It’s hard to argue with a seller who comes right out and says that the car they have listed for sale “Has rust and rot everywhere, been sitting in a field 10+ years.” This field find is a 1986 Yugo GV, and it’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Foster, Rhode Island. The seller is asking $1,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Gary for the tip!
There are only two exterior photos, but the seller took the time to pop the hood to show the engine, so almost anything else can be forgiven in my world. The photo above showing the rear of this Yugo doesn’t look overly horrible, rust-and-rot-wise, but the first exterior photo doesn’t make it look like an easy weekend project.
A 2023 Car & Driver article says this under the heading Problem Areas: “Corrosion and rot. Yugo claimed to rustproof the U.S.-bound Yugos, but that didn’t do much to stop these econoboxes from oxidizing.” So the seller isn’t kidding about rust and rot. We’ve seen many Yugos here on Barn Finds over the years, and some have been really nice, haven’t they? I mean, condition-wise? The interior of this example doesn’t look horrible to me, I’m sure it could be cleaned up and would look pretty nice for a 40-year-old car.
Various parts of Yugos were made in various Yugoslav countries, and overall assembly was generally done in Serbia. A lot of the interior parts were made in Macedonia and Croatia, and other than whatever the dark stuff is under the driver’s seat, it looks nice in the above photo of the back seat. Is that a rust stain from a seatbelt buckle on the bottom of the rear seat? It’s generally agreed upon that the “best” Yugo era was between 1988 and 1991, quality-wise.
The engine should be a Fiat-derived 1.1-liter SOHC inline-four with around 55 horsepower. I say, with 55 horsepower. Backed by a 4-speed manual sending power to the front wheels, the seller says it was running when parked, but it’s been sitting for around a decade. And there is no title. And there is rust and rot everywhere. And it’s $1,500. And, and, and… I really like Yugos, even though I’ve never owned one. Any thoughts on this one?
Thoughts?
Well, lemme get this straight: someone is wanting $1500 for a rotting Yugoslavian version of a Fiat 128 which was a car based on some model of a British Austin and though “it ran when parked” it has no title?
Hmmm…
Well, as Wayne Gretzky once said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.
The seller is shooting for the moon here IMHO, but take the shot.
If it doesn’t sell they can yank the seats for their front room and scrap the remnants for a set of seat covers (“new furniture!”).
Any Yugo written up here will result in jokes, or (more likely) derision. Especially a rusty, non-running example. Nevadahalftrack is right, this might be the Wayne Gretzky effect. Maybe we should start applying this term — “the seller must be Wayne Gretzky.”
Thanks SG.
I’m confused – are they saying they will pay someone $1500 to haul it to the dump?
Junk yard bound. People complain about overpriced rusty Mopars, this cars asking price proportionally to value this is just as bad.
Steve R
In my area, it can’t go to the junk yard WITHOUT a title. They won’t accept it. And Scotty, you wouldn’t like one if you ever owned or were responsible for the maintenance of one. My wife wanted a Mercedes-Benz wagon, I got her a virtually new one. ( 3 months old) and I will never, ever own another one. Between the continual failures on my Mercedes. And issues of customer’s cars. I will never have another. So Scotty, be careful what you wish for!
I’m 100% sure you’re right, Wayne. It’s the rare GVX model that I wanted, this one that Josh wrote about back in 2019. It was only four hours south of me, and I was talking with the seller about picking it up, but he sold it someone else for just $3,000. It would have been a star at every Cars & Coffee event for sure.
https://barnfinds.com/sport-model-1988-yugo-gvx/
$1500 is strong money for a parts car, and we’ve seen enough shiny, solid Yugos that if you want one you can wait for one.
This would only be worth it for someone studying auto body work and looking for experience/a rolling resume.
Parts car for the interior (broken window cranks never stop) and mechanical parts. (When new, the parts were “manufactured with worn out Fiat dies and stampings”)
This car performs and looks as good as it did when it left the factory. It’s fun to hate on Yugos.
I thought Scottie had done his magic and pulled the original sales brochure when I read the headline. 😀
When you’ve got green stuff growing on the inside door panel that looks like it came from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and the exterior looks like it does.. a couple hundred as a parts car is about all you can expect. $1500? That’s funny. And I like Yugos… in a kitschy kind of way
And………….
Cue that Yugo rear defroster joke starting here…….
Just kidding. I’m actually in the camp of liking Yugos. I actually had a chance to buy a lighly used Yugo around 1991. My Dad of all people knew of it from someone he worked with. We talked about it, and he then said, no maybe you should get something else. But part of me really wanted that thing. This one looks like it has a decent interior. Without a title it’s a parts car at best at this point. Scotty, you did this Yugo justice with your write up.
Drowning Mona?
Consumers reports did a Yugo review back in the day. One of the most funny lines was about the manual transmission. Said the floor shifter felt like ‘a steel rod shoved into a coffee can filled with rocks’. Almost spit my ice tea out reading that!
Had one for a loaner when I took my RX7 in for service back in the day. I don’t remember it shifting hard, but I’d be driving along in the thing at 55 mph and it would just pop out of gear.
That’s never good JDC lol 😲
People used to abandon Yugos a lot nicer than this thing.
I have a leftover warped piece of 2×12 from a deck project in 2005. Can I ask 1500 dollars for it too??
Ha, excellent comments, folks! I love it, lots of creativity out there. Happy Sunday, all!
1500? I don’t think so! Might give a couple hundred just to see if I could get it operational again ( something to keep the skill set sharp).
I did quality research for the auto industry in the mid-80’s. A 3-year old Toyota was twice as reliable as a new Yugo when they first came out. Yet, even then, there were owners who were very happy with their purchase.
what a joke!
I’ll pay you $1500 NOT to give it to me.
Lol. STEVEN I’ll buy it for a couple hundred, call you, then dial 📞
1-800-the-hook 🪝 have it towed away and pocket a grand lol 🍻
if it goes yugo
Leslie Pluhar had one…..
This is a joke, right? 1-800-GOT-JUNK for haul-away.
My wife & I were looking for a small city car to replace her beater Dodge Dart and saw an ad for a new Yugo for $2995 at Joe Perillo in Chicago. We stopped by and saw this shiny red GV on the showroom floor. The salesperson gushed over the price and fuel economy, yet knew nothing about the specs. He popped the hood to show the engine and I immediately noticed surface rust on the shock towers and inner fender wells. “Whatsup with that?” I queried. “Oh, no worries” he replied. “That’s just typical salt-air corrosion from the cargo ship crossing the Atlantic”. Stunned, I asked him how long he expected the car to last on salted Chicago winter streets, if a 2 week journey already caused corrosion? “Oh, we can rust-proof it for you for an additional $800”, he said. “And then you can just buy a cheap winter beater for the salt”. Yugo probably sold thousands of these POS cars here, but they were all gone within 5 years. That alone makes this rare beast worth at least $500…
$1,500 for a rotted out Yugo? I wouldn’t give you 15 cents for it.
Was there ever really a “best” era for Yugo’s? 😂
I once read that Yugos were the worst car Ever Produced!!!!
Park it in front of your “friend’s” home for the homeowner’s association response?
Love it! HOA would have a cow if this was parked in any spot fir more than a day. And since you would have the key and they couldn’t trace the ownership. It would take them at least a week to get rid of it. Once you see a tow truck coming, drive it away and look for another HOA! IT COULD BE FUN IF YOU HAD THE TIME TO PLAY IT CORRECTLY! And if you had friends in other HOAs, you could just pass it around. Could be great entertainment at HOA board meetings. Why is the POS sitting on my street? Do something about it! I don’t live in an area with an HOA. But I have friends that do. And they would get a charge out of watching the excitement over this thing parked in their neighborhood! Needless to say it has to arrive and depart under the cover of darkness!
Dave, do you want him to be Evicted?
That’s why “friend’s” instead of friend’s.
Great write up on an insanely priced car, Scotty.
It’s hard to believe this line:
“Update – a lot of you have been asking and we’ve searched but do not have the title to this vehicle. It was titled in Rhode Island so you may be able to apply for a replacement there.”
Darn, if only I lived in Rhode Island! Missed out.
There was a movie where the stars kept destroying real police cars, they finally ended with a Yugo. There is one line I recall, the finest Serbo Croatian Technology. I think it was Dan Acroyd who said it? It has been forever since I have seen it maybe someone has a fresher brain?
Every collection needs aYugo…just not a tthat price.
I don’t need one in my collection. Being a service manager at a dealership that had just dropped the line was bad enough. Customers ticked off/disappointed/dissatisfied/
embarrassed with their purchase. Is bad enough. But when you tell them that the closest dealer is now 150 miles away over the mountain. Their displeasure is really high!
Years ago my girlfriend’s Chevrolet Cavalier needed a starter. Under protest she drove my ’67 AMC Ambassador (but this car is so huge!) to work and I got busy yanking the bum starter. I needed to get to the parts store for a replacement and asked my neighbor if he could give me a ride. He was busy sitting his kids but he handed me the keys to his Yugo. I’ve got to say the little car fired right up, went through all the gears, got me to the store and got me home again no problem!
You must live right and have a guardian angel watching over you! (lol)
I think it is kind of sad. I hate seeing any car in a state like this
Yes, it Is Sad, even though it’s not an American car!
Someone’s grandpa, with a discernible Czech accent, is secretly longing for this car.
Naw, even the Czechs would walk away. Even a former Yugoslav would be embarrassed, I’ll bet.
All these comments lead me to believe people love these piles of crap. My wife had one new in 1986. Biggest waste of $5,000 ever. Broke down on the Brooklyn Bridge, heater broke, wheel bearings, overheated, just awful. Yet, here we are with people loving them because Richard Rawlings sold one to some guy on TV a few years ago. Just like those hideous piles of rust, the Ford Bronco, Rawlings restored a rust bucket one years ago and now they sell for $100,000.
I think you’re being severely mislead lol
Anyone who buys a Yugo needs their head examined!
I knew a guy who had a rotten VW Rabbit with no title…nobody would take it so he bought some Sawzall blades, cut it into manageable sized bits and dropped the pieces into apartment complex dumpsters all over South St Louis. That’s about where this thing is headed.
I’ve been known to do that to a rusty Pinto with no title.
During the 1968 New York city garbage strike, creative citizens would place their trash in a box, then wrap it like a gift and leave it in the backseat of taxi cabs.
The Sawzall blades would be worth more than the car!