2019-10-01_CAR_UK

Chris Teagles

october 2019 | subsCribe To Car aND saVe oVer £15! http://www.greaTmagaziNes.Co.uk

‘The Bentley GT

didn’t do it for me’

CAR reader Clive Morton wanted a serious upgrade from his

audi a6. so how’s he got on with a maserati gr a nTu r i sm o?

you can get early

high-milers for £20k

i was running about in a leggy old

audi a6 allroad a year ago, and

decided to treat myself. i fancied

something smart and quick, my

wife didn’t want anything too

flashy, and we’ve got two grown

kids, so rear seats were essential.

The Porsche Panamera and

bentley gT didn’t quite do it for

me, and then i started looking

at early maserati granTurismos.

They’ve got a 4.2-litre Ferrari V8,

a lovely understated Pininfarina

design and 2+2 rear seats. The

granTurismo came out in 2007, so

you can get early high-milers from

£20k [and it’s not much more for

early low-milers], but they still look

quite modern.

there are a few scuffs

Quite a few were finished in black

with red leather, which i found a bit

challenging, and then i spotted my

car at belgravia garage. it’s a very

early 57-plate, but it’d only done

20,000 miles as a London car

that’d done weekend trips to the

golf club. That also means it has

a few light marks on the bumpers

from parking scuffs. They’re on the

to-do list, as are the broken rear

parking sensors – they’ll be about

£160. The tan leather interior is

really clean, though there are

marks round the rear cupholders

between the rear seats – i’ve

seen a few like that – and the

infotainment can stick on its home

screen for a while.

it can turn into a

proper sportscar

There are now more than 30,000

miles on the clock. it’s a great car

to drive – i love the rich sound

and power of the V8, it handles

beautifully, and it turns into a

proper sports car when you select

sport mode and manual mode.

but it’s also been reliable and

incredibly comfortable on longer

trips, and my son who’s 6ft 2in can

do a couple of hours in the back,

no problem. i take it into London

once a week, and when we drove

it to inverness from the midlands it

was just perfect.

impressive service

i had it serviced at 28,000 miles at

a Ferrari and maserati specialists

called shiltech in Loughborough,

on the recommendation of a friend

in the trade. i was planning a trip

to Cornwall, which would have

taken me past the service interval

and they couldn’t fit me in the

week before, so they opened on a

saturday specially, got a few guys

on the car immediately and sorted

everything. i thought that was

really impressive for a first-time

customer.

£900 spent so far

it wasn’t the biggest service, but

i paid £570. They said i needed

the tracking doing – it does pull

a little to the left – and that they

couldn’t find anything wrong

when i mentioned a strange noise

from the rear suspension, just

one of those quirks. other than

that, i’ve paid £280 for a rear tyre

after a puncture, and £50 for an

unpainted headlight-washer cover

when the original blew off.

next? a newer one

but i’m really happy with

ownership so far, and if i did sell

it, i’d probably just buy one of the

newer ones.

this

much i’ve

learned

The owners’ club has

a Facebook page,

which has been

a great source of

advice.

1

I wish my car had

the aux lead – it was

added for the next

year of production.

2

I get 320 miles,

maybe 360, to a tank.

The best I’ve seen is

24.5mpg on a long

run to Scotland.

3

Your cars

One

ye ar on

from a6 allroad
to maserati
grantursimo.
logical progression
be damned

143

One year intO

a beautiful

rel atiO nship?

If you’re featured

you’ll get pro shots

of your car – emaIl

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