The Quattroporte V is a large car and sits at 5,052mm long, 1,895mm wide and 1,438mm tall, so be sure it will fit on your drive or in your garage. Such length could make the front and rear prone to scuffs and scrapes, but most QP owners seem careful and are used to larger cars. Even so, inspect the bumpers for any parking marks and check those expensive alloy wheels while you're at it.
Earliest QPs now 10 years old so check paint well
Only the bonnet and boot lid are made from softer, lighter aluminium, so parking dents hold less fear and are more easily repaired on the doors and wings than for some of the Maserati's alloy-bodied rivals.
Little changed style-wise throughout the QP V's lifetime, with the only major changes coming in October 2008 with a mild facelift. This introduced a new front grille with vertical slats, revised lights front and rear, new door mirrors and a protective moulding at the doors' lower edges.
Any Quattroporte you look at should be spotless and free from blemishes. Retouching paintwork can be expensive and time-consuming to get a perfect match, while corrosion should simply not be an issue on any car, regardless of age. Stone chips are a much bigger concern along the front edge of the bonnet and around the wheelarches, so look closely and budget accordingly for any car with stone rash.
Check the door mirrors fold in quickly and return to their original position as they can fail, especially on cars that have been repeatedly left for long periods when the battery runs out of charge. Rear parking sensors also fail, as does the boot's soft close function, so be sure both work during any test drive. The bonnet safety catch can also stop working, so open and close the bonnet to be sure it's latching properly.
PHer's view:
"My car was finished in Grigio Alfieri, a graphite grey which for me shows off the lines of the car well: many early cars were in silver which does nothing for me. It also came with the optional 19-inch alloys as the standard 18s look too plain in my view."
Paul Stuttard
