Buy It or Build It?

[SteveSS]

In today's market do you think it's smarter to buy a finished car or buy one that needs a little or a lot and build it? In the B Body marketplace, we see some awful wrecks being sold. I think the only place they might belong is in a Hollywood movie where it doesn't matter what happens. Or at least it doesn't matter a whole lot.

I do listen to what you members say even when it comes from Richard Cranium who accidentally received an Abby Normal brain transplant. His usual response is why don't you buy a finished car and enjoy it right away? Or, that will be a nice car once you put $75,000 into it.

I also like Mike on Wheeler Dealers where he buys a car that doesn't need a whole lot and then flips it. I notice he doesn't even make enough money to pay for the labor. I do respect that he shows the buy and sell prices.

Now to people like me that think a B Body should be cheap and fixed up. I can do some things to a car but I usually get stuck and have to farm out a bunch of jobs. I would think if you are close to a car restorer this might work but does it really pan out in the long run for us normal Joes?

Case in point. I bought that 1970 Coronet for $9500 from New Mexico. (I do like to share prices because it helps us hobbyists) The interior is sun-rotted but the body is good. I know the engine will turn over but that's about it. It's very, very complete and original. Am I going to have more money and time, (Let's say my labor is cheap like $10/hour) than buying a nice one?

I don't know if you guys watch that muscle car dealer at Maple Motors but I don't think most of those cars could be built for less money than he's asking.

Latest lot walk.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

I would buy one mostly done if not restored but that is just me at this point in my life.

Maple Motors goes through some cars but some of them underneath are questionable at best. They have a fresh undercoating on a lot of them.
I do like watching the test drives though.

 

[davek]

I would buy almost done,You will sink tons of money in a project,wait on parts and then paint. ADD it up and you will be at the same if not more on price. Thats how I see it. Maple Motors I think ask high on some of their cars but thats when the negotiations begin. PS you will be waiting on new interior stuff for a long time. Good luck.

 

[ckessel]

Buying either has its pluses or minuses. With the Coronet you bought, its easy to see what needs to be dealt with. A car thats "done" or "restored" can be money ahead for you IF it was done right. When you do your own, you know what you're getting. One thats "done/restored" may give you a big surprise down the road. Buy wisely.

 

[69L48Z27]

If you can work on your own stuff, build it. If you can’t, buy it.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I agree with Richard Cranium. I have owned numerous excellent, but not concours Mopars. I inspected every one of them personally, with a fine toothed comb before closing the deal. I bought my first numbers matching original 1970 GTX for $1500 in 1977. I had the good fortune of learning how to spot nice cars that didn't need work years before they became expensive. I learned the trouble spots for rust back in the 1960s, and learned the numbers matching game as it began to impact pricing. There is no way the cars I've owned could have been built from projects for twice what I paid for them, even pricing labor at minimum wage.

 

[Michael_]

The best cars to buy are original untouched ones. A Survivor that need "a little bit" of work or even better one that has been well cared for.

If you buy a restoration project and can't do the work yourself good luck finding a competent guy that does not rip you off.
Most of these swines will way overcharge and do a crappy job. So they're basically ripping you off twice.

Now if you can do the work yourself or have a guy that does good work at a fair rate i think it can be profitable in some cases.
But do not underestimate the cost of parts these days. We're not talking toyota corolla parts.

Do not buy a restored car if you're on a budget.
It can turn out to be the most expensive option.

 

[Darter6]

You will sink tons of money in a project,wait on parts and then paint.

Bingo ! Even if you can do all the work yourself. Been there done that. There are allot of nice done cars out there.BUT do your research.Don't jump on the first car.Check the car out thoroughly. Make sure it's what you want.If you got a budget or if the sky is the limit.

 

[VANDAN]

Steve, how much time do you have (left), and how much $$ can you spend ? There will be some very nice cars becoming available, in the near future. Do your research on finding a good one, with some verifiable history, buy it, tweak it to your liking, and enjoy it. Time waits for No Man...

 

[Bighouse]

If I could afford it I’d be living like Jay Leno, with a crew to build what I want

 

[Jerry Hall]

Building these cars is a labor of love. Don't ever count on getting any labor money out of it. If you aren't doing it because that's what you love doing, then you have already lost.

 

[xs-ivv]

Building these cars is a labor of love. Don't ever count on getting any labor money out of it. If you aren't doing it because that's what you love doing, then you have already lost.

I agree. Builders are doing it to enjoy the process and the satisfaction of doing it their way. If money and return on investment is the only concern its cheaper to buy one that has been restored.

 

[WileERobby]

If you can work on your own stuff, build it. If you can’t, buy it.

^^^ This is the best, most concise advise ! ^^^

 

[SteveSS]

I'm 65 and I know all the men in my family died in their mid-eighties. (I have insomnia, I'm looking forward to getting some sleep.) Both my kids are car fanatics. My hope is someday (Let's figure 35 years per generation) that a kid in 2102 says this car was my great-grandad's. My biggest issue is I buy too many cars to keep all of them in tip-top shape. I just got the word I have to spend $700+ on fixing the '69 Charger and a lot of it was fixing things less qualified mechanics did wrong.

Here's my list right now.
The '69 Charger is fixed but it still needs some paint correction and a seat cover.
1970 GTO drag car. Needs paint.
1970 Coronet 500. Needs interior, driver's door skin. Who knows what else.
1971 Charger Needs buffing and reassembly after paint.
1971 Challenger. It's in good shape.
1973 Pontiac Grand Am. Under construction.
1981 Camaro BumbleBee. Needs a few things but it's supposed to be a POS.
1982 Dodge Ram 50. Looking good.
1991 Ford F-150. Pretty good, with a few dents.
1997 Camaro SS. Looking good.
2006 Hummer H3 Needs some things.

Daily driver 2006 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota) Runs like a champ. I drive it a lot. I don't have any ego wrapped up in my daily.

 

[qkcuda]

I was faced with the same decision. I said I wanted a car with no rust and a 10 footer paint job. I also said a 20 year old resto that needed work would be perfect. I was willing to do mechanical work to in order to make it fit my standards. That is exactly what I ended up with and I was not disappointed.

 

[Michael_]

What i think will work and would try if i had the money:

A: Find a competent guy that is willing to work for a fair amount (try 15$ (+ bonus for every sold car) not 150$/hour)
B: Build or rent a shop with the needed tools
C: Buy a car with good body and cosmetics for a fair price
D: Order 100k worth of parts and build a high end pro touring car out of it
E: Sell for a big profit

If you have built a few cars and good reputation find the clients before building the car & build it for them.
Of course that is what many places do but it obviously works.
You just have to have the right contacts and/or money to get started.

The good thing doing this is you dont have to screw people over hiding problems in order to make a profit.

 

[Runcharger]

I will not buy anything that has been painted after the factory unless it's a project. All engines are considered cores too.

 

[Runner 68]

Build it. Much more enjoyable and rewarding.
Buy it if you don't have the skill to build it.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Buy or Build and all points in between.
Here's one way to approach this question.
I will assume classic (1962-1974) Mopar B-Body is the starting point.
*How close to "factory original" do you want to be, and how far from factory original do you want to take it?
*Is there a particular sub-model that you really want, and would a "clone" of that be OK?
*How much and what kind of work on the car can you do yourself, AND how much time will you have to do that? ALSO if you need others to work on it, how much money and time will that take, and assuming competence, is the result what's important or the whole "experience" of doing the work yourself AND what kind of value exchange is involved when you spend your time working on the car vs working in your job and paying others to work on the car?
In my case, I got a car that right away won "Top 10" (out of say 50 cars) or "Top 25" (out of 200 cars) and I'm TOTALLY happy with that, and I know that it's unlikely I'll ever find someone who could bring it up to "Best B-Body" or "Best Of Category" status without me giving up a LOT of money and being without my car or the ability to enjoy driving it, and possibly even mean NEVER being able to use it for what I want the most: driving, cruising, and occasionally racing it. It seems like "Best of ....." cars today MUST BE trailer queens, and I am not that guy. If you have Chinaware and no clean dishes when I'm ready for my dinner, it had better be locked in that display cabinet or it's going to get food piled on it.
I also hit the sweet spot (for me) in getting a desirable "sub model" (V-Code) that added value, performance, and rarity but since it's not numbers matching I get to do whatever mods I want (and have always intended to do) with a clear conscience, and it made the car affordable.
In the 8 years (this month) that I've had it, it has only been undrivable for about 4 months ONE time and that was because of about $20k parts and labor that I had put into it so a lot of work and short staff because of COVID-19 personnel shortages. There have been some "weeks" and maybe a stretch over 2 months when it needed (or I wanted) some significant things done.
Overall, it has been available when I wanted to take it out and about.
Last note: While I've really enjoyed doing a lot of the work done to it myself, and some things I wouldn't ever want anyone else to do, I have a lot of pain and body aches now that get worse, even debilitating (like bending over a hood for hours in one day) that make it less enjoyable or even prohibitive for me to do. Since I am a one man business, I MUST be able to do my job. Fortunately I am well paid so trading my time and labor for a car shop's labor cost that gives me time to do my job, that's not a bad trade.

 

[1STMP]

In today's market do you think it's smarter to buy a finished car or buy one that needs a little or a lot and build it? In the B Body marketplace, we see some awful wrecks being sold. I think the only place they might belong is in a Hollywood movie where it doesn't matter what happens. Or at least it doesn't matter a whole lot.

I do listen to what you members say even when it comes from Richard Cranium who accidentally received an Abby Normal brain transplant. His usual response is why don't you buy a finished car and enjoy it right away? Or, that will be a nice car once you put $75,000 into it.

I also like Mike on Wheeler Dealers where he buys a car that doesn't need a whole lot and then flips it. I notice he doesn't even make enough money to pay for the labor. I do respect that he shows the buy and sell prices.

Now to people like me that think a B Body should be cheap and fixed up. I can do some things to a car but I usually get stuck and have to farm out a bunch of jobs. I would think if you are close to a car restorer this might work but does it really pan out in the long run for us normal Joes?

Case in point. I bought that 1970 Coronet for $9500 from New Mexico. (I do like to share prices because it helps us hobbyists) The interior is sun-rotted but the body is good. I know the engine will turn over but that's about it. It's very, very complete and original. Am I going to have more money and time, (Let's say my labor is cheap like $10/hour) than buying a nice one?

I don't know if you guys watch that muscle car dealer at Maple Motors but I don't think most of those cars could be built for less money than he's asking.

Latest lot walk.

I think it depends on what your into. If you
enjoy (as in a hobby) taking something
from a near total basket case to something
the chicks will drool over is well worth the
effort. Tools, time, and dollars don't play
a deciding factor. It's starts with your
ambitions, your interest to learn new things
and processes.
I've spent a lifetime and career as a
mechanical engineer designing vehicles
that fit the narrative. The purpose for the
design.
Early in my career I pondered taking old
technology to today's standards.
47 years later my dream is nearing completion.
I couldn't tell you honestly how much time
and money are invested in my dream.
At this point that doesn't matter. I'll see my
dream come true.
You've either got gear oil for blood, or you
don't.
Where (in my mind) is buying something
someone else took pains to restore a prideful
thing, other than ownership?
I've virtually touched every nut, bolt, bracket,
and component. Sweated, cursed, worried,
and wounded thru the entire process. It's
a passion. You have it, or you don't.
"Feed a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish,, and he'll eat for a
lifetime".
Ask Kern Dog. He knows.