Monthly Archives: September 2015

Auto Restoration is mostly motivated by sentimentality and personal value, not by profit!

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Many people today watch TV shows that depict a car being restored in a matter of days and then they sell the car and make a large profit. This has jaded ones view of restoration, and has promoted a thinking that is solely motivated by profit. While it is wise to count the cost of a project and work within your budget, the realization that a car can be restored and then the customer make a huge profit upon selling it, is not always the case. Many of the cars that they show in these TV shows look pretty from the outside but little has been done below the visual aesthetics. So for ones that are true car lovers and collectors, this is an ongoing dilemma.

Is a car worth the expense of restoration? If the car is a limited production, numbers matching car, you could possibly have a profit in restoring a car. But the majority of cars today being restored are cars that have a sentimental value or a personal value. These ones are willing to spend the necessary money to restore a vehicle because it has a special value to them, such as; it was a family car or it reminds them of a time in their life. Then you have individuals that like the way a car drives, rides, and looks and they are planning to keep the car for many years to come. Under these circumstances, ones don’t look at profit, but at the true purpose of the car they love. They are not going to sell the car but they want to keep this prize in their possession, and the possession of their family for many years to come. While from a money perspective this does not make sense, and is not logical from a numbers standpoint, sentimentality and personal value win out every time. So we encourage ones to think about this subject before they decide to restore a car.