Buying an old car
by Patryk Rebisz

When I set out to purchase my first classic car - my de facto first car ever - I was terrified. Not only was it my first car ever, I also knew nothing about cars. I didn't understand mechanics nor what to look for when buying a classic car. The only thing I was certain of was that I wanted a classic. Below you will find some observations and what to look for when buying a classic.

First, spend some time deciding what is it that you really want (and need). At first ALL vintage cars look great but soon you will find some visual patterns that you gravitate more towards. With time you find out that not all classic cars were created equal - some were better looking than others, while others had better finish and mechanics. The first thing to decided is find some ballpark cars that you gravitate towards.

Second, ask yourself why it is that you want a vintage car. Are you looking for weekend hobby or do you want to fulfill your childhood dream of owning whatever you desired as a kid. There is a reason why convertibles and 2-door cars are so expensive - they are the most desirable because older guys simply want vintage car they loved in their youth cars as a weekend toy. If you are one of those, be prepared to spend money through the roof. For me it was a bit simpler, I needed a car with 4-doors because of my growing family. This was suppose to be our family car - even if used only every few days or so. This in some way limited my options as most vintage 4-door cars are not that desirable thus there is a smaller list of available prospects. BUT it also means that those 4-door undesirables tend to be cheaper than their 2-door counterparts.

Why Mercedes for me? From my "About me" page: When I was a child growing up in Poland, my upstairs neighbor had a Mercedes (W123). I thought it looked fantastic and loved imitating the clanking noise of its diesel engine. Then one day I saw something even more exquisite, a w114/w115 Mercedes. I dreamed to own a car like that one day. The other contenders I would consider is early version Citroen DS, Jaguar E-type (not really a contender as it has only 2 doors and no rear seat) and a vintage 4-door Jaguar sedan. All three (really 2) were out of the question because they tend to show up for sale in the US infrequently. I did look at some of those amazing American road boats but the practicality of living in NYC with the narrow streets took over. Another visual consideration was to get a car that is uniquely vintage but also not so old-looking that it seems to be driven only every other weekend. This was suppose to be a semi-daily driver and thus was meant to look like one.

While looking, set an imaginary budget. It's an abstract and really nonsensical number because you don't know what you are getting into yet... For me it was around $5,000 and I searched craigslist setting this as the upper search limit. This gave me better understanding of what's out there within my budget. Prices of vintage cars fluctuate greatly so one weeks search might be very different than another's, but it gives you a general cross-section of what's available.

Back then I didn't know better so we went to see cars that looked good from a distance and only upon closer inspection looked like junk - this wasted us a lot of time but also made us that much more convinced that "this is the one" when we found our dream car. In essence, you want to find a car that was cared for. You can tell a lot from the pictures saving you time and energy. If the car was cleaned before taking pictures then at least you can hope that the car indeed was taken care of. Dash pad and seats wear will tell you how realistic the odometer figure really is (most vintage cars have only 5-digit odometer so you never know if the quoted 75,000 miles is really 175,000 or even 275,000). The interior condition will tell you the real story. When you look at the interior pics see if you can spot the rubber elements to judged how far they have deteriorated. 30-40-50 year old rubber will need to be replaced but at least you want to make sure it will not be an immediate concern. Looking at the seats will also let you know if the seats were re-upholstered recently. If so - great plus because that will save you thousands of $ as old foam or whatever padding material they've used will be disintegrating by now no matter how well the car was babied.

Photos of the engine bay are vital as they show if a.) the seller cares enough about mechanics to include the picture (thus might be knowledgeable about some DIY jobs that he probably had to perform recently one way or another); b.) it shows you general condition of the engine - one again, the cleaner it looks the more hope you have that the engine was properly maintained. Yes, this could be only a perception but at least it's a starting point. Look especially at the rubber elements as most likely they will have to be replaced if they weren't by the previous owner. The more new components you see - the better because the elements break no matter how well maintained they might have been through the decades. Here a little note about leaks - they are not necessarily bad: some oil loss is OK and the engine not cleaned for a long time might appear worse than it really is.

In essence you want to see signs of care. An old car doesn't have to be perfect - it shouldn't be - it's too old, but it also doesn't have to look like a used up prostitute. Some flows are normal and acceptable but major flows should be red flags that the car simply didn't get much love in the past. See if you can find enough redeeming qualities and be on a look out for obvious disregard for maintenance or care.