[HuskerMaser]

First of all, I am kind of an italian car nut. I own a Ferrari 360 Spider currently, and just bought my daughter a 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio for her college car.

My wife drives a 2019 Lexus RX350. And while it is a wonderful, reliable car, I am considering selling it, putting the $$ in the bank, and leasing a new, or possibly even used, Levante.

Questions....

1) I've owned Land Rovers before and we can't do that again. We had a RRS that left us stranded several times. Is the Maser in that category in terms of reliability? I understand it's not a Toyota or Lexus, but I can't have car that I simply can't trust.

2) Can the service work (oil changes etc.) be done by an independent shop I assume?

3) What would the ride and comfort characteristics be as compared to the RX350?

Any other thoughts that I should consider? Thank you everyone!

 

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Hi - sharing my experience in case it help you.

I bought a new Maserati Levante GranLusso 2018 in September 2018. It is a wonderful car to drive, but I guess you probably already know that.

We have had the car serviced at proper intervals at the dealership. We are not rough drivers, actually quite the opposite, we are gentle drivers.

The issues I have seen:

• In Dec 2018, the check engine light came on and they had to replace the spark plugs. (Under warranty)
• In March or April 2020, I had the Service Electronic Throttle control come on. The car was at the dealership for 7-8 calendar days. They replaced the fuel injectors as far as I can recall (see my post here) (Under warranty)
• In Jan 2021, the car kept slipping into neutral when starting and shifting to Drive or Reverse. The car was at the dealership for 16 calendar days. They replaced the turbo as far as I can recall (see my post here) (Under warranty)

Maserati's warranty repair process takes really long because the dealership has to coordinate (or something along those lines) with the Maserati HQ and can only make repairs based on what they are told by the HQ.

Also, I got the tires replaced at ~27000 miles, which is perhaps par for the course.

I hope this helps in some small way.

 

[HuskerMaser]

This is kind of what I was afraid of. Thank you!

 

[EskayJi]

On the other hand, our Levante 2017 August has been in the shop only once. ~10 days. They had to get a new sensor from Italy but gave us a loaner.

We bought a 4 year maintenance agreement and it is serviced by the dealership. It takes a day but they provide a loaner and hand wash the car. Our regular shop will not service it.

We also have a Lexus RX. 2nd one. They drive very different. Lexus drives like a sedan. Levante drives like a race car. I’d suggest driving a Levante multiple times to make sure that you really want a bigger SUV that roars. Our 2007 Lexus LS 460 has more bells and whistles than the 2018 Levante.

The real question is what would your wife be happy driving?

BTW the one negative of buying a Maserati Levante was that AARP Hartford canceled our Umbrella policy!

 

[HuskerMaser]

I think she'd love to drive the Levante, but the intel I am getting is that owners really need to have two of them - one for backup while the other is in the shop. I can't afford two.

 

[Spectrum]

First of all, I am kind of an italian car nut. I own a Ferrari 360 Spider currently, and just bought my daughter a 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio for her college car.

My wife drives a 2019 Lexus RX350. And while it is a wonderful, reliable car, I am considering selling it, putting the $$ in the bank, and leasing a new, or possibly even used, Levante.

Questions....

1) I've owned Land Rovers before and we can't do that again. We had a RRS that left us stranded several times. Is the Maser in that category in terms of reliability? I understand it's not a Toyota or Lexus, but I can't have car that I simply can't trust.

2) Can the service work (oil changes etc.) be done by an independent shop I assume?

3) What would the ride and comfort characteristics be as compared to the RX350?

Any other thoughts that I should consider? Thank you everyone!

I’m well suited to speak to this. I have a 2018 Levante S Granlusso, and my wife a 2018 RX350 FSport.

1. My Levante has 39k miles and has only had an oil leak from a turbo that was covered under warranty. Otherwise, no unexpected issues. It was my daily for about 18 months and has since been my winter car. I’m about to be out of warranty, so long term reliability to be seen. That being said, my wife’s family hauler will always be a leased car under warranty.

2. Dealership oil change was around $700. After that, I went to an independent shop that also services my Aston Martin. They charged me $150 for the oil change. My dealership does not provide loaners, so I’m pretty salty about the dealership experience.

3. My wife does not like my Levante. Ride is more sporty than the Lexus, even though it’s not overly sporty like a sport car. She likes the elevated ride height, smoother ride and quietness of the RX350 over the Levante. My Levante doesn’t quite stack up against the RX350 as far as options either, although that just depends on what you pay for I guess. She has 360 camera, adaptive cruise control that I don’t.