nsxt2000
08-16-2009, 06:58 PM
Italian sports cars. They're sweet rides. But don't get in the driver's seat without your mechanic's number on speed dial. Well, somewhere in Colorado, a mechanic is weeping.
A frustrated owner of a cool but unreliable Maserati accepted $3,500 in U.S. taxpayer funds as part of the Cash for Clunkers program — after he couldn't sell the lemon himself. The wildly successful government-run program probably hadn't figured on an Italian sports car getting a bailout, but hey, that's a loophole we can appreciate.
Word of the Euro-car being trashed caused immediate Web searches on "maserati clunker." The Italian wheels were switched out for a used Subaru. That's the spirit. Who needs a car that screams mid-life crisis when you could be driving a station wagon.
For those of you in the market for a rare 1985 Biturbo — described by Weekly Driver as a pristine condition model with only 18,000 miles on it, tricked out with a leather, suede and wood interior — sorry, you're out of luck. Like all cars in the Cash for Clunkers program, this one will be headed to the junkyard and crushed.
Oh, by the way: We'll be bringing our Rolls Royce to trade in next week. Piece of junk
-Mike S.
P.S. - Incidentally, I once owned a Biturbo. Although virtually new at the time, it was nothing but a problem. It always was breaking. It could be running great and park it in the garage. The next morning there would be a puddle where a leak developed overnight or something else went wrong- and always expensive things.
The final straw was after having it serviced one day it was running strong. I took it on the expressway for a test drive and admit to speeding. After exiting I pulled into one of my customers offices for a meeting. When leaving as backing out of the space the steering wheel suddenly started to go around and around, with no imput to the wheels.
Seems that during the service the steering shaft going into the steering box was removed and the mechanic reconnected it using non-tempered bolts. The bolts sheered off, leaving no connection between the steering wheel and the tires! Had it happened moments before it would have been a missle heading down the expressway with no way to guide it.
At that point I sold it to an Iranian - and that's another story for another day...
A frustrated owner of a cool but unreliable Maserati accepted $3,500 in U.S. taxpayer funds as part of the Cash for Clunkers program — after he couldn't sell the lemon himself. The wildly successful government-run program probably hadn't figured on an Italian sports car getting a bailout, but hey, that's a loophole we can appreciate.
Word of the Euro-car being trashed caused immediate Web searches on "maserati clunker." The Italian wheels were switched out for a used Subaru. That's the spirit. Who needs a car that screams mid-life crisis when you could be driving a station wagon.
For those of you in the market for a rare 1985 Biturbo — described by Weekly Driver as a pristine condition model with only 18,000 miles on it, tricked out with a leather, suede and wood interior — sorry, you're out of luck. Like all cars in the Cash for Clunkers program, this one will be headed to the junkyard and crushed.
Oh, by the way: We'll be bringing our Rolls Royce to trade in next week. Piece of junk
-Mike S.
P.S. - Incidentally, I once owned a Biturbo. Although virtually new at the time, it was nothing but a problem. It always was breaking. It could be running great and park it in the garage. The next morning there would be a puddle where a leak developed overnight or something else went wrong- and always expensive things.
The final straw was after having it serviced one day it was running strong. I took it on the expressway for a test drive and admit to speeding. After exiting I pulled into one of my customers offices for a meeting. When leaving as backing out of the space the steering wheel suddenly started to go around and around, with no imput to the wheels.
Seems that during the service the steering shaft going into the steering box was removed and the mechanic reconnected it using non-tempered bolts. The bolts sheered off, leaving no connection between the steering wheel and the tires! Had it happened moments before it would have been a missle heading down the expressway with no way to guide it.
At that point I sold it to an Iranian - and that's another story for another day...