Choose The Best Restoration Shop To Restore Your Classic Car |
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Shane Hester
11 December 2012
You have a classic car and you need to restore it. Now, how do you find the best restoration shop for you classic baby? You cannot just dump your car at the nearest shop and expect car mechanics of that same shop to know what to do with it. First off, a classic car needs classic care. This means that only specialists can touch your car and no one else.
What do you mean by classic car specialists?
Car specialists are far from classic car specialists. In the same manner, surgeons are far from heart surgeons. Car specialists and surgeon are on the same level. They can both perform the general or the basic "operations" in their filed. But a classic car specialist is most similar to a heart surgeon because they are skilled to handle the difficult or the "dying" kind. A classic car is vintage and precious same with a human heart, one-of-a-kind. Do you get the comparison?
This is why only the best and the most skilled can touch a classic car. Like that of a heart surgeon, only he can perform the procedure on a patient needing to recover from a heart illness. Now, for a classic car to "recover", you need a classic car specialist.
Things to Look Out for in a Classic Car Specialist
These factors were laid out by a classic car restoration shop owner. As a classic car owner, you want the best restoration shop but how can you now that the person you are talking to is your "heart surgeon"? Here are some valuable tips from the specialists' point of view:
- Your classic car needs to be physically checked before an amount attributed to restoration is reached. If the specialist gives a quote without even checking what is under that classic hood, get out of the shop. No one credible gives the estimate without first looking inside.
- Ask feedback from their past clients. Check if they have the necessary certificates and if they have a good record with the Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau. If they are reluctant to give you their client roster and if their mechanics are not licensed, that is a red flag. Steer clear.
- The shop must be very clean and it is better if the owner or his employee counterpart is willing to show you around. Talk to the mechanics. If you feel good about the shop and the people in it, you can leave your classic car with them.
- Time is gold. If the shop has been around for quite some time, it is most likely a good classic car shop restorer. But it does not mean that a 2 or 3 year old shop cannot perform well. Weigh the options.