Are you planning to purchase a classic car? Good decision! The old items usually retain their value way better than the ones manufactured these days. Strange as it sounds, yet, if you manage to buy a collector vehicle in a relatively good shape, there are high odds that you will not only get a lion’s share of the money you invested, but also make some additional profits. Before you strike a deal with the seller, though, be sure that you will be able to keep the car in a good condition. As a matter of fact, buying a collector/classic car is a wholly different story than having a regular car.

1. Research the market

   Search on market

   Unlike most cars that were rolled in huge numbers off the production line quite lately, finding maintenance parts for some classic cars can be an ordeal. So, before you settle for that particular vehicle, be sure that you have some good source of spare parts for it. In light of that, it may be a great idea to purchase an identical one just for the parts. After all, at the end of the day, you would be able to replace some of the mechanical pieces with aftermarket ones, but the same does not apply to the car’s body parts.

2. Details count

   In case of some old cars, it is every tiny thing that counts. For instance, if it got some rare color, the actual value of the car would be two times higher than of the one that was painted in some regular hue. There is a famous story of a pink Cadillac with white interior that used to belong to Hugh Heffner, the founder of Playboy. Notwithstanding the fact that the car itself belonged to a really famous person (which was a price boosting factor,) this really rare combination allowed for it to be sold at price four times as high as the regular one. Don’t forget that this very same rule pertains to rare engines, parts of the trim line, etc.

3. Look for cars produced in small numbers

   Just as it is the case with all rare products, cars that rolled off the production line in huge numbers do not have the appeal of these rare items. For that reason, in case you are looking to purchase a vehicle that really stands out from the crowd of classic cars, definitely settle for a model that was manufactured in small numbers. Although you may pay top dollar for it and finding the spare parts could be an ordeal, the return of investment from that purchase would be immense.

4. Avoid rusty cars

   Location of rot spot

   Can you believe how hard it would be to get rid of that? In many cases, the elements are so much rusted out that it makes no economic sense to repair them at all. At the same time, finding some spare door (in the same hue, to boost the car’s originality and being true,) could be nothing short of a miracle. So, cutting the long story short here, for your own good you should avoid cars with visible rusty spots. Otherwise, please better brace yourself for a long-lasting, yet, never-to-be-won battle.

5. Buy cars you love

   Well, this sounds like a well-worn truism. However, any time we deal with cars from another era, this begins to have lots of sense. Unless it is the case with some vehicles from today, purchasing an old car is never a practical sort of thing. This means, you must definitely stay away from cars you are not very fond of. Otherwise, you would have to accept the fact that the car is getting on your nerves and you can not do anything about it. This becomes less of a pain in case you manage to purchase a set of wheels you truly love.

All things considered, buying classic cars is not something that each and every average Joe can deal with. It takes lots of patience, money and expertise. After all, you don’t want to end up with some fake old car on your driveway, right? The key here goes as follows: practice, practice, practice. Basically, you need to become an expert on the model you are looking at. After that, you can start looking at these cars at auctions to get to know the theory in real life.