Tips for buying used muscle cars

Finally managed to save enough cash for your first muscle car? Good. We envy you… And we’d also want to give you a few pieces of advice before you start hunting your dream motor from a range of cars for sale.

About a $30K muscle car.

First of all, do some homework on studying VIN, RPO and transmission codes, rear end, paint, interior codes, etc – you don’t want to over pay for a car that is a clone. There’s a saying “numbers are correct” – this means your muscle car is still original and the same that came from factory and it will always be much more valuable than the one that has its drivetrain components mismatched. There is information available that shows the serial numbers of engine, transmission and other parts [the engine being the most important one].

Have enough money

If you’re trying to buy a muscle car that will need some [or a lot] of extra investment, be sure you’ll be able to get those missing or damaged parts – not only affording, but finding them as well.  Spend some time with equipment catalogs, replacement body panel catalogs, OEM and NOS sources [“original equipment manufacturer” and “new old stock”]. One of ways to start restoring your car may be getting a damaged but decent muscle car with matching numbers and use it as a donor car – it may have its body panels seriously damaged while all the powertrain parts will hopefully  be good enough to re-use. Mostly this way is cheaper than buying separate parts from different sources.

Watch for trouble

If you’re looking for the restored muscle car, be sure to check some trouble spots – the trunk under the carpet, previous accident marks under the car, leaking spots in the engine bay [a certain number of small oil leaks is almost guaranteed]. Check the suspension at each corner, the color of the oil inside the filler cap. If your potential muscle car has burning oil [blue smoke], loose manual or slow automatic gear change it may get expensive to fix. It is wise to hire a professional for this inspection – you may save a lot of money. He can evaluate the level of restoration and car’s value or even possible future investment into it.

Behave wisely

Don’t treat a classic or muscle car the way you might treat any other car. Even though it has simple mechanical and electrical features there are a lot of places that need oiling and greasing. Also remember to ask what maintenance has been carried out by the previous owner.
After you buy your muscle car, go to classic car insurance agencies. your muscle car has value that most agencies don’t want to take into account – choose wisely.