Rule of thumb: if it was a $110k car new, it’s going to be a $110k car when it needs to repaired, no matter how old it is. Anytime you’re tempted to buy a car like this, check prices on parts before buying!
@@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106 I’ve done that on every car I’ve ever bought, new or used. Also look at ease of repair. I have walked away from new and used vehicles based on repairability/parts cost.
@@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106 he was referring to people buying the car used at a "deal" since it depreciated so much. How many people have stretched finances beyond their means to buy a "cool BMW" or something only to have it break and be in a heap of trouble when the car needs $5k worth of work on top of the bills they already can't pay.
I just did the cats on an '08. I'm in California so we have to use CARB compliant cats. $1400 each for magnaflow CARB compliant. OEM is backordered, they couldn't even give me a date, the parts guy just laughed when I asked. The customer loves the car and needed to pass smog.
i'm sorry, but when the OEM cats are that expensive, the (any) shop should propose other legal alternatives like aftermarket CARB legal cats manufactured by reputable brands...a quick online search shows Magnaflow CARB complient cats for the Quattroporte for cca1400$ per side. Yes still expensive, but not nearly as 13k + laboure. It would be a shame for such a nice sounding car to go to the scrappers just becouse of bad cats.
Shops like Omega are only interested in using OEM parts with few exceptions. That way they know what to expect when warrantying their repair. They also don’t do welding/exhaust work, so when you bring a car to them, they’re just going to replace parts not weld on stuff/fabricate it.
@@hungryhungryhummer Ok great then just take it to your local muffler shop and boom! you got new cats for a fraction of the price. Thank God Omega isn't the only repair shop.
There is this shop here in southern Oregon only does exhaust and catalytic converter. The guy is also a welder. He probably charge about $750 or $1,000 the most for each after market converter and just custom weld them in on this Maserati. I brought a 2002 Honda Accord there to change out the catalytic converter. He did it in about 20 min and charged me $550 for it! The other auto repair shop I know cannot do it for such short time and charge that $550!
Cata-Clean worked for me. I had a p420 code, catalytic converter operating below efficiency, on an old 96 T-Bird with the 4.6L V8 about 4 or 5 years ago. I put a bottle of that stuff in following the instructions and the light hasn't come on since. I think it works well as long as the cats aren't too far gone.
I've owned my Maserati Granturismo S going on about 7 years now, and put only about 9,000 miles on it. It's been a garage queen, but I sold a couple of cars and now putting it into rotation as a daily. I found this video super helpful. When I first bought it, I was paying $1,600 - $2,400 at the dealer for the annual service which was basically an oil and air filter change. A couple of years later, I started taking it to a reputable Ferrari/Maserati indy mechanic who was charging me $900 for the same service. Last year I took it to the mechanic that does my German cars for around $450 for the same service. This year, I'm just going to do everything myself, rotors, pads, brake fluid, coolant flush, differential fluid, oil, etc. It's a 2010 model and I still have the sticker, which was about $131,000. Carmax is offering me $20-25k for it now with just 25,000 miles. I guess that factors in the ungodly maintenance costs and low demand in the market. Despite being 13 years old and living in L.A. it still starts more conversations with strangers than my 3 year old G63 AMG.
You are correct. Being good at working on your own cars really pays off. I personally love owning Saabs of all generations, but repairs by a shop can be expensive. Doing all the repairs myself makes owning these really nice cars, cheaper than owning anything else besides a 3800 buick.
Hey Wizard - when you get tired of those Kansas winters, you should open a satellite shop here in Central Florida. This way you could spend part of the year in each place (but make here your official residence - no state income tax!) You already have a loyal customer waiting for you!
I’ve replaced the cat in my mk4 Jetta by taking the pipe out, tacking it to my welding table. Then cut out the cat and welded in a generic CARB compliant cat. Works in my smog state, CEL is off and a whole bit cheaper than OEM.
These are great videos. I may look poor in my corolla, but when I need a part which is rarely they are very cheap. Alternator from a private mechanic was $300 including labor out the door. I can handle that on a 14 year old car. Didn't break my budget.
The catalytic converters are the easy part. Just get two of similar size, shape and flow and weld into the stock exhaust. Even OS bungs can be added if needed and not already on the cat. converter. !! Between Ford, Dodge, GM and Toyota a similar size, shape, flow and capacity has to be doable!
I have the hood strut clamp. It's worth every penny. When in a junk yard tool weight means a lot when you have to carry it to the far corner. The clamp is lighter and smaller than the extra pair of vice grips you would need to carry.
Very informative! I’ve got one of these you’ve just given me more sleepless nights. You need a strong nerve and a very lucky pocket to own one of these. I’ve got neither. I took a complete stranger up a fast road in it today. A retired solicitor he was literally blown away. I just thought to myself I paid 8K for it with very reasonable costs so far at Sports Italia Southampton England. What the hell you only live once with no rehearsals in life. I’m-gonna live with it. It’s a great car to own but your always on tender hooks in anticipation of a repair or otherwise. Great video though very honest Respect . There’s got to be something wrong with you to buy one of these ! You guessed it yep there’s definitely something wrong with me. Crazy but I love it. You should be able to give em back after a couple of week’s really. A Fool and his money are easily parted and I’m that fool.
He said its illegal and he probably knows, so I would say it's fine as long as the emission test is passed, but he doesn't do it but he talked about the possibility
@@computercrack Illegal in California - but is legal in most other states. You have to check your own state. AFAIK, such laws -- restricting repair rights -- are strictly state by state.
And how many codes when the ECM throws a fit and turns on the check engine light. No reputable shop in its right mind is going to assume the liability for that kind of hack job.
My 1988 bmw 750il is 35 years old and factory replacement cats are $1,500 EACH (there are two). You can get generics for $100 BUT the high heat the V12 creates is a pretty sure bet you're going to be swapping out those generics in four to six months. Regarding the hood struts, some people consider a $10 vise lock too much money to protect their head that they only value at five dollars.
@@htimmermans1938 My sentiments exactly and unlike the cheapskates, I have NO idea where I will get a replacement head to replace the one I was born with.
That is when you look for quality cats from a company that offers high performance cat.'s for Corvette's or Chevy V8 trucks. You look for cat's from an engine bigger than the one you want to replace. Keeping in mind that $1500 per side beats $13,000 for a set! You would not put on Generic brands everything is relative though. IF done properly by component shop the inspection people would never suspect or spot the difference. You can not have sloppy welds though or anything that looks ghetto. It will work right and not throw any codes. I live a State that does not test emissions and does not have annual inspections but that has not always been the case!
$7000 each, that’s crazy. I don’t begrudge anyone making a profit but this is pure price gouging (not the wizard)can you imagine wizard telling a customer the cats are 7k each, I’d be hiding in my office. Even hoovie would say no to this.
Owning a Quattroporte 2007. Do the maintenance and repairs myself, so total costs are not extremely high. However I owned 2 Ferrari's, for 5 years in total. They were cheaper to own. (Mileage was much lower aswell, so that makes sense) The Quattroporte however is fun to drive, great engine sound and fun to work on.
What are common issues? I also work on my cars and have serviced Porsche’s and Mercedes’. I’m currently looking to buy either a Quattroporte or Granturismo
@@RegionalRadioShackManager same issues as any 12 -18 year old car. But specific: bushings, door latches, window regulators, alternator (lasts max about 120.000km) sky hook shocks, flexible engine mounts and electronic gremlins.
I check the prices for used Quattroportes. That car is basically mechanically totaled! As is the case with other high end cars, if you can't afford to buy a new one, and you can't do repairs yourself, you can't afford to own a depreciated used one.
Bushings and insulators are a wear and tear item. That's not too much of a problem. Although, those type of bushings for those control arms are pricey. As for the cats.. I'd put on some proper race headers and call it a day. Cheaper, make it sound better, and you'll get more power from it. 🙂 Very true. If you can't do the work yourself, don't bother picking up an "exotic" ride. You'll go bankrupt really quick. If you can work on them yourself, the skies the limit
Neo Anderson. If you cannot fix IT yourself, dont buy a exotic cars, you will go bankrupt. You forget 1 thing, you will be saddens and heart broken also.
Those hood strut locks are awesome. I have blue ones so they match the Ford emblem on the vehicles I use them on. I also use one on each side.... because they are also ... ford emblem blue... so reliability is in question.
@@vido4x4 Wizard has commented on that in the past. Most customers don't want to spend any of their budget on hood support struts since they typically do not do any work on their own car and rarely open the hood.
@@vido4x4 most customers don't work on their own vehicle. For some reason we have customers that took them off or they broke off and they got a golf club laying in the plastic tray across the top.
I use a broken adjustable ski pole. You can set it for length and it never drops the hood. Yes its in the way some times but you can move it so easy its never an issue.
Had a mechanic refuse my wood block, cut to size, that held up the hood on my company truck. Was pumped to show me his locks, offered me a pair. Literally fell on his face, almost caught it in time, idk how he didn’t break his orbital dude got nailed.
Wizard man,you don’t have to apologize about the heater.It wasn’t loud anyhow.Your such a cool dude we are not worthy!Mrs.Wizard too ,real cool.You seem like very nice people!!!
Leave the stock converters in place, but install some new aftermarket cars in that straight section of pipe right behind the old one. That should provide enough exhaust cleaning to stop the check engine light, You will also need to relocate the oxygen to behind the new cat
15:14 you pretty much described what happened to my old Aveo; the original cats failed, I replaced them with aftermarket ones then after 5 years of normal driving they failed spectacularly nearly stranding me on the side of the road. (This happened in February 2021 when the big winter storm happened that nearly took out Texas and it delayed my replacements from RockAuto) Then it was on its SECOND set of replacement aftermarket cats when the P0420 CAME BACK, and then I said “screw it” drive it until it dies, and pay for the $2,500 OEM cats when it does die, when a deer finally relieved me of that penalty box on wheels in November 2021.
@@Anonymous______________ which is why whenever my insurance company totaled it from the deer hit, I took the payout and RAN from that car! Now I have a 2006 Buick Lucerne that even after a year of ownership, the feeling that I have a NICE car hasn’t worn off!
Maserati is a front mid engine car. Many of the catalytic converters come out of Russia/Ukraine. Rare metals like platinum and palladium. Besides chip shortages there are converter shortages. Big 3 and German manufacturers still idling plants on/off due to supply issues. Now europe paying 6-10 times energy costs which will be reflected in parts.
Another great Wizard video! One nit-picking point...The blue valve covers were used on the 4.2 while red covers were used on the 4.7. The colorvhas nothing to do with the transmission.
I agree with the others. Use Magnalow catalytic converters. Much less expensive than OEM, they are CARB approved and will pass regulations and tests in any part of the USA
I love that Nova next to it. The Nova police cars of the late 70s were such a joy to drive. Powerful for their time with flat sportscar handling. Even the civilian ones with the sports suspension were a joy. No infotainment, no LED screen, a 2-knob radio you could find and work by feel. No high-price doomsday parts, you can buy a genetic catalytic though they ran better with a test pipe. I'd love to have and daily drive one today in decent condition.
Hi Wizard ! I think you forgot Porsche dealing with expensive parts :( ... that's why I've got a nice 1983 RABBIT GTI :) and not a 944. Thanks for your vids. Patrice from France.
In CA if the MIL light is on, its a smog check fail. So, skipping that cat repair would not be an option there. They let you pass with a pending code but not a stored code.
I really enjoy your videos for a variety of reasons too numerous to list, including the shirts and interaction with Mrs. Wizard. Great stuff and very useful info. Thank you also for your military service. If I have missed details of your military branch and job, I will find it in your videos soon, but please share info if you haven't before.
My nephew is a BMW mechanic and he owned a BMW when he first started working. The BMW spent most of the time for years parked in his driveway because he couldn't afford to repair it even though he could do the work himself and could get the parts at the dealer's cost. Instead, he drove a nice, suped-up Honda. .
It really depends on the year and model. As with any manufacturer, some models are easier to repair than others. To make a blanket statement about BMWs being expensive to repair in general is irritating and without being more specific, foolish. I do not own a BMW currently, but it’s not due to cost or reliability.
Back when I was younger I worked at an import repair shop, people would bring their BMW or Mercedes in then be surprised when it cost a fortune to fix it for the smallest of problems.
9:04 - The drivers side rear suspension, the upper link looks to have a nut that isn't tightened down against the adjustment rod. On the opposite side it looks correct.
I bought a beat up one for 8k. Super low miles. Thought I could make money on it. Nope, took about $8k to sort it all out. I’m going to make some content with it this spring.
Could you explain what is wrong with using after market catalytic converters such as MagnaFlows? It looks like the catalytic converters there would be about $2800, and while I'm sure I'd underestimate labor costs, it is hard to picture that adding up to $10,000. Is there something I'm missing on why that is a no good option?
yeah, even just adapting another cat of a similar displacement engine, I am sure there is all manner of technically and legal reasons but I am not aware of it.
@@TheRealCatof most people here take very good care of their cars. I seen more accidents in Texas because people assume because it passed inspection its safe to drive. But they don't check wheel bearings ball joints or frame rot. As the owner of a 2 ton projectile we should check our vehicles for safety before every long trip.
YESSS continue making these "negative" videos so the values tank again!! I've wanted an M139 QP for so many years.The values need to come back down to earth on these things LOL. Also, my guess is the thermostat was causing the car to run rich and I bet that's what took the cats out.
Coming from a Maserati technician, M139 QP are straight garbage. The M156 QP might not be very nice or competitive in the market, but at least they are fairly reliable and cheap (by Maserati standards) to repair.
@@Passportbroski Oh man where do I begin lol. Their issues can be summed up as the cars being designed by Ferrari so they use many Ferrari parts, then were hand built by Maserati. The parts are extremely expensive and the cars are very poorly built. There is also very little diagnostic information available for these cars, even for me, a dealership technician. The cars with the DuoSelect (aka F1) transmission are a nightmare to diagnose since Ferrari holds all information tight to their chest. Even putting all that aside, the cars just aren't nice. The interiors are not very good, the steering kinda sucks, the suspension gives poor ride quality, the throttle pedal has too much resistance, the radio/infotainment was outdated even in 2003, I could go on and on. In all honesty just get something else.
OK first the converters. I would buy aftermarket high flow cats for 80 dollars on Amazon and have a muffler shop insrall them. Next the bushings I would take the old ones with me to the parts store and find something similar and modify them if I have to. The only parts I would buy from Maserati are parts that are not universal.
@@bw1841 There might be some recommendations on the forums but a little research I know I could find something that would work there just bushings after all.
Hey Wizard. I have heard that MagnaFlow Exhaust co. can probably help you with new custom made converters for that car...Years back, I bought a 3-converter Y-pipe from them, better bends and build quality than OE. really well made and less expensive than OE. Keep it going, full steam.
Front suspension complete bushing set (both sides) is $250.00. Magnaflow makes CARB certified replacement cats (need to be welded in) for around $1k a piece. Just as illegal to fit used cats as it is to hollow them out, for reference.
Magnum tuning offers a 10 year warranty high flow performance Cat (299.00 each) specifically for the 2007 M QP 4.2, not legal in CA. Require welded install site states will not trigger check engine light installed on factory exhaust.. have not tried them but it beats the 13k price quoted here... Mr Wizard.. your thoughts? I have a 2007 throwing a P0420 on bank 1
I had a 2006 QP sport GT, the original cats failed. LARINI in the UK manufacture sports cats which I fitted and are fantastic. I have just checked and the Automatica model is priced at GB £1668 so may be worth checking out!
It's a Maserati with active suspension struts. On a more common vehicle, it's cheaper and faster to replace the strut assembly vs dicking around with a spring compressor. Safer, too!
@@OMGWTFLOLSMH, silencer on the mufflers and if you replace the cats with a straight pipe with the mufflers still intact it is not an obnoxious sound. Especially on this car. This motor with exhaust sounds insanely good. Make a luxury car noisier? You must not be American? Guys have uber load Audi, Mercedes and BMW cars here.
Please Car Wizard, keep the Omega logo on screen during the whole video, or leave it out. It is annoying to see something flashing up every 2 minutes...... But! Keep up your videos, can't wait to see the next one!!
I completely agree with you Wizard, I love how these cars look, but the repair & maintenance has always scared me off, & I've owned some unusual cars, Rj in Oz
The Maserati exhaust sounds very good, my newer Ford Shelby GT350 with flat plane crank, is best sounding exhaust in last few decades. They are also great drivers for the money.
Larini exhaust sytem, full including cats, cheaper than what you're quoting. Just cats to centre are a fraction of the price!! Appreciate that maintaining a Maserati Quattroporte isn't cheap - I know and I daily mine! Even bushings for suspension can be had for better prices than what's quoted. Do more research please.
I have a larini secondary cat delete pipe (the car has 2 pair of cats). For folks who ask why not use non oem - that’s what a muffler/exhaust shop is better at.
Working yourself on your car isn't exactly free. Usually it takes a good while of your time, when you could be ie. making money, electricity, small installing parts/liquids. Also can cost on tools/ tool wear.
I'm sure a reputable exhaust shop could fab up some 200 cell higher flowing cats or get some universal ones from an exhaust manufacturer like flowmaster or magnaflow. I did something very similar to that when the cats in my Boxster and 996 gave up the ghost and they are still able to complete all the monitors for a CA smog.
The shop cannot won't do this fix, but if its a Cat below threshold code.. You can buy O2 Sensor Spacers.. that usually clears the code. $20 for those. This probably wont work in a Carb compliant state they may do a visual inspection. Might try CataClean or some other product. But it will clear the check engine light.
I was sad because I had a check engine cat code, did some research and found out about a $30 product you put on your gas tank and after driving about 25 minutes the check engine went away. I didn’t really think it will work but it did, I even saved the receipt because it had a money back guaranteed. I don’t remember the name of the product but I bought it at Orally’s auto parts in the gas additive section comes in a box.
When Car Wizard said "this thing has THREE boobies," I immediately thought of that scene in Total Recall.. and the look of pure glee on Wizard's face is great!
he is right when he says its Ferrari prices, tried to get a lower control arm for one of those from the dealership. they don't sell u the lower one only, they wanna include the upper one too for the lovely prices of 3400$ before taxes just for one side !!!!!!
I think I'd pull a Hoovie on this one and got the cheep route and put headers and straight pipes on it and re configure the computer . Which would really be a win for the dang thing considering it would run better with less restriction and probably make a lot more power
@@jbphilly1234 If there is no emissions inspection in their state [Florida is an example], they could gut the cats, put them back on and use spacers for the O2 sensors. Completely illegal, but people are doing it.
@@tim3172 Actually backpressure is always your enemy it's never your friend you have mistaken the scavenging effect with backpressure, he is right doing a de-cat and a retune of the ECU would give the car some power all over the rev range.
Not sure if Dave read's these. Dave could you do the "perfect" non auto-tech project car and truck to learn on? Cheap, reliable, parts are aviable and cost effective, design isn't awful, etc. I am thinking like a Honda Accord,/ Toyota Camery/ Tundra... F-150.
girl that worked with me in the contruction field came into some money and got one of these went from a v6 camaro to a mazzi think she kept it bout 3 years before reality kicked in and it kicked hard
If the guy wants to drive up to Weeping Water, NE, Keckler's will build him a street legal exhaust in a couple of hours with universal cats. Wizard, I enjoy when you make suggests to find ways around the over priced parts for the imports. Maseratis are not worth "restoring". I liked your action plan on your Ferrari.
The price for catalytic converters on a Maserati Quattroporte is the highest price I have ever heard for catalytic converters on any car. Catalytic converters on cars are expensive, but most catalytic converters do cost less than that Maserati catalytic converter. However if a person lives in a state that has regular smog checks they will need to replace those catalytic converters.
Dont ever apologize about the atmospheric noise, it gives your show a bit of realism of being in your shop.
Also not nearly as bad as the presenter thinks. I'm sure the shop is loud in person though.
asmr air compressor sound ;)
Rule of thumb: if it was a $110k car new, it’s going to be a $110k car when it needs to repaired, no matter how old it is. Anytime you’re tempted to buy a car like this, check prices on parts before buying!
Bingo. Don't be retarded.
Hard to check for prices of parts when car is brand new. Calling the dealership it's obvious it's gone be pricey.
@@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106 you can go by the track record.
@@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106 I’ve done that on every car I’ve ever bought, new or used. Also look at ease of repair. I have walked away from new and used vehicles based on repairability/parts cost.
@@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106 he was referring to people buying the car used at a "deal" since it depreciated so much. How many people have stretched finances beyond their means to buy a "cool BMW" or something only to have it break and be in a heap of trouble when the car needs $5k worth of work on top of the bills they already can't pay.
I just did the cats on an '08. I'm in California so we have to use CARB compliant cats. $1400 each for magnaflow CARB compliant. OEM is backordered, they couldn't even give me a date, the parts guy just laughed when I asked. The customer loves the car and needed to pass smog.
A WAY more practical solution
I’m in SoCal I just found a “smog guy” to pass 🤷🏽♂️
@@cambee3070 they're allot more strict out here in wine country.
i'm sorry, but when the OEM cats are that expensive, the (any) shop should propose other legal alternatives like aftermarket CARB legal cats manufactured by reputable brands...a quick online search shows Magnaflow CARB complient cats for the Quattroporte for cca1400$ per side. Yes still expensive, but not nearly as 13k + laboure. It would be a shame for such a nice sounding car to go to the scrappers just becouse of bad cats.
Shops like Omega are only interested in using OEM parts with few exceptions. That way they know what to expect when warrantying their repair. They also don’t do welding/exhaust work, so when you bring a car to them, they’re just going to replace parts not weld on stuff/fabricate it.
@@hungryhungryhummer Ok great then just take it to your local muffler shop and boom! you got new cats for a fraction of the price. Thank God Omega isn't the only repair shop.
Great answer or should I say alternative. I've used plenty of them over the years, particularly Catco and Carsound (Magnaflow) and they work great.
Davico offers a rebuild option at less than $300 each plus shipping for this specific Maserati.
Blue covers are for wet sump, red covers are for dry-sump. Coincidentally automatic and automated manual respectively. It is front mid-engined.
There is this shop here in southern Oregon only does exhaust and catalytic converter. The guy is also a welder. He probably charge about $750 or $1,000 the most for each after market converter and just custom weld them in on this Maserati. I brought a 2002 Honda Accord there to change out the catalytic converter. He did it in about 20 min and charged me $550 for it! The other auto repair shop I know cannot do it for such short time and charge that $550!
You might want to try Cata-Clean and see if helps. I have seen it bring back converters that aren't melted down and just have reduced efficiency.
Cata-Clean worked for me. I had a p420 code, catalytic converter operating below efficiency, on an old 96 T-Bird with the 4.6L V8 about 4 or 5 years ago. I put a bottle of that stuff in following the instructions and the light hasn't come on since. I think it works well as long as the cats aren't too far gone.
@@Epotheros YOU NEED TO DRIVE THE CAR ABOUT 50 MILES ON THE HWY TO MAKE THAT STUFF WORK, AND IT DOES.
Wise advice
I've owned my Maserati Granturismo S going on about 7 years now, and put only about 9,000 miles on it. It's been a garage queen, but I sold a couple of cars and now putting it into rotation as a daily. I found this video super helpful. When I first bought it, I was paying $1,600 - $2,400 at the dealer for the annual service which was basically an oil and air filter change. A couple of years later, I started taking it to a reputable Ferrari/Maserati indy mechanic who was charging me $900 for the same service. Last year I took it to the mechanic that does my German cars for around $450 for the same service. This year, I'm just going to do everything myself, rotors, pads, brake fluid, coolant flush, differential fluid, oil, etc. It's a 2010 model and I still have the sticker, which was about $131,000. Carmax is offering me $20-25k for it now with just 25,000 miles. I guess that factors in the ungodly maintenance costs and low demand in the market.
Despite being 13 years old and living in L.A. it still starts more conversations with strangers than my 3 year old G63 AMG.
You are correct. Being good at working on your own cars really pays off.
I personally love owning Saabs of all generations, but repairs by a shop can be expensive. Doing all the repairs myself makes owning these really nice cars, cheaper than owning anything else besides a 3800 buick.
Hey Wizard - when you get tired of those Kansas winters, you should open a satellite shop here in Central Florida. This way you could spend part of the year in each place (but make here your official residence - no state income tax!) You already have a loyal customer waiting for you!
35 degrees this morning in Leesburg.
Then he'll have Tavarish bringing him hoopties.
I’ve replaced the cat in my mk4 Jetta by taking the pipe out, tacking it to my welding table. Then cut out the cat and welded in a generic CARB compliant cat. Works in my smog state, CEL is off and a whole bit cheaper than OEM.
Magnum Performance sell high performance catalysts for the 4.2V8 Quattroporte for $270 each.
These are great videos. I may look poor in my corolla, but when I need a part which is rarely they are very cheap. Alternator from a private mechanic was $300 including labor out the door. I can handle that on a 14 year old car. Didn't break my budget.
Justification.... I paid the same on a 2005 SL500. You’re not forced to look poor bro
The catalytic converters are the easy part. Just get two of similar size, shape and flow and weld into the stock exhaust. Even OS bungs can be added if needed and not already on the cat. converter. !! Between Ford, Dodge, GM and Toyota a similar size, shape, flow and capacity has to be doable!
You mean oem cats from another manufacturer?
I have the hood strut clamp. It's worth every penny. When in a junk yard tool weight means a lot when you have to carry it to the far corner. The clamp is lighter and smaller than the extra pair of vice grips you would need to carry.
Very informative!
I’ve got one of these you’ve just given me more sleepless nights.
You need a strong nerve and a very lucky pocket to own one of these.
I’ve got neither.
I took a complete stranger up a fast road in it today.
A retired solicitor he was literally blown away.
I just thought to myself I paid 8K for it with very reasonable costs so far at Sports Italia Southampton England.
What the hell you only live once with no rehearsals in life.
I’m-gonna live with it.
It’s a great car to own but your always on tender hooks in anticipation of a repair or otherwise.
Great video though very honest
Respect . There’s got to be something wrong with you to buy one of these ! You guessed it yep there’s definitely something wrong with me. Crazy but I love it.
You should be able to give em back after a couple of week’s really. A Fool and his money are easily parted and I’m that fool.
Fabricate generics or cut open the housings and replace with a new similar-sized core, then re-weld. Will probably work.
This is what I've been thinking...Why did he not mention it???
Even in California I have an exhaust guy that can get generics that pass smog pretty cheap
He said its illegal and he probably knows, so I would say it's fine as long as the emission test is passed, but he doesn't do it but he talked about the possibility
@@computercrack Illegal in California - but is legal in most other states.
You have to check your own state.
AFAIK, such laws -- restricting repair rights -- are strictly state by state.
And how many codes when the ECM throws a fit and turns on the check engine light. No reputable shop in its right mind is going to assume the liability for that kind of hack job.
Great Maserati styling. Probably why I appreciate the Infiniti M37 so much. 😎
My 1988 bmw 750il is 35 years old and factory replacement cats are $1,500 EACH (there are two). You can get generics for $100 BUT the high heat the V12 creates is a pretty sure bet you're going to be swapping out those generics in four to six months.
Regarding the hood struts, some people consider a $10 vise lock too much money to protect their head that they only value at five dollars.
Replace the hood struts is also an option.
@@htimmermans1938 My sentiments exactly and unlike the cheapskates, I have NO idea where I will get a replacement head to replace the one I was born with.
@@htimmermans1938 And it's usually only something like $20-30 in parts from RockAuto and five minutes of time.
That is when you look for quality cats from a company that offers high performance cat.'s for Corvette's or Chevy V8 trucks. You look for cat's from an engine bigger than the one you want to replace. Keeping in mind that $1500 per side beats $13,000 for a set! You would not put on Generic brands everything is relative though. IF done properly by component shop the inspection people would never suspect or spot the difference. You can not have sloppy welds though or anything that looks ghetto. It will work right and not throw any codes. I live a State that does not test emissions and does not have annual inspections but that has not always been the case!
$7000 each, that’s crazy. I don’t begrudge anyone making a profit but this is pure price gouging (not the wizard)can you imagine wizard telling a customer the cats are 7k each, I’d be hiding in my office. Even hoovie would say no to this.
Owning a Quattroporte 2007. Do the maintenance and repairs myself, so total costs are not extremely high. However I owned 2 Ferrari's, for 5 years in total. They were cheaper to own. (Mileage was much lower aswell, so that makes sense) The Quattroporte however is fun to drive, great engine sound and fun to work on.
What are common issues? I also work on my cars and have serviced Porsche’s and Mercedes’. I’m currently looking to buy either a Quattroporte or Granturismo
@@RegionalRadioShackManager same issues as any 12 -18 year old car. But specific: bushings, door latches, window regulators, alternator (lasts max about 120.000km) sky hook shocks, flexible engine mounts and electronic gremlins.
I check the prices for used Quattroportes.
That car is basically mechanically totaled!
As is the case with other high end cars, if you can't afford to buy a new one, and you can't do repairs yourself, you can't afford to own a depreciated used one.
Its the same with boats. If you ask for the price, you can not afford it.
I checked the car-part website and there are numerous ones. One looked rather excellent on the interior. Probably mechanically over priced to repair.
Straight piped Maserati’s sound pretty good.
Thank you Wizard!
Bushings and insulators are a wear and tear item. That's not too much of a problem. Although, those type of bushings for those control arms are pricey.
As for the cats.. I'd put on some proper race headers and call it a day. Cheaper, make it sound better, and you'll get more power from it. 🙂
Very true. If you can't do the work yourself, don't bother picking up an "exotic" ride. You'll go bankrupt really quick. If you can work on them yourself, the skies the limit
Car won’t pass emission tests without new cats. I’d put aftermarket cats on it if some can be made to work.
@@fw1421 many states don’t require emissions tests, so you have to sell it to someone in Tennessee, and states like that
@@fw1421 Don't they make 'universal fit' cats. Magnaflow for instance.
Neo Anderson. If you cannot fix IT yourself, dont buy a exotic cars, you will go bankrupt. You forget 1 thing, you will be saddens and heart broken also.
Just run straight pipe. I saws off all my converters and run pipe anyway good or bad.
Those hood strut locks are awesome. I have blue ones so they match the Ford emblem on the vehicles I use them on. I also use one on each side.... because they are also ... ford emblem blue... so reliability is in question.
totally worth the money, i wish i would’ve knew about this. eforr i replaced the hood struts on my RX300 last week lol
Why not just replace the hood struts rather than buy the strut lock tool? (Assuming you own the car and its not a customers)
Scottish the Kilmer cheapskate solution to bad hood struts;
Shove an old man down and take his walking cane to use as a hood prop.
@@vido4x4 Wizard has commented on that in the past. Most customers don't want to spend any of their budget on hood support struts since they typically do not do any work on their own car and rarely open the hood.
@@vido4x4 most customers don't work on their own vehicle. For some reason we have customers that took them off or they broke off and they got a golf club laying in the plastic tray across the top.
It's one of those videos that just brings me back to reality before buying my dream car! But you never know....maybe 1 day ! Beautiful cars tho!!
“ Sounds better than your Mustang, better than your Camaro..” Wizard throwing down the gauntlet right off the bat, lol
I use a broken adjustable ski pole. You can set it for length and it never drops the hood. Yes its in the way some times but you can move it so easy its never an issue.
Had a mechanic refuse my wood block, cut to size, that held up the hood on my company truck. Was pumped to show me his locks, offered me a pair. Literally fell on his face, almost caught it in time, idk how he didn’t break his orbital dude got nailed.
Wizard man,you don’t have to apologize about the heater.It wasn’t loud anyhow.Your such a cool dude we are not worthy!Mrs.Wizard too ,real cool.You seem like very nice people!!!
You can use the lower control arm bushes for the top with a little modification and they last much longer
Hey Wizard & Mrs Wizard, once again, you come through with a great video!!! 👍👍🙂
Leave the stock converters in place, but install some new aftermarket cars in that straight section of pipe right behind the old one. That should provide enough exhaust cleaning to stop the check engine light, You will also need to relocate the oxygen to behind the new cat
15:14 you pretty much described what happened to my old Aveo; the original cats failed, I replaced them with aftermarket ones then after 5 years of normal driving they failed spectacularly nearly stranding me on the side of the road. (This happened in February 2021 when the big winter storm happened that nearly took out Texas and it delayed my replacements from RockAuto) Then it was on its SECOND set of replacement aftermarket cats when the P0420 CAME BACK, and then I said “screw it” drive it until it dies, and pay for the $2,500 OEM cats when it does die, when a deer finally relieved me of that penalty box on wheels in November 2021.
Aveo's are like Cobalt's, they are objectively and measurably terrible in every way imaginable.
@@Anonymous______________ which is why whenever my insurance company totaled it from the deer hit, I took the payout and RAN from that car! Now I have a 2006 Buick Lucerne that even after a year of ownership, the feeling that I have a NICE car hasn’t worn off!
Yep and the JAGELLE is sitting up there sayin just give me some love LMAO
Maserati is a front mid engine car. Many of the catalytic converters come out of Russia/Ukraine. Rare metals like platinum and palladium. Besides chip shortages there are converter shortages. Big 3 and German manufacturers still idling plants on/off due to supply issues. Now europe paying 6-10 times energy costs which will be reflected in parts.
C4 Corvettes did the engine behind the centerline of the front axle also to make it a mid-front engine.
Another great Wizard video! One nit-picking point...The blue valve covers were used on the 4.2 while red covers were used on the 4.7. The colorvhas nothing to do with the transmission.
I bought that hood lock tool off your site for my XJ8, works like a charm.
Your definitley the best on youtube.
I agree with the others. Use Magnalow catalytic converters. Much less expensive than OEM, they are CARB approved and will pass regulations and tests in any part of the USA
I love that Nova next to it. The Nova police cars of the late 70s were such a joy to drive. Powerful for their time with flat sportscar handling. Even the civilian ones with the sports suspension were a joy. No infotainment, no LED screen, a 2-knob radio you could find and work by feel. No high-price doomsday parts, you can buy a genetic catalytic though they ran better with a test pipe. I'd love to have and daily drive one today in decent condition.
RockAuto shows a Davico submit your part for prototype and they will return a new part to specification for $208.79 for the Cats
This was one of the most beautiful body designs, ever. Too bad they're so expensive to maintain.
Hi Wizard ! I think you forgot Porsche dealing with expensive parts :( ... that's why I've got a nice 1983 RABBIT GTI :) and not a 944. Thanks for your vids. Patrice from France.
Boxy is foxy.
In CA if the MIL light is on, its a smog check fail. So, skipping that cat repair would not be an option there. They let you pass with a pending code but not a stored code.
I really enjoy your videos for a variety of reasons too numerous to list, including the shirts and interaction with Mrs. Wizard. Great stuff and very useful info. Thank you also for your military service. If I have missed details of your military branch and job, I will find it in your videos soon, but please share info if you haven't before.
Surely an exhaust shop could build something for a hell of a lot less than 13k!
Funny comment but true.
Put some Honda Cats in the Maserati.
Totally agree here...Come on Wizard....
Correct, someone must have found a way to circumvent high cost items like these.
Its just metal. It's cheap. Mechanics think they deserve to be paid like doctors for their labor.
My nephew is a BMW mechanic and he owned a BMW when he first started working. The BMW spent most of the time for years parked in his driveway because he couldn't afford to repair it even though he could do the work himself and could get the parts at the dealer's cost. Instead, he drove a nice, suped-up Honda. .
Yet people get mad when putting the emphasis on the ease of Asian vehicle maintenance.
He's probably a crackhead, look up the cost of parts online. Not much more then any other vehicle
Where the miles piling up on the BMW.
@That V8 Life I mean if you work on cars all day you grow to resent the ones that give you the biggest pain.
It really depends on the year and model. As with any manufacturer, some models are easier to repair than others. To make a blanket statement about BMWs being expensive to repair in general is irritating and without being more specific, foolish. I do not own a BMW currently, but it’s not due to cost or reliability.
Thank you to Mr and Mrs Wizard ❤️
In my state (SC) we'd find a muffler shop and have them make a straight pipe before the mufflers
Back when I was younger I worked at an import repair shop, people would bring their BMW or Mercedes in then be surprised when it cost a fortune to fix it for the smallest of problems.
Have a feeling a good exhaust shop could throw a set of proper aftermarkets on for way less, maybe even 15%.
9:04 - The drivers side rear suspension, the upper link looks to have a nut that isn't tightened down against the adjustment rod. On the opposite side it looks correct.
Great job Mr and Mrs Car Wizard!
I bought a beat up one for 8k. Super low miles. Thought I could make money on it. Nope, took about $8k to sort it all out. I’m going to make some content with it this spring.
Could you explain what is wrong with using after market catalytic converters such as MagnaFlows? It looks like the catalytic converters there would be about $2800, and while I'm sure I'd underestimate labor costs, it is hard to picture that adding up to $10,000. Is there something I'm missing on why that is a no good option?
yeah, even just adapting another cat of a similar displacement engine, I am sure there is all manner of technically and legal reasons but I am not aware of it.
This is why I live in a state without inspections. Them cats could go to the dogs. 😂
That's not a good thing. I would be too scared driving in a state where people are driving junkers.
@@TheRealCatof most people here take very good care of their cars. I seen more accidents in Texas because people assume because it passed inspection its safe to drive. But they don't check wheel bearings ball joints or frame rot. As the owner of a 2 ton projectile we should check our vehicles for safety before every long trip.
YESSS continue making these "negative" videos so the values tank again!! I've wanted an M139 QP for so many years.The values need to come back down to earth on these things LOL. Also, my guess is the thermostat was causing the car to run rich and I bet that's what took the cats out.
Coming from a Maserati technician, M139 QP are straight garbage. The M156 QP might not be very nice or competitive in the market, but at least they are fairly reliable and cheap (by Maserati standards) to repair.
@@andrewweltlich9065whats garbage about it in your opinion? Make me hate it because I really want one lol
@@Passportbroski Oh man where do I begin lol. Their issues can be summed up as the cars being designed by Ferrari so they use many Ferrari parts, then were hand built by Maserati. The parts are extremely expensive and the cars are very poorly built. There is also very little diagnostic information available for these cars, even for me, a dealership technician. The cars with the DuoSelect (aka F1) transmission are a nightmare to diagnose since Ferrari holds all information tight to their chest. Even putting all that aside, the cars just aren't nice. The interiors are not very good, the steering kinda sucks, the suspension gives poor ride quality, the throttle pedal has too much resistance, the radio/infotainment was outdated even in 2003, I could go on and on. In all honesty just get something else.
OK first the converters. I would buy aftermarket high flow cats for 80 dollars on Amazon and have a muffler shop insrall them. Next the bushings I would take the old ones with me to the parts store and find something similar and modify them if I have to. The only parts I would buy from Maserati are parts that are not universal.
The parts store to buy something similar? Bwahaha! First day worker: What year? What make? What model? The computer wants to know.
@@bw1841 There might be some recommendations on the forums but a little research I know I could find something that would work there just bushings after all.
Hey Wizard. I have heard that MagnaFlow Exhaust co. can probably help you with new custom made converters for that car...Years back, I bought a 3-converter Y-pipe from them, better bends and build quality than OE. really well made and less expensive than OE. Keep it going, full steam.
Front suspension complete bushing set (both sides) is $250.00. Magnaflow makes CARB certified replacement cats (need to be welded in) for around $1k a piece.
Just as illegal to fit used cats as it is to hollow them out, for reference.
Magnum tuning offers a 10 year warranty high flow performance Cat (299.00 each) specifically for the 2007 M QP 4.2, not legal in CA. Require welded install site states will not trigger check engine light installed on factory exhaust.. have not tried them but it beats the 13k price quoted here... Mr Wizard.. your thoughts? I have a 2007 throwing a P0420 on bank 1
I had a 2006 QP sport GT, the original cats failed. LARINI in the UK manufacture sports cats which I fitted and are fantastic. I have just checked and the Automatica
model is priced at GB £1668 so may be worth checking out!
It's a Maserati with active suspension struts. On a more common vehicle, it's cheaper and faster to replace the strut assembly vs dicking around with a spring compressor. Safer, too!
I found the oem drivers side cats for $5,100 shipped. So I am guessing $10.2K for everything. 2 words...STRAIGHT PIPE
Yes, but it’s illegal for him to do it.
@@roydrink, for sure! That is why you leave and have somebody do it. Especially in a light emissions state like Kansas.
Why do you want to spew emissions into the air and make a luxury car noisier? Makes no sense. Aftermarket cats are the way to go.
@@OMGWTFLOLSMH, silencer on the mufflers and if you replace the cats with a straight pipe with the mufflers still intact it is not an obnoxious sound. Especially on this car. This motor with exhaust sounds insanely good. Make a luxury car noisier? You must not be American? Guys have uber load Audi, Mercedes and BMW cars here.
@OMGWTFLOL ok greta 😆
Please Car Wizard, keep the Omega logo on screen during the whole video, or leave it out. It is annoying to see something flashing up every 2 minutes...... But! Keep up your videos, can't wait to see the next one!!
I bet a muffer shop could throw some flowmasters on for a few hundred
I completely agree with you Wizard, I love how these cars look, but the repair & maintenance has always scared me off, & I've owned some unusual cars, Rj in Oz
The Maserati exhaust sounds very good, my newer Ford Shelby GT350 with flat plane crank, is best sounding exhaust in last few decades. They are also great drivers for the money.
Larini exhaust sytem, full including cats, cheaper than what you're quoting. Just cats to centre are a fraction of the price!! Appreciate that maintaining a Maserati Quattroporte isn't cheap - I know and I daily mine! Even bushings for suspension can be had for better prices than what's quoted. Do more research please.
Oh Mrs. Wizard, you're a saint!
I have a larini secondary cat delete pipe (the car has 2 pair of cats). For folks who ask why not use non oem - that’s what a muffler/exhaust shop is better at.
Working yourself on your car isn't exactly free. Usually it takes a good while of your time, when you could be ie. making money, electricity, small installing parts/liquids. Also can cost on tools/ tool wear.
Wizard will hit 1 Million subscribers by the end of 2023, calling it right now
Good honest vid and overview. Like the suspension diag and solutions.
I'm sure a reputable exhaust shop could fab up some 200 cell higher flowing cats or get some universal ones from an exhaust manufacturer like flowmaster or magnaflow. I did something very similar to that when the cats in my Boxster and 996 gave up the ghost and they are still able to complete all the monitors for a CA smog.
The shop cannot won't do this fix, but if its a Cat below threshold code.. You can buy O2 Sensor Spacers.. that usually clears the code. $20 for those. This probably wont work in a Carb compliant state they may do a visual inspection. Might try CataClean or some other product.
But it will clear the check engine light.
I was sad because I had a check engine cat code, did some research and found out about a $30 product you put on your gas tank and after driving about 25 minutes the check engine went away. I didn’t really think it will work but it did, I even saved the receipt because it had a money back guaranteed. I don’t remember the name of the product but I bought it at Orally’s auto parts in the gas additive section comes in a box.
When Car Wizard said "this thing has THREE boobies," I immediately thought of that scene in Total Recall.. and the look of pure glee on Wizard's face is great!
good spotting Mrs.Wizard
At time stamp 9:03 you can see rear tow adjuster arm lock bolt is backed right off
thats wisdom right there if you don't want lots of trouble stay away from the high maintenance italian cars not worth the headache
0:47 That car looks beautiful!
I believe they call that a "front midship" drivetrain layout.
You can also wash the cats with soap and sometimes that works
3D printing should eventually make it possible to replace some of these things locally. Materials aren't there yet, for affordable printers.
he is right when he says its Ferrari prices, tried to get a lower control arm for one of those from the dealership. they don't sell u the lower one only, they wanna include the upper one too for the lovely prices of 3400$ before taxes just for one side !!!!!!
I think I'd pull a Hoovie on this one and got the cheep route and put headers and straight pipes on it and re configure the computer . Which would really be a win for the dang thing considering it would run better with less restriction and probably make a lot more power
@@jbphilly1234 If there is no emissions inspection in their state [Florida is an example], they could gut the cats, put them back on and use spacers for the O2 sensors. Completely illegal, but people are doing it.
I'm not sure which is smarter: "cheep", or assuming that less backpressure = better anything.
@@tim3172 Actually backpressure is always your enemy it's never your friend you have mistaken the scavenging effect with backpressure, he is right doing a de-cat and a retune of the ECU would give the car some power all over the rev range.
Not sure if Dave read's these. Dave could you do the "perfect" non auto-tech project car and truck to learn on? Cheap, reliable, parts are aviable and cost effective, design isn't awful, etc. I am thinking like a Honda Accord,/ Toyota Camery/ Tundra... F-150.
Nice set of cars there, Quattroporte, XKR and the CL55 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
girl that worked with me in the contruction field came into some money and got one of these went from a v6 camaro to a mazzi think she kept it bout 3 years before reality kicked in and it kicked hard
I've always used the good old stick when hood struts failed, regular 3 foot 1x1 from home depot do the trick, of course it sometimes gets in the way
Thank you for pronouncing Quattroporte properly...
You can find parts with the code, from the company which manufactured them or search after size.
If the guy wants to drive up to Weeping Water, NE, Keckler's will build him a street legal exhaust in a couple of hours with universal cats. Wizard, I enjoy when you make suggests to find ways around the over priced parts for the imports. Maseratis are not worth "restoring". I liked your action plan on your Ferrari.
Wizard your a honest man ♂️
Bugger that, go to an aftermarket exhaust maker, get them to build you a complete system
The price for catalytic converters on a Maserati Quattroporte is the highest price I have ever heard for catalytic converters on any car. Catalytic converters on cars are expensive, but most catalytic converters do cost less than that Maserati catalytic converter. However if a person lives in a state that has regular smog checks they will need to replace those catalytic converters.
Another great video from the wizard. Keep it up
You could just weld in a generic converter