Hi all - This is not a for sale thread, but rather a feeler. I am considering selling the car depending on interest and price point. When the time comes, I will list the car through the proper avenues on this site. At the moment, the car is not in my possession but rather at a well known shop where the Valeo ECU was just rebuilt. The car has an extensive service history, including a major performed last spring. My price point is inline with the sale price of the a similar 1992 Valeo that had 34k miles at the time. My car has 24k miles. For now, lets just consider this a discussion.
Certainly a rare bird on this side of the pond! Mine is a 93 Rossa on tan 24k miles Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Valeo and be a positive thing or a negative for final sales pricing. Some folks won't even look at a Valeo car because the rumor is that they are "complex" no one currently working in the dealer repair departments knows how to work on them. There seems to be some truth to that if you read the Valeo repair threads on here. IIRC, they put them in econoboxes in India. The first thing offered to a Valeo owner is to replace the unit with a regular, three pedal box. The reality is that they can be quite reliable and easy to fix with inexpensive parts, IF you know what you are doing. I traveled over a large part of Europe a few months ago with a Valeo Mondial as one of the bunch of Mondials in the tour. Owner never had a bit of trouble and we put about 2000 kms on the cars. Alden
I doubt that given the notoriety of the Valeo system it would be perceived as a negative. I would expect a premium over a standard 3-pedal car given the rarity. It seems that the ignorant and misinformed are usually the ones to downplay the marvel of the system, but real world owners and users express nothing but delight. I agree that finding the right people to service these cars is key. That said, they aren't too complex. All that's needed to diagnose Valeo related issues and reset parameters is an SD-1. There are a handful of Indy shops that have them and know how to use them; proportionate to the amount of Valeo cars in the U.S. Mechanical failures are rare. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hank is one of our resident experts on the Mondial Valeo, and its biggest champion. He's a long term owner as well. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/226987-valeo-registry.html
Sounds like you're pushing for a higher price even though this is not a "for sale" thread. Subscribe silver and post an ad. That said, I agree that the Valeo is rare, but I recently viewed a series of "355 F1" videos on YouTube where "the kid" spent quite a bit of $ repairing the 355 F1 system. There's a reason why 6 speeds are going for more in the 355/360/430 cars. For a Ferrari fan, I suspect the Valeo WOULD be considered an asset, as we know the "rarity", but maybe for some, the Valeo would be a headache. I think there was one in Colorado for a while, for sale by on of our FChatters about 8 to 10 years ago. Is your car that one? We are lucky here to have Dave Helms/Scuderia, I'm sure he can take care of one no problems . James
I am not pushing for a price, I'm simply stating that there is no way that a Valeo Mondial wouldn't command a premium over a standard three pedal car. The Valeo is the forerunner to the F1 gearbox, however is much more reliable and simplistic in nature. You are not paddle shifting a Valeo, you are shifting the gears like a normal three pedal car, minus the clutch pedal. As far as I know, my car was never in Colorado and was always on the east coast. It is in Colorado at the moment however, in the car of Dave Helms/Scuderia. I would suggest taking a look at it and asking for his 2 cents on the car.
The rarity likely makes the car more valuable. I would still prefer 3 pedals myself. Same goes for the F1 system. Fun to play with, but wouldn't want to own one. With regards to racing, there are so many automatic things in race cars these days, you might as well have the cars drive themselves. I'm sure that's not too far off.
You seem to have already formed an opinion about the value of your car. Why post a "feeler" thread like this and then disagree with those of use who think it may be a liability to a quick or higher price sale? Hank loves his "Rachel" and Helms can fix them. Sell it and find out what it is worth. Alden
How many cars did Ferrari put the valeo in after the 1993 Mondial? If it was something significant, I think they [Ferrari] would have offered it on their other cars. Just my opinion. Joe
Does it actually make the car more enjoyable to drive? If yes, then it could be valued incrementally for that reason. If it is different, but not better, from an enjoyment perspective, its rarity would not count for much. Having never seen or driven one, it does seem a curious engineering outcome.
There was a nice Mondial T Valeo on the "Mondial Euro Tour" I was on a few months ago. FWIW, we put about 2000 km on all the Mondials during that trip and the Valeo functioned flawlessly. Alden
I would love to have a Valeo, but only made for the U.S. in convertible form. I prefer the coupe. It is like driving a 3 pedal manual (same transmission)but with a computer working the clutch. You still have to be smooth on the throttle and rev match on downshifts. Not like today's computers that take all the fun (skill) out of driving. If Dave Helms can't fix it (on the West Coast, we have Tim Stanford on the East Coast), then it can't be fixed. I have dealt with both and both are top notch. So buying a Valeo car would not trouble me in the least with those two available. I am sure there are others. Have the OP post it up for sale and see what the marketplace says! Regards, Jerry
