2002 Maserati Coupe Review: A $20,000 Exotic Car Bargain 

Clicked this vid and got hit with a $8400 repair bill

Doug’s microphone scratching are louder then the cars he reviews

So my uncle is Jim Drummond, and this was his Maserati. He owned it for a few years before selling it to move overseas. Very cool you have his car now.

We need the “Doug with the dirty knee cap from kneeling in parking lots” era back

Johnny Sack's Maserati! Ginny hasn't rode with him yet. With her knee, she has trouble getting in and out of the seat.

Closing the trunk was personal

2019 Doug: "I will only review perfectly stock cars as they left the factory!" 2024 Doug: "The shift pattern is on a Post-It note in the glove box"

Doug is the type of guy to totally forget General Motors had cruise control on the turn signal stalk across their brands for decades

A classic Doug review would talk about the facts that the F1 transmission needs a clutch replacement every 15K miles but since it's being sold on Cars and Bids I guess that detail was left out...

The 3200 GT featured the very last 100% Maserati engine. In fact, the 3200 GT was the last pure Maserati... It was a 3.2 liter with a twin turbo layout, exactly like modern Ferraris, twenty years before. To me, this was the most désirable of all these bodies, especially with its manual gearbox and the boomerang tailights ❤❤

I never realized just how gorgeous the interiors of these truly are. Absolutely timeless design in and out. Also, I'll damned if that isn't the most theft-proof ignition system I've ever seen.

Historically, in Italy, a spider is convertible that was designed to be a convertible and not an existing coupe without a roof. So in a sense, with the shorter wheelbase, the spider is a real spider.

I remember back in the day, bad sound was a hallmark of Doug's videos - and now it's back!

I little known quirk: The dials on the instrument cluster are made by Jaeger LeCoultre, a very expensive Swiss watch maker.

Johnny Sac's new car with Tony Soprano riding shotgun.

Trunk and gas door release buttons were in glove compartments from many manufacturers for decades, same with turn signal stalk cruise control. You know that but you always mention it like you are surprised.

Remarkable how well this car has held it's value. They were like $20,000 back in 2012. Basically hit their bottom and held it for 10+ yr

One of my Neighbours always has this Car but in a bright blue but with those "Euro-only Tear-Drop Rear Lights" parked outside his Garage through all Seasons, including the harsh Winter here in the Alps and he's driving it almost daily since at least 10 Years. Always made me wonder how a Maserati can handle all of that and apparently stays reliable. It also sounds fantastic and has a different Presence in Person compared to on Pictures or in Videos. Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps

This is the chassis that the Ferrari California is based on. The only one to have is the manual version. I like the "boomerang" tail lights of the earlier version. This car deserves to be way more popular than it is. Thanks.

We love old car reviews. Keep em coming Doug👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Mic was unbearable for this one, watched anyways because I love these things, so unreliable, so terrible, so cool hahaha Of course it’s in “I’m over 70” gold, love it. If I won the lottery I’d drive this around my gated community for hours, maybe try to fit my golf clubs in it.

Cool to see Doug reviewing outside of his dungeon even if it means his mic peaks more than my credit card

The difference between Doug's review of this car (with a manual gearbox) from April 2020 and this one is quite drastic. He really stressed in the old review how the Cambiocorsa was terrible, clunky, unreliable and was to be avoided, was slightly more critical of the interior quality, was a bit more jovial with his commentary on some weird quirks, was more critical of the rear seat space and features (maybe because he used to climb into them back then), and he mentioned how the exhaust not wasn't quite as loud as some later Maseratis. Also in that review he acted less surprised at how much it had depreciated since new, but still maintained that it was an excellent deal in manual form. Now I get that his opinions may have genuinely changed over 4 years, but the fact that he avoided talking about the transmission until 12:46 in this video might say something, even before we get to his claims about it feeling "more mechanical" (I'm won't argue whether he's right or wrong, just that this is a huge change in his opinion). Also he made no mention in this video as to how unreliable the Cambiocorsa is. It's probably obvious why this is, and this is far from the first example. But really is this even a review if he needs to sugarcoat or paper over some of the flaws in these C&B auction cars?

Spare tires are often considered a structural part. They help absorb heavy rear end impacts. So while the donuts aren't quite as good as full size spares, I wouldn't consider it "crappy" or be glad it's gone.

Every gm product in the 80's, 90's and 00's had the multi stock turn signal/cruise control/wipers. That's millions of cars. How can you say that cruise on a turn signal stalk is a quirk? Not at all! Same with the trunk release.... That used to be the standard for decades!

21:54 - 6 years later and the Ghibli is still not safe from Doug's wrath 😂

Love these cars! My dad had an 05’ Maserati GranSport, the more “hardcore” version of this same car. Was as reliable as an eggshell holding a brick, but was so beautiful and sounded amazing!

When Doug said the owner had a diagram of the buttons at 15:06 I was expecting a laminated printout from the Maserati owners manual, not a clumsy hand-written jumble of notes on a loose-leaf sheet of notebook paper!

12:40 GM put the cruise control on the turn switch for more than 20 years.

Cruise control on the turn stalk was pretty standard in the 90s and early 2000s. Maybe not on exotic cars, but my 2002 S10 was the same.

The trunk button and fuel door button in the glove box is a holdover from a previous era. That's valet stuff. Lock the glovebox so a valet also can't steal your gas or whatever is in your trunk

Buttons in the glove box are for safety to be locked in Spider version of the car as you can lock the glove box and leave the car "topless" and it just shares those parts with the Coupe.

The trunk popper in the glove box and cruise control on a stock are normal features for 90's cars. I think Doug knows this. (Maybe it's a quirk for an early 2000's car).

80s gm cars had trunk release button in glove box. Our 03 Tahoe also has also the cruise control controls on the turn signal stalk. So not unusual.

The trunk popper is in the glovebox probably for security. Instead of being able to lock the trunk and glovebox separately, you can do it with a single lock.

I had a 2006 cambiocorsa and it was simply gorgeous! It was definitely a chick magnet in Boston! I loved rolling down the windows, putting it in sport and roaring through the tunnels~that sound was bliss

No one doubts the style, power, cache of Maserati.... They scoff at the repair bills and the WELL known problems the car has.

Every Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda etc have cruise control on the stalk. Nothing unusual and very easy to use...

That dainty reverse selector is also very delicate, easy to break, and impossible to get replacement parts for. I had to 3D print a replacement part for my friend's Coupe. Thankfully that part seems to be holding for now.

My dad traded his 7 series for his friends Cambio Corsa F1 for a single day on my 16th birthday and let me drive. It was a Capristo exhaust and sounded incredible. I would definitely buy my own now with a manual or manual conversion.

Wait, this car has the transmission that Doug said is absolutely horrible and extremely unreliable?!?! He said this in a video from 3 years ago. Let me quote him. “ the most important thing is his car is the transmission. “ Cambio course automatic jerky, unreliable transmission.” “ I keep saying that the automatic was a terrible transmission and let me explain, it was a terrible transmission. Indescribably clunky and awful. Every time it shifted it would lurch like a beginning driver that didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. just a terrible, horrible, driving experience. in addition, the transmission has become extremely unreliable and nobody wants to drive it and nobody wants to maintain it. The worst of the worst, in terms of transmissions.” Those are Doug’s words! And he just breezes over this in this video, doesn’t mention anything about this, probably because he’s trying to sell this car on cars and bids.

Johnny Sacks car 👀

i love the extra crispy sound this vid, ty doug for the excellent sonic experience

The quirks of Italian cars never cease to amaze me. I had a FIAT 500 Abarth when they first hit the states and the only way to unlock the trunk if the car was running was to get inside and close door and open and close the door open handle there was no trunk open button very fustrating.😂

I’ll give you $600. Take it or leave it.

The microphone scratching is going to make me stop watching. It’s unbelievable!

Ghibli is a FANTASTIC car. Amazing, powerful and reliable. Thanks to people like you the Ghibli has depreciated so we can buy them cheap now. There is nothing cheap about new Maserati’s. I love mine!!

Plenty of cars at the time had trunk releases in the glove box. Also, cruise control was on stalks as well at the time.

Oh my God I saw one of these today on the freeway. Flew past me doing about 200 km/h. I wondered what it is, then Doug posted this video. Thanks doug.

Nearly 20 years ago i sat in the back of one of these and the speedo read 160mph. It was awesome, still had more to go Fastest ive ever been

Im gonna give Doug,s mike a Doug score,a very quirky featureless 1!!!

So really Doug is now just doing ad's for Cars and Bids auctions.

I love to see that you’ve come around on these a bit! I’m at 60k miles on mine. Other than a couple sensors, it’s been a great ownership experience. They really do have a special feel to them and there’s plenty of room for a kid or two in the backseat. You can knock 300 miles out in one of these and it’s actually comfortable!!

doug how can you upload videos with mic issues like this lol? i don't do that on my second channel with 20k subs

A few Italian cars of this era liked to be able to lock the trunk independently from the rest of the car. Therefore the trunk unlock button is inside the glovebox that it is also lockable… you could then use a valet key that only opened the driver’s door and the ignition! My dad had a Lancia Delta with the exact same feature and for even folding down the back seats you needed a key! I think it was specifically thought for the Italian mafia, you could stick a body in the trunk and still take for dinner, the mechanic or cleaning the car without worrying about it😂

The trunk button can be locked up in the glovebox. The mirror controls would ruin the beautiful door panels ❤

My dad has a manual 2002 3200GT Assetto Corsa in red, with the boomerang tail lights, and it's such a stunning looking car. I've got fond childhood memories sitting in the small rear seats while the car roared along the road, but it's been a decade since it was last on the road, needs a lot of work done... much like my own italian car, an Alfa 159, needs a lot of work done... 🙊🙈😆 You put up with the headaches because when you walk up to it with an admiring gaze, or when you put your foot down on a fun bit of road and hear the engine growl, the recovery trucks and repair bills are all worth it 🥹

I think Doug has a desk job now, reviewing inside while sitting in an office chair 😊 that's the sign of a great channel. Keep up the awesome vids Doug I enjoy every single one.

Doug you need to fix the mic issue it’s unwatchable with headphones

I have a friend who has one and he's rather afraid to drive it because he's afraid something will break and cost him a ton. And he owns a foreign car repair shop. But I've ridden in it, it's gorgeous and fast, and it tempts me.

Doug I’m European born and trust me many Renault, Peugeot and Citroen has the cruise control on a specific “satellite” behind the steering wheels. Believe or not some recent Renault still have a similar one. If I may this system is not that complicated, there is certainly a learning curve but afterwards it’s pretty practical 😅you can grip the steering wheel very securely and make the changes 😊

My 1989 Caddy has the trunk button in the glove box as well. Class...

i found a way to connect hdmi to the television port of the sat nav on my 98 mercedes CLK. i use it with samsung dex with a mini keyboard with touchpad. i've got google maps and everything. Works brilliantly. So the screens in 2000s cars aren't entirely useless

You can tell Doug is on the younger side. GM had placed the trunk releases in the glovebox, and the CC controls on the turn signal stalk for years. (a'la my 1999 Lumina)

The Maserati coupe my Dad had said Pininfarina on the side. Inside it said leather by Armani. He also optioned the skyhook suspension package (Active Damping). The exhaust was upgaded to a full Tubi system. Later he purchased the Gran Sport model. Different clutch engagement program. Slower off the line. Red light race lost to a supercharged Nissan Frontier. That was the end of that in favor of a SL55 AMG which replaced it. Weird quirk about the trident on the front grill was purposely not centered.

Cruise control on the turn signal stalk was common for GM products in the 70s and 80s. My '86 Chevy C10 pickup had the cruise and intermittent wiper controls on the turn signal lever. My 2006 Dodge Magnum (then heavily influenced by Daimler-Benz) had a 2nd stalk behind the turn signal level for the cruise control, just like the Mercedes models of the day.

Thank you Doug. I always loved the design of this car and good to see the details. My favourite is door open display 😅

One of the nicest tan/beige interiors in a 2000s car. The contrast piping, two tone, and stitching does wonders

Last year, I was looking for a used car under $20k-ish to replace my R56 Mini that had been totaled, and landed on a sweet Focus ST. Well, I also noticed a bunch of these Maserati Coupes (and Quattroportes) on sale too during my search, and many of them were cheaper than my FoST, miles to miles 😂😂

Now THIS is a classic Doug review

Doug you've been doing this for how long and you still haven't learned how to tape down a lav wire?

Many VAG vehicles have cruise control on the indicator stalk so not that strange an idea, maybe just none of the VAG cars sold in North America had it

When I lived in/on Manhattan, the only time I saw these is when one was being towed on a flatbed.

A lot of cars have the trunk release inside the glove box or center console. And I don't know what Doug is talking about about with the cruise on the turn signal... US automakers did it for decades.

Doug doesn't need a sound guy because Doug will still make mad money and people will still watch. We love you Doug, and your unrefined videos!!

He knows so much about the cars he reviews, he really prepares. I wonder how much time he spends prepping / studying. So much better than when thre reviewer knows almost nothing about the car and is figuring it out as they review. This guy is really the best at this.

The boot opening switces are exactly the same in Lancia Dedra. Switch itself and also its location.

Having owned one of these, I can confirm that they are amazing to drive. The engine, transmission and suspension are impressive. The interior is gorgeous. The driving experience is fantastic. Cons and why they are so cheap? A/c stopped working, turned out to be the switch on the dash which was 1k from the dealer. I instead took it apart and discovered it was a cheap plastic shaft behind the knob, which I fixed with jb weld. That was all that was wrong. As you work on it, you find cheap, thin plastic all over the car. The glove box will fall off in your hand, again because the hinge is thin plastic. Speaker covers are thin plastic and so forth. The transmission went out. Turns out again, the trans was fine but a module on the trans went out and that one part was 10 grand. I sold the car. It's wonderful to drive and painful to own.

Alfas of the time had a similar cruise control stalk. Works well in my 156 sportswagon. Those side mirror look a lot like those on my facelift 166 too.

I drove one of these in the mid 2000s. At the time I had a manual B5 S4 with an APR stage 1. Maybe I just loved that S4, but I was totally underwhelmed by the Maserati. Glad Doug sees the charm… but I suspect there’s some nostalgia factor going on here.

Aahhh... I miss my old 4200. Mine was verde goodwood (dark Green) / beige leather. I had an upgraded Tubi exhaust, too. What a sound!

I own a 2002 manual with 28k in miles, it’s my dream car glad to see you’ve come around to the 4200’s Doug!

25:18 That screeching noise is coming from the clutch and may be indicative of clutch / clutch component wear. This is commonly what it sounds like when there's little life left in a clutch.

Hey, I went to school in SoCal with a Jim Drummond. In fact, during that time my dad had a 1968 Maserati Mistral. I would have died for those rear seats in the Gramlnsport because we didn't have any rear seats in that car. Instead, I kneeled under a glass canopy as my parents rode in the two seats, as we did in the early 70s. A different time when people rode in the backs of pickups and and didn't think about physics. My dad's Maserati wasn't a luxury car like this one at all though. It was pure, raw sports GT, with a development of Fangio's 250F F1 car. I'd love to have one of these for a certain nostalgia, but it's not the Maserati I know. But really, I'd go with another Cayman or 911 because I know they'll be relatively trouble free...

I know some will disagree with me here, but I'd rather have a Jag XKR (X150, the 2006-14 one) over this. It's more beautiful, has a much roomier and more usable trunk, the interior is very nice too (especially in its traditional Jag colors and trims), the car feels just as special and above all it's more reliable...the initial 4.2L is bulletproof and in its R version it pumps out close to 420 hp...quite a quick car! Overall the XKR just makes more sense.

Another quirk would be the the rear licence plate placement design is not in accordance with the US sized plates. That's why you can see the soke portion of the licence plate is sticking out of the designed frame.

Buttons for the trunk being in the glove box is a holdover from the 90s. I remember my family had a few different cars like that, but I don't remember what brand they were.

This was Johnny Sac's and then Chrissy's car from the Soprano's!

I drove the Mazi GT with a manual. I felt like it handled like my dad's 07 Jaguar XK or a C5 corvette. Quick and precise while being a tiny bit floaty, too. The Mazi is more GT than sports car.

I’ve always wondered. Does Doug Film the driving portion first, or the quirks & Features first?

Have an E46 with smg transmission and couldn’t agree more about the mechanical feel they have. But you do have to drive it optimally to enjoy it.

I fully expected the big dome light button to turn on the little dome light, and the little one to turn on the big one. Also I'm pretty sure GM did the turn signal stalk cruise control in the 90s as well.

The 2003 VW Passat has the cruise control buttons on the indicator stalk.

had that thing back in 2015, soso fun to drive and just beautiful

I think this is the shortest "THIS" I've heard from Doug. Instead of the usual THISSSSS, this one was more like THISS.

I feel like you had a lot of fun with this review, I hear more jokes and you just being you in this one. I enjoyed it

Fun fact, Giugiaro later recycled the front end design for the 2005 Fiat Grande Punto. I think it still looks good today

Those leathers looks great for 22 yrs old car. Are they new or kept and cleaned very well?

I owned the Maserati Shamal and a selection of different Ferraris, but the Maserati coupe that i drive now is the most satisfying classic Italian sports car i have ever driven. So underrated, for the moment.

Cruise control in the Saturn (Opel) Astra (H) is on the indicator stalk as well.