What is my car worth?

[blakevan]

I know you can't tell without actually driving the car but I would like to get my expectations in line before I start to negotiate the sale of this beauty. This is a nice driver quality 1982 Fiat Spyder about 60,000 miles on the odometer. I have replaced the timing belt, water pump, engine mounts, master cylinder and booster. The PO put new suspension, tires and exhaust about three years ago. There are some oil leaks but this is a 1980s Fiat. The paint is flat but once polished it has a nice original shine to it.

I know there is a range but when I look on line they seem to vary from $500 to $10,000. I know what I paid for it and how much I have spent but that doesn't matter I guess. What matters is how much is it worth to someone else and at some point I will just keep it.

Picks can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/38159687@ ... 068028920/

[mscafide]

Polish the paint, clean and repair the interior including the black liner for the top. Clean the engine and compartment.

FIX the rust. Find a good detail shop to do most of it for you. Not a cheap detail shop, a good one. I'm sure your paint is a clear coat and the clear coat is thin. DON'T let some idiot with a buffer burn through it.

It looks like you have a good starting point and it would not cost very much to make it much better. It would be more attractive making it easier to sell and for a better price.

Mike

[AriK]

The car looks in pretty good shape but you have enough oil on the ground to make a buyer run fast. If the amount of oil shown on the ground is not relative to what your car leaks, then take another photoshoot of your car in a different location. If that oil is a true reflection of what your car leaks, i would try to sort that out in order to attain maximum value of your vehicle.

[blakevan]

That is not oil that is water off my trash cans that I moved to get the car out of the garage. There are small quarter size drops after sitting for a month or so. I guess I should have waited for a nice dry day to pull it out.

[AriK]

Presentation is everything when trying to sell your car. You briefly mention oil in your ad and that's the first thing i noticed and i'm not the buyer. You know what to do now. Happy selling!

[Frog2Spider]

What's my car worth?

Great question, wish there was an answer.

Just this week I've seen a '79 in excellent condition for $12,000. The seller states that all the car needs is a paint job and new upholstery. Then I see a '81 that has just had a body off retoration, including a rebuilt motor with all related documentation for $8,900 OBO! If it weren't in Chicago, I'd be all over it!

There is a old saying in the car world.
'Your car is not worth one cent more than what someone is willing to pay for it'.

It is amazing what a $100 professional detail job can do to the looks.

Good luck!

[vandor]

If it truly has only ~60k miles, than that is a big plus. Because most people don't know much about cars, low mileage is king, even with 30-40 year old cars.
I think a nice, low miles Spider should be $6k and up, possibly way up. Back before the crash of 2008 very nice low mileage Spiders were going for $12k on eBay.

[DieselSpider]

Every low mileage old car I ever saw was or shortly became a basket case unless it was meticulously maintained on a time schedule and treated like a car being taken out of long term storage every time it was driven after a long period of inactivity. Too many who inherit Grandpa or Grandma's old car that has been sitting in the garage for years if they can get them started take them out and drive them like they stole them before selling them creating a bigger mess for the next person to deal with.

The worst case was when I was given a 1962 Ford Falcon with only a few thousand miles on it and it needed a complete rebuild. All the grease years ago had lost its wax and oil leaving only the gritty residue from the pressure additives behind taking out all the bearings from the limited use it saw. The engine oil had plugged the oil galleries and just about everything in the engine was totaled even the ends of the push rods were just about completely worn off. The standard transmission needed rebuilding since the lube had not been changed as did the rear axle. Coolant and brake fluids had not been flushed every 2 years either so the radiator was history as was the heater core and the brakes were also shot rotted out from the inside from the master cylinder to the wheels including all the lines. The Falcons condition was made far worse because the person who gave it to me just drove it a little when he inherited it without flushing everything out first adding the coup de grace. May have been a totally different situation if he had not done so and his comment that it ran just fine for the first few miles confirmed that conclusion.

Low mileage is not all its cracked up to be if you intend to drive the car and has to be approached with caution. Low mileage should set off warning bells about all the related problems that come with it if you intend to drive the car. It can take a lot of work and expense to make a low mileage car that has seen limited use for 30 or 40 years roadworthy and reliable. You have to examine the history of the car and be extra cautious of low mileage automobiles especially those that are decades old.

[CajunMike]

I guess somewhere in the $5 k range. Overall nice shape but needs a fair amount of work to make a buyer want to fork over any more than that. The way I see it if I buy it I'm looking at a couple grand to rebuild a transmission, Fix oil leaks replace interior carpet, new top, etc, etc. Who knows though, polish it up pretty and list it for $7500. U may get a bite.

[blakevan]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm just looking for what would be fair for me and the buyer. I don't want to think I"m selling champagne at beer prices or visa versa. I completely agree it is worth what someone is willing to pay for it but at some point I would just keep it.

[4uall]

Put the words "retro" and "vintage" in the ad and I am sure a hipster will pay whatever you want

[DieselSpider]

I guess somewhere in the $5 k range. Overall nice shape but needs a fair amount of work to make a buyer want to fork over any more than that. The way I see it if I buy it I'm looking at a couple grand to rebuild a transmission, Fix oil leaks replace interior carpet, new top, etc, etc. Who knows though, polish it up pretty and list it for $7500. U may get a bite.

I am pretty much on the same page with this unless there is enough documentation to show that much of this has already been done and the maintenance has been kept up since the work was done. Some rust spots by the thresholds potentially indicating more underneath, some damage to the front bumper, top needs replacing and an empty hole in the dash do detract as do the absent visors. Shiny hardware shows front suspension was gone over and that the rear diff had some work done on it so that's a plus as long as it was not required due to the event that damaged the front bumper and lower facia. Tire wear seems to indicate its holding its alignment which is a plus also. If it starts well and runs smoothly without smoking that would help get the upper $5,000. Filling the hole in the dash with a voltmeter may make a surprising bit of difference too and would not be that costly. You may not recoup what you need to invest to get the price much higher though.

It really depends on who is looking and how caught up they are with the thought of owning an Italian Convertible. You may get someone going through midlife crisis who will pay whatever his checkbook can float. I had a client buy new off the showroom floor two Dino's and a Buick Grand National over a 3 day period of time on just a whim that kept escalating so they are out there.

Too high though and the expectation that generates may lead to a confrontation after the sale if something breaks down shortly afterwards. You know the car and would be the best judge of its reliability. Yes I do know people who polished up cars to make them look nicer than they really were an had to face an irate person standing out in front of their home with a Mossberg pumped up and ready to fire so be mindful of what can happen if the price is too high and the car doesn't live up to what was presented. A bone-fide Texacan might be inclined to raise some what of a ruckus if things start going sour after a high dollar sale.

[Frog2Spider]

Had a bit of a surprise.
I called Hartford Insurance for a quote on insuring the Fiat this summer; for liability and replacement value, of course. I explained that my '81 Spider had 42,500 original miles, all 'stock' and has original paint, interior and engine. All in what I discribed as being in excellent condition and rated 8 out of 10. I thought it to be worth about $15,000. She looked the car up on NADA and advised that their values were considerablly higher! Get this..... $24,500 to $29,900 !!

So don't 'under sell' your car.

And remember. The worst time to sell your car is when you need money.

By the way Hartford gave me a great rate. I am a AARP member, and the car is driven less than 5,000 miles a year. I have no accidents and no tickets. For $500K/$250K Liab. and NO deducable collision or comp., with $26,000 replacement value - $215.00 for 12 months!

[riverdadd]

Had a bit of a surprise.
I called Hartford Insurance for a quote on insuring the Fiat this summer; for liability and replacement value, of course. I explained that my '81 Spider had 42,500 original miles, all 'stock' and has original paint, interior and engine. All in what I discribed as being in excellent condition and rated 8 out of 10. I thought it to be worth about $15,000. She looked the car up on NADA and advised that their values were considerablly higher! Get this..... $24,500 to $29,900 !!

So don't 'under sell' your car.

And remember. The worst time to sell your car is when you need money.

By the way Hartford gave me a great rate. I am a AARP member, and the car is driven less than 5,000 miles a year. I have no accidents and no tickets. For $500K/$250K Liab. and NO deducable collision or comp., with $26,000 replacement value - $215.00 for 12 months!

I addressed this exact issue a week or so ago..........see my link........I'm not sure i can trust NADA values!! But I would like to

http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php ... &sk=t&sd=a

[RRoller123]

In reality it seems like maybe prices are inching up?