By Jeff Glucker
I spent a week with a Maserati Levante Trofeo. It’s an interesting machine in that it makes fun noises, has strong power, and certainly makes its presence known in that properly Italian way. Even if it’s still a crossover. It’s not a revelatory driving experience or anything like that. And the interior is fine for what it is. But both of those last points are what make it stand out in a shocking way, to me at least. That’s because the as-tested price of this bright green machine is $173,550.
That’s at least $50,000 more than I would’ve guessed. The base price of the Levante Trofeo model is $155,200. And then the Fuoriserie Corse paintwork (here done in Urban Green, which is a weird name for a color) is an extra $17,000.
Even before the paint, the price tag feels a bit high to me. The base Levante, with a 345 hp V6, starts just around $90k. So there’s really nowhere to go but up. And this Trofeo, at least, has a 580 hp twin-turbocharged V8. Still, it’s hard for me to justify the price tag on this when it’s just a few grand shy of the starting price of the Aston Martin DBX, which is a far superior machine.
Regardless, it’s a segment of automotive pricing in which I’m not playing anyway. I can still complain about it, of course. And to me, this one is shocking. What cars are you shocked by with respect to the price?
any Volvo
Rivian R1T
…
Free ones. A guy gave me a “free ‘67 MGB-GT”. I thought no problem, I’ll make it a 24 Hours of Lemons race car.
Yea, $22k and 3 years in I’m still missing this year’s Buttonwillow race.
I know that wasn’t really the question. Just getting it out for fun.
In that vein my son’s 2000 Corolla was bought for $200 in the expectation of needing a $200 ring job taking a single weekend. It ended up with a used engine, and a used transaxle after discovering a broken mounting boss and along with various teething issues ended up costing $1500 and several months of intermittent work.
BMW Z8 always seemed ridiculously costly for what they were. That’s only gotten worse over time.
This is a Honda Passport sized machine?
I can’t imagine a life where a $17K paint choice seems reasonable. Then again, I’m in a financial situation where I could probably figure out how to make a $600 car payment work but I’m driving a a pair of vehicles that did not cross into 5 figures in total.
Pickups always give me sticker shock, an F150 with XLT trim shouldn’t be $50,000