One of my favorite stories about mileage is the one where the owner was sure that a 1957 car had 2,500 miles on it, original. I asked him how that could be and he explained that the car had been raced when it was new and had subsequently been disassembled and remained that way for many years until it was restored. The car had gone through a messy divorce and ended up with a house trailer dealer.

The car was a beautifully restored example. While inspecting the car I located a label with the name of the restorer. I gave him a call. Yes he did remember the car, he had restored several vehicles for the same owner. The owner had one instruction that was unusual, all the cars he did had to have the odometer set to 1956. This was the year he got his driving license.

Many actions can lead to errors in mileage showing on the odometer. Many people drive while the drive cable is broken. Occasionally you will see a vehicle where the service dealer affixes a label to the left “B” post indicating an odometer change (I see this on Rolls-Royce cars in particular). This really is the rule, but it is rarely followed. Often odometers are set to zero when the car is restored, or the engine is rebuilt. One of the most well known odometer tampering cases was of the major dealer in Toronto who wanted to improve its used car values, amazingly they did not lose their franchise. I once had a case where my RR client accused me of using his car for my personal transport. He reported me to the Ontario Consumer Protection dept. who sent an investigator to interview us. It turned out that the mechanic who had the car before I did had mistakenly transposed numbers on his work order which appeared to make it look like I had put all sorts of mileage on the car while it was in my care.

LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Avoiding Life’s Lemons

Lipstick on a Pig features excerpts from the vast library of Maurice Bramhall’s experiences.

Everyone’s focussed on the beauty of the body, the interior and the noise from the engine. It’s amazing how many cars are listed on the Internet with no photographs of the underside of the car and it’s amazing how many individuals who list vehicles are surprised when someone asks for photographs of the underside and yet this is the area that underpins the integrity of every vehicle.

Inspecting the underside of the vehicle even when it’s on the ground is simple with current digital photographic devices that we now have. You set your iPhone flash setting to “on”, lie on the ground, put your arm underneath and start pressing the button. Always be wary of very heavy undercoat applications and any paint application that appears to have been used to mask problems.

Look for damage caused by “low flying sidewalks and driveways” along with signs of incorrect jacking.

LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Avoiding Life’s Lemons

Lipstick on a Pig features excerpts from the vast library of Maurice Bramhall’s experiences.

As everyone knows when purchasing a classic car, you are purchasing the end result of the previous owners whose hands it has passed through.

Historical documentation is like looking at a map, if there is no documentation you’re traveling blind. I have seen situations where there can be documents 2 or 3 inches deep, however on closer examination, I have discovered large gaps in history. This can indicate a situation where for many years there had been very diligent ownership, then the owner falls out of love with the car (or dies), or any combination of factors that lead to the abandonment of the car. In other words, you want history but it must be relevant.

I’ve recently come across situations where the history of a vehicle covered large segments of its life but the segment with no history would lead one to the conclusion that claims being made about the car could not be substantiated. In these two cases, extraordinarily low mileage was being claimed, but both owners omitted to get substantiating documentation for the mileage when they purchased the car. Low mileage claims are very seductive but only translate into dollar value when substantiated by the documented provenance.

LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Avoiding Life’s Lemons

Lipstick on a Pig features excerpts from the vast library of Maurice Bramhall’s experiences.

In the early 80’s, I was in the automobile detailing business and one of my clients was an exotic car dealer. I learned from him that the priority in cleaning and detailing a vehicle is to impress the driver. He pointed out that when the prospective purchaser sits in the driver’s seat, everything they see has to be as perfect as possible.

The logical inference from this is that when purchasing any car to look farther afield than just the driver’s environment. Many people are surprised when I inform them that the seats in their car have been painted and often it’s beyond the seats, it can involve the door trim panels and other areas. You need to know that the quality of this workmanship is going to endure normal usage.

The interior condition of a car contains many clues as to its history. This ranges from having new seat covers, carpeting or roof liners. One of the most common situations in older cars is that people have the seats cosmetically restored by putting new covers on or having them detailed and painted to have them look new but they rarely rebuild the seats’ internals. You nearly always know by putting your fist in the centre of the cushion and pressing down or sitting in the seat and feeling your posterior heading towards the floor that the foam and diaphragm have not been replaced. The seat cover has no inherent strength, if not supported properly it will lose its shape rapidly.

LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Avoiding Life’s Lemons

Lipstick on a Pig features excerpts from the vast library of Maurice Bramhall’s experiences.