Supra TT vs Maserati 3200GTA

Trying to make a final decision on my wife's car. She had company car for a while but now we have to get her a motor.

I don't want anything boring here as I might drive it as well

Originally she wanted Cooper but I said no f**king way ( 2 reasons - I hate them and can't emagine myself in one in case I need to drive it; 2nd - terrible interior & suspension)

Second choice was Boxster but 3.2 is quite pricey for 6-7yrs car, 2.5-2.7 is extremly slow. Also two seater is totally unpractical as sometimes better two have small coupe than 2 seater.

I was trying my best to offer her Merc CL & Merc CLK - deffo answer is no. Same with M3s. 911 (996) might be an option but to get decent one now you have to spend 23K+. Max budget is 20K but ideally 15-17k.

So after spending a lot of time searching on inet and viewings she said she would consider 3200 GTA (needs auto) Well this is at least something I can imaging myself in in case I need to drive it. I like the look. Question is about the realibility as italians are famous for great engines but poor quality. I will go to test drive a few next week-two. Did anyone had Maserati? How quick it is comp to BPU Supra? I believe they have better traction control than our stock so should be easier to cope with the power.

Any comments from people who had experience with Maseratis are welcome I've been to Maserati's forum but it is almost empty. Everyone says there how great Maseratis are but it seems to me that the only other car they had was Rolls-Royce

The only thing a TVR owner can boast about is that it's probably more reliable than a Maserati. Apart from that, price up some spares and service items and see sense Availability of spares is dire too, even if you are willing to pay ten times over the odds for bits. Try pricing headlamps, rear light units, windscreens and body panels, for example, then price up dealer servicing and clutch and consumables replacement. Residuals are utterly horrendous, I can't think of a car that drops faster. Whle you wait for bits you can watch it rot... If you say the body spares prices are irrelevant as the insurance will pay for them you need to consider just what it takes to write one of the things off. A decent car park bump could easily do it!

The only thing a TVR owner can boast about is that it's probably more reliable than a Maserati. Apart from that, price up some spares and service items and see sense Availability of spares is dire too, even if you are willing to pay ten times over the odds for bits. Try pricing headlamps, rear light units, windscreens and body panels, for example, then price up dealer servicing and clutch and consumables replacement. Residuals are utterly horrendous, I can't think of a car that drops faster. Whle you wait for bits you can watch it rot... If you say the body spares prices are irrelevant as the insurance will pay for them you need to consider just what it takes to write one of the things off. A decent car park bump could easily do it!

LOL.

The only thing a TVR owner can boast about is that it's probably more reliable than a Maserati.

Are u serious?? I thought that TVR is the most unreliable motor in this country (Year ago I've done some research as wanted to get myself Tuscan. I changed my mind after I've spoken to few TVR owners who said that they've been to garage dozen times with their cars during last 6/12 month)

I noticed that a lot 3200's done 50k+ miles in 5-6 years. Does it not mean that they are reliable enough? Or I'm wrong?

are you sure your buying the car for her and not primarily yourself??

What is her current car? Bare in mind that the supra is not only a long vehicle (4.5m long - my previous cars were hatches and its quite a move up in dimensions re: manouvering/clearance and takes some getting used to) but if you want a BPU supra for your wife I am assuming you are aware that a stock TT has over 300bhp and some BPU's supras have around 400bhp and more.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be off with you mate but as a woman into performance jap cars, there are not many of us out there i have to admit, and that kind of power can be a lot to handle in the hands of someone without experience of such a beast - even the N/A can get its back end out and snap at the unwary - even those chaps on here with years of ownership of powerful supra's.

I love supra's and if she wants one I wish her many happy hours of fun driving they are awesome cars and will always raise a smile, but can I suggest she gets behind the wheel herself to see how SHE feels about it, not just you

there are some excellent, well looked after examples for sale here on the forum, happy hunting and to you and your lady

Linda

xx

are you sure your buying the car for her and not primarily yourself??

 

What is her current car? Bare in mind that the supra is not only a long vehicle (4.5m long - my previous cars were hatches and its quite a move up in dimensions re: manouvering/clearance and takes some getting used to) but if you want a BPU supra for your wife I am assuming you are aware that a stock TT has over 300bhp and some BPU's supras have around 400bhp and more.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be off with you mate but as a woman into performance jap cars, there are not many of us out there i have to admit, and that kind of power can be a lot to handle in the hands of someone without experience of such a beast - even the N/A can get its back end out and snap at the unwary - even those chaps on here with years of ownership of powerful supra's.

 

I love supra's and if she wants one I wish her many happy hours of fun driving they are awesome cars and will always raise a smile, but can I suggest she gets behind the wheel herself to see how SHE feels about it, not just you

 

there are some excellent, well looked after examples for sale here on the forum, happy hunting and to you and your lady

 

Linda

xx

thats my girl tell him how it is:innocent:

Thx a lot Linda

She drove my BPU a lot of times without any probs.

She is not really in sport cars but she loves coupes (her best one is new Aston Martin but unfortunately we can't afford one at the moment) and hates 4 door cars or 4x4. I spent a lot of time trying to convince her to get X5 or similar - no chance. I know it is madness to have two sport cars, I wanted something practical. No chance:( She doesn't even want normal Merc C or E class - she tested C200 and said it is too big. CL is too long as well.

For most women style & design is much more important than anything else. If it would be something with style of DB9 or Bentley Conti GT but with 100bhp and at decent price - I would grab it But all nice coupes are powerfull. I'm not worrying too much that she wouldn't be able to cope with such power as she is extremely carefull driver. Obviuosly she is not gonna use all potential of that 300-400bhp (well, I will...sometimes;) ) , basically it is just design choice. But if I have to buy an expensive coupe - at least I want it to be reliable enough to do 5-6k miles per annum. I know that Supra is reliable enough...but two Supras out of two on the driveway...just want to have some alternative once per week:d

Great advice there Linda, spot on

I did'nt think the new maserati's were that unreliable, a friend of mine who drives a clk 230 kompressor, has looked into l8 model Trevor's vs Maserati's & has decided he will go for a Maserati as its more reliable, also less Raw. Is he wrong? I know tvr's look great but are always in the shop.

The only thing a TVR owner can boast about is that it's probably more reliable than a Maserati. Apart from that, price up some spares and service items and see sense Availability of spares is dire too, even if you are willing to pay ten times over the odds for bits. Try pricing headlamps, rear light units, windscreens and body panels, for example, then price up dealer servicing and clutch and consumables replacement. Residuals are utterly horrendous, I can't think of a car that drops faster. Whle you wait for bits you can watch it rot... If you say the body spares prices are irrelevant as the insurance will pay for them you need to consider just what it takes to write one of the things off. A decent car park bump could easily do it!

Another fan of Italian engineering then

I remember the boss of Alfa Romeo speaking on an interview about how obsessed Italians are with design. They go out of their way for products to look good, and that's it. Practicality, durability, functionality are all afterthoughts. Nice-to-haves.

This is not just for cars, but shoes etc. Different mindset.

why not be a two supra family>?

Sounds like you have quite a few options it looks like you are not short of a bob or two!!

How about the new BMW 3 Series coupe or even the older model, you could pick up a lot of car for 15 - 17K. I was behind a 335i last night and it looked mint!!

H.