[DeTomaso] 5000. car

Lynn Wall cars at wt-inc.com
Fri Jun 25 16:38:21 EDT 2010


To add my testimony to what was said below.  I dreamed of buying a Pantera
since I was about 16.  One day I logged on the eBay and saw one that I could
"afford" and was close (given where I live that was very important).  There
was 30 minutes left in the auction.  I begged my wife and did things I'm not
proud of for 27 minutes.  Finally, with her consent (that is what the court
will hear) I submitted my bid and "won" the auction.  I got a steal (the
local experts confirmed that it was a 7 out of 10) I thought.  My kid could
drive this to senior prom.

Long story-short; if I had spent an extra $15,000 on a better car I would
have saved $25,000.  Two kids have graduated since I bought that car,
neither have sat in it and at the rate I'm going neither of the next two
will take it to senior prom either.

To the newbies out there, be careful and do the homework before buying.
When you put your budget together, double it.  If you come in under, great
if you hit your budget you will be happy.

Lynn (pantera on a rotisserie for 5 years)

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Ken Green
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 12:51 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com; deserttwist at juno.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] 5000. car

Just so you don't feel too bad, I flew from LA to Chicago about 10 years ago
to look at a "rust free" car.  It was the worst Pantera I ever saw.  For
example, the seems where the outer rocker panels meet the bottom of the car
were gone, there were open slits running along each side.  Other parts were
simply rusted away.  The seller seemed like a nice guy, but it's hard to
imagine that he didn't realize how bad it was.
 
The problem is that if you buy a complete running car, there may be $10K in
rust repair lurking under the paint, and a lot of us are not qualified to
inspect a car for that, and we get to excited and miss the obvious. 
Personally, I think the best cars to buy are those with a complete "to the
metal" restoration, or just a really cheap car that you plan to spend $20K
plus on metal repair and paint.  I think the worst cars to buy are the "OK"
cars for $30K, that you still end up spending $20K + on metal and paint to
get what you want.
 
Ken

o




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