Buying A Restored Classic Car

Many of you have probably asked what would be better: buying a restored classic car or a project car. The answer to this question is difficult to give, taking into considerations that are a lot of factors involved. For a fully restored one you will have to pay a pretty sum, while for a project car you will invest a lot of time, effort and again, money. The question is, are you capable of turning a project car into a fully restored automobile? If uncertain, it would be better to opt for the first choice.

If you do have the time and are willing to put in a lot of hours for the restoration project, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if you spend throughout the process more than you paid for the car. Of course, this isn’t a rule, but it happens more often than you can think. The part of restoring the car yourself isn’t about money; it’s about creating something with your own two hands and then showing it off to other classic car enthusiasts. If your main concern is budget, it would be advisable to buy a fully restored vehicle as if the restoration has been properly done, you won’t need to invest any more money (for a brief while) in order to use the car.

Of course, buying a restored classic car comes with certain risks. The most important one concerns the fact that the vehicle might not have been properly restored and it could break down the second you buy it, meaning that you must invest a lot of money in order to fix it. Very important in the process of restoring a car is installing original components. A classic car that has been restored by using a lot of parts from other models or even other makes of cars isn’t very valuable so before buying one, you will have to do a thorough inspection to check and see if most of the parts are original or at least if they have been replaced with other identical parts from other vehicles.

A respectable classic car seller will always have photos which have been made during the restoration process so that the buyer will know what sort of parts he used. Of course, cameras can lie so you cannot rely only on these pictures.

Keep in mind that if you buy a fully restored classic car, you must be prepared to fix it in case something goes wrong and taking into consideration that it is a very old car, something will definitely break down sooner or later. It is advisable to talk to some of the garages, body shops and mechanics that are where you live and ask them if they are able to handle such delicate cars. Needless to say, if you do the restoration yourself, you’ll know all the ins and outs of the car and whenever a problem occurs, you’ll know what went wrong and you won’t have to rely on the help of others.

In the end, it basically depends on what you want. If you wish to have a car to take it to classic car shows and you don’t have the time to restore it yourself, it would be best to buy a fully restored one. If you do enjoy bringing back to life a classic and you have enough time and money, a project car will suit you better.

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