RonnieFnD
RonnieFnD New Reader
11/4/23 12:38 p.m.

So I had this car in for service because the slave cylinder exploded and its got a few evap leaks.  She didn't want to fix it, traded it in, and my dumb ass bought it.  I guess the upside is I work at a Alfa/Fiat dealership so what parts are still available I can get at cost.  I will have to start a build thread at some point because I think I'm gonna throw a bar in it and run time trials with it.  I really don't care about it at all so if I stuff it in a wall or it catches on fire I can walk away with no loss of anything I needed or cared about

Peabody
Peabody MegaDork
11/4/23 2:08 p.m.

I see they're getting cheap, especially needy ones. Are parts starting to get difficult?

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 UltraDork
11/4/23 2:16 p.m.

I have lusted after these for a while. So cool. 

RonnieFnD
RonnieFnD New Reader
11/4/23 2:44 p.m.
Peabody said:

I see they're getting cheap, especially needy ones. Are parts starting to get difficult?

They always end up available but we run thru dry spells.  They have a metric E36 M3 ton of body electrical problems,  you will never see one that has all of the lights working.  They like to leak oil really bad from the pcv and vacuum pump with takes out the coils and o2 sensors.   The purge valves go bad a lot causing a small evap leak and it's hit or miss if the purge valves are available.   They have the world's worst, sloppiest shifters.  They eat rear shocks which causes them to eat rear tires. Strut mounts last about a year, radios like to die and they cost like 3k, the evap core likes to leak. On the upside they are incredibly fun to drive, the stock exhaust sounds so good its criminal,  and a lot of the bullE36 M3 that goes wrong with these won't be a problem because if I club race it in Touring 4 it won't have any interior or hvac left in it to break.  If I time trial it I will run in SMF so the same thing applies.

DeadSkunk  (Warren)
DeadSkunk (Warren) UltimaDork
11/4/23 3:32 p.m.

In reply to RonnieFnD :

My son has a 148K on his fiat 500 (not an Abarth) and it's been a surprisingly good car. The thing has no rattles or squeaks and has had a rear wheel bearing and a couple of ignition coils replaced. I thought buying it was going to be a mistake and had encouraged him to get a Kia or Hyundai. Shows what little I know.

RonnieFnD
RonnieFnD New Reader
11/4/23 3:52 p.m.
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to RonnieFnD :

My son has a 148K on his fiat 500 (not an Abarth) and it's been a surprisingly good car. The thing has no rattles or squeaks and has had a rear wheel bearing and a couple of ignition coils replaced. I thought buying it was going to be a mistake and had encouraged him to get a Kia or Hyundai. Shows what little I know.

The ones that get driven last forever,  it's when you let them sit they start to fall apart.  We have a lot of elderly customers that bought them and proceeded to never drive them (2012-13s with like 20,000 miles) and they are all falling apart while still looking brand new.  We have several that are coming up on 200k and they run great.  The one I bought is a 12 with 101k on it so it was a pretty good driver before the slave cylinder died.

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