "No the A/C is working, you can hear the compressor running, just the fan doesn't blow" I looked at my buddy and said "The fan doesn't blow but the car certainly does. Let's get out of here."

I laughed about it (mostly at myself for running a fool's errand) all the way home.

Pics of "the car", not necessarily the one I saw. I see the dealer took the pics down.

Well at least you've got a sense of humor about it.