6SpeedOnline - Porsche Forum and Luxury Car Resource - 2005 Bentley GT or 08 Maserati Gran Turismo

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2005 Bentley GT or 08 Maserati Gran Turismo

Hi everyone,
I have been trying to decide between an 05 gt and an 08 maserati for a daily driver. I wanted to know what all of you think about which is the best choice. We live in San Francisco so it will be used quite a bit just driving around the city.

thanks

James

The Bentley not just because this is a Bentley board, it is because the engine and clutch plus the suspension are better suited in the Bentley for the challenges that a city like San Francisco holds. Having been there many times, it is indeed some very interesting roads and quite steep up and down hills/roadways. My biggest concern is the Maserati's clutch and cost to replace it, whereas the Bentley has no real clutch problem on such roads. Add to that, the additional engine torque capability of the Bentley will indeed be of much benefit as will the very large brakes. San Francisco is a great place to live; with wonderful food and excellent support for the fine arts.

having owned several maserati's including a grantourismo, and now a bentley Continental GT. the masser is a more than capable car although the auto box on the 4.2 engine does seem a little lacking (not that an average person would notice), I found the autobox to be a bit searching when you put the foot down.

the masser is a much smaller car than the bentley, so will be easier to move and park, or at least I found the masser easier to move and park than my bentley.

the interior finishes of both cars are amazing, but the bentley will look and feel more of a car.

for an 08, against an 05, the difference in tech will be apparent, the masser will have 30Gb juke box, and the benny will have a 6 cd changer.

best bet would be to get a lenghty test drive of both cars and see what floats your boat more. i'd suggest parking and stop start traffic rather than a blast down a freeway.

my grantourismo never had any reliability issues and was a real head turner of a car, but the bentley is much more refined!

Thanks to both of you for your reply.

1. That is a great idea to get a lengthy drive of both cars and park and stop with the vehicle. I will work on this.

2. I have read that the grantourismo has a ton of electrical problems and also gets flat tires when hitting some rough streets as well as the front bottoming out often. Is this true? Am I going to spend another 30-50k just to keep the car running if I use the car more than my other cars as a main vehicle?

3. I like the way the tourismo looks but I must say the interior seemed very ordinary and the ride seemed very non special. On the other hand, It is a beautiful car and easy to handle and drive.

The bentley, felt more exhilarating and special to me but I must say how shocked I am that at 37 years of age every time I discuss the bentley with friends they all think it is a car for someone who is much older. but what do they know.lol.

4. The salespeople at bentley said they did not know what type of stereo system the car has.. Can this be true? and the maserati has a bose system which was average when listening to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingflow (Post 3143261)

Thanks to both of you for your reply.

1. That is a great idea to get a lengthy drive of both cars and park and stop with the vehicle. I will work on this.

it's mandatory for all the cars I buy, it's too easy just to go forward and at high speed on a demonstration run.

2. I have read that the granturismo has a ton of electrical problems and also gets flat tires when hitting some rough streets as well as the front bottoming out often. Is this true? Am I going to spend another 30-50k just to keep the car running if I use the car more than my other cars as a main vehicle?

my grantourismo had no electrical issues at all, neither did one of my Quatroporte's, but a couple of the other maserati's did have issues, both electrical and mechanical. I've put 40k miles on a maserati in 12 months, with no issues, so they can handle the mileage.

Never had a flat tire through a rough road, on any of them even when I had a very low profile 20" rims on my QP. the stock rims and tires on the Granturismo have a much larger depth profile than a QP Sport GT, but as I say, neither of them had issues with potholes and tire deflations.

3. I like the way the tourismo looks but I must say the interior seemed very ordinary and the ride seemed very non special. On the other hand, It is a beautiful car and easy to handle and drive.

I wouldn't say "ordinary" for either of the interiors of these cars, but each to his or her own.

The bentley, felt more exhilarating and special to me but I must say how shocked I am that at 37 years of age every time I discuss the bentley with friends they all think it is a car for someone who is much older. but what do they know.lol.

they will feel different, the average age of ownership when I got into maserati's was late 50's, it's come down a decade now, I suspect it's getting lower with the 3200 and 4200's becoming more affordable.

The Bentley is (sorry to say) deemed an old mans car, I still have a bit of ribbing with mine and I'm 41 (today), so I know what you mean. a couple of the guys on here are also slightly over 40 (sorry guys). when I bought mine, I looked at getting into the owners club, but decided against it as I thought it was more appropriate for my father in law.

4. The salespeople at bentley said they did not know what type of stereo system the car has.. Can this be true? and the maserati has a bose system which was average when listening to.

The stereo, is a stock item, not sure it's branded or anything, perhaps steven (enjoythemusic) might be better able to answer this. I'm more than happy with the stock bentley system, it's pretty good, although aficionado's might frown at it, it does enough for me.

finally, if you are interested in the maserati, then have a look at maseratiforum.co.uk, it's a board like this, I used to post on there a lot when I was an owner, you will find lots of info there. the guys on there are very helpful, if sometimes opinionated (like everyone)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingflow (Post 3143261)

2. I have read that the grantourismo has a ton of electrical problems and also gets flat tires when hitting some rough streets as well as the front bottoming out often.

It's Italian car run by an Italian company, sorry to say this yet, well... you know. No worries, they love partially grounding ground wires all the time LOL (sorry, kinda an inside joke some here might appreciate).

Quote:

3. I like the way the tourismo looks but I must say the interior seemed very ordinary and the ride seemed very non special. On the other hand, It is a beautiful car and easy to handle and drive.

Must agree, the Bentley interior is superior. Not just in build quality, and i have been to the factory and also a very private tour of the Ferrari facility as well. Bentley simply uses superior materials and techniques imho (my dad is an expert, literally, on the manufacturing and construction of clothing, so i grew up seeing him analyze materials, sewing techniques, etc for many years).

Quote:

The bentley, felt more exhilarating and special to me but I must say how shocked I am that at 37 years of age every time I discuss the bentley with friends they all think it is a car for someone who is much older. but what do they know.lol.

Am not much older than you and the college here, well, the girls know Bentley because the 'MTV Cribs' rappers seem to love them. Still, yes a bentley can conjure up a divide between 'old fuddy duddy' and the rapper class.

Quote:

4. The salespeople at bentley said they did not know what type of stereo system the car has.. Can this be true? and the Maserati has a Bose system which was average when listening to.

The Bentley also uses the multiple amplifier based Bose for speakers, yet as i recall it has more speakers than the Maserati yet i could be wrong. Bottom line is the stereo in the 05 is the same as the 06 here and it is very impressive. You can also remove the 6-disc changer and use an iPod/iTouch via a Dice Electronics unit (see my thread on that via SEARCH function on this board).

Hope the above helps.

Both cars are excellent choices. Both are fairly reliable, capable and both suck gas pretty badly :)

Bentley has a much more potent engine and I would rate it as more bullet proof than Maserati. However, 2005 is older so you'll have a ****ty Nav and no BT. If you can look beyond the Nav and BT, then choice is clear. Forget others that say Bentley is an old person car. They will dream about it after a ride in one.

Prices on the Bentley is really great. 75-85k gets you a clean car around 15k miles. People dump these at dealerships when they see a new car all the time.

If you go with the Bentley, beware that the Bentley SF is a little shady. They will leave work undone and charge you for it. I caught them doing so. If you don't drop $3-5k a year, they think you are not worth talking to.

Maserati in SF and SV are both top notch. No problems there except for the long repair times. They always tell you "parts are coming from Italy".

Quote:

Originally Posted by djantlive (Post 3143560)

If you go with the Bentley, beware that the Bentley SF is a little shady. They will leave work undone and charge you for it. I caught them doing so. If you don't drop $3-5k a year, they think you are not worth talking to.

Sorry to hear that, the Boston Bentley dealer is excellent! Have you sent a written note to Bentley describing the problems with their SF dealer, as the factory/US Distributor should be alerted of dealer problems. If they get enough complaints then perhaps Bentley will choose another dealer to represent them. Again, the Boston Bentley dealership is top notch and are very thorough/honest. Please send a letter to bentley about the problems with their SF dealership when you get the chance.

BTW, the Bluetooth in a 05 can be upgraded for around $1200 by Bentley.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingflow (Post 3142190)

If its just a drive inside the city like San Francisco, then i feel the better option will be choosing 05 GT. what is the price you are going to pay for 05 GT, even the miles too pls.:)

Prior of getting the GT I had an opportunity to drive the grand turisomo about 2 weeks from a friend of mine, I would definitely suggest to get GT over grandturismo especially after picking one up earlier this week, it's worth every penny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamls2 (Post 3216649)

BENTLEY no doubt...

I second that... I'm 43 and love Mine...