So what's it worth?

I have a 1989 TC by Maserati, please forgive me for not knowing all the technical terms, but I can tell you about it and perhaps someone can tell me how much I should ask for it. It is yellow with tan interior. The woodgrain dash and door covers are good. The carpet and leather seats & console cover are quite worn. I bought the car about 6 years ago used; it had 100,006 miles on it then, odometer does not work. There was no hard top, and the soft top is quite dry, and now holey in spots, so the floor gets wet each time it rains. I have driven it to work DAILY since I got it, with few exceptions.

Last fall the car overheated. I had the heads replaced, as well as new shocks and struts, and CV axles machined. If I were keeping it, I would have the idler mechanism cleaned out and put a new O2 sensor on it; it occasionally sputters a little. Fuel pump was replaced about 3-4 years ago. The AC and heat do not work. AC compressor kicks on. Air does circulate through all vents. Has some minor electrical issues. The body is good, no big dings, and I have a can of matching touch-up paint.

Lots of little issues; passenger door won't open (fixed it once before but it's stuck again); passenger seat has no electric power; radio will randomly shut off; spare tire blew out IN the compartment and blew out one side of the wall and the lock, so this need repairing and there is currently no spare. The trunk is very dirty. I can't get the soft-top release button to release the pin. Tires are good. Right turn signal will not flash but stays on.

I can take pics and supply them in a couple of days. If anyone can tell me what I might ask for it, I would appreciate it. I live in the Tampa FL area and may be selling this to use as a downpayment on a car for my daughter. I really like driving the car, but I don't think I want to put the money into a top and AC, and I don't want to go through another summer without AC.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!!

A used car is worth what it’s worth and getting the car ready for sale is the secret to setting its value.

As a collectible or parts car, your car is worth more than it’s worth as a basic transportation vehicle and what you've described is basic transportation. If you're looking to sell for the best price you need to sell to someone who wants this vehicle and the way you've described it you can reasonably expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000.00+/- for a local sale. Expect to subtract some for transport cost if sale isn't local.

To sell a car for money the passenger seat doesn't need to adjust, the passenger door does need to open. The biggest detractors to sale or trade of your vehicle in your location are the top and AC. The AC is an easy 4 to $800.00 right off the top of value and from your description it sounds like it needs a charge, expensive with R12, easily converted at home to 134a by following kit instructions for about $80.00. The top is what it is, another 4 to $800.00 right off the top of value, $400 to someone who knows how to replace the top, $800 to someone who wants a water tight top and would need to have it done.

Worn seats are different than torn seats and without any photo’s to work from I will assume they are as you say worn and guess the value of your car as described to be around $800.00 and less than $200 dollars away from being an $1,800.00 vehicle.

Thanks Digger, and Bob, for advice. My mechanic says I should keep it for now. Wish I could do the work myself . He said the timing belt had jumped a tooth, and now it runs quite smoothly. However, it totally loses power after about 10 minutes of driving, may or may not start right up. After cooling for a couple of minutes, always starts back up. This happened before, and the fuel pump replacement took care of it. It almost feels like some sensor or something electrical is getting hot and shutting it down (not being a mechanic, it's my best guess). I watch the tach completely flip to zero and back up when it begins to stall out. If I can get this resolved, I will fix the AC and start looking for a new soft top (for now).

Since I lost my mechanic husband a couple years ago (oh-oh, she is playing the "poor widow" card...), it's been difficult for me financially to pay someone else to do major work on my car. For now, it has to be basic transportation. However, I love the car and have trouble imagining driving something else. I appreciate all the help you folks can give me, and if it becomes necessary at some point for me to sell, I would surely take offers from other TC owners .

I will keep you posted!

You can probably fix this one yourself with a phillips screwdriver and a pair of gloves! The symptoms are the classic sign of the Hall Effect Processor (HEP) going bad. They start failing in the heat. I think they are less than $90 at parts stores. You want the Mopar or Japanese one not the Bosch. Someone on Turbo-Mopar is selling off about 150 for $60 plus 10 for shipping. They are located inside the distributor. I think 2 phillips screws to remove a cover and 2 more and you are there! You may need some PB Blaster to loosen the screws. I keep a spare in each car after meeting someone at a Shelby Dodge Auto Club national meet that had to stop every 10 minutes to let the car cool down. About 20 members stopped to help him on the side of the road in 1/2 hour.

Thanks Digger, and Bob, for advice. My mechanic says I should keep it for now. Wish I could do the work myself . He said the timing belt had jumped a tooth, and now it runs quite smoothly. However, it totally loses power after about 10 minutes of driving, may or may not start right up. After cooling for a couple of minutes, always starts back up. This happened before, and the fuel pump replacement took care of it. It almost feels like some sensor or something electrical is getting hot and shutting it down (not being a mechanic, it's my best guess). I watch the tach completely flip to zero and back up when it begins to stall out. If I can get this resolved, I will fix the AC and start looking for a new soft top (for now).

Since I lost my mechanic husband a couple years ago (oh-oh, she is playing the "poor widow" card...), it's been difficult for me financially to pay someone else to do major work on my car. For now, it has to be basic transportation. However, I love the car and have trouble imagining driving something else. I appreciate all the help you folks can give me, and if it becomes necessary at some point for me to sell, I would surely take offers from other TC owners .

I will keep you posted!

There is a company in Florida that sells new rubber seals for convertibles and since I couldn't remember the name I spent a week Google searching new header seals for my top before adding peal and stick weather stripp to keep me dry in the spring rain. Haven't found the company so I'm still looking for the seal, did find a complete NOS black canvas top assembly for less than the cost of new canvas replacement top and searching for convertible top header seals was how I found the complete top for $300. Sorry I didn't save the link or I would attach. Also try rockauto.com for the part Bill mentioned they have the pickup for plate fo $30 + and -