Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo

[JPolen01]

Have you guys seen the new M5 on the Grand Tour Eboladrome? It was insanely fast. 2 seconds slower than the M4 GTS, a second slower than the Boxster S, and a second faster than the M3. All through a traditional auto.

[Goodspeed]

Saturday was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary.  They're the stubbornly-nice type who never want anyone to do anything nice for them, but even still, the usual gifts/flowers/dinner in a ritzy restaurant weren't going to suffice.  I got the idea that we could make things a bit more fun with a cool car in the mix, and set off looking at various traditional rental outlets to see what was on offer.  I figured a luxury sedan of some sort would be just the ticket to transport my parents & brother to dinner.

And then, I remembered that Turo was, somehow, a thing.  Now, I kinda get how AirBnB is a thing - if you've got a vacation home or city apartment or something sitting idle for much of the year, why not make it a rental property and treat it as such?  I can see making that mental disconnection. But cars, especially nice cars - I could barely wrap my head around why anyone would toss the keys to any, let alone a prized automobile to any schmuck off the street.  My thinking:

1. You've got an extra hand-me-down PT Cruiser or similar that has taxes & registration paid for, needs nothing desperately, and before you can be bothered to sell it, you're having a go at using it to make you some bits of money

2. You've got a car, maybe even a nice one, that serves as your second or third vehicle, and if you rent it 2 or 3 times a month, there's your car payment taken care of.

I suspect the latter is 90% of the reason why you see some cool stuff on Turo, allowing the owner to ball for low or perhaps even no cost.  Even still, I just couldn't see myself desiring a car and making the decision to allow total strangers to use it regularly.  The thought of someone scratching the exterior.  Dragging their nails across the trim.  Venting their wet farts right into your seat.  My god how do people do it.

But, thankfully for me, some do. I long-ago picked up on the fact that my parents always ooh & ahh whenever they see a Maserati (traditionally, this would always happen when we'd visit Tyson's for dinner & see one of FoW's Ferrari/Maserati displays), so I used the manufacturer filter to zero-in on the marque, and to my surprise:  Chris's almost brand-new Ghibli appeared:



2018 Maserati Ghibli Nerrisimo edition (1 of 450).  A tick over 3400 miles on the clock.  Chris was a very pleasant guy who also happens to have a Porsche Cayman (I think it was) and a Range Rover on Turo - and a couple normal family cars - so I think he's firmly in the latter category. I put ~130 or so miles on it on the highway, surface streets, and twisty back roads in Loudoun/Fauquier counties.



I was definitely curious to see what this car was all about.  Maserati is very much on the outer-fringes of my thought when it comes to cars - I barely remember the brand exists until I catch sight of rows and rows of them off Rt. 28 when I drive past Ferrari of Washington.  Oh, and I do still think the Granturismo has one of the best exhaust notes ever:



I was going to specify "the ~2008 Granturismo", but as I type this, a quick search led me to the fact that this car is still in production largely unchanged today.  If it still sounds that good, it's probably not a bad thing.  But I digress.  It was going to be a chance to figure out just what Maserati, the rich stepson at boarding school of the FCA family, has been up to as of late.

This Ghibli was the standard RWD model with the sport package afforded by the Nerissimo package, and the standard twin-turbo V6 with 345hp.  That power figure probably landed with a resounding "meh" in 2018 (the hotter S model makes 404) - but I didn't even check up on the stats until after I gave the car back.  It didn't feel slow - for a 4,000+ lb car, it scooted along just fine.  Flapping the paddles in M mode (ZF 8 speed) gave crisp, clean shifts and it made excellent noises while doing so with Sport mode activated (suspension firmed and exhaust valves opened).

But, being a Maserati, I knew it was going to do the stoplight dance with extra acoustic theater thrown in just fine.  I wanted to see how much parts-bin FCA DNA I could feel out during the drive.  Was this a stretched Dodge Dart with a hot motor?  Did it have bizarre Italian quirks and features® like all small-batch/pre-merger & conglomerate Italian cars are famous for, or was the Maserati trident bent to the will of corporate overlords?  Why does it smell like cologne in here, was that Chris's doing or is there a spritz bottle of Aqua Di Gio installed at the factory while someone plays a violin in the background?

Just about the only thing I could recall reading somewhere about the Ghibli prior to renting this one was that its switchgear was borrowed from Dodges.  I always felt like the whole switchgear parts-bin callout was silly - I want my buttons and stalks and dials to be legible and easy to use.  If they're all of the above in a Dodge, I couldn't really give less of a crap if they're carried over into my $90,000 Maserati.  Do people really complain about this sort of thing?  They worked fine.  The interior overall was a very nice place to be.  I had no idea where the car ended in front of me - I generally have very little experience with new cars (look at my signature), but the little annoyances that I have felt in newer cars largely melted away as I drove.  I didn't care about the high windowsill or huge vision-blocking A-pillar.  This car became my Italian hunting lodge in the Alps as I drove along.  I was sitting on my favorite leather couch, having a fireside chat with my family over cognac as we barreled down the parkway.  Out of my way peons.  Look upon my fender portholes and weep.



The handling was equal parts good and bad, from different perspectives.  The steering wheel was wonderful to helm, thick and comfortable in the hand.  The steering feel itself was also sharp and weighty.  But this was all artificial - the Ghibli will not be overly-hurried.  It's like if a wallowing hippo had a sports mode.  It'll make you feel like you're properly hustling it, but you'll also never forget that there's 4,000+ lbs battling it out with physics and it's definitely on the softer end of the spectrum.  Still, perfectly adequate for street driving.  It appears from pictures that the non-S models got smaller brakes, and the 20" wheels of this model were almost on the verge of looking too-small (I can't believe this is what we've come to).  The ride in both regular and Sport mode were both very good, even over rougher sections of pavement.  The change between modes didn't feel all that different to me, but my brother remarked that he could definitely feel it in his seat-pants.  I'm not sure what the wheels are on the hotter S versions - 21s? 22s? I feel ill.  But they do make the car look even better:



Oh yes, the looks.  I really quite like the Ghibli.  It's doing the GrrRRRrrRR LOOK AT ME I'M SO TOUGH design language that everyone is doing now, but it really is understated in person.  It's classy.  Look now at this 2019 Toyota Yaris:



If that....(fuck)....if that car could talk, to back up its image, it'd probably sound like Pee Wee Herman took a swig of helium & is challenging you to fight, during recess, next to the monkey bars.  The Maserati is a thug in a tux, or more like the crime boss who looks at you from behind his crime-factory desk and with a smile and a nod could have all of his thugs in tuxes murder you (unless you're John Wick)



At the end of the day, here's what I think: it's really, really hard to buy a shit car in 2019.  There used to be a huge gulf between a Kia and a Mercedes in 1995, 2005, hell just a few years ago.  Now we have Stingers eating C-class lunches.  But people still need to find things to complain about, especially bloggers and journalists.  The window of opportunity for things to complain about has gotten so much narrower and fine grained lately as a result.  This turn signal stalk doesn't feel right, they say.  50 years ago you were lucky if the turn signal stalk didn't impale you in an accident.  They've been figured out and have all worked and felt just fine for the last 40 plus years.  I don't like this ambient lighting temperature.  The screen menu is haaaard.  This cupholder needs to be 5mm to the right.  As someone who daily drives a 15 year-old car by choice, and who can go to the google and find 37 articles that poop on the Ghibli for one microscopic reason or another, lemme tell you: Modern cars are ALL AMAZING*.  They're built really god damn well, they're safe as hell and if they're done right as a whole experience - and I believe the Ghibli is - you don't even think about how you can't really see out of the thing after 5 miles.

*just don't buy some shit low-buck GM product or really anything at the bottom of the lineup barrel, save your $ until you can step up or get some CPO hotness from a year or two ago.  You'll be fine.

I loved the Ghibli.  Partially for the reasons above, it didn't feel like a bad car, like a hobbled or parts-bin car - probably because most modern Dodges and Fiats and Alfas and what have you are all perfectly good enough cars.  We should all want more than good enough (I'll take my Ghibli over a Charger, please) but we must do better to recognize the absurdity of how narrow many automotive complaints are today. There were minor annoyances, sure, that were I the actual owner might annoy me over time.  I also don't dare to dream of what it must be like to care for a Maserati out of warranty, but in the there & then it was a very, very nice car.  It was very good to excellent at everything I asked it to do, and most importantly, my parents loved it.

I was sad to hand the keys back to Chris after the anniversary festivities, and I did at least a quadruple take looking back at the Ghibli as I left.  I'd rather quite like to own one, or something like it, one day.  Though I do feel, as I blended back into NoVa traffic and my usual life, that there in my 2004 Lexus - my car's turn signal stalk felt just a bit better than the Maserati's.

[Jake]

A. This is amazing, good for you for doing that for your folks' 40th. Very cool.

2. I think my beef with the Ghibli is that in that kind of price bracket, there are other cars that feel slightly less parts-bin-y and thus a bit more unique. So yes, I'm one of those people who doesn't want Chrysler minivan window switches in my $90k sporty Italian car. I have the same problem (one of maaaaany) with Tesla. It's a unique, bespoke brand and you use E-Class window switches and gear selector? Come onnnn. (This is a beef I've had for a while, with many a car)

III. The theatrics must be fantastic. I feel like that's something they've always been good at. Good write-up and sounds like you had a lot of fun!

[D_Eclipse9916]

Always enjoy the half-dozen of you who can put together a well-written story; color me jealous.

Modern cars are amazing, unfortunately maybe too much? I was bored to tears of my E92 with what should have been a fantastic engine, with high lateral grip; that still managed to have a comfortable ride and great ergonomics. I was just so nonplussed about it; I wanted my E36 M3 back. Now the ghibli; its just ugly. Ha!

[JPolen01]

 Now the ghibli; its just ugly. Ha!

Correct.

[Senor_Taylor]

 Now the ghibli; its just ugly. Ha!

Correct.

I see very few redeeming qualities about this car for the price point.

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[ScottyB]

thanks for the great read Goodspeed, and congrats to your parents too.

you make a great point and DJ kind of hit on it too - modern cars are amazing, sometimes to the point of their own detriment. they do everything so well, at such a reliable state, that the performance models run a real risk of becoming kind of boring.

[Goodspeed]

I feel like there is definitely a trap that's being created by just how fundamentally good cars are now. They're all becoming slight variations on a shared theme - bigger, more power, safer. More technologically dense & assisted.

The Ghibli in that sense was no exception - it moved out pretty good, but after the initial torque hit you might as well have been knitting on your couch. There was very little drama or excitement, you had to be rapidly approaching triple digit speeds to feel any sort of thrill.

That's why it worked best mashing it between stoplights and making a racket while doing so. I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor but I don't doubt that a comparable Audi/BMW/Merc is a "better" car, unique switchgear and all. They're just so common, so un-special. And I still think the Ghibli looks better.

Still, were it my money on the line, and I wanted a sharp, luxurious sports sedan with a twin turbo V6 - I probably couldn't make the honest case for not spending 1/2 as much on a Stinger GT.

[Apoc]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

[Ken]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

kinda wanna know the story for this? 

"No Stelvia Quadrifoglios thanks to a guy named David"

[.RJ]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

what a bunch of pretentious douchebags

[Apoc]

That assessment is based on what?

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

Sounds like a bunch of jerks and an event I don't want to go to.

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[Goodspeed]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

Sounds like a bunch of jerks and an event I don't want to go to.

That gave me a good laugh.  On the surface I could see how that'd come off as them being a bunch of elitist assholes, but in reading the full list I can see that they're having a laugh and can definitely see where they're coming from.

Of note: this is the well-known event Exotics at Redmond Town Center, not Cars & Coffee at Redmond Town Center.  In this light, an event dedicated to exotics/truly rare stuff should be able to police what gets shown.  Kind of like how if I make a painting at one of those group paint & wine nights, & I'm very proud of it - that doesn't mean I get to hang it in the Louvre.  In any big metro area there's a dozen general C&Cs you can visit, too.

I feel the struggle a bit because I'm getting concerned for the health of Katie's C&C here in the DC area.  It's attracting a lot of tire-squealing, overly-revving dolts in their 1 of a million cars to the event now, and I'm sorry - I get being very proud of your car, but I didn't wake up at 6am on a Saturday to head all the way to Great Falls to see a whole row of 2012 Camaro SS's with punisher skull stickers all over them.  It's okay for special events to exist, for objectively special (rare, historic, exotic) cars. 

Sidenote: I'm fixing on being in WA late this summer and may try to swing by that event.  I've always enjoyed the pics from it.

[Apoc]

I think Goodie got it right. What may not be obvious, and is more apparent in their social media postings, is a vast majority of their content is written tongue in cheek. Combine that with an event that's designed for true exotics and looks to minimize on the asshatery or people who think their car is more special than it is, you get what looks like pretension. It's really just a bunch of volunteers looking to put together an event for really nice cars... and they get some REALLY nice cars on a routine basis; likely because they're rigid.

[CaptainHenreh]

I feel like Maseratis are just italian cadillacs, is that wrong?

[.RJ]

I feel like Maseratis are just italian cadillacs, is that wrong?

[Jake]

I'm probably too smitten by the rarity factor 

You couldn't even get in my local exotics meet because they're too common.

https://www.exoticsat.com/criteria

The website is cute, but running through the (admittedly, funny) rules of what can show up and where and when is exhausting. And any group who claims "we just aren't PC" is probably a bunch of dicks. You can be un-PC, but if you have to say it, it's just an excuse for you to be rude or otherwise terrible to interact with.

Just my experience so far. I'm good with Katie's being the giant mash-up of everything. It lends an element of reality to the whole thing, having some 24-year-old's shiny Mustang GT that he adores next to a steam-powered-whatever from the 1910s.

[Apoc]

"You won't let my old BMW in? I didn't want to go anyway!"

- three people in this thread

I've actually never been to the event, but by most accounts it's a laid back, friendly atmosphere with hundreds of cars worth 10s of millions of dollars. It's interesting people have such a strong reaction to their website.

[Senor_Taylor]

"You won't let my old BMW in? I didn't want to go anyway!"

- three people in this thread

I've actually never been to the event, but by most accounts it's a laid back, friendly atmosphere with hundreds of cars worth 10s of millions of dollars. It's interesting people have such a strong reaction to their website.

Triggered