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Re: : Penalty? - Restoration Costs

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: : Penalty? - Restoration Costs
From: WSpohn4@aol.com
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 13:08:27 EST
In a message dated 31/10/02 9:28:23 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net writes:


> Largo isn't but a few miles from me, so if anybody has any specific 
> questions, or would like pictures of specific parts, I'd be willing to 
> take a look/pictures of it.
> 
> 

Fortunately for me, the guy seems to have the idea that a car's value has 
some directly proportional relationship to the amount of money he has put 
into it, as the 'buy it now' price is 25K.

You guys must have heard this countless times when looking at a car you are 
considering buying..."I've got $X  into it, so that's why I want to get at 
least $X out of it.

Sadly, a piece of shzt car is worth pretty much the same with a 5K paint job 
on it as it was before the paint job. You take what you could sell the car 
for in completely restored condition (not to concours, but to reasonably 
original condition), and subtract the cost of restoration. Whatever number 
spits out is what the guy's car is worth.

Example - if you can buy a completely restored MGA for $10,000, and it would 
cost you $8,000 to have one restored, then  any potential project better not 
cost more than $2000, or you might as well go buy one that is already done!

This sort of calculation doesn't apply if the car is so rare that no restored 
examples are available, of course, but for MGBs and such, there is for most 
purposes an unlimited supply.

I have tried to explain this to various people over the years, but there is 
an understandable reluctance to admit to one's self (or one's significant 
other) that you've spent way more on something than it is worth, especially 
if you have been using the argument during the time you've owned it, that it 
will be worth a real bundle once it is finished.

In fact, many cars are worth more parted out than for restoration.  I am sure 
that only the reluctance I have noted above accounts for the fact that many 
more cars haven't been wrecked for their parts value.

A friend of mine recently fell prey to his own nature when he bought an MGB 
that looked quite decent from 10 feet away. He later found that it had a 
fresh paint job, a Riley 1500cc engine and no inner sills to speak of. He 
asked me what I thought he should do. I told him to sell it for parts and buy 
a decent one. He went ahead and had it all fixed. It cost him (much) more 
than if he had taken my advice!

Bill

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