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Maserati Recalls Ghibli, Quattroporte Over Damaged Fuel Lines

Even though Quattroporte is one of the sexiest names out there for a luxury sedan, the range-topping Maserati doesn’t quite cut the mustard in terms of reliability. Similar problems plague the Ghibli, which shares the architecture, engine options, and ZF 8HP transmission with the larger sibling.
Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli 17 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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The problem stems from the fuel lines, which could leak according to documentation filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November 2018. In the event the dinosaur juice comes into contact with an ignition source, the car is prone to go up in flames like a 4th of July-sized sparkler.

Even if we don’t take the reliability record of Maserati into consideration, it’s disappointing how such an esteemed automaker hasn’t mastered quality control. Or at least the type of quality control that you’d expect from two models which start at $74,980 and $107,680.

Maserati says “foreign particles” are to blame, explaining that the fuel lines may have been damaged during production. More to the point, what starts as a scratch on the inside of the line will inevitably lead to droplets under the car and an increased scent of gasoline.

No less than 3,110 examples of the Ghibli and 3,191 Quattroporte sedans from the 2014 to 2015 model years are in need of replacement fuel lines, with U.S. dealers instructed to take care of the repair at no cost to the owner. The recall campaign will begin in January 2019, and the operation shouldn’t take more than two hours to complete.

Turning our attention back to how low Maserati can go, even the chief executive officer of Fiat Chrysler acknowledged the House of the Trident is failing.Some significant progress beginning in the second half of 2019 is planned, but so far, Mike Manley hasn’t slipped a word about the turnaround.

Going further back to the Capital Markets Day 2018, the late Sergio Marchionne confirmed that Maserati is going electric in the coming years. The lineup will include an all-electric Alfieri with a three-motor, all-wheel-drive layout. On that note, a D-segment SUV will be launched around 2020 with underpinnings from the Alfa Romeo Stelvio.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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