Parts Pricing

[btoran]

it's not just fiat prices that are silly on ebay. i was looking for a wood shift knob and some clown has new and used ones from a variety of cars for $1,500 and up. caveat emptor.

[georgeramos]

Sellers can ask whatever they want. As buyers we can make offers or let them keep the stuff. They usually start high (this is an "exotic" italian car remember) and a year later would probably pay you to come schlep the crap out of the garage (in the case of a non running motor say)

Thats why the forums exist, so enthusiasts and honest vendors alike can buy, sell or trade with each other. There are a LOT of cheap spiders out there and each one has a LOT of useable parts but if someone has taken the time to strip a car down for parts that is a LOT of work so they should see some profit unless it is just for the fun and hobby like us.

[bradartigue]

Absolutely Alan!

The big bumpers really don't do much for the front end (apart from the obvious protection issue), and the chrome ones are a nightmare to retrofit.

It feels much more like the original design to run without.

As I've said before though - I don't trust Texas drivers... So the rear one stays

The no-bumpers crowd is always defending their choices. Do you have a chin spoiler? Not part of the original design. Door bumpers? Not original. Oh I could go on and on and on. But it is all in good humor, it's your car.

[juvius]

No thanks. As noted, I think people are lunatics to pay what they do, but it's up to them. As to your other point, however you choose to disgrace yourself is entirely up to you. Put panasports on it if you really want to up the cheese factor, or mount little mirrors on the front of the bumpers.

Another cool point lost!!!

[toplessexpat]

The no-bumpers crowd is always defending their choices. Do you have a chin spoiler? Not part of the original design. Door bumpers? Not original. Oh I could go on and on and on. But it is all in good humor, it's your car.

That we are (always defending) and yes it is (always in good humor).

... and please do go on and on .... where's my map to Baton Rouge again?

[BEEK]

an idea of parts pricing from the past,

1n the late 1990's and early 2000's these are the prices we were getting for used parts

2.o engine 700.00
2.0 rear end 700.00
early spider chunk 350.00
good used 5 speed 450.00
steering box 125.00
idler arm 75.00
used 2000 crossmember 100.00
1800 intake manifold 35.00
used door 100.00
2000 tail light 100.00
speedometer 25.00


we were buying cars for 100-300.00 the salvage business was awesome

[narfire]

Brad, you'll be glad to know my Ansa muffler is no longer hanging low....

(but will probably crack and fall off now... )
Chris

[SoFlaFiat]

Oh crap... We are moving on to chin spoilers?
Disgracefully happy with mine...

[fiat218]

Brad...most of the prices on new parts don't bother me. I agree that buying the cheapest isn't buying the best. However, it is the price for used parts on Evilbay and Craigspissed that I'm primarily talking about. People forget we're buying USED parts not 24 karat gold jewelry. A used motor that the seller doesn't know if it runs, has no history on it, and it has been "sitting around for years" is not worth $650. One used visor with a small tear in it is not worth $95...yet I see these types of prices all the time. I don't want to call anyone out who might be on the forum but there are some great examples on Evilbay right now.

One of my Spiders (rust free) cost $450 complete and was running within hours of buying it. The other Spider with very, very, very minimal rust cost me $400 and I was able to drive it. Both had clean titles and no accidents and were complete. From parts pricing for used parts, I figure I could get about $4K per car minimum IF people actually paid these kinds of prices for used parts.

I could sell u 24 k gold parts

[bradartigue]

The no-bumpers crowd is always defending their choices. Do you have a chin spoiler? Not part of the original design. Door bumpers? Not original. Oh I could go on and on and on. But it is all in good humor, it's your car.

That we are (always defending) and yes it is (always in good humor).

... and please do go on and on .... where's my map to Baton Rouge again?

An ignorant, veiled threat or humor? Your car wouldn't make it here in time anyway, we're relocating this week back to Atlanta.

My honest opinion on all of this is if you're keeping the cars on the road it's a hell of a lot better than what was happening to them - perfectly good cars with minor problems heading in droves to the salvage yards. As noted above, salvage parts were dirt cheap in the 90's but it was because they came from cars that should have been saved. Search for Troy McKaskle's 1608 and you'll see pictures of what people were breaking in the 90's for salvage. Sad. The guy had been breaking the cars for years - DRIVING them to his shop and dismantling them, selling the bodies for scrap. Good California bodies.

[V12StealthHunter]

As I've said before though - I don't trust Texas drivers... So the rear one stays

I think when someone rear ends you with their F850 Queen Ranch edition it really has no significance to the number of fractures in your spine whether your 2000lb Fiat had bumpers or not.

[johndemar]

As I've said before though - I don't trust Texas drivers... So the rear one stays

I think when someone rear ends you with their F850 Queen Ranch edition it really has no significance to the number of fractures in your spine whether your 2000lb Fiat had bumpers or not.

In the US of A in 2014 that is correct. The bumpers on our cars make zero difference in an accident. There was a recent post on Facebook that showed a spider rear ended. The tube bumper was in great shape, but everything above it was crushed like a tin can. The bumpers are for decoration only. Maybe in Europe they are still functional.

[toplessexpat]

Well - I'm leaving the bumper on the back anyway!

Brad - totally in good humor

[spidernut]

My Fiat bumpers are the same height as my Honda bumpers, my Ford Escort bumpers and my minivan bumpers. The bumpers were designed for 5 mph and slower collisions and not designed to protect you against a collision with the modern high riding, soccer mom-driven SUVs. SUVs and pickups bumpers sit higher than any of my 6 vehicles and the bumpers would be useless in an accident against them. So do I remove them too? Uh, that would be no!

The large bumpers are heavy. They don't compliment the cars like the original smaller bumpers but aren't really as horrible as many make them up to be (see below). They serve a purpose and without them your car will sustain greater damage in an accident under the circumstances for which they were constructed.

I personally like the look with or without the bumpers. Either way these are great looking cars. Compare our bumpers to these:

The Triumph Spitfire bumpers look like a battering ram:


You think the Fiat bumpers were heavy? Check out the infamous Ford Pinto:

[btoran]

pintos needed lots of armor to protect from exploding gas tanks.