At least they fixed the sticky buttons by the time the Gran Turismo came out. The 4.7 is the one to buy, but is still pricey on the used market.

 

I've seen 2008 models for $49k lately. Hopefully they will depreciate a bit more so I might be able to afford one, one day. I really like them.
My other choice is V8 Vantage or Ferrari 360, but still don't like cam belt changes. What a pain in the azz and pocket book. And always fearing it will break unexpectedly .

 

All three are ones I would like to consider for my next car too.

 

How does the size of the Maserati compare to the X150? From what I've seen they seem to be much larger cars.

 

2008s look poor and do not have the MC options. if I went with a Maserati id do a 12 or 13 MC package.

fyi the 2006 gran sport coupes are more fun to drive if you ask me, but they have a clutch made of plastic/glass and starting to look dated. for 07,08 XKR look great and no much different than the 12s and 13s but with the MC package id have buyers remorse...

 

My friend has a first year 2008 Granturismo and has the sticky buttons! Headliner is sagging too. Too much parking in the Hawaii sun I believe.

 

No kidding. Only a company like Fiat could continue with the same low quality running gear from a Ferrari down to a Multipla...

Maserati is criticized for using Chrysler running gear on the Ghibli; sounds like a wise choice on Maserati's part. Never seen a sticky button on one of their products.

 

The Maserati is a beautiful car, no argument there, but I think it's one of those designs I would tire of. Both of my daughter said the car looks "weird." Go figure. There there's the crap shoot when buying one. Will I or will I not get a lemon? I wouldn't want that headache. The XKR however, is, IMHO, better looking, has a design I will never get tired of gawking at, much faster, and, knock on wood, appears to be more reliable. As for the exhaust note, the MC is music to the ears, but so is the Jag. I must admit though, I do like the MC's note a little better. Just my 2 cents.

 

I am looking at few....one to add to car collection.

Maserati Gran Turismo Granturismo Convertible Sport CPO Certified | eBay

Sure do like this one....love the color combo.

Maserati Gran Turismo Base Coupe 2 Door | eBay

This might be a bit to old....looks great however.......all clean cars selected..

Maserati Gran Turismo Base Coupe 2 Door | eBay

I am not sure what to do yet.......

 

Rich
You won't be happy with a 2008. Get one with the 4.7 liter engine that came out in 2009 and newer. 30 more hp and has the active exhaust. Those have the oval exhaust tips, not the quad tips. (unless they went with after market tips or exhaust.
Also, try to get the MC shift. It has the Ferrari 430 type gear box with lighting fast shifts. I haven't even confirmed if the early 2008 rev matches on downshift yet. No answer on their forums. They aren't as helpful as this forum! LOL!

 

My understanding is to go 2012 or newer. The search continues.

I have a mint condition 2013 Hyundai Sonata 2.0 Turbo Limited with every option on it and only 5300 miles that I need to sell first. The just sits in my garage under the car cover. It will make a great car for someone. Still has 45,000 miles on the warranty.

My search and research on the Gran Turismo continues.

 

They are close in size

 

drove some time with my friends 4.2 from 2008 Maserati, the standard seats are not fantastic (my private car was a porsche with non sport seats) also the power was there but the car never came alive! Its sure fun and good to drive but somehow you upshift and await the little blast that the cars look let you assume before driving it....it never comes! I've driven it for a couple of weeks and sure the first days its alway nice and fun to have something new. After that it was just a beautiful car and nice sounding car.
Thats my experience with the 4.2 maserati

 

The car is worth it just for the sound alone.

Richard click on the video and drag it to the 2:30 mark.

 

I have to admit, that's a great sounding car!

 

You should have NEVER posted the video. I loved it, the car too.

I guess I may have to take a test drive also.

 

Yep that one is way different than the 2008 you test drove. No active exhaust and 40 less HP, different wheels, spoiler etc.

 

That car sounds great. Got me thinking.... oh no.

 

This is where I am ending up to be very quickly. I have in the past always modified my cars, including my 997 turbo which from the factory was a low 3 second car. I am now at the point where I feel that is meaningless, once you pass 500hp what is the difference, 3 seconds or 4 seconds, whoever reacts faster, accelerates first wins ....

Now it is more important to me to have a visceral experience which you are not getting from most Porsches. I pretty much bought the XKR-S exclusively for the sound it made on all the Youtube videos I watched. It took me about 2-300 miles of actual driving to find out it only makes that sound when you get past, say, 4,000rpm and since then I am trying to get it to make the sound more noticeable inside the cabin during normal driving without buzzing my head off with too much drone.

I look at Maseratis, Ferraris and Astons at car meets and think to myself, the way they sound they are even fun driving slow or rolling or backing into a parking spot ... the Jag is somewhat lacking.

 

Agreed......the Maserati in this video sounds MEAN, real MEAN. I have not heard any Jaguar XKR/XKR-S sound this spectacular. I also agree on the added horsepower. You just can't drive a 500-600HP vehicle on the USA roads like one would want to in a high powered car. Yes, nice at stop lights and stop signs, but what the heck, you can't drive at 100 MPH on USA highways, and really who would want to. Also who wants to get tickets and stopped by the cops and take a chance for loss of license, excessive speeding fines and higher premiums for auto insurance.

Heck, just the other day, I got stopped by a NM State Police officer for doing 53 in a 45 mph zone in my Porsche 981. He didn't issue a warning, he didn't issue a ticket. He just wanted to look at the car. This was unbelievable to me, but he could have written a ticket if he wanted too.

Give me a nice classy car, that has some nice power & pep, luxury, sporty design, and sound and I am very happy.

Thus, I am thinking 2012-2014 Maserati Gran Turismo in coupe or convertible would fill that bill.

I realize some of the feedback here has been somewhat negative, but hard to believe that all Maserati's are considered junk for the mechanical aspect.

The search and thought of buying continues. The search goes on.