Let’s cut right to the chase: buying a used Maserati is not a good idea unless you have deep enough pockets for the upkeep. For those not in the know, they’re sirens. They draw you in with their premium Italian image and sweet songs of “I’m cheap! Buy me!” and then go in for the kill once someone pulls the trigger, whether by way of $400 oil changes, $1,200 brake jobs, or something much worse.
Sadly none of this stops buyers from going for it, as evidenced by a recent sale of a 2015 Maserati Ghibli S Q4 with under 59,000 miles on Cars & Bids. That S Q4 moniker means it has a 400-horsepower twin-turbo V6 and all-wheel drive. When new, this car had an original MSRP of $79,150 according to the window sticker shown with the listing. It also looks as if a dealer was the one trying to get rid of this thing. They owned it for a short time, too, as the description says that it was purchased in September 2023.
Bidding started at just $500. A week and 54 bids later, the winning bid of $16,000 closed the auction. Commentators noted things like how great a buy used Ghiblis are and that reliability fears are “overrated.” But with cars like this, it’s not just the major things that can be a headache — the little things can also turn into major headaches. For instance, in the description of the car, one of the known flaws is sagging door panel upholstery, which is a known issue. Someone in the comments mentioned that it’s a $3,500 repair at an upholstery shop.
Good on whoever won the auction for, you know, winning. But there are so many other cars that could have been bought with that $16,000. Stuff that won’t be a headache to run or have better driving enjoyment. If you still wanted to take a risk but with more power, you could have a previous-gen Maserati Quattroporte on the cheap. This example in Massachusetts is a 2006 with 72,306 miles for just $11,900.
Even fun-to-drive enthusiast stuff can be easily found with that amount of money. The first-generation Subaru BRZ can be had all day for $16,000 and under, and the same goes for its Scion FR-S sibling. Don’t even get me started on the Mazda Miata and Volkswagen GTI. The list goes on and on. But if you really must have a luxury badge to ball on a budget, there are plenty of Maseratis and other questionable used luxury cars for sale out there. Just don’t say we didn’t try and warn you when shit hits the fan.
