Dr B

I just saw this interesting article from Hagerty (https://www.hagerty.com/media/market-trends/hagerty-insider/how-much-are-we-driving/?hashed_email=c108c538d366b089a9c4f43f54274686f39e2fc74f021f76f066bb45bf7fdd61&dtm_em=c108c538d366b089a9c4f43f54274686f39e2fc74f021f76f066bb45bf7fdd61) that uses resale auction data to calculate how many miles various decade cars are driven, 1920s to 2020s. As someone who drives their collector cars a lot, I found it interesting how few miles most people drive their cars, not surprising, but depressing. I especially can't believe that cars from the 20s, 30s, and 40s are only driven on average 60-80 miles per year! (I know several people on this sight, myself included, that drive that many miles every time we take our cars out). The fact that the median is half the mean tells you that some drive a lot and some drive very little. Also, this only uses resold cars. Long term ownerships without a sale are not included in the calculations. Take this with a grain of salt, but at least they used data to produce their results. Your mileage may vary. Robert

I can also make that claim. So now 2! Robert

I know this topic has been discussed ad nauseum. My recollection from all the discussions is that detergent oils do not/will not cause any problems, period. The term is a misnomer. Detergent oils suspend the contaminants in the oil and this allow the oil filter to remove them. Non-detergent oils simply allow contaminants to fall out of suspension in the oil pan and engine passages. To my knowledge, detergent oils do not remove/dislodge built up sludge. The only way to do that is to pull the engine block and have it cleaned. Robert

Thanks all for your responses. The wide range should not have surprised me. Of the dozens of collector cars I have purchased over the years, none have been without needing some sorting for various reasons. Even the one I was guaranteed by a world renowned mark expert that the car needed nothing still needed something (albeit only a little). Even when I did it myself, it usually cost me something (e.g. replacement parts). Also, I drive my cars a lot, so the sorting has a high initial phase followed by months to years of a more gradual phase to get things right. So I was curious how others approached it. I think it goes to being realistic about the cost of the hobby. I think when someone does not factor in the additional cost of sorting the car, they can quickly get frustrated with "how expensive" this hobby is ( that can apply to a low 5 figure car as well as a 7 figure car). I always tried to take a financially conservative approach for each car I purchased (it's going to cost me more than just the initial purchase price), and I NEVER looked at it as an investment (if I made a couple of bucks, great, if not, that's okay too. I'm not in it as a business, it's a hobby!). I never got frustrated and walked away and the smiles per mile keep accumulating! That's classified. 😂 Robert

Another thread got me thinking and I didn't want to high jack it. I don't buy "project" cars. I buy cars that are running and usually with minimal known issues. When I started playing in the old car hobby, I would budget roughly an additional 10% of my purchase cost to fix any issues that popped up. Now I budget about 20%. With the current costs of repairs and restorations am I estimating too low? When you buy a running collector car, how much (ball park) do you budget to fix things that are known or unknown (there's ALWAYS unknowns)? Robert

I recall reading an article about when GM was designing the new C8 Corvette, they were unable to find a supplier who was willing to spend the time and money to design a standard transmission for the Corvette because the market would be too small. Robert

This! If you take your car on the track, with repeat hard (read threshold) braking, boiling your brake fluid is a concern. That is why for track events they insist on new brake fluid every time, to make sure there is no water in the brake fluid which can boil. For collector cars, this is a non-issue unless your going down Pikes Peak riding your brakes all the way (however, with drum brakes, you most likely will lose your brakes from over heating before you boiled the brake fluid)! Robert

I guess I'm beating the odds. My daily driver is a stick. It has been since I was 16 years old. I don't need a new car, mine current daily driver is a 2011, but when I do, I still want it to be a stick shift. As noted above, those are getting harder and harder to find. If something happens to my car tomorrow, I am not sure what I would get. Also agree with above, heavy stop and go traffic is a PITA with a stick! Robert

I second the advise to personally look at any car you are buying. Yes, there are people out there who can and do buy cars sight unseen and are willing to roll the dice depending on how much money is at stake or how rare the car is. Or hire an "unknown" person to look at the car for them. For me, there are a couple of people I trust (and I mean a couple=2) who are experts in very narrow car niches, or know the specific car, and know all the strengths and weaknesses of those cars, and can tell me whether the car is priced to condition and will not be a money pit. I have committed to purchasing a few cars before I personally saw them. I have had only one 'miss', that car needed more work (and $$$) than expected, not a complete disaster, but took some of the fun out of it. Overall, I have had a great track record buying this way. Interesting story, about 10 years ago I was considering buying a car and had numerous discussions with the owner and reviewed lots of pictures. I talked to my "expert" on this cars and he was comfortable this was a good car and a reasonable price. When I told the owner I wanted to buy the car, he insisted I had to come and see the car and he would not sell it to me before I did. So, I bought a round trip ticket on the MLK Monday holiday, flew out in the morning, saw the car, bought it, went for lunch with the owner, and flew home. The previous owner and I still keep in touch and we remain friends. So, sometime, seeing the car and meeting the owner can be a positive experience. Robert

The majority of these electric bike fires is because someone has mucked with the battery, charger or both. Most common cause is the use of the wrong charger that damages the battery. Not all, but many/most. Robert

This It is interesting that this is the same argument I heard about resto-mods a decade ago (maybe longer). Personally, I do not like resto-mods and would never want one (at least I say that today). What has shocked me is that resto-mods now frequently bring MORE money than the original restored cars! Time marches on, progress moves forward, the times they are a changing, and rust never sleeps, blah, blah, blah... Robert

I have found that a bad or poor battery ground has been the culprit on more than one occasion. Make sure you have a good ground for your battery (or even a second ground). Robert

I have found pedal placement (too close) and the size of the foot box in Italian cars of the 60's and 70's to be quite small even for average sized feet (mine are size 11). I also recall seeing a rather large person (not tall but rather heavy) sitting in a C1 Corvette and the steering wheel touching his abdomen. So, as pointed out in prior posts, it is not necessarily the overall size of the car but also the proportional sizes of various areas in the driver's compartment that can be quite limiting. Robert

Well said. To add to what Matt Harwood said, a phrase I heard about auto auctions that I always remember is that "All cars at auction are not bad, but all bad cars go to auction" Caveat Emptor Robert

I previously googled them. Several sales, $250-$500k. Robert