How reliable do you think the Fiat 124 Spider?

[Betis]

I know it all depends on maintenance, care, etc... But in general, what is your opinion and experience.
Are the fuel Injection ones better, more reliable. What do you think are the weak points to the spider, apart from rust?
Thanks in advance.

[joelittel]

Ours is an '80 fuel injected and we love it. Sometimes have even argued about who got to take it etc etc.

The biggest weakness of Spider reliability is simply that you can not assume it's ready to go. You have to check up on it or it'll let you down at some point.

It's an old car, period.

We've had ours for a few years now, and during the off season have addressed many of the issues it came to us with.

At the beginning of every driving season there is always a bit of uncertainty until the work I had done on it over the winter has proven trustworthy. But after that we trust it (almost) like we trust our other car. However, I do check the FIAT's vitals more often.

I think in 5 years, maybe 6, it has only stranded us once and that was the day we drove it home.

[divace73]

My FI has been pretty good, the only time I was let down was from parts just getting old (dry joints in the double relay) and once my dizzy had a lot of play that stopped working.

And I track mine from time to time.

I love it, in the middle of a minor (somewhat mini major) resto and cant wait for it to get together again.

[baltobernie]

I know it all depends on maintenance, care, etc...

Exactly

But in general, what is your opinion and experience.
Are the fuel Injection ones better, more reliable. What do you think are the weak points to the spider, apart from rust?
Thanks in advance.

Like Joe says, "It's an old car. Period". Any parts on a 35-45 year-old-car that haven't been overhauled or replaced are potential failure points. Think about this .... If you found a 2015 Civic in a barn in 2060, would you consider it to be a reliable car? Would you consider an original 1975 Chevy to be a reliable car? Heck no.

Just about everything on my 1973 Spider has been replaced or overhauled. I consider it to be an extremely reliable car; but then again, it's virtually "new".

[Frog2Spider]

They are very reliable, for a 30 plus year old car.

That said, I wouldn't recommend a Spider to someone who was not mechanically inclined OR who did not have adequate funds available to pay for the repairs, maintenance and service they require.

I have a friend who has a low mileage 3 or 4 year old Audi TT. It seems that he is taking it to the dealer every month or so, and spends a load of money on it. He wouldn't know where to add oil, let alone change a spark plug. So, while someone without the funds would hate it, he loves it!

So 'reliable' is kinda relative to your circumstance.

I guess what I'm saying is. "Don't buy your daughter one for college"!

[Jimb]

I've had mine now for something like 8 years I believe, and it has never let me down. Very reliable and runs like a dream. Starts every time and runs smooth as can be.
Jim

[CajunMike]

I think with some of the vendor improvements it can be a reliable weekend car. I used one as a daily driver for 6 years and it left me stranded (as in dead on the road)maybe 12 times for various mechanical, structural problems, but strangely enough I didn't consider that excessive even without the benefit of cell phone. The main culprits were the ignition related components and the cooling system. Both of which have reliable aftermarket solutions available now that are better than original. Two times a timing belt failed without serious damage most likely due to oil leaks from poor gaskets.

Bottom line is that it is a 90%+ plus car if properly maintained...and it will require constant monitoring but not necessarily attention. It is not a Camry.

By contrast I drove a Chevy truck for 11 years and it never once left me stranded.

[azruss]

I bought my first spider in 1971 and drove it as a daily driver til 1993. It was off the road for 8 months after getting t-boned by a thunderbird. I put a 2L carbed motor in it at that time and retired the original 1438. The chassis had 295,000 miles on it. I rebuilt the tranny, rear end, and front suspension in the last 50,000 of that nearly 300k miles. That tranny and rear end are in my current 1980 spider. Most of the years, I had little money to fix the car right, so it was not maintained properly. The car never saw the inside of a garage, mechanical or otherwise. Only time I ever had it towed was when i con'd a county road crew into pulling me out of a snow covered ditch. It only stranded me once when the ignition module failed after the engine transplant. My current car has been on the road for 3 years and not much miles. died on me once. fixed the problem with a new o-ring on the idle mix adjust screw.
As others have said, these are old cars with old parts, so you can't expect it to be as reliable as a new Honda Civic. I consider the car very reliable as i would not hesitate to jump in the car and take it 500 miles down the road.

[DieselSpider]

Its my daily driver and only once left me stranded and that was due to a failing Napa starter and the previous owners failure to take care of the starter wiring.

Having dealt with all makes and model of cars working for a super market chain as head of maintenance I can say that its not an unreliable design just one that people like to poke fun at when it does have problems. At least they are not known for jumping into reverse and running you down if you leave the engine running and check something in the trunk, bursting into flames and burning your house down when parked and turned off or roasting the seat of your pants when wiring underneath the seats bursts into flames like some Ford/Lincoln/Mercury products of the same era and more recently built.

[Squidders]

My Spider is the 1980 FI and only had her for less than a year now. I guess it depends on the maintenance history of the car. I have had to replace aging and some failed parts like hoses, plugs, leads, etc. Only been stranded a couple of time due to Cracked airflow hose and bad connection on battery wire.

Some of the work like new wiring and minor repairs have been substandard due to home mechanics and even the odd qualified one who doesn't know Fiats.

However one thing that is certain I am quickly learning a real lot on what to look for and how to repair, maintain and improve the the car. Especially given I have never had experience with cars or mechanically minded.

He in Oz parts are few and far between and costly, unlike the US and Europe. So unless you have deep pockets you try and sort or source things to keep the car going. Doing as much of the work as you can skillfully master yourself.

All in all the love of the car, its feel, good looks and drive is what why you would own one and with that you become a little bias and overlook any of he spiders shortfall.

[RRoller123]

Look, the things are old and not at all bad by design, but the reality of age makes it really unlikely that you get a reliable machine right out of the box. They need a lot of care, attention, feeding and grooming to become good household denizens. Thank God that our suppliers keep parts prices reasonable.

Pete

That said, my brand new '79 X1/9 was the most reliable car I ever owned. 135,000 miles, a Boston to LA and back trip, and only a couple of wheel bearing changes. Mario of Framingham (locals will remember him, great guy) my FIAT mechanic, used to smile and say: "this is a good one".

[spidernut]

I've owned several. The key is that you must start with a well maintained or restored car. A poorly maintained and/or unrestored car will cause you many headaches. Mine have been quite reliable but are not maintenance free like my Honda. It is all about maintenance and upkeep

FUEL SYSTEMS:

79 carb'd: I've owned it since 2000. I've had one mechanical breakdown in 15 years caused by a broken magnetic pickup wire in the distributor. It is a VERY inexpensive part and 15 minute repair. The only other problem that I've had is that the 79/80 was noted as the worst carb design. It is. It can be reliable but needs constant attention. They are prone to the float bowl draining down overnight making the first start of the day a one minute cranking process to get the fuel back into the bowl. It leaks through the accelerator pump diaphragm, power valve and auxiliary pump diaphragm. It is hard to find the leaks and fix them.

77 carb'd: Same carb problem as the 79. It provides better performance, but has the same issue with the first start of the day

80/81 EFI: The most common problem with the fuel injected engines is the Air Flow Meter. They are expensive to replace and not exactly cheap to have repaired either. It can cause a host of problems.

WIRING:

All Fiats are prone to wiring problems. Whether it is a prior owner who hacked the system up trying to "fix" it or lack of maintenance, you can have a host of electrical issues. In my experience with 5 Fiats, you just need to keep the wiring in the stock configuration and keep the grounding pods and wiring clean. Once cleaned up, they won't give you much of a problem.

Inspect the car to see if anyone has tampered with the wiring. Look for bad splices, taped up connections, etc. I've only had one wiring problem that was caused by normal age and wear - it was the reverse light switch wiring in the transmission which had worn through and was grounding out then blowing a fuse. Once fixed, I had no problems afterwards

CHARGING/STARTING SYSTEMS:
Ignition key switches are prone to failure after 35+ years. They can be rebuilt most of the time.
Stock starters are lame, but can last 150,000 miles. Gear reduction starters are available and crank faster. They're also very reliable.
Alternators and voltage regulators are about the same as any others build back in the 60s and 70s.

BODY WORK:

Rust is your enemy. A bit of rust in the floorboards is common and not a huge deal. Rust in shock towers, frame rails or any other structure are HUGE problems. Inspect, inspect, inspect

MOTORS:
They are very, very, very durable.

TRANSMISSIONS:
Prone to synchro problems (grinding gears). You can't hotrod these cars and expect the transmission to last.
Automatic transmissions are very durable (a GM T180 transmission) but are prone to leaks after 35 years. They can be repaired pretty easily

DIFFERENTIALS:
Durable unless you try to race the cars. You can tear up a differential on any car by racing, but these are a bit more sensitive than others that I've had in the past. Treated well, it will last hundreds of thousands of miles

SUSPENSION:
As reliable as anything else that old. It is cheap and easy to rebuild yourself, but bushings and ball joints have a tendency to fail over a fairly short period of time like any older car. They're better than my old Ford was, but worse than my old Plymouth.

STEERING:
Rarely a problem, but the steering boxes can get worn. Replacements are available

EMISSIONS SYSTEMS:
This is the highest maintenance point I've found on a Fiat. The parts are hard to find, few people understand the components or how to properly repair them, and they rob performance from the car. I hate the emissions on all of the smogged carbureted cars. The EFI emissions system is much more reliable and works better by a long shot. A carb'd car with the emissions removed is WAAAAAAY more reliable than one with the emissions system intact and operating.

Hope that helps

[hayesbd]

I'll throw in my two cents...

My 73 spider is my fifth "old" Fiat as I grew up with them and learned to drive in a 124 sedan(my Dad owned two). The reliability, in the strict sense of that word, is really pretty good IF, as others have mentioned, you keep up with the maintenance and you know how to deal with any abnormal running conditions that may crop up. In my opinion, the real truth in the "Fix it again, Tony" pejorative phrase is the fact that these vintage Fiats, even when they were new, required more attention than the average American owner typically doled out for his Chevrolet. If neglected or abused, these cars will most likely disappoint you. On the other hand, knowledge and experience will instill confidence and allow you to enjoy and appreciate these cars for what they are - low cost, stylish, economical vintage sports cars that give you a visceral driving experience lacking in almost all modern cars.

For example, my current carburetor-equipped, bone stock spider is not in really top shape and is more of a "survivor" that I plan on restoring some day. In the mean time, I enjoy it immensely as my daily driver, even routinely taking it on business trips to my headquarters 250 miles away in the greater Detroit area. I have no trouble mixing it up with the modern Motor City traffic at 80 mph. It has not let me down, but I also keep certain spare items in the trunk just in case - fuel pump, ignition parts, duct tape, oil, coolant, spare accessory belt, etc. and I really know my way around the car, mechanically speaking. Nowadays, I am much less apprehensive about such trips than I would have been 20 years ago since I also always have a fire extinguisher and a cell phone as essential "spares"!

[danaspider]

mine is a 79 original owner, other than up grading carb and removing bumpers it is original. 2 years ago we drove iy from seattl t nashville, no issues, just keep oil changed and general timing belt changes, never been stranded or let down, last summer did a 1200 mile drive through florida and a top down drive to michigan we do not hesitate to drive her, the obly way you can test reliability is to rub it. firmly beleive many folks have listened to th hype on reliability, but ollow the forums and they run. like me as they get older they need the exercise!

[DUCeditor]

I've owned my `77 since 1988. It was, when purchased, a Florida car driven up to Boston by a college freshman who then discovered what it was like to drive in snow and sold it.

Had about 70,000 or so miles on it then. The interior was a mess and the paint faded, but the rest was reasonably sound.

Over the last 28 years my wife and I have used it as a 3-season weekend fun car. It has, over those years and some 50,000 additional miles, required some work, but the engine and transmission are still sound. The motor starts easily and pulls strongly. In fact when I inquired about the cost of a rebuild at AVA Restoration Services Alex, the owner, chief mechanic and noted Euro-car guru (2 XKEs and an Alfa 'boat tail' getting frame-up rebuilds in his shop right now), told me he didn't think it was neccasary.

Okay, what has it needed over those years? Numerous "tune ups" -- its a carb model with points ignition. Front end rebuilds. Twice complete, once partial when an after-market A-Arm collapsed. Brake work. One replacement exhaust. A replacement gas tank. Several sets of tires. And a new top.

Oh, and early on the cross member that supports the motor broke free on one end. (Eeek!) My mechanic back then, a old hand with Fiats (an immigrant from Rome, Italy) fixed that with brackets he made himself.

This past Summer the ignition switch had to be replaced. And the turn signals get 'iffy' from time to time. It'd take a major re-do of the wiring to make them fully reliable.

We use it on low-traffic back roads exclusively these days, having moved to rural NH. And only in daylight. -In other words we need not have it as it would need to be for use as a daily driver. But it still looks and runs great for a weekend fun machine.

-don

How she looks today, at age 39... (a photo from this past October)