Maserati Ghibli review - Reliability and Safety

Even though the Ghibli was all-new in 2014, it uses a lot of running gear that’s been seen in other models. The diesel engine is found in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and other Fiat-Chrysler products for instance, while the platform is shared with the Quattroporte, and will also underpin the next GranTurismo. The eight-speed box is from German company ZF, and has seen service in a raft of rivals, so it should be reliable, too.

The sat-nav is from Garmin, while under the bonnet Bosch electronics are used, plus Maserati offers a comprehensive assistance service should anything go wrong.

That’s all very well in theory, but sadly the build quality is no more than okay – the doors don’t exactly shut with a German-style reassurance, while our diesel test car had noisy power steering and squeaky brakes. The infotainment system revealed a few foibles, too, leaving us with an overall impression that the Ghibli lacks the ‘hewn from solid’ feel of most of its rivals.

Seven airbags, anti-whiplash headrests and a chassis with hot-formed high-strength steels in crucial crash zones were all designed for unbeatable occupant protection from the outset, says Maserati.

The 2017 facelift added a range of new electronic safety features, such as adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, ‘intelligent’ LED headlights, lane keep assist, steering assist and brake force assist.

Euro NCAP was suitably impressed – even before the new driving assistance systems – awarding the Ghibli a five-star crash test rating in its 2013 test. Adult occupant safety was assessed at an impressive 95 per cent, child occupant safety at 79 per cent, and pedestrian safety at 74 per cent.

• Safest cars on sale

This compares favourably to the BMW 5 Series which achieved 95 per cent, 83 per cent and 78 per cent in 2010, and the Jaguar XF which scored 92 per cent, 84 per cent and 80 per cent in 2015.

Warranty

The Maserati comes with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty – par for the course in this sector, and the same cover as you’d get on a BMW or Mercedes. Audi and Lexus limit cover to 60,000 miles over three years.

Servicing

The biggest stumbling point will be servicing costs. Maserati is a prestige brand, so it expects owners to pay prestige prices, and you’ll pay nearly £2,500 for the first three services. There’s no fixed-price service plan on the Ghibli at the moment. 

Potentially troubling too is the dealer network for Maserati here in the UK. There are 17 outlets all told with a national spread that would be fine for a supercar brand. But the Ghibli diesel is aimed firmly at business users who could easily find the lack of coverage a pain.