In the past 25 years this is the one question we are asked the most.
Obviously this is a very important question as most people do not have an
endless supply of money to throw at a vehicle.
We are frequently asked to just
give a ballpark estimate for a build. This is almost an
impossible question to answer because of the unknown and without tearing down a vehicle to see how much
damage it has hidden under the paint and the under coating we can not answer
this question with much certainty.
Things
that add up quickly are rust repair, how many parts are missing, and how
much the owner wants to be involved and how far
they want to take the project.
We bill by the hour so it
depends on how involved you want to be in finding parts and building portions
of the project. If we do everything we charge an hourly rate
for each portion of the vehicle that we work on.
Until we get into
the disassembly phase of the project we cannot write a comprehensive
estimate. However we will offer some price ranges and will notify the
customer immediately if there are any new changes that were not known before
disassembly.
We have done projects from $5,000.00 to $300,000.00 and
everywhere in between so every project is handled differently and we work
closely with you to get the project that is right for your budget.
Beware Of The Auto Body Price Quote!
If you get a price quote that appears too good to be true you can count
on it being too low and you will get lots of add-ons later. In the
past 25 years we have seen so many people get ripped off by the lowest
quote. Once the shop gets into the vehicle they find things they did
not plan for and there is only a few things that can happen.
One the works stops, you pick up your car unfinished and frustrated.
Two they try and cut corners and try and make up for the difference in
costs, and last they actually charge you more for the work that needs to be
done and now you are paying what the reputable shops quoted you in the first
place.
We call this the bait and switch. Bait you
with a low cost estimate and add on things later. We are honest
from the start and advise you that you will be billed for the time actually
spent working on your vehicle. How much time we spend on your
vehicle depends on the condition of the vehicle to start with.
If it is rusted and beat up than it will take more time than one that has
less damage.
These are the things we discussed above that are very
frustrating to an owner expecting to get their car done for a quoted price.
We have had dozens of vehicles brought to us that were started by one shop
and we had to fix and finish what was started elsewhere.
In the end
you are the one making the decision to take a risk of this happening to you
or you can choose the right shop the first time.
Investment
We are asked all the time whether or not restoring or fixing up a
vehicle is a good investment. Well the truth of the matter is it all
depends on what vehicle and how far you want to take the vehicle. If
you restore an old car that has a low resale value to start with you can
assume that the value of that car will not offset the restoration costs when
completed.
There are many desirable models out there both foreign and
domestic that are very good investments as when they are complete the are
worth more money than what it costs to restore them.
Ultimately you
have to decide whether your dream car is a good investment or not.
