Some sellers are just clueless...

Hello,
I was at a classic car show today and saw an '80 308 GTSi (Red/tan) for sale so I asked the owner about it. Here are the basics:
17k miles, 2nd owner, $45k. The car looked clean but the engine compartment and driver seat showed wear that was not consistent with a 17k miles car. After swallowing hard, I wanted to be polite and asked when the T-belts were done last, to which the owner replied: never! everything original and never been touched, the only things done were oil changes. I gasped: you mean these belts are 24 years old?! Yep! he says proudly.
Is this guy close to a major disaster? Don't these belts deteriorate over time? Isn't $45k a bit stiff even if the miles are true?
Jeesh!

 

Yes, yes and yes.

 

Its a good price for a "buy one, get one free" sale.

 

yeah, I guess $20k is a lot closer to what it will sell for....that is if it sells before the belts let go

 

Run Forest Run !!!!

 

$45k, What planet is he from? Major service alone is worth $8 k off the price. $20k is much more realistic

 

This owner is great and tells us how and why barn finds happen and the mystery behind them.

He will never sell the car for $40k and when the belts snap he will not have the money or care to fix the car since he will be so suprised his completely original Ferrari did this to him, so he will put it in a barn and it will stay there.

 

I agree!

/Peter

 

LOL!

/Peter

 

The $45k is about right, once it goes in the barn for 20-25 years!!!
I wonder what the age of the seller is?

 

I have a car with old belts, I shift about 5500RPM and I'm saving for a nice set of stainless valves...

You can only do it with the Luck of the Irish.....was he Irish?????

Four leaf clovers also help..........

 

The car with fresh belts you can take to 7500RPM, 7800 if you want but you are passed the peak at that time....

I missed a gear once and went to 10,500RPM...........but just for an instant......should have seen the carbon come off.....glowing......

 

Sure there are some clueless sellers out there, buts whats more amazing is the number of clueless buyers as well.

 

That's what P.T. Barnum told me once.........

 

"Divorce forces sale"

Think about that one for a minute!

 

Yea, that's so they don't have to chop it in half, like that one on ebay!

I kept the Ferrari and got rid of the first wife. Worked out great!

Five years later I'm back to two meals a day.

Amanda's 12 now, six years to go there..........

 

There's an ass for every seat.

 

You know I did mine last winter and can help you with yours. I'm going to help Jeremy do his anyway so you should just bring your cars over to my house and we can do them all at one time. I have a 3-car garage. We'll put yours on one side and his on the other and mine in the middle so we don't mix parts -

We're talking <$400 in parts here, and even less if you're seals are good (and I have a spare set so no need to go out and buy them if you need them)

 

Speedy, on your 308? Short shifting won't necessarily help you....there have been a couple cases mentioned in the past with a 308 and a Mondial on the Ferrarilist where old, (past their prime) t-belts went at well under 3k rpm. They were just tooling along in traffic, and crunch!

 

If he really wishes to sell the car, he will come down $15k or more. Or, he can live in his "fantasyland" and sit on the car as it continues to depreciate....

When I was shopping around on 328's and 355's a couple years ago, I ran into a few of these guys...the problem is, do you want to try and educate them on the market; wait them out (they will come around on their own eventually) or just move on. I chose the latter.

Some owners have strange quirks; I had one guy that would not let his car be PPI'd by a well respected FNA dealer, as he felt they were hacks, and he would not let them touch any of "his Ferraris". I had to take the car to a place of his choosing...yeah right! And you wonder why his car had been for sale for over one year....

 

Sadly, intelligence is not a prerequisite for owning a Ferrari

 

Perhaps there is a silver lining to these storm clouds.

I do not know the market price for this car, but if I could negotiate the price of a major service (from a fair asking price), then I would not hesitate. In fact, I would prefer a car that has not be touched in the engine bay. This provides opportunity to have it done by someone you trust. All to often 20-year old cars have been attacked and beaten by a number of incompetents, such that it cost half again the major dollars to return it to original configuration. Too often washers are in backwards, seals are off-set and leaking, thrust washers are on the wrong side of a bearing, aftermarket volkswagen clutch used because the wrench had one on the shelf, etc., etc.

Give me a virgin engine bay and I am a happy camper.

Jim S.