need advice on buying 85 Spider

[Daveje]

Hey All-
New to this forum, I need some advice on buying an 85 Spider. The guy wants $4000.00. Body is great, newer paint(pretty good) and no sign of rust anywhere,2 small dings,maybe not perfectly straight if you look real hard. Interior needs new seat covers and the dash has a crack. Engine runs a little rough but the drives and shifts well. Big thing about it is it shows only 29K miles. Might be true,odometer is working and thats what it shows. Car is generally a little worn looking except for the body. Oil leaking from valve covers. Manufacture date is 7/85 and serial no. is 5511843. Definitely needs at least new seat covers and top,brake bleeding,tune-up,etc. I hope someone is out there now who can help, I'm buying the car in the morning. Cool car, tan interior, kinda rose colored exterior, power windows,manual trans.No power steering but don't know if you could get that.Sound like a good deal? How much are they worth? Anyway,if I buy the car you'll be hearing a lot more from me.Thanks

[So Cal Mark]

sounds more like 129000 but hard to tell without looking the car over. Can he document the mileage through service records? PS was not an option, but the 85s did have rack and pinion steering and larger front brakes. I'd recommend inspecting the bottom side before buying it. Look at the condition of the suspension bushings and check the front crossmember and unibody for cracks.
The price might be a tad high, but without seeing the car you never know

[TulsaSpider]

Well if the car is very clean and needs little attention it might be worth it. You won't make any money on it reselling it that's for sure. I wouldn't depend on the odometer they can be changed out in minutes. Check the carpet and brake and clutch pedals for signs of wear. I bought my 78 for $1000, but it does still need work, it's a daily driver, but to me 1/2 the fun is working on improving it. It all depends on what you expect/desire if you can afford it and like the car then go for it. You'll have maintenance issues no matter what, timing belt replacement, an other things. If you can do this type of thing yourself it's a plus. Be sure to inspect the shock towers and floor pans for rust. There is lots of helpful advise here and friendly folks!
For price comparison try Ebay and large cities Craigslist postings.
Good luck

[kilrwail]

What part of the world are you in? For the kind of wear you've described, the car has been sitting in the sun for 29K miles or it really has 129K. In either case, it doesn't sound like it's been well maintained, so I echo the suggestions of the others. Regardless, it will be a fun project if you're handy and we're all here to help. Good luck!

[Daveje]

Thanks for the advice all it's really appreciated! The car is in Wilmington NC and if it wasn't for the odometer reading it seems more like a car with 129k.Odometer was working and has "0" before the 29k,but like someone said that could be messed with. Unfortunately low mileage would be the only thing that would make it worth the money. I love working on cars but it has to be the right one.The seller seems like a nice guy,he bought it 3 years ago from a local foreign car dealership who represented as having only 29k miles and I think he really believes it's true. The only other thing good about it is it's one of the last made from what I'm reading on the web.
In any case,looks like I might pass,just not worth it. I feel kind of bad since I did pretty much tell him I would buy it but now having second thoughts. If he can document the mileage somehow I would buy it, but I doubt he can.

[Daveje]

Just ran a Carfax report, shows 23k miles in 1990 but no other useful info. I guess it's a possibility the 29k is correct since you would think the first 5 years would be the "high mileage" years. I guess I just need to buy it or not.

[kilrwail]

6000 miles in eighteen years is a little hard to swallow. Does NC have any kind of process to record the mileage on cars when they change hands? Here in Ontario the vendor must provide the purchaser with a Used Vehicle Information Package, which includes mileage at the time of sale, plus the names of all previous owners.

All of that being said, if the body is solid with no evidence of bondo or rust, above or below, then you're halfway there. You know that anything mechanical can be repaired or replaced. All it takes is time and money. I bought a car 3 years ago with well over 100,000 miles on it and a perfect body. I have never regretted it.

[Daveje]

Thanks. The body looks real good and if you've ever done body work thats the real battle. Like you said mechanical can be fixed. In any case I asked the guy if I can have the car for a few hours tonight in my garage to check for rust/bondo etc.and I'm waiting for his reply. If all looks good maybe I'll buy it after all. Gotta see what the wife thinks of it too. If she likes it that makes it so much easier!

[kilrwail]

Now you've introduced a whole different set of variables. I will stay out of it!

[Darsella1]

I sent you a PM!

It really depends upon the condition. Rust and some of the rarer parts will be the biggest issue. Low miles is almost worse for these cars as some things are not changed out and are left rotting. I had a true 55K car- I could not tell at first as it had been sitting. After I had it inspected, we could easily tell it was a true lower mile car. Mechanically it was almost pristine, but it was just super dirty!

If you want to send me pictures: Darsellla@hotmail.com

I can give you a good idea as I have lot's of info (from past sales) on a vin list.

I paid WAY too much for my car and it was very expensive to fix (yes- I think the late cars had worse steel and even the floor boards were exposed metal). So buy it because you love the car and because it's the right one.

We are going to be looking for another '85 project eventually (I know, I know, we are completely insane). Now my significant other is hooked on these little cars and I'm afraid he will try and steal mine.

[Daveje]

Darsella 1 thanks and yes I just bought the car for $3500.00. I can't see anything to dispute the 29K so I'll take a chance,but still not sure.Basically could be a low mileage car that was not driven or stored in a garage for a while.
The interior is filthy but the rest of the car looks great,evrything looks original except the paint.Does have the jack and all. Stickers under the hood are in good condition, etc. I spent an hour on my lunchtime looking it over the best I could with a flashlight, magnet etc. and could not find any sign of rust or bondo,floorboards and wheel wells looked good. of course you never know until you've had an old car for a while what's really wrong with it. In any case, I'm in. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.
Can anyone recommend an upholstery supplier? Need tan seat covers, originals are leather I think.

[kilrwail]

Congratulations on taking the plunge! Good luck with it and have fun. Of course, we will be expecting pictures soon

[So Cal Mark]

the oem front seats were leather, but most owners replace with vinyl. World Upholstery and IAP both carry replacement carpet, seat covers, etc

[Darsella1]

Congrats! Yes pictures!!

Let me know if you have any questions or where to find anything Pininfarina. I did not have this car on my VIN tracking list so now it is.

The seats are leather front with vinyl back. I would not replace them with 100% vinyl as the leather was an upgrade for this car.

http://www.tonyimportcar.com/upholstery.html

It took me a long time to find these guys and I wish I would have known about them sooner (when I had the LE). They will do the leather/vinyl combo, custom stitched, etc. for not too much. All you have to do is send them the seats as-is. They did a fantastic job & I have gotten a lot of complements on mine, even from the head Concours judge.

I would recommend getting the Pininfarina carpet sets as the Fiat set will not fit correctly in the back. I used the extra "parcel shelf" carpet to re-cover the lockable storage trunk. Bruce's Parts Bin has some sets in stock and his was the best quality. But most come in pile (which I hate) vs. loop. He can have it custom ordered in the loop.

Don't order carpet from stock interiors. I bought a set and it was terrible quality! I then re-sold it and the guy spilled a snapple on the floor. IT COMPLETELY ATE THROUGH IT! He was left with a big hole in the carpet the size of a grape fruit!

[Daveje]

Thanks again Darsella 1 that's exactly the kind of info. I was looking for although I'll never drink Snapple again.
I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get the thing cleaned up or you might think I'm a fool for paying what i did. The seller is going to bring the car to my house tomorrow so i know what I'm doing this weekend! My wife found the name of the local guy who owned it from 1990 to 2005, might be able to figure out about the mileage and how it was stored and all that, pretty interesting.