Guide to Buying a Classic Car
Guide to Buying a Classic Car
Buying a classic car can be an exciting but stressful process. Those jumping into the classic car world for the first time may be concerned with making sure they are buying a good solid car. Using our years of experience in the business of buying and selling classic cars, we have come up with some helpful tips to make the process easier and safer. Whether you are looking to get into your first classic car, or have purchased many in the past, you may find these tips helpful the next time you are shopping the classic car market.
Put eyes on it
This is huge when buying a classic car, much more so than when buying a modern car. Obviously, this is important for many reasons, to make sure the car really runs/drives, everything is as advertised, etc. But maybe the biggest thing, is that it is extremely difficult to really know the quality of a restoration without seeing it in person. No two classic cars are exactly the same when it comes to the quality of work that was done, and nobody wants to buy a car they thought was going to make them happy, only to have to turn around and do very expensive and time consuming body and paint work. Everyone knows that pictures can be deceiving, and one the biggest things that you may not catch on photos that could be a big surprise when you receive the car, is bad bodywork and/or bad paintwork. Another factor in the paint/body, is that everyones expectations and standards will vary, the seller may genuinely think he’s got a car with high quality body and paint and not have any intent of misrepresenting the car, but without seeing it in person, you can not know for certain that it meets your definition of high quality. If you are seriously considering buying a non local car, it is well worth the time and money to make a trip to see it in person. If that is not an option, hiring an experienced classic car inspector to go see the car for you is your next best bet.
Know the Market
This part mostly applies to those who are inexperienced in classic cars, but is useful knowledge for any classic car buyer. Know the market on these cars, especially if you have narrowed your search to a certain car, research the market on that specific car. Understand which years, models, and trims are desirable. An inexperienced buyer may find a 4-door 1957 Chevy Bel Air for cheap, and think they’ve found themselves a great deal because they have heard all about 57 Chevys and their popularity, without knowing that a 4-door is not very desirable and does not demand anywhere near the same value as a 2-door 57 Bel Air. Searching the market across the country is the best way to educate yourself. Look at local prices on craigslist, look at nationwide prices on eBay, Hemmings, and other sites where classic cars are advertised. This will give you the most accurate up-to-date market value on the specific vehicle you are looking for. If you’re looking at Camaro’s for example, educate yourself on the values of a 1969 Camaro compared to a 1967 Camaro or a 1970 Camaro. Understand the impact on value that originality has, such as original engines, original paint color, etc. Or for cars that are not original, understand the impact on value that modifying these cars with modern components can have (Modern fuel injected engines, modern suspension & brakes, air conditioning, custom chassis, etc). The more educated you are going into the purchase, the better purchase you will make.
Verify Claims
As we know, originality is very important to many Classic Car buyers, and can also have major impacts on value. Whenever sellers are making claims such as ‘this car has original paint, original color, numbers matching engine, original miles, etc, verify these to be true, do not take the sellers word for it. If said claims cannot be proven, do not buy the car under the impression that the claims are true. Buy the car at a price that you’re happy with in the event that these claims are not true or cannot be proven. Luckily with todays resources, it is very easy to research these things online. Paint codes can be easily looked up, and then verified on the trim tags so that you know exactly what color paint and interior that car left the factory with. You can easily research where to find a VIN stamp on a certain engine, so that you can match that number to the VIN on the car and verify the original engine. ‘Original miles’ is definitely one to watch out for. There is no way to truly track the mileage of a classic car, there was no Carfax system keeping track of this stuff back in the day. If someone is claiming a car has “20k original miles” and charging a premium price because of this, be very diligent in looking into this. Chances are that it is going to be nearly impossible to prove. If the car has only had one or two owners, and has an extremely detailed paper trail tracking all of the miles whenever the car was repaired or serviced, then its possible the miles are real, but again this is a very unlikely thing to find. This is again where an experienced inspector is a good idea. A knowledgable inspector can verify numbers, verify originality, and in the case of a claimed low mileage car, they can verify if the car is truly in original condition and shows no signs that it has more miles than advertised.
All in all, just be diligent when making a big purchase such as your next classic car. Most sellers do have good intentions, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Be educated and patient and at the end of the day, just ensure that you are purchasing a car that will make you happy.