Boston man buys $9k Maserati, drives 2.7k miles from Phoenix and learns a lot along the way

This Boston man bought a $9k Maserati at auction and drove it 2.7k miles to New Hampshire from Phoenix, Arizona, learning a lot about the car along the way.

YouTuber Waldo’s World purchased a 2009 Maserati Quattroporte S and drove it thousands of miles across the US.

The Maserati came with a 4.7L Ferrari-derived V8 and presented a few red flags to Waldo at first.

But it was listed as drivable, so how bad could it be?

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Taking a $9k Maserati on a 2.7k mile journey from Phoenix, Arizona to New Hampshire

Cars bought at auction can be a mixed bag.

For some buyers, it can be a dream come true – as it was for this North Carolinian who bought a Ferrari on eBay after 34 long years of waiting.

Others find it can be a happy accident, like this guy who went to an auction intending to get a Porsche 944 and came home with a Jaguar XJS.

But there are purchases that aren’t so great, like this Rivian R1T which had been badly damaged in an accident.

So, where would this $9k Maserati Quattroporte S fall on the scale between diamond and dud?

Waldo said that the car had a few red flags, one being the fact that it had five previous owners.

The last owner had only driven the car 400 miles, suggesting they hadn’t been a happy customer.

“As the saying goes: ‘Not all cars at auction are bad, but all bad cars go to the auction,'” Waldo remarked.

There was also the fact that the engine had been reset 30 miles ago, which made Waldo anticipate seeing the ‘Check Engine’ light sooner rather than later.

But first impressions can sometimes be deceiving.

So how did this car do when it came time for a cross-country trip?

How the Quattroporte S fared heading home

Waldo opted to take a longer route to get back to the northeast.

This is because there would be a lack of Maserati dealerships until he got to St. Louis, Missouri.

He didn’t want to risk the car breaking down on the more direct route, without help available for miles.

The southern route would put him in closer proximity to dealerships in El Paso and Dallas, Texas.

He anticipated getting scrutinized by border patrol as he was driving a car with blacked out windows, but he got through with no hassle.

However, the transmission began giving him issues when he was stuck in heavy traffic.

At first, it was advising him to visit a dealer, before declaring that the manual mode was unavailable.

This left the car in ‘limp mode’ and kept it in a lower gear. However, the issue seemed to go away when he reset the codes.

At any rate, he made it back home without any major upsets.

Waldo then summed up his thoughts on the Maserati.

“It has a reputation for very poor reliability, which is why they’re so cheap.

“However, the reason I think this car is a hidden gem is because I don’t think it deserves that reputation.

“I’m not going to say this car will the reliability of a Toyota or a Honda, but will it have the reliability of a Mercedes or a BMW? I think it could.”

Although he gave the cars a positive review, he cautioned interested buyers that parts for the car would be expensive and not easily found.

To see Waldo’s 2.7k miles trip in a $9k car for yourself, head over to Waldo’s World’s YouTube channel.

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