Would You Buy The Cheapest Quattroporte In The USA?

The fifth generation Maserati Quattroporte lived a long life indeed. Surviving from 2002 all the way to 2012 it certainly stood the test of time. As with most Italian cars of any vintage, however, this one had a big issue that Tyler Hoover explains with his latest purchase.

Look beyond the Pininfarina bodystyling and the Ferrari derived V8 was enough to lure anyone in. That was until the gearbox went Pete Tong. The original gearbox offered was called the Duoselect, and was an automated manual much like the E60 M5 he has just managed to rid himself of.

With some pragmatic flexing of the word ‘logic’, Mr Hoover has managed to get rid of one financial death trap by acquiring another. That said he does explain there is a method to his madness. The car featured in this latest YouTube episode is the result of one too many bids at a dealer auction in Florida. Despite its famed gearbox issues, the 2007 model seen here finally rid itself of the Duoselect unit and replaced it with a far more robust ZF counterpart.

In doing so the typical 10,000 mile clutch intervals that cost in the region of $4000 are no more, or so Tyler thought. His example was acquired for just $8800, which for a car utilising Ferrari power is pretty biblical in itself.

Despite boasting enough warning lights to put most Christmas trees in the shadows, upon first inspection the car does seem to function as the episode demonstrates, however we wait with baited breath to see how much damage needs to be done in the next episode where this Quattroporte is handed over to the Car Wizard.

The only faults to be found so far appear to be limited to the satellite navigation cum radio system lacking its code, and possibly more ironically the gearbox that is meant to be so ‘reliable’. With some rather hair raising jolts when cold, hopefully a simple gearbox service may be required. Considering the camshaft variators are known to be made of milk chocolate, the engine appears to be in rude health.

Whilst most of the internet is ridiculing Tyler for his latest purchase, we at Motorious applaud such maverick behavior.

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