Nothing replaces looking under a car to get a sense of its desirability.
When buying a car, you or your representative should look at the underside for corrosion, leaks or damage. Everything on the underside is expensive to fix and do you want a car that has been allowed to deteriorate in this manner?
My favourite story here is the one where a young guy was sold an old original Mustang convertible. He omitted to look under it to see the tin cans with their labels still on them that were used to fix the floor.
When people are selling a car and I ask them about the underside and can they send me pics of it, it comes as a big surprise. I tell them, get an iPhone or similar, turn on the flash, stick their arm under the car and shoot twenty or thirty pics, out of those there will normally be some useful ones.
An experience I had this week was of being offered a car that was described as very special. Inside it was pristine, same with the engine compartment, great wheels, beautiful colour. The seller didn’t seem to understand the drawbacks, two body panels with hard to repair corrosion that would probably give problems matching the paint and they were surprised at my request for underside pictures as the car was “perfect”. Perfect included an undercoat application which for many collectors is the kiss of death, “what is it hiding”?
LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Avoiding Life’s Lemons
Lipstick on a Pig features excerpts from the vast library of Maurice Bramhall’s experiences.
