WHY WAIT FOR THE PUROSANGUE?

The flawed but deeply covetable Levante is that rarity: a luxury SUV with soul

Rich smell of leather in your nostrils, sabre-like metal shift paddles meeting your fingertips, howl of a Ferrari-built V6 in your eardrums… You can quickly get used to life with a Levante. Former motor trade man Dave Brown has run two examples of Maserati’s five-seat SUV as daily drivers.

‘Honestly, I’d happily buy another one,’ he enthuses. ‘It drives beautifully and it is a real Maserati at heart.’

While it’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel versions that start from the lowest prices (as low as £30k), you’re looking at £40k upwards for the 345bhp petrol V6. Both are great cars. ‘The diesel’s a good strong engine but the petrol is a nicer drive,’ says Brown. ‘It’s 110kg lighter and a lot of that is over the nose. You feel it into a corner.’

He cautions: ‘Running costs are expensive – it would be wrong for me to say otherwise. The reason Levantes drive so well is a complex suspension set-up, and if the geometry is out it’ll shred tyres [which are readily available but expensive]. If all’s well, expect to get 10,000 miles from a set. But if it were on longer-life rubber and basic suspension, it wouldn’t drive the way it does.’

Servicing is once a year for diesels, every other for petrols. ‘Most independent dealers can’t reset the service light, so you should go to a main dealer for an oil change at around £350,’ Brown says. ‘It’s a big, expensive car, so you will get big, expensive bills in terms of tax and servicing – it’s par for the course.

‘There are a lot of ex-contract-hire cars out there. That’s a good thing; they’ll have a full main-dealer service history. Levantes are very spec-dependent. In the right colour and spec they’re a lovely thing but avoid base cars – plastic inserts in bumpers, small wheels, black sills. Sub-Lusso-trim cars don’t have the metal shift paddles, but for another £40 or so a month, very few buyers didn’t upgrade.

‘Go in with your eyes open, find the right car and budget £2k a year to run it properly,’ Brown concludes. ‘Common sense says you’d put your money in an X5 but it’s a bit soulless…’ The man has a point.