What's my 1978 Fiat worth?

[SaltyDog]

I have a 1978 Fiat Spider that is in mint condition in terms of the interior and exterior, under side was sprayed with undercoating by the dealer and it has no rust (seriously!). The exterior is original cream with red and black interior and a black top. All original alloy wheels.

The engine has approximately 75K miles on it and runs great except I am having an issue with a grinding sound between first and second gear (common) that needs to be addressed. I need to determine the value to sell it or at least split the value with the ex through a divorce. It is very difficult to find any consistent sources and I figured the experts here would know. Thank you.

[124JOE]

it may sell around 7000

in the right sale it might jump up even higher

[kmead]

Pics would help.

A grinding transmission will definitely hurt the resale value. If you are trying to split the value with your ex, be careful of overvaluing the car as it takes a pretty superlative car to be worth 7k in the real world.

The 78s are not the best year for the car, its still an 1800 with a carb and points instead of electronic ignition. Given the age, I would bet most of the rubber parts need renewal in the suspension as well as many other general maintenance.

I am sure its a nice car, one I would be happy to own but likely not a high dollar car. I would look at completed auctions on Ebay to get a better sense of the value as it shows pics of the cars (to compare your car to) and presumably the actual transaction prices of the cars.

Good luck with either the sale or the settlement.

[spidernut]

It's hard to appraise a car via the forum, but a 78 in the condition you described would be somewhere around $3,800 and $4,100 due to the transmission issue. I think that in "mint" condition without the transmission problem, it would be worth in the $6,500-$7,000 range actual sales price. Here is the NADA pricing for a 78 124 Spider:

Low Retail: $4,900
Average Retail: $8,600 (the description of your car would probably fit here)
High Retail: $16,300