Did I Pay Too Much For My Car?

[Tom Wesenberg]

In reality I may have, but I'd rather have the car I want than let the bank use my money and pay no interest on it.

The Studebaker I just bought went through ebay twice and reached $6200 each time, and didn't meet reserve. After driving over 1000 miles round trip to inspect the car, I think $6200 was about the right price. The steering was terrible because it was tight, but I think a good grease job will fix that. The car pulls left when braking, so at least the right front wheel cylinder is stuck. The tires should be replaced due to serious sidewall cracks. All the chrome has light rust and pits, and the paint is worn thin with light rust beginning on the hood. It has a few incorrect parts, which I can easily replace. Of course none of the bad points were shown on the ebay pictures.

I take 5 things into consideration when evaluating a car to buy. The condition of the paint, chrome, body rust, upholstery, and mechanical condition. The first 4 are the high buck and main issues for me. I don't worry too much about mechanical issues. This car needs paint, and the chrome can be polished good enough for a good driver. When I crawled under the car, I was amazed at how rust free it was, and that's the main issue for any car I buy. The original upholstery is better than any I've ever seen for a car this age, so that's two big items the car had going for it. If this was a 55 Chevy it might have brought 3 times the price, but I think this is a better looking and higher quality car.

I had to pay extra to meet the reserve, but I'd rather die owning the car I like than to leave the money in the bank.

[Mitch]

Ya know Tom life is so very short. If you paid to much or to little it does not really matter. You wanted it and you certainly won't lose any money on it once you place your golden hands on this piece. It's never good looking back and saying what if!!!
You made the correct move without a doubt

[George Miller]

In reality I may have, but I'd rather have the car I want than let the bank use my money and pay no interest on it.

The Studebaker I just bought went through ebay twice and reached $6200 each time, and didn't meet reserve. After driving over 1000 miles round trip to inspect the car, I think $6200 was about the right price. The steering was terrible because it was tight, but I think a good grease job will fix that. The car pulls left when braking, so at least the right front wheel cylinder is stuck. The tires should be replaced due to serious sidewall cracks. All the chrome has light rust and pits, and the paint is worn thin with light rust beginning on the hood. It has a few incorrect parts, which I can easily replace. Of course none of the bad points were shown on the ebay pictures.

I take 5 things into consideration when evaluating a car to buy. The condition of the paint, chrome, body rust, upholstery, and mechanical condition. The first 4 are the high buck and main issues for me. I don't worry too much about mechanical issues. This car needs paint, and the chrome can be polished good enough for a good driver. When I crawled under the car, I was amazed at how rust free it was, and that's the main issue for any car I buy. The original upholstery is better than any I've ever seen for a car this age, so that's two big items the car had going for it. If this was a 55 Chevy it might have brought 3 times the price, but I think this is a better looking and higher quality car.

I had to pay extra to meet the reserve, but I'd rather die owning the car I like than to leave the money in the bank.

Tom you did good, you are not going to find many good ones like that. Enjoy the car.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Tom you did good, you are not going to find many good ones like that. Enjoy the car.

Yep. I waited long enough to find one this nice, and I doubt I could ever find one better at this price. Having to deal with ZERO rust and having nice original upholstery are sure worth paying more. Rust has always been the deal killer for me. In fact too much so, because in 1972 I could have bought a Model A Coupe from a guy in South Dakota for $40. I turned it down just because it had no upholstery and paint, so it had a light coat of surface rust. I was younger and dumber and thought it was too far gone just because of those two things.

[pAAt]

Sounds like a great deal Tom, but my question is, where are you going to park it ? I guess you could build a really "BIG" dog house

[Tom Wesenberg]

Sounds like a great deal Tom, but my question is, where are you going to park it ? I guess you could build a really "BIG" dog house

That's what I haven't figured out yet. I might have to leave it at your house, or move my Model A down there.

[pAAt]

Tom, I'd build a shed just for it. Then at least I could say I have great running Model A, in my garage, when I'm in Branson next year!

[Mitch]

Tom your a prime candidate to have a large garage built outback

[Big-Foot]

I maintain this logic on Value & Worth
—
They are usually two different dollar figures.
Value - Is determimed by the owner of the item and may be derived a number of different ways.
Worth - Is always determined by the buyer.
—
From where I sit, you did well and paid what it was worth.
—
Not sure how long upholstery that age will hold up to any sort of regular use though.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Actually I posted this just to get people thinking about how to evaluate a car purchase, and was going to use "YOU" instead of "I" in the title.
I'm very happy with my purchase and will enjoy driving this car. It did empty out my bank account, but that can slowly be built back up.
Now for the bad news, yesterday I got a late notice with extra fine for being late on paying the second half of this years property tax, so I'll be in the poor house longer than I thought.
I thought I payed in full this spring, but I thought wrong. The government never stops digging into our pockets.

[Big-Foot]

I got same fine only I paid the whole year at once and was exactly (1) day late due to the mail... Next time they will only get 1/2 year at a time...
Dirty rotten buggers....

[Tom Wesenberg]

Whoa..........I just realized what a great investment antique cars are..........or I really did pay too much for this last one.

In the fall of 1968 I paid $85 for my 1950 Studebaker Commander, and last week I just payed almost 100 times that amount for my 1950 Land Cruiser in the same condition.

[CarlG]

Not long after I acquired my Model A Pickup, I discovered the Mullins Red Cap Utility Trailer. I just had to have one! Over the last 7 or so years, I have located quite a number of them, but only a couple caught my eye enough to bid on them. I actually was high bidder on both of them, but neither one met the seller's reserve. The first one was about 5 or 6 years ago and the seller's reserve was way out of my range. The most recent was a couple months ago. On this last one, I dickered (I guess that's a word) with the seller and managed to come to a compromise price, somewhere in between his reserve and my high bid. I now have it and can quit looking. Only thing left is that I have to convince Alaska DMV to accept the Texas paperwork. (Texas does not require a title, only registration.) This is a true antique, built in 1936. It has the wrong wheels on it, but that's easy to fix. I will end up putting 19" Model A wheels on it to match my pickup.

Sorry to hijack your thread Tom, but this story fit in with your original post.

[Tom Wesenberg]

About 15 years ago I spotted a Mullins trailer beside a garage, and it looked like it hadn't been used for several years. It had a couple small rust holes, so I passed on it for $250. I didn't really know the value of them at the time. It's nice to see a modern remake of them, because they are really neat looking.

[CarlG]

If it was an original Mullins, your $250 would have multiplied x20+ today, even in not too good shape.