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Old 08-19-2013, 01:36 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,548 posts, read 57,460,499 times
Reputation: 45902

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been fix'n and saving since I was age 10 (got my first 'farm-car'... $35 - 1953 Buick, soon to be HIGHLY modified with a 'hot-wrench' )

Certainly not for everyone, but works OK for most of my friends. I Homeschooled my kids and they each did at least one engine rebuild, swaps, MANY brakes (we live in Mtns). and body work. I (and MANY others) buy cars at local auction for abandoned vehicles. My Metro area sells 600 cars / week, often for under $100 each. Many of these cars are fixed and driven back to the auction the following week in search for another 'bargain'.

Most of my 'group' were rebuilding 'totals' (wrecks) in High School. It was a really CHEAP way to get a newer Muscle Car. Now (many yrs later). the rich car buffs buy customs, many of us still fix. Most of my cars are under $100, and I have plenty of space (farm), so I have a few spares laying around. Once in a while I get sick of fixing on them, so I smash them with my bulldozer and take them to the crusher ~ $200 - $400 for scrap value.

RUST I will ONLY buy if I expect to use the engine and tranny as a donor for a swap. I would never intentionally buy a rust car to use as a driver. I HATE fixing exhaust, suspension, and steering on anything that has seen rust / corrosion. It is NOT worth the time when you can take a $80 flight to a 'non-rust' area and fetch home a 'virgin'. I usually buy in TX, AZ, and CA. Fly in - drive home (or ship, via U-ship.com)

BTW: MANY Drs. fix their own cars and are in racing / modification clubs.
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Old 08-19-2013, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,186,199 times
Reputation: 4846
Here's an example of rust repair that I did on a $100 car:

























Total bodywork and paint cost, myself, in my garage, was still $1000. And that doesn't include the cost of the tools, which I already had for many years (the MIG welder, the cutoff tools, the SataJet HVLP paint gun, etc).

So while you can do it yourself, and in doing so, make sure you've done it right (if you know how) then you can save money over a proper shop doing the work. But don't kid yourself that it will be cheap.
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Old 08-19-2013, 09:51 AM
 
2,349 posts, read 5,409,506 times
Reputation: 3061
First thing, you have to evaluate what your disposable time is worth. Is it worth $5/hour or is it worth $40/hour?

Disposable time are those precious few hours a day you have to spend on whatever you want. For most people we're talking two to four hours after work, commuting, sleeping, errands, cooking, cleaning, showering, etc.

If your time is worth $5/hour, then it is worth it to fix your car yourself. If your time is worth $40/hour than it probably isn't worth it unless you can honesty justify getting hot, dirty, frustrated, fingers bloodied as a fun hobby.
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Old 08-19-2013, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,186,199 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plmokn View Post
First thing, you have to evaluate what your disposable time is worth. Is it worth $5/hour or is it worth $40/hour?

Disposable time are those precious few hours a day you have to spend on whatever you want. For most people we're talking two to four hours after work, commuting, sleeping, errands, cooking, cleaning, showering, etc.

If your time is worth $5/hour, then it is worth it to fix your car yourself. If your time is worth $40/hour than it probably isn't worth it unless you can honesty justify getting hot, dirty, frustrated, fingers bloodied as a fun hobby.
There's a reason we call it free time. If it's time you could be watching TV, then it's not making you money anyhow, and if it's not making you money anyhow, then it's not worth $40 or even $5.

Your time is only worth money if it's making you money right then.
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Old 08-19-2013, 11:00 AM
 
Location: La Jolla, CA
7,284 posts, read 16,589,442 times
Reputation: 11675
This is probably the last place that I would make a user account to get automotive advice. Just saying. Do you know how to use Google?
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Old 08-23-2013, 08:38 AM
 
24 posts, read 117,180 times
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What does it mean to have developed a miss?
Is welding skill something good to learn for repairing rusts on a car?
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Old 08-23-2013, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Florida
3,394 posts, read 6,036,878 times
Reputation: 10282
Unless you already have the tools, I don't think you'll break even for a few years. Tools will cost you at least a few hundred dollars and those are for basic tools.

But like anything else, you have to start somewhere.

I started working on cars at 20 years old, a little late compared to some you guys here but I did it out of not being able to afford to pay someone to do it.

I'm 34 now and the internet has so many resources for you to learn basic stuff. You can take a class at your community college on basics. You Tube is a great resource.

Shop manuals are great but if you're talking about Haynes or Chilton, they're better off used as door stops, IMO. Get the Factory Shop Manual, they're usually over $100 but well worth it, IMO.

Not only have I saved myself thousands of dollars over the years but I have saved friends a lot of money as well. Just basic things like oil changes, brakes, radiators, starters, etc. can save you a lot of money. However, one caveat I would say with oil changes is that your saving are negligible unless you go with synthetic, shops seem to have a huge upcharge for synthetic.
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Old 08-23-2013, 10:09 AM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,611 posts, read 21,135,113 times
Reputation: 13662
Quote:
Originally Posted by usedcar View Post
What does it mean to have developed a miss?
A miss can be caused by almost anything. Sometimes it can be as simple as contaminated fuel. Sometimes it's a loose wire or hose which costs nothing to fix, but can be hard to find. Sometimes it can be a simple component failure such as as spark plug, plug wire, coil pack/distributor cap, fuel injector, etc. Not real expensive nor difficult to fix in most cases. But sometimes it can be a burned valve, flattened cam lobe, cracked head, or something else than requires a certain amount of auto repair knowledge and/or a significant amount of money to repair.

typically I stay away from cars being sold with a miss because I think that in most cases if it were something simple the guy selling it would go ahead and get it taken care of so he could get more out of the car. I do have a rule of thumb, though, that I will buy pretty much anything that's being sold for less than scrap value.

Quote:
Is welding skill something good to learn for repairing rusts on a car?
If you really want to do rust repair, then yes, it is something you need to learn. That being said, I probably wouldn't waste much time with rust repair unless you're buying a classic that you plan to fix up. I'm not opposed to buying a car with rust if it's just a cheap beater to drive back and forth to work. But as others have stated, that rust you see on the surface is usually an indication of additional rust forming behind the body panels and under the chassis so if you spend a lot of time and money fixing it you're just throwing good money after bad.

That being said, a guy has to learn somehow so if you want to do some rust repair just to get the hang of it then go for it.
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Old 08-23-2013, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Walton County, GA
1,242 posts, read 3,462,143 times
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Well, what kind of car? This may be right up your ally, or a total nightmare.

Starting out, I would find a car that is running fine, no major issues, which could be this case, fix the little things, get it call caught up on maintenance and enjoy.

If I buy something that needs work, its got to be a really really good price, and I've got to be able to fix it cheap and fast for a quick sell. I only flip the fixers.
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Old 08-23-2013, 01:06 PM
 
Location: NC
6,032 posts, read 9,166,139 times
Reputation: 6378
My buddy makes $$ off doing this, but he flips salvage vehicles. He will buy 5-6 late model totaled vehicles and repair them like new.

He recently did a 2011 Mercedes AMG 5 series and put around 20k total in it, probably not including his labor. He flipped it after using it for a year, for around 30k.

You need alot of capital and experience though before you could make any $$ at it.
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