Anything wrong with this car?

Car looks pretty average all around. No real alarm bells here but no real bargain either. Some observations:

- 30K service done 400 miles ago but how long ago was that and exactly what was done
- 82 GTSi is among the least desirable of all the 308's so that will factor into the price
- Interior looks tired but complete. It would be interesting to know how the leather feels and how the stitches are. If it is overly dry it could crack at the stitches quite quickly
- Seems to have metric tires so you will have to budget on new wheels and tires (cheaper than buying metric replacements at $4-500 a piece).
- Don't assume the mileage is real buy on condition first.

 

My suggestion is to contact the seller and say you want your bid subject to a quality inspection. That worked out well for me when I bought mine on eBay.

Btw, while an early 80s gtsi is "undesirable" in that it is a bit slower and less collectible than some others, they are still fun to drive and own. Possibly a bit less trouble to maintain than the earlier carb cars, fwiw.

Good luck!

 

Mike,

I have purchased two 308s in my life so far. The first was a 82 gtsi just like this one. Any used 308 in this price category is going to have some issues. period. Part of the ownership experience at this price point when talking about a Ferrari means that you will be spending money "sorting it out". How much you spend above the purchase price is the big X variable.
You may want to consider a PPI (pre purchase inspection) in the hope that it will better define the X factor. They are not however fool proof but there is nothing better. The next question is: Do you plan on doing your own work sorting it out or are you going to share that with a professional? My 82 was a very nice, fun and relatively inexpensive first experience with the 308. In fact I ended up selling it and making a few bucks owning it. That was a while ago and the cars are much older now. This car could be very much a little diamond in the rough or a disaster in the making. Recommendation: the low price allows room for a good PPI and you can still get into a Ferrari ownership experience you will never forget relativly inexpensively. You still can't drive faster then the legal speed limit but you can certainly have more fun doing it regardless if it's a 77 or an 85 or any year in between. IMHO of course. Best of luck.

 

Looks like a nice car. When it comes to trusting odometer on these cars is like trusting a profile on a dating site. Have a PPI done and if you buy it, put the tail lamps in the correct order.

 

I've got the same questions as you. Looking for a 308 and noticed a lot of ebay listings repeat week after week without any bids but they seem pretty good to me... althought I'm in early stages of looking so maybe I'm missing some obvious red flags.

Am really interested to see what you decide to do. Something like this 82gtsi would be in my budget assuming another $5-10K would need to be spent in the first few months of ownership on "sorting it out". 2V seems appealing b/c I'd still get the everything I'd be looking just with a few less hp but saving a few g's on the purchase price. At this stage I think I'm going for nostalgia and a proper sports car anyways versus 0-60 times, huge horsepower I'll never get to use unless on the track or gadgets I don't need.

Keep us posted.

 

For $28k in an '82, I think the car should be pretty sorted. If it needs anything major, I'd keep shopping.

 

I also consulted the Oracle of FChat last year when I was looking for a 308. The consensus here is to negotiate your final purchase decision based on a PPI. This will give you a chance to either renegotiate the price to cushion the cost of repairs, or to walk away if you don't like the results.

On the "buy it now price", my thought is that there just doesn't seem to be anything extraordinary about this car at that price. You have a lot to choose from unless you live next door to Fishers, Indiana in which case you can save on transportation costs.

Good luck finding the right car for you!

 

Most of the 308s I see on ebay are presented on ebay to attract interest, not to sell the car for the bid price. When you see a car listed for auction on ebay at or near the top of the market you're not going to see much online action on the car. The deal will happen offline. This should be seen as a guide to where these cars should really be priced to sell more quickly on ebay. The best cars do take a little longer to sell, so you have to decide if the car you see on ebay week after week is the best car or the car priced beyond the market. You can do that by negotiating a PPI with the seller.

 

+1

 

Good Luck in your search!!!




PDG

 

I noticed the tail lights are reversed, which means all four were removed for some reason (body work? Electrical work?)

 

I think it's the fact that Ferraris of this age are now all but a cash game.
And the number of cash players is getting thiinned out..

Banks will not get behind them because of age, and the cash market is chasing the other, more desirable years..

But as these owners are defending, there's nothing "wrong" with the 2V injected cars, they are just not the cutting edge of the market.

There's a real improvement in construction quality to the later years (vs. my hand hammered cars!)....

 

I think the best advice, that is often repeated here on Fchat, is: first get a PPI from a reputable independent shop and, buy the best you can afford. It worked great for me and I would do it again without question. I would add, look at several cars and you will get a feel for what is important to you and which car has it..
Neil

 

I am not disagreeing with you but it's funny to me to read this since an 82 308 GTSi is pretty much my all time favorite car on the planet. To me it is the most desirable.

Purely sentimental, it was the first GTSi I ever saw when I was 14 in 82

But, yeah, your correct in general...

 

I feel the same way about not understanding the lack of desire for the '82, I'm currently also trying to pick one up not because of the horses (have an AMG for that LOL),
just to enter into the Ferrari world is very exciting......for ME you know?
I'm only under going this to impress myself and to try and have some fun you know?
good luck to the OP, hope you can make the connection