Pretty to look at, but....

[Grant V]

I've loved the Quattroporte since it was launched in 2003 and vowed that one day I would have one as a daily driver.
A year ago the dream came true when I found a 2007 automatic with 14000 km on the clock through the agents in the perfect colour combination - dark metallic blue with cream leather. It's an exquisite car from any angle and only the Italians could come up with something like this. It's deceptively big, easily as big as an S-Class or 7 series, but the design makes it look smaller. It's roomy by today's standards and has the most beautiful detailed interior finishes - the inlaid dashboard (apparently the Riva Aquarama was the inspiration), the alcantara roof lining and sun visors and the delicate grab handles above the doors.
The exhaust note is like a liquid orgasm and the 4.2 V8 spins to 7500rpm - only an Italian V8 can sound like this. I love the way the car blips the throttle on down changes in Sport mode.
The boot is an after thought and is laughably small - I wasn't laughing when I had to put a suitcase on the back seat when I fetched some friends from the airport. They were - loudly!
But the build quality - oh, the build quality! Not that it's put together badly - there are no rattles and squeaks, but apart from the engine (Ferrari derived btw) I think that they've used Lada parts in the car. Within the first three months of ownership the car was on a flatbed back to the agents twice with burst water hoses, one a coolant hose under the inlet manifold in the V of the engine, the second from the waterpump at the back of the engine. Then there was the occasion a few months ago when my other half was on his way back from visiting his parents on their farm and the car went into disco mode 150km from home. Engine light came on, suspension light, gearbox light in all array of colours and hues and got parked at a filling station on the highway. Back on a flatbed to the agents only to find out that one of the injector connections had come loose. Incidentally, he was rescued in the faithful 30 year old Porsche 928 with 440 000km on the clock and 20 year old hoses.
On Friday evening on my way home the window winder mechanism divorced its rivets with a loud bang, and the knock in the left front suspension that has developed over the last three weeks has been put down to worn lower control arm bushes. C'mon, guys, the fecking thing only has 39 000km on the clock?!? Even old C-Class suspension bushes lasted longer.
Of course every one of these little incidents is accompanied by a series of 00000s on the quotation sheet.
I'm wondering if the Italians just can't get it right, or whether the car has been built down to a budget, or whether I've just been unlucky, but I can't help myself and compare it to my old Porsche or 6.9 and think that things have really gone south in terms of quality.
Nevertheless I'll get the repairs done and continue writing out the cheques, 'cause it's till a magnificent set of wheels, albeit that I only see it occasionally when passing the agents.

[nathan]

i agree, then engine noise of these things are one of the best sounds out there!