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Average Cost Of Rhinoplasty
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Question: I am thinking about trading my Alfa Spider for a Maserati Bi-turbo. The
only thing is that I've heard that the twin turbos are unreliable and
expensive to repair. Could anyone advise if, as a last resort, the engine
can be converted to carburettors?
Answer: I owned an '85 for over two years (20,000 miles) with no major problems.
Never stranded me or failed to start. Performed most maintenance myself
except for the most critical (and most expensive); the valve
adjustment...(The Maserati flat rate manual calls for 10 hours of labor,
plus the cost of the adjusting shims, gaskets, etc.) Around $750 from a
friend who owns a repair shop and owns a biturbo. (Several, in fact) He
usually charges $1200-1800 for the full service, including the valve
adjustment and timing belt.
Oil changes are easy but expensive; $10 for an OEM filter and over 6
(six!) quarts of synthetic only oil. Belts can be found anywhere. Cap
was $30, rotor $15, wires $80....Clutch slave cylinder, $62.00. Upper
cooling hoses kit from MIE was $70! and I could not find matches at any
auto part store.. Gas mileage sucked (13-18) but that was partly my
fault..The sound of that engine effortlessly winding up to 6500 rpm was
one of the sweetest sounding engines I've ever heard.
All in all it was a great car, more reliable than a lot of other makes I
have owned..And talk about exclusivity, in 20,000 miles on the road, I
only saw 4 other Maserati's, a red Merak, a white Ghibli and two
Quattroportes, no other Biturbos. I would (will) buy one again as the
only reason I sold mine was that I live right on the Pacific and nothing
was stopping the rust from appearing and reappearing. (20 miles inland,
my friend has no problems...)
Like the previous post recommended, study up before you buy one...Make
sure it doesn't need a clutch, trans or rearend......
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