Can any knowledgable car guy in Potomac MD look a pre purchase car over for me?

[Guest LuxDriver]

Or know a great shop , gas station, or? Someone to call or direct me towards the right place/guy? it's a 1970s Car. I do want body n mechanics looked into .. Like original paint? How well it runs drives, check gadgets..

[Guest AlCapone]

I had that done with a car in Michigan. You can expect to pay $250 to $300 dollars. Wayne

P.s. Did you not have this done once before ?

Edited October 7, 2015 by AlCapone (see edit history)

[Guest LuxDriver]

Yes, I buy cars.. Not just one.. Paid $200 last time .. Didn't like that car, thanks for paying attention. It's not my first time at the dance. I'll always be looking at cars, since Ive loved cars my whole life. So far I've remembered 95 I've owned over the years. That answer your question?

[60FlatTop]

My best resource, even before computer days, is to look at my club membership rosters and find a person in a nearby zip code with a similar car or indications they are eclectic enough to do it.

 

Almost 20 years ago a friend came to me with an ad for a modified 1952 Chevy Fastback in the Good Guys Magazine. I was quite active in the Cadillac Club at the time and found a member in the same city with a few cars, including a couple of hearses. Turned out he knew the car (car guys don't miss much) and was in the shop when the exhaust system had been put on. He filled out a detailed checklist and then suggested a friend who ended up transporting the car.

 

It was a great purchase. I serviced the car when it arrived and only did about $200 of work.

 

Over the years this method has served well, except for the guys who framed the check instead of cashing it. It is a benefit of membership and, yet, another, reason to join.

Bernie

[Guest AlCapone]

Yes, I buy cars.. Not just one.. Paid $200 last time .. Didn't like that car, thanks for paying attention. It's not my first time at the dance. I'll always be looking at cars, since Ive loved cars my whole life. So far I've remembered 95 I've owned over the years. That answer your question?

How many cars on the dance floor as we speak? Wayne

[Guest LuxDriver]

Just 3

[JACK M]

HMM,

Mine must be a ballroom. LOL

 

Time for another building I am afraid. Cant seem to let anything go.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Over the years this method has served well, except for the guys who framed the check instead of cashing it.

Bernie

Are you implying that some people

kept your money and did not perform

any service? Your use of plural indicates

that something like that happened to you

more than once.

Almost always, I have gone to see the car

myself before buying. Even a $400 plane

ticket is a small cost in comparison with

a $2000 blind misjudgment. Twice I've had

knowledgeable friends look at cars for me,

and of course they have always been honest

and given useful reports.

Edited October 8, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

Are you implying that some people

kept your money and did not perform

any service? Your use of plural indicates

that something like that happened to you

more than once.

 

Nope! " except for the guys who framed the check instead of cashing it." means they took the check I sent and held it as a souvenir of helping out. They were just proud to be asked. In the 1980's and early '90's you could send a check for $50 to a person near a car and they were happy to look at it. The checks never got cashed and if I followed up they'd say "Aw, I didn't need that."

 

My wife has a check from Bennett Buick in her treasure box with their 1980's hawk logo that she got from Guy for a Riviera ad that was only run in high end cooking magazines. She liked the picture and the gesture more than the money.

 

I would inspect a car for $1,000 a day plus expenses, but I wouldn't put much faith in a business that has a network of $300 or $400 appraisers across the country that can look at anything objectively. I'm one guy, 67 years old, who has been deeply involved in the hobby since the fall of 1959. And that's what it takes. A national network of appraisers is not going to have that kind of resource in multiple areas. They will resort to generic forms, data bases, and, maybe, phone calls to a go-to guy.

I am reminded of that shaking '48 Buick convertible earlier in the year.

 

#1. Go yourself #2. Find a local marque club member. #3. Send someone with a passion.

Bernie