Whats a fair price on this one?

[Mike DC]

 
I don't care how reputable the shop might be.  The GL in this thread was still slammed together on the cheap just to sell it.  It's obvious.  The best thing about the car appears to be the shiny new paintjob and we have no idea what's underneath that.

[Tjader]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.  LEON.

Interesting, I was thinking just the same. Is it even possible for a shop to do a high-quality resto on a plain 318-Charger and still make some profit? I beleive it's not... That does not mean that the price they are asking in this case is fair, but it's still interesting. I bought a plain 318 charger, that was "restored" (judging by the pics simular to the one we are diskussing here). It had a nice paint job, but also a 440, and nice interior. Since I bought it (for quite a lot of Money) I have over the years spent nearly 20 000 USD to make it more than just a crappy car with a nice paint job. I have done this for the love of the hobby and the love of my Charger, but from an economic Point of view it's a disaster. I will never get my Money back, since no matter what I do it's still a plain 318-car. Luckily I'm not in it for the Money  . Now, there's not so much left to do on the car, so today I Believe I can estimate the remaining costs to get to a real nice car, and when I do that and add the Money I have already spent (including buying the car) the total cost will probably be somewhere around 55 000 USD. I do almost Everything myself, and for the things I need help with I'm well connected so I pay only minimal Money. I do live in Sweden, so about 30% of the total is probably taxes and shipping costs that you guys in the states don't have. And I know I overpaid for the car (I had never even seen a Charger up Close Before so I had nothing to compare with), but still.... If I deduct the 30% for taxes and shipping and 5000 USD from the price I paid for the car, it's still roughly  38 000 USD. And then there is no costs for all the hours spent, and trust me, there are a lot of those involved in my car . As you see, the costs by far exceed what anyone is willing to pay for a non numbers matching 318-car. For a shop, this would be the end of their business. For a dedicated idiot like my self, it's fun and I get the car exactly the way I want it.

[Dino]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.  LEON.

Interesting, I was thinking just the same. Is it even possible for a shop to do a high-quality resto on a plain 318-Charger and still make some profit? I beleive it's not... That does not mean that the price they are asking in this case is fair, but it's still interesting. I bought a plain 318 charger, that was "restored" (judging by the pics simular to the one we are diskussing here). It had a nice paint job, but also a 440, and nice interior. Since I bought it (for quite a lot of Money) I have over the years spent nearly 20 000 USD to make it more than just a crappy car with a nice paint job. I have done this for the love of the hobby and the love of my Charger, but from an economic Point of view it's a disaster. I will never get my Money back, since no matter what I do it's still a plain 318-car. Luckily I'm not in it for the Money  . Now, there's not so much left to do on the car, so today I Believe I can estimate the remaining costs to get to a real nice car, and when I do that and add the Money I have already spent (including buying the car) the total cost will probably be somewhere around 55 000 USD. I do almost Everything myself, and for the things I need help with I'm well connected so I pay only minimal Money. I do live in Sweden, so about 30% of the total is probably taxes and shipping costs that you guys in the states don't have. And I know I overpaid for the car (I had never even seen a Charger up Close Before so I had nothing to compare with), but still.... If I deduct the 30% for taxes and shipping and 5000 USD from the price I paid for the car, it's still roughly  38 000 USD. And then there is no costs for all the hours spent, and trust me, there are a lot of those involved in my car . As you see, the costs by far exceed what anyone is willing to pay for a non numbers matching 318-car. For a shop, this would be the end of their business. For a dedicated idiot like my self, it's fun and I get the car exactly the way I want it.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Lots of dedicated idiots here.   

I worked in resto and a lot of the cars you do are high priced gems so it's worth doing the work, but make no mistake there are a lot of customers who are just wanting their plain jane ride redone. We can tell them a thousand times that the cost of the resto will exceed its value ten-fold, they still want the work done. Sentimental value trumps resale value. A business in it to sell cars however can't afford a resto, it just doesn't make any economical sense.

[alfaitalia]

Yep.....mine will cost far more than its worth....and as a resto mod the collectors wont be interested so the value will never be that great. I don't care....its just for me...then my son and hopefully one day his kids!! At least I don't have to worry about washers being the same thickness or grommets being the same shade of black!!

[Mike DC]

  
If hand-rebuilding cars out of 50yo junk was profitable then the factories wouldn't be using brand new parts on assembly lines.  

Most restorations are big money losers when you do things right.  It's not a mistake when they lose money, it's the correct outcome.

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.  LEON.

You're way off track! Did you even attempt to accurately read what I posted? Apparently you missed my point completely!
You quoted my post in which I used the term "quality" once. Then you respond with "big money", "High Quality", and "High $$ Restoration". THOSE ARE YOUR WORDS NOT MINE.
This is exactly why I don't spend a lot of time of sites like this. All too often people don't take the time to clearly or accurately read a persons post. Instead, they just skim over it then make assumptions and draw their own conclusions on what the person was actually trying to put across. Then they go off on a tangent, then others join in, and there goes the original thought.

You went on and on about this being a plain 318 2bbl car, and state that maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time and money to do a high quality restoration. Blah, blah, blah.
Nowhere in my post did I suggest anything about performing a "high quality restoration".  I did use the term "quality", (not high quality, not big money, not high $$ restoration) once in trying to put my point across. You took the word "quality" and ran with it.

I suggest you read my original post again and try to grasp the thought I was trying to put across.

Just for the record, I don't run a restoration or any type of auto. repair business, nor would I want to! I'm in the hobby not to make money, but because I have a passion for cars, always have.  I own a small collection of vehicles and do most of my own work, and take pride in the work I do. I seldom sell anything but if and when I do sell, I don't misrepresent what I'm selling.

I could spend more time on this and go into more detail but I suspect it would be futile.

[hemi-hampton]

Here's part of your quote below. I have no idea what your trying to say here, can you elaborate or be more specific?

"If I ran a restoration type shop, I'd want every car that left to be a quality vehicle! If I couldn't deliver on that, I'd take on fewer projects. But that's me."


2 Questions

#1 Why wouldn't you be able to deliver a quality vehicle?
#2 I'd take on fewer Projects? What does this mean? if you had fewer projects you would then be able to do a quality vehicle?

Confused

[crj1968]

Quality is a relative term...acceptable and safe might be a better term

I think he's referring to a "quality vehicle" without doing a rotisserie resto and scouring the planet for "correct" NOS parts....you know trailer queen type stuff.

If I was to tear my 383 car down for that kind of resto it surely wouldn't be a for profit type of deal.  I've got just over $20K in it just to be a decent and safe driver. To just get it where I want it without taking it apart I still need to throw another $5K at it and then there's body and paint ! 

[moparnation74]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.  LEON.

You're way off track! Did you even attempt to accurately read what I posted? Apparently you missed my point completely!
You quoted my post in which I used the term "quality" once. Then you respond with "big money", "High Quality", and "High $$ Restoration". THOSE ARE YOUR WORDS NOT MINE.
This is exactly why I don't spend a lot of time of sites like this. All too often people don't take the time to clearly or accurately read a persons post. Instead, they just skim over it then make assumptions and draw their own conclusions on what the person was actually trying to put across. Then they go off on a tangent, then others join in, and there goes the original thought.

You went on and on about this being a plain 318 2bbl car, and state that maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time and money to do a high quality restoration. Blah, blah, blah.
Nowhere in my post did I suggest anything about performing a "high quality restoration".  I did use the term "quality", (not high quality, not big money, not high $$ restoration) once in trying to put my point across. You took the word "quality" and ran with it.

I suggest you read my original post again and try to grasp the thought I was trying to put across.

Just for the record, I don't run a restoration or any type of auto. repair business, nor would I want to! I'm in the hobby not to make money, but because I have a passion for cars, always have.  I own a small collection of vehicles and do most of my own work, and take pride in the work I do. I seldom sell anything but if and when I do sell, I don't misrepresent what I'm selling.

I could spend more time on this and go into more detail but I suspect it would be futile.

It would be futile.....I understood your post and the point you tried to make........

[chargerperson]

Yep.....mine will cost far more than its worth....and as a resto mod the collectors wont be interested so the value will never be that great. I don't care....its just for me...then my son and hopefully one day his kids!! At least I don't have to worry about washers being the same thickness or grommets being the same shade of black!!

I did the same, resto modded a car but kept it original looking with a few NOS parts.  Undoubtedly spent more than it is worth but the car is exactly what I wanted.

[hemi-hampton]

"I suggest you read my original post again and try to grasp the thought I was trying to put across."

Now your jumping to wrong conclusion. I never did skim over your post, instead I read it over & over 3-4 times & still could not understand what you were trying to say. And now went back again a few times & still don't know? Instead of me trying to grasp the thought you were trying to put across, what don't you just spell it out clearly instead of me trying to decifer what you meant

[INTMD8]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.   LEON.

Just because it's a GL doesn't mean it can't be done well.  (though I would not drive one myself).  

Doesn't really matter if it started life as a 318 car, there's no reason an engine swap couldn't take place on a non-original car.  

In my opinion this was just quickly scraped together with low regard to anything, just to make a (nearly) complete shiny car.

On the other end of the spectrum you have a perfectly restored Charger with desirable options.

This could have had an engine swap and put together somewhere in the middle to where it would still be considered a decent car but not built with a blank check budget.

[INTMD8]

double post

[hemi-hampton]

Point is you would not be doing any quality restorations, because nobody wants to pay for it. Or not many.  This is just a plain 318 2bbl Charger, Do you really think somebody is going to spend alot of time & money to do a high quality restoration on just a plain 318 2bbl car. Maybe if it was a R/T Hemi car it would be worth the time & money to do a high quality restoration but not this 318 car.   LEON.

Just because it's a GL doesn't mean it can't be done well.  (though I would not drive one myself).  

Doesn't really matter if it started life as a 318 car, there's no reason an engine swap couldn't take place on a non-original car.  

In my opinion this was just quickly scraped together with low regard to anything, just to make a (nearly) complete shiny car.

On the other end of the spectrum you have a perfectly restored Charger with desirable options.

This could have had an engine swap and put together somewhere in the middle to where it would still be considered a decent car but not built with a blank check budget.

Your Absolutely right, I agree 100%. like I said in earlier post car looked like Perfume on a Pig with shiny paint & seller wanted to much. For what seller wants it should be nice or nicer. There are lots of people that put $50k (some $100k+) into a car that's worth less then that when done. But a Car Dealer is not going to sell a car for less then what he has into it. Dealers specialize in Perfume on a Pig cars. That's why I would never buy from a Dealer. I still have no idea what that other guy was trying to say? LEON.

[darbgnik]

 
I don't care how reputable the shop might be.  The GL in this thread was still slammed together on the cheap just to sell it.  It's obvious.  The best thing about the car appears to be the shiny new paintjob and we have no idea what's underneath that.

This point always makes me wonder, if you're spending money on doing a paint job correctly, ie. replace/repair what's underneath, why not spend a few minutes documenting what you did? Every time I see a shiny new paintjob, I always wonder what's underneath.

I honestly believe the most valuable single part of my car is the photo album of it being painted. Easy for anyone to see what they're getting. No guessing necessary. I see so many cars for sale, quoting complete resto etc, with nary a one picture of said resto. Skip to the next add....

[hemi-hampton]

I got tons of pictures of most of my resto's. LEON.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Bottom line is that it's a complete waste of a good parts car.