verdelaw
Well-Known Member
This post is about buying and owning an old car, for people who are new to it. Most people on here are not new to it.. and won't be interested. This is for the lurkers out there who are looking for maybe their first MoPar and/or old car. It might've helped me to read this two or three years ago. BLUF: Save up and buy a nicer car.
So I just sold my 68 Charger. It still hurts a little inside, but it's slowly ebbing...
...and I'm on the hunt for the next one. I wouldn't say I made a mistake with the last one, but the better choice would have been to save up and buy one nicer and/or more DONE.
It's not that I didn't have the know-how.. I mean, I didn't (and still don't have much).. but that's what this forum is for, what youtube is for, and what making friends over an electrical gremlin is all about. It's not that I didn't have the tools.. I didn't, but those things can be begged, bought, or borrowed. It's not that I didn't have the passion.. that loping V8 always brought a smile to my face and I'd been lusting for a MoPar for years prior to the purchase. It's not that I didn't have the space.. I have a three car garage.. with three cars. It was completely full. I had to move the lawn mower and the recycling bin just to get in my Charger. But I could move one car out to work on the 68, so that wasn't it. And so what that the garage isn't insulated and gets sub-zero in the winter and wicked hot in the summer?
For me, it came down to time. I work full time, and my job includes trips. Sometimes for weeks at a time. Sometimes for months (but rarely). And my wife just had a kid. And quit her job. Over the time I owned my last Charger I found that I never could put in the time. Anyone around here will tell you that the small task you think will take 45 minutes on your car will actually end up taking 3 hours or 3 days. You'll go in there ready to tackle anything, only to find that a certain washer or relay or nut is holding up the whole works (and the parts store just closed). I'd come home from work ready to work on a system to find that my wife needs me to help with three things that take up my whole evening. Forget the weekend.. that was spent with my kid and my wife.. and our friends.. or taking a road trip.. or making up for what I missed on my last work trip.. or something else. Bottom line, aside from all the other inconveniences.. I didn't have the time.
So I looked to outsource it. Wow there are still some good speed shops around that do great work! I found 11 in the local area, narrowed it to 8.. and visited all of them. From 8 I narrowed it to 3 and really spent time and talked to all three. The first basic work I wanted done was: trans swap, rear end swap, and some electrical work. The three bids came to: $7800, $8900, and $14800. Wow.. what a spread. So I went with the lowest (which coincidentally was my favorite shop anyway). When we really sat down and added in all that needed to be done, plus a couple "while we're at-its", the total came to $16800! And we were just getting started! Amazing. And far beyond anything I was ready to pay. That option was not realistic.
So I started looking around at prices for a done car. And you already know what I found.. it's cheaper to buy a done car at the end of the day. And not just a little cheaper.. we're talking tens of thousands of dollars cheaper. A LOT of money. When I added everything I wanted to do on my car along with everything I needed to do on my car, I was pushing 70 or 80 grand to have someone else do it. And months to years for them to do it. So why wait a helluva long time and/or pay a helluva lot of money? Do yourself a favor.. save up a bit longer and buy a nicer car. It'll be better in the long run.
Just my opinion of course
So I just sold my 68 Charger. It still hurts a little inside, but it's slowly ebbing...
...and I'm on the hunt for the next one. I wouldn't say I made a mistake with the last one, but the better choice would have been to save up and buy one nicer and/or more DONE.
It's not that I didn't have the know-how.. I mean, I didn't (and still don't have much).. but that's what this forum is for, what youtube is for, and what making friends over an electrical gremlin is all about. It's not that I didn't have the tools.. I didn't, but those things can be begged, bought, or borrowed. It's not that I didn't have the passion.. that loping V8 always brought a smile to my face and I'd been lusting for a MoPar for years prior to the purchase. It's not that I didn't have the space.. I have a three car garage.. with three cars. It was completely full. I had to move the lawn mower and the recycling bin just to get in my Charger. But I could move one car out to work on the 68, so that wasn't it. And so what that the garage isn't insulated and gets sub-zero in the winter and wicked hot in the summer?
For me, it came down to time. I work full time, and my job includes trips. Sometimes for weeks at a time. Sometimes for months (but rarely). And my wife just had a kid. And quit her job. Over the time I owned my last Charger I found that I never could put in the time. Anyone around here will tell you that the small task you think will take 45 minutes on your car will actually end up taking 3 hours or 3 days. You'll go in there ready to tackle anything, only to find that a certain washer or relay or nut is holding up the whole works (and the parts store just closed). I'd come home from work ready to work on a system to find that my wife needs me to help with three things that take up my whole evening. Forget the weekend.. that was spent with my kid and my wife.. and our friends.. or taking a road trip.. or making up for what I missed on my last work trip.. or something else. Bottom line, aside from all the other inconveniences.. I didn't have the time.
So I looked to outsource it. Wow there are still some good speed shops around that do great work! I found 11 in the local area, narrowed it to 8.. and visited all of them. From 8 I narrowed it to 3 and really spent time and talked to all three. The first basic work I wanted done was: trans swap, rear end swap, and some electrical work. The three bids came to: $7800, $8900, and $14800. Wow.. what a spread. So I went with the lowest (which coincidentally was my favorite shop anyway). When we really sat down and added in all that needed to be done, plus a couple "while we're at-its", the total came to $16800! And we were just getting started! Amazing. And far beyond anything I was ready to pay. That option was not realistic.
So I started looking around at prices for a done car. And you already know what I found.. it's cheaper to buy a done car at the end of the day. And not just a little cheaper.. we're talking tens of thousands of dollars cheaper. A LOT of money. When I added everything I wanted to do on my car along with everything I needed to do on my car, I was pushing 70 or 80 grand to have someone else do it. And months to years for them to do it. So why wait a helluva long time and/or pay a helluva lot of money? Do yourself a favor.. save up a bit longer and buy a nicer car. It'll be better in the long run.
Just my opinion of course