Hi all! I'm looking to get an idea of a reasonable price range for selling my 1984 Fiero project.
It has 120k miles with a clean title, and a 4-speed manual with the stock duke. It runs with some coaxing at the beginning but settles down to a <1k rpm idle. It does have issues with irregular/stuttering throttle but it does drive, if kind of questionably at the moment. I got it in 2020 after it sat in a field for 23 years, and got it running, driving and road-legal again (passing CA smog) + put another good 1000 miles on it but some issues have come up that I don't have the time/money to address, namely throttle issues I believe with fuel delivery.
I've put over $6000 into it, though I know the price won't reflect that, and it has newer tires with lots of tread left, along with a working radio and a bunch of recent work including a cooling system flush, water pump, clutch system refresh including a new master, replacement of the ignition components, and the replacement of many engine parts especially all the vaccum lines and most of the sensors. The headlight motors and A/C are questionable. All of the shocks/struts were replaced with new KYB units. It drove great for a while before the throttle issue, and I have an assembly of throttle body and fuel parts to hopefully address the issue along with so many spare parts from ownership.
I would appreciate constructive advice as to a reasonable asking price, thank you!
Hi all! I'm looking to get an idea of a reasonable price range for selling my 1984 Fiero project.
It has 120k miles with a clean title, and a 4-speed manual with the stock duke. It runs with some coaxing at the beginning but settles down to a <1k rpm idle. It does have issues with irregular/stuttering throttle but it does drive, if kind of questionably at the moment. I got it in 2020 after it sat in a field for 23 years, and got it running, driving and road-legal again (passing CA smog) + put another good 1000 miles on it but some issues have come up that I don't have the time/money to address, namely throttle issues I believe with fuel delivery.
I've put over $6000 into it, though I know the price won't reflect that, and it has newer tires with lots of tread left, along with a working radio and a bunch of recent work including a cooling system flush, water pump, clutch system refresh including a new master, replacement of the ignition components, and the replacement of many engine parts especially all the vaccum lines and most of the sensors. The headlight motors and A/C are questionable. All of the shocks/struts were replaced with new KYB units. It drove great for a while before the throttle issue, and I have an assembly of throttle body and fuel parts to hopefully address the issue along with so many spare parts from ownership.
I would appreciate constructive advice as to a reasonable asking price, thank you!
So, unfortunately, you won't get $6,000 back out of it, as you know. Don't feel bad about this. This happens to a lot of people, including me.
I bought a 1984 Porsche 944 5-Speed back in... I dunno... 2006 or something, and paid $1,600 for it? I put about $7,000 into it... basically made it perfect, and then sold it for $2,018 on eBay 1 year later. https://www.pontiacperforma...car84Porsche944.html
Haha... I was a motivated seller because my wife was pregnant and I wanted to get rid of "things" that I had a lot of.
The good news for you though, is that Fieros have basically gone up in price astronomically. Like... crazy prices. 10 years ago, your car (as pictured) would have sold for $250. But I'd say that you could probably get $2,500-3,000 for it with the right buyer (if you can prove it has zero rust). The big problem is the paint... the paint is so shot that it likely unfairly paints the condition of the car in a really bad light.
Here's an example of your car that basically needs nothing, and looks pristine, low miles, and has a buy it now for ~$7,600: https://www.ebay.com/itm/226199396266
Affordable Fieros are still out there, but yours needs a paint job which is usually the most expensive part of any car restoration.
I would honestly say, put it up for $2,500, and take a video of it running and driving.
... maybe buy some cheap seat covers and cover up the seats, because it's not doing the advertising any favors either.
This is an example of why I tell people buy the best car you can afford. So there is Six grand here and it needs still a lot of work and is still a 120 k mile car.
For just a little more you can get a decent 4 cylinder with few yo any major needs with less miles.
The cost to restore about any car unless it is a Shelby or some rare car is high and most people lose money on them. Even restoring a GTO correctly can run more than it is worth unless it is a Judge.
There is a time when cars become of more value if you part them out to people that need parts for viable cars.
Dukesterpro: Please understand I am not trying to be rude, Im genuinely curious. What exactly did you spend 6000 on
quote
842m4SE: I've put over $6000 into it / newer tires / recent work including a cooling system flush, water pump, clutch system refresh including a new master, replacement of the ignition components, and the replacement of many engine parts especially all the vaccum lines and most of the sensors / shocks/struts were replaced with new KYB units.
842m4SE is in California and without any answers; perhaps he paid to service the vehicle?
In these inflationary times, service rates in my area are
842m4SE is in California and without any answers; perhaps he paid to service the vehicle?
In these inflationary times, service rates in my area are
That was my guess as well. A classic car or collector car (or even just a really old car) is a money suck when you have to have someone do it for you.
Case in point, the most expensive things on my daughter's 85 SE rebuild have been the things we had to farm out... like the transmission rebuild, and the machine shop work. In both cases, it's because I didn't trust myself to properly coach my daughter on how to fix it... so it cost big money. We put $3,400 I think it was (maybe more, I'll have to go back and look), just on the transmission, and I got it back covered in oil with RTV all over. She still had to scrape the RTV from the seams degrease it, and paint it.
I think unfortunately, the Fiero is at the point where it's well beyond the age that you can just drive it around. If they haven't been maintained, it'll require significant cost to keep them running, versus just rebuilding the entire thing.
This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but the worst thing about this car is the paint. If you look past the paint and the seats, it's probably a really solid car. I don't know what a cheap paint job costs... but it might be worthwhile to get an inexpensive paint job ($750) and some cheap Wal*Mart seat covers... and it'll probably increase the selling value of the car by $2,000. As it sits, the paint condition gives a negative view of the condition... especially with the money already spent.
Please understand I am not trying to be rude, Im genuinely curious
What exactly did you spend 6000 on. You can have perfectly good running GT cars for that money
The parts and tires were probably around $4,000 at least, but a large amount was spent on bringing it to a shop for the replacement of the shocks + struts + mounts, along with a coolant flush and a few diagnostic visits for issues that I could not figure out with forum help, or didn't want to do myself. Much of the work was done myself, but there were some things I wanted them to do. In retrospect it wasn't a good idea financially, at all. But the point of buying this car that had sat in a field for 2 decades was to bring it back to life and cut my teeth on a project car during quarantine. I learned so many mechanical skills on it during that time and ownership overall, and very much appreciate the car, but I don't have the time or money to work on it now and so am letting it go.
[img]https://images.fiero.nl/userimag es/842m4SE/20240621_120602.jpg[/img]
