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Rodney Collins
United Kingdom
424 Posts |
 Posted - 25/03/2013 : 14:42:17
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It seems no matter how much you pay you will still not be treated with good quality workmanship. This is a cautionary tale. I will mention no names even though I think people should be named and shamed.
I have always loved prewar cars and I decided some years ago to treat myself, I wanted to but a Riley but could not find what I was looking for in my budget (in hindsight I could have bought one of the best Imp's on the market at the time and still been in pocket)! I saw an advert for a 1935 PA from a very well known dealer I went to see the car to be told it had been sold but there is another one just available, had a cracked block and needed some work, so I parted with £13,950 and was told the car wold be taken to a recommended engine builder "the best in the business" I never saw the car for 8 months and had to part with just short of £18k yes £18,000 plus I had laid out a further £3,500 to the dealer for a Volumex and all the necessary ancillary's. The car drove like a dog and went where it wanted. A full strip down and body of and restored by a friend rebuild of all suspension replacing all wearing parts new cast brake drums new wire wheels and a set of Blockleys etc etc.
I am now some £40,000 into a budget of £20,000!! The engine builder offered me a pre selector gearbox, I decided this would be great to have so 8 months later I collected the car great all done!Parted with a further £4,500. Now bear in mind New block new head new crank rods and pistons new bosh distributor new dynamo and gears etc new cam new diff and drive shafts, only the starter was original. When I asked for all the original parts I was told that they were all scr@pped, I run the car for a year on and off but was disappointed to find lots little things going wrong, sometimes on a run it would start running on three cylinders there was always something wrong. Now don't get em wrong I am aware that it was a 70 year old car and I was happy to keep on top of the regular maintenance and jobs that need to be done, but having had all the work professionally done I expected not to have engine problems, the supercharger went wrong and needed rebuilding (again). So I sold the car to a very nice Frenchman who lives in Lyon he is a retired aero engineer. He had not had the car long when he emailed me and asked if I had noticed a rubbing noise, I had not, he told me the fly wheel had rubbed through the bell housing! He has now rebuilt the engine putting right all the problems the list of problems is as long as the list of work that was carried out originally by one of the best in the business!!! The buyer of my PA has spent 2,600 euros putting the car right and is very happy with it. So all you potential restorers beware of what you pay for. Would I buy another prewar car you bet I would. With hind sight a Riley Imp rebuilt buy a Honda motor racing engineer which was advertised at the time I bough my PA for £40,000 now worth about £90,000.
Rodney
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paul55
Luxembourg
731 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 16:42:22
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It's a sorry tale Rodney. Do you still have an MMM now, or has this put you off? Sometime's you pay multi-thousands for work doing but it's not always a guarantee that you are buying quality. Had the engine builder been recommended by anyone from the MMM register as well as the dealer?
Paul. |
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MG Maverick
United Kingdom
1045 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 17:14:39
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Is there any way that we can have some idea who these ' specialists ' are ?
Chris ( J2353 )
Brighton, East Sussex & Paphos, Cyprus. |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3240 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 18:04:54
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A cautionary tale indeed,unfortunately such problems are not just confined to pre-war MGs.
I can guess who the engine builder/supplier of the pre-select box was.
Anyone buying an old car should seek the opinions/advice of the relative club members before proceeding with the purchase and necessary work.
George
L2023 and NA0960 |
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Nick Dean
United Kingdom
444 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 18:08:18
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Rodney, a sad and expensive tale. I would recomend anyone thinking of buying a MMM MG or any other make, to go to the local natter & noggin, get to know the people and there cars, see and listen to the highs & lows of ownership, then look to purchase, and go from there. good luck, Nick.
N A Dean |
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Bob Stringfield
United Kingdom
854 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 19:00:45
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And then buy a good-running car from someone who has owned it for some time and then improve it to taste.
Don't buy unless you have assessed the previous owner; this should be possible, of course, when a dealer or auctioneer is selling. |
Edited by - Bob Stringfield on 25/03/2013 19:03:02 |
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Rodney Collins
United Kingdom
424 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 20:26:11
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Sadly I had not heard of the triple M register until I was in at the deep end, I must say that once i found the forum I had much help in rebuilding the suspension etc. If only I had found it before I started! its a bit like saying I wish I had picked last weeks lottery numbers. It was our dear departed friend Paul Duncombs who I started talking to at Brooklands who put me in touch with the register.
Rodney |
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colinwlee
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 25/03/2013 : 20:32:07
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When I bought my J1 from a dealer, the blurb said "serviced, sorted and ready to go" I drove it about 15 of the 40 miles towards home and the differential dissintegrated. (it had no oil in it). So much for dealers integrity. He said he was selling it for a friend and that because it wasn't his car he simply took his friend at his word.
There was of course no warranty but he supplied a "new" diff because he did not want his reputation tarnished.
Again the moral is to Be Careful! |
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Keith Wallace
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2013 : 08:21:59
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"Buying a car" ( as my dad used to say) "was like placing a bet on a racehorse" .
If you do not intend doing most of the work yourself, our seventy year + cars will need, very, very deep pockets!
At present prices £12,000 to £15,000 would probably buy a car needing a great deal of work, whilst a supercharged P type in good running order would be somewhere between £30,000 to £40,000. even at these prices, the running costs can be very expensive, unless repairs and maintenance work is carried out by the owner.
Keith Wallace.
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Edited by - Keith Wallace on 26/03/2013 08:22:52 |
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MG Maverick
United Kingdom
1045 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2013 : 11:03:36
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Maybe the way to buy a pre-war is like the J2 I have just found and bought in Cyprus..totally dismantled, at least I have been able to see what I am buying....literally.
Chris ( J2353 )
Brighton, East Sussex & Paphos, Cyprus. |
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Rodney Collins
United Kingdom
424 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2013 : 11:15:59
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In reply to Keith the point I was making was that even with my very very deep pockets ( the final bill not including buying the car was in the region of £35,000) the work was not carried out as it should have been. I have no engineering skills so relied on peoples honesty and integrity. Sadly not much of this existed with either the dealer or the engineer, who I must say I liked.I also owned a new Porsche Boxter which cost me less!!!
Rodney |
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sam christie
United Kingdom
3101 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2013 : 12:58:49
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I have always found the glib expression "You get what you pay for" very irritating and frequently used as a justification for overcharging. Often the best quality is not the most expensive. It is not impossible to find a skilled and honest tradesman who is "not the most expensive but the best" - in fact it is the obvious basis of the most successful businesses.
Sam |
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Rodney Collins
United Kingdom
424 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2013 : 09:26:43
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I agree with that Sam
Rodney |
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