You are currently unregistered, register for more features.    
 
Home Forums     AO Club Member Gallery
Register FAQ Members Calendar
Mark Forums Read
Welcome Guest
Go Back  Alfa Romeo Forum > Supported Alfa Romeo Models > Technical & Vehicle Assistance > The Classic Alfa Romeos
Mark Forums Read

Sign Up Today!
Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-02-2008   #1 (Post Link)
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 10

Member car:

Spider

1980 Spider

Hi,

I am located in Sydney, Australia and am looking into old spiders.

1980 Alfa Romeo Spider 2dr Convertible Manual 4cyl 2.0L For Sale - uniquecarsales.com.au

something similar to that.

I have heard of the spiders reputation and am curious how much a service on average costs, or if someone has logged thier expenses with a similar to spider to share them with me.

many thanks

Steve
steviedee is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 04-02-2008   #2 (Post Link)
AO Member
 
Cosmo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Surrey, England
Posts: 234
Re: 1980 Spider

Running a classic car is not the same as having a modern car with a fixed length service interval and a standard list of items to check and replace every few thousand miles. You could approach it like that and you would find the cost is pretty cheap for the the parts: filters, plugs, points, brake pads, fluid changes etc. However you will probably find that a lot more work becomes apparent as you start to use and work on the car. Bits will break off, some parts outside of the regular service interval will be up for complete replacement - hopefully not something that is made of unobtanium. Perhaps you will start to wonder if you should upgrade the suspension or fit a nice stainless steel exhaust system. Then it can start to get expensive.

I have kept a log of everything I have ever spent on my 1968 Spider (except petrol). In the 18 months I have owned it, I will have just about spent as much again as the purchase price. I was fortunate not to have any major body work to attend to but I did do some expensive stuff like upgrade the suspension and fit a new soft top - if you can curb your enthusiasm in this area then you won't be too far out of pocket.

But that is me doing all the fitting myself. I can't imagine how much it would have cost me to pay a garage to do the same amount of work - probably as much again as the parts.

That may sound like a horror story and I don't want to put you off. I purchased my Spider with a pretty good idea of the work involved and made my offer accordingly and kept a contingency fund. A cheap fixer-up may seem like a bargain but it will eat into your money, always buy the best example you can afford. As to the car in the advert I like that it was originally a California car - you hopefully don't have bad rust problems but I'm wary of the RHD conversion.

Good luck
Cosmo is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2008   #3 (Post Link)
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 10

Member car:

Spider

Re: 1980 Spider

Great reply, much appreciated.
steviedee is offline  
Reply With Quote
Reply


Go Back   Alfa Romeo Forum > Supported Alfa Romeo Models > Technical & Vehicle Assistance > The Classic Alfa Romeos
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off
Forum Jump

Powered by: vBulletin - Copyright ©2000 - 2006, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.