Fiat 124/2000 Spider First Time Buyer's Guide

Those of you out there who are considering buying a Fiat 124/2000 Spider, beware! There are many areas of importance to look at in regards to the integrity of one of these classic automobiles. Most people buy these cars because they look neat, cute, pretty, sporty, etc etc etc, without any idea at all just what makes these little horses run and stay on the road safely. I am going to take you through a process known as "Fiat Appreciation and Association." You're going to know what to look for before you spend your hard earned money.So you don't spendyour weekends trying to get your car started and/or keeping it on the road.
geing: Description of what to look for prior to buying your Fiat, also to those who just bought their first little roadster, as well as those who have had their car and are still trying to figure out just what is wrong.
Don't worry, we got it covered. Ok the first thingi learned was just where the battery was located , in the trunk, i said to myself ? Why?I gee to find out that on the early years the battery was located in the engine bay area on the exhaust side of the engine which produces alot of heat so FIAT relocated it to the trunk, makes sense, so when you first look at a 124 spider know where the battery located, the reason i tell you this is you don't know how many times people ask me just where is the battery located, and GOD forbid you or the person whos selling the sweetie does not have the key to the trunk,been there. Here we go, you go to look at this 124 spider or you find it on line with a fair amount of info and photos, looks good sounds good to those out there who do not know what to ask or just where to look. The first ? i ask is just how long have you had or owned this car? Next why are you selling it? What was the last repair bill and what was it for, parts, labor , both , did you ever replace the timming belt if so just how many miles ago, did you make note of that or have the recept showing the date and the fact that the timming belt was replaced. You first time buyers replace the belt no matter what the buyer says, and if you do not know what your doing DO NOT TRY TO REPLACE IT YOURSELF TO SAVE $$$$$$ the reason i say to replace is you will have peace of mind driving and knowing your not going to break a belt and bend the valves and spend another $500.00 to have the head redone. Oh yea FIX IT AGAIN TONY, electrial turn the key on and check if all of the bells and whistles work, that means just that lights, turn signals, hazard, wipers, brake lights, gauges, horn, you know all the things that work on your regular car, unless they don't work either! Now all these little things work,(your looking at a real good car so far just don't let the person know that) if a few of the geponents don't work could be as simple as fuses, so look under the dash right below the steering wheel to the left BAM the fuse box, now understand the fuses are the older style kinda like the vw and other eourpean cars out there,now these fuses are known to either be loose or blown, or crusty, and when i say crusty they have a film on them due to the fact that they are aluminum and some copper and they are placed into an metal holder known as a fuse box well some metals do not like other metals and the bond starts to go away because of that, so rotate the fuses and see if that does not help the electric get to where it is to go. Now while our looking at the fuses notice if there is signs of wires that are melted together or spliced or cut and taped or butted ect. you know what i mean, be ware if you have a cluster f--k under the dash say bye bye, reason something caused that. Most times the seller will not know what your refering to, so you know what that means! Now then lets take a look at the unibdy inside out, open the hood or ask the online seller, wher the hood opens ther are 2 hinges right and left, these hinges should be free of binding and if you look at the aera just behind the hinge point on the body there is a body fender line that is the factory line which the fender is spot welded to radiator support which runs from the left hinge to the right hinge, now you will see the fender raps over and down towards the rad support the line will noticeable if not and it is very smooth then the front was hit and the fact that it is smooth means rpair and with bondo. Next look down from the top of the rad left side and right side at the unibody frame it will either be straight or not, both of the areas i have mentioned are important, it's your front end. The rest of the bodies major areas of concern are as follows, exterior wheel arches front and rear, lower front fender and ower rear quarters water get in these areas and because of the dirt and such stayes there and starts to creatate rust, cleaning once a month would help to prevent this problem but most of the previous owners did not maintain the car, my hats off to those who do! The next BIG thing is the under side of the car, now please understand the reason i'm placing this info in your hands is that i would not like to see any of you out there buy one of these cars and have a nasty time with it and wind up being a part of the FIX IT AGAIN TONY club, having your dreams go up in smoke, and your wife or husband or whomever telling i told you so!!! OK david back to the underneath of your dream car, frontend.. inner/outer tie rod ends, look at the rubber caps if they are cut in anyway they are throw away, the same with the upper/lower ball joints, and by the way if the upper / lower ball joints are fastened with anything but nut and bolts them they are factory and have never been replaced, replace rightaway, if the top is one way and the bottom is another replace both, ALLWAYS remember as soon as you replace a new part an old part will break, so on the steering replace all of the geponents tie rods ball joints and center links, your car will steer like new, well almost if the steering box is not binding or the ilder arm. Don't stop there between the trans and the drive shaft is a part known as the FLEX DONUT replace no ???, i have seen many spiders transmission shifter gee right out in the drivers hand while driving down the road due to the flex donut geming apart and cutting off the shifter neck of the trans as well as cutting into the tunnel next to your as well as the passengers legs!!! I going to stop now it's time for bed more tomorrow, thanks for taking your time to read this info your worth it David