I may need talked off this Fiat shaped Ledge

"Straightsix9904" (Straightsix9904) 01/14/2014 at 19:55 • Filed to: None

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Why are the Fiat roadster prices so cheap? I can find them ALL over the place for $1K, nice ones for $3K and PERFECT concourse for $8k. It looks so tempting to have a fun top-down sunday cruiser. Check out this example for $3,500 (autotragic but more of proof of concept) it looks pretty clean with a new paint job (kinda scary) new top and new rad and other parts? What am I missing?

Craigslist

 > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 19:57

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Because Fix It Again Tony.

Slave2anMG > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 19:58

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Because Feeble Italian Attempt at Transportation.

lone_liberal > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 19:58

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They are cheap because everybody knows somebody who had one that was a complete horror story. The have a hard earned reputation of being an endless source of elation and despair.

Makoyouidiot > Slave2anMG 01/14/2014 at 20:03

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More original than fix it again Tony...but not by much.

Makoyouidiot >  01/14/2014 at 20:03

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Played out.

Makoyouidiot > lone_liberal 01/14/2014 at 20:04

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Elation for a week, then despair for 3. Fiat/Alfa ownership. I need another one, my 500 is too reliable.

505 - morphine not found > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:05

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I'm

- not averse to owning an old Italian car,

- loving all good roadsters,

- completely delighted to drive a slow car fast,

- and I have no problems with an auto 'box in itself.

But not all of this at once. I would never ever under no circumstance buy an old roadster with an automatic gearbox. That's 70% of the fun negated right there, if you ask me, simply because of the sluggish nature of old slushboxes - nomen est omen.

Other than that, i'm no expert on the Pinninfarina Spider, but i know that it's based on the fairly mundane parts of the 124 - which is a plus in old cars, bespoke parts are much harder to get. So if the body is sound, or at least salvageable, and you like the way it drives, i would - but only in manual form.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:10

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I bought a cheap manual one. Do it.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:22

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CAN'T YOU SEE THIS MAN NEEDS HELP??? PUSH HIM!!!! Seriously, the only thing missing is a test drive.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:24

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Oof then I probably shouldn't share this Honda s2k swapped Spyder courtesy of BaT

I think the ass end is the best argument

Straightsix9904 > 505 - morphine not found 01/14/2014 at 20:33

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I know, the manual is a 100% deal breaker for me. I am not the "manual only" purist. I drive in the city and, lets be honest, traffic and manuals suck. That said, if I owned a roadster I would rarely drive it on the weekdays. it would be a play car to hit wineries on twisty roads with my girlfriend (I'm seriously going to use that line when she shoots it down after the first 3 seconds)

Straightsix9904 > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 01/14/2014 at 20:34

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Pininfarina, 'nuff said

hethoughtofcars > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:35

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Do you know anything about fixing cars? If so, go for it! If not, we'll we all know the correct answer to everything: miata

Straightsix9904 > lone_liberal 01/14/2014 at 20:35

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are they really that nightmarish? I know they aren't a Toyota Corolla, but are they Top Fuel dragsters that go 1/4 mile.

Straightsix9904 > Makoyouidiot 01/14/2014 at 20:37

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What is your experience with Fiats, besides the badge? Are they really nightmarish to keep running or can prevention and knowledge save you from being stuck on the side of the road or never leaving the garage.

Straightsix9904 > hethoughtofcars 01/14/2014 at 20:38

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I am very mechanical minded and can get around a car decently well. That said, I know very little specifically about Italian roadsters.

Straightsix9904 > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully 01/14/2014 at 20:39

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I may start looking for a manual one. I mean, they have a backseat so I can even throw the dog back there for rides. They have a 4cyl that was in production for YEARS so parts won't be much of a problem. They do well on gas....I am not seeing too many downsides.

lone_liberal > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 20:51

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I'm going by what happened with a friend's experience and then reading a bunch other people's experience. My friend had what seemed to be a non-ending series of "small" things go wrong with it so that he was always tinkering with it. And that was 30 years ago. Getting older doesn't make cars run better. As for specifics you'll have to ask FIAT owners and ex-owners. I also know that it was a little car so push starting it wasn't that big of a deal.

tylinol > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 21:23

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They're cheap because they made a lot of them for a long time. They're only unreliable if you're neglectful, as many of their previous owners were. Get a nice one or sort out a not-so-nice one, and you'll have one of the best car bargains out there. They're simple, easy to work on, and parts are cheap and easy to find. TLDR: Do it.

Makoyouidiot > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 21:48

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Well, my current Fiat 500 is pretty reliable, SO FAR. I owned a 91 Alfa 164 which had been ragged to death, nearly, when I got her, and she was great for about two weeks at a time, then a month of problems. In general, and I get this from my experience and also from forums, Italian cars are like any other car. You get out what you put in. If you do your preventative maintenence and take care of it, it will get you where you're going. The build quality may be a little less, and a lot of the time a previous owner will have neglected stuff, and that's where you get issues, although that can happen with any car. One of my friends just bought an '06 Accord. He's had it a month, and it just spun a main bearing and trashed the engine. You just never know what a car has been through. And when you think about it, most of these old cars are left to sit for years at a time before being brought back to life for short periods, or only driven part of the year. That's a recipe for breakdowns, imho.

TL;DR, Know your car, take care of your car, and it will take care of you.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 21:59

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I think the biggest problem that you will have to deal with is rust. That's what killed mine. Oh, and telephone poles. One of them killed my dad's. In my defense, there were wet leaves on the road, and I was is some seriously glorious four wheel drift at the time, right up until the pole put the right headlight in the passenger compartment. Oops. No one was hurt, and not a lot of money was lost, so the up side was I had a lot of spares for mine! The other thing is that fact because they are "cute" they may have suffered from owners that treated them like camrys (appliances) instead of performance cars, and neglected them. If you have a good idea of what your doing, it shouldn't be hard at all. The later ones had fuel injection, but I learned to balance carbs, and it got to be easy. Fairly spacious engine compartment, and the top is an absolute dream. Goes up and down with one arm and in less than 10 seconds once you get practiced at it. Find a clean example and give it a drive. They make beautiful music.

Backstory... My dad was serious bottom of the line, lowest cost car you have on the lot will meet my baseline needs. I bought my Fiat, but I didn't have my license yet, so he had to drive it home for me. He had a strange look in his eyes that night, and the next weekend, he bought a black one for himself! I was driving his because mine had a broken wire leading to the starter that we couldn't trace. Turns out the wire had broken inside the insulation making it much harder to find. That's why I was driving his at the time.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Straightsix9904 01/14/2014 at 22:03

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http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/426594…

and then there is the other end

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/ctd/426097…

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 01/14/2014 at 22:47

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Damn, great concept, but the execution makes me want to execute the executor! That dash replacement? Yikes. No air cleaner? No thank you. I prefer to keep small rodents away from my cylinders thank you! I had to look, because that's pretty much a dream combo. Drop 7-8 hundred pounds off an S, and keep sexy as well? Win / win.