Help with checking out a Spider for sale

[peppydee]

Hello fellow Fiat club members,
My name is Joe Dolgetta a member out of Atlanta Ga. And it is with
respect and consideration that I am asking if there
is any possibility that anyone out there in the Charlotte NC area might be able takes a look at a Fiat
Spider for sale that I placed a deposit on sight unseen. The car is
being sold by Streetside Classics
website:
http://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehic ... eq%5D=Fiat
They are located at:
5400 West WT Harris Blvd Suite A
Charlotte, NC, 28269
Local: (704) 598-2130
Contact person is Zegan. Our Club president John Montgomery might be
able to check out the Spider on Sunday on the chance that he might be
in the Charlotte area on Sunday. So what I am hoping for is that one
of you might be able to check out the Spider before Sunday. Please let
me know if you might be able to help me with this. Of course I thank
you in advance for ay help you can provide.
Kind Regards,
Joe Dolgetta
770-820-2831

[MrWampus]

Hi Joe. I live in Charlotte and I know where this place is. I've actually been there. I may be able to take a look at it for you on Friday but it depends on how busy work is. Unfortunately I'll be out of town on the weekend so if I can't get there Friday not sure when I can.

Is there anything in particular you want to know about the car or are you looking for general overall impressions?

[bradartigue]

Not sure if it helps or not, but some pretty obvious things:

(1) it's a lazy respray - the lower grille wasn't removed when they did it. that said I'd ask about the history, a 15,000 mile car shouldn't have had to be repainted. the interior also tells a story of a car used quite a bit more than 15k. I'm not saying its a 115k car - the engine still has the stamps from delivery, so it's not that old, but was it stored outside for 10 years or something?

(2) you can see the battery had a problem at some point and leaked all into the back, pull up that carpet and take a look.

the paint color is superb; the underside looks good except for that scraped oil pan.

[DieselSpider]

Not sure if it helps or not, but some pretty obvious things:

(1) it's a lazy respray - the lower grille wasn't removed when they did it. that said I'd ask about the history, a 15,000 mile car shouldn't have had to be repainted. the interior also tells a story of a car used quite a bit more than 15k. I'm not saying its a 115k car - the engine still has the stamps from delivery, so it's not that old, but was it stored outside for 10 years or something?

(2) you can see the battery had a problem at some point and leaked all into the back, pull up that carpet and take a look.

the paint color is superb; the underside looks good except for that scraped oil pan.

I was thinking it was in a wreck of some sorts possibly going off the road requiring the lazy respray to cover up the obvious damage up front along with damaging the pan and possibly the cross member. Did the battery spill as a result of that accident or is it just coincidental from trying to refill and charge a long dead battery. A lot of money for a potentially crashed car.

[76was124]

All in all looks pretty nice, but feeling comfortable with the story on the history and driving it would be important to me for a$13k spend. Also what's been done? Original rubber fuel hoses, timing belt, compression check, etc. It is definitely a nice specimen, but unless they've done the maintenance to make it road worthy you'll still have a few things to do ( assuming engine and trans are solid and leak free). I am always suspicious when ther's no grime on the underside or engine compartment unless its been stored by a collector. ( read that as it may been degreased)

Look at the close up picture of the odometer and the bottom edge of the wood instrument panel where it meets the black dash. Not sure if factory original paper was used to protect the dash for delivery, or if the wood panel has been removed and the plastic edge of the dash is protruding?

While the price is up there, you have to spend $1000s on an interior alone to get it to that level restored.

[davery]

So it says the interior is original. I have an 85 and am unsure of the differences from an 82. Was the black/tan door cards OEM? I'm pretty sure the carpet is not OEM.

[bradartigue]

The FIATs had black tops and color-matching panels (the LE had a brown panel I think, but all the others were black). Pininfarina were color matched all around.

It just doesn't look - in the pictures - like a $13k car to me. It looks well used. Probably a great car, but for $13k you shouldn't have to lift a finger. This one needs a new oil pan and that grille removed and cleaned up.

[davery]

So it says the interior is original. I have an 85 and am unsure of the differences from an 82. Were the black/tan door cards OEM? I'm pretty sure the carpet is not OEM.

[DieselSpider]

So its potentially a nice $3,500 to $5,000 Spider due to its questionable history since there are obvious repairs to some type of incident that damaged the front fascia and undercarriage of the car which was a bit sloppily handled along with signs of some battery acid spilled in the trunk and with a rust trail from a leak on the left side inside the trunk. Overpriced by almost $10,000. Maybe it was worth $8,000 when it was first restored however it appears some events occurred that were not handled correctly to maintain the cars value since then.