Photograph Credit: Dirk de Jager
For many people, financing is one of the ways they can afford a new—or even slightly used—car.
But what about classic cars? Can those be financed, too?
As it turns out, yes, they can—and not just multi-million-dollar Cobras or Gullwing Mercedes, either.
Learn how classic car financing works over on Classic Motorsports, and let us know if you would ever consider it when shopping for an old-school ride.
At the 3.49% I was quoted for 8 years on a classic last month with 50% down. It does as well as my standard bond and low risk investments so of course.
At the 6.9% that is standard in the industry for 6-8 years with 0-10% down not on your life. Everything is overpriced right now and I mean everything though. Does not matter what it is bike/project/calssic/exotic/truck its all way to far up to take the risk on a classic right now unless its a once in a lifetime buy due to rarity.
I have and then daily'ed it, but I don't generally make good financial decisions so..
If the picture were one where I was considering buying an example in my budget range and then restoring, vs getting a loan and buying a good example of the marque that I can drive today, I would advise the loan as the cheaper option.
So if instead of buying a project for 20k and restoring, you used your 20k plus another borrowed 20k to buy a nice example, after five years you should be able to get your purchase price back and only be out the $3500 or so in interest. That is cheap motoring compared to driving a new car off the lot and much less than what it would cost to do a restoration on the 20k car. Not to mention the years of driving that you get.
I wouldn't, but I realize that's a luxury and I wouldn't judge anyone else for doing it. Interest rates on loans are so low and life is short.
wearymicrobe said:At the 3.49% I was quoted for 8 years on a classic last month with 50% down. It does as well as my standard bond and low risk investments so of course.
At the 6.9% that is standard in the industry for 6-8 years with 0-10% down not on your life. Everything is overpriced right now and I mean everything though. Does not matter what it is bike/project/classic/exotic/truck its all way to far up to take the risk on a classic right now unless its a once in a lifetime buy due to rarity.
This exactly. It would have to be a steal right now to even buy. I got my recent purchase at a very good price so it makes sense. 2-3 years ago it made sense to go and buy knowing that the value curve had room for growth. Now, it's more likely to go down.
bmw88rider said:wearymicrobe said:At the 3.49% I was quoted for 8 years on a classic last month with 50% down. It does as well as my standard bond and low risk investments so of course.
At the 6.9% that is standard in the industry for 6-8 years with 0-10% down not on your life. Everything is overpriced right now and I mean everything though. Does not matter what it is bike/project/classic/exotic/truck its all way to far up to take the risk on a classic right now unless its a once in a lifetime buy due to rarity.
This exactly. It would have to be a steal right now to even buy. I got my recent purchase at a very good price so it makes sense. 2-3 years ago it made sense to go and buy knowing that the value curve had room for growth. Now, it's more likely to go down.
I am shopping Ford GT's right now and yeah they are up a solid 80K from 12 months ago when the market was sane. Not worth what they are asking now, everything was so far up I sold my Viper and my R8 and made a profit on both even after ownership costs after years of driving.
The whole thing is insane, I have decided to just sit on the cash I had set aside and sit on the sidelines until things go back to normal or at least level out with inflation. Now having said that I have the loan setup and ready to go if I want to go nuts and something comes up at a rational price. I do agree with the aboe about buying over building, its lways cheaper to get something that is finished that the last owner took a bath on to get it perfect. I never see the value of buying something cheap and spenging more in time and money in the long run to finish when you could be driving. I its your thing do it but don't finance a build.
In reply to wearymicrobe :
Kind of my thought too. I'm really wanting a (running/driving) Europa, but prices are surprisingly up on them too. I don't actually have room for one right now anyway, nor am I sure which car(s) I want to get rid of, so I'll wait it out.
There is a bunch of stuff I had my eye on. There is a white on white early diablo near me that I was really interested in at sub 100K that needed work but it went above asking a month back. Couple Ford Mustang fastbacks that are setup for vintage racing as well that went for monster money. what is killing me is the classic Volkswagen's. I sold a complete 69 body and pan with no running gear body about a year ago for 800$ and seeing stuff like it for 3K now. Running early non oval cars are over 15K with 1300 motors and needing full interiors. Driving me nuts because I need those cheap running cars with good motors for kit cars.
wearymicrobe said:bmw88rider said:wearymicrobe said:At the 3.49% I was quoted for 8 years on a classic last month with 50% down. It does as well as my standard bond and low risk investments so of course.
At the 6.9% that is standard in the industry for 6-8 years with 0-10% down not on your life. Everything is overpriced right now and I mean everything though. Does not matter what it is bike/project/classic/exotic/truck its all way to far up to take the risk on a classic right now unless its a once in a lifetime buy due to rarity.
This exactly. It would have to be a steal right now to even buy. I got my recent purchase at a very good price so it makes sense. 2-3 years ago it made sense to go and buy knowing that the value curve had room for growth. Now, it's more likely to go down.
I am shopping Ford GT's right now and yeah they are up a solid 80K from 12 months ago when the market was sane. Not worth what they are asking now, everything was so far up I sold my Viper and my R8 and made a profit on both even after ownership costs after years of driving.
The whole thing is insane, I have decided to just sit on the cash I had set aside and sit on the sidelines until things go back to normal or at least level out with inflation. Now having said that I have the loan setup and ready to go if I want to go nuts and something comes up at a rational price. I do agree with the aboe about buying over building, its lways cheaper to get something that is finished that the last owner took a bath on to get it perfect. I never see the value of buying something cheap and spenging more in time and money in the long run to finish when you could be driving. I its your thing do it but don't finance a build.
The assumption is that prices will go down. After all prices that go up always do go down later. That's why you can always buy cars for the same price they were a while ago.
Of course it is possible that prices won't return and we will remember the time we could have bought that same car for only•••••
Car ownership seems to come in two forms. Those who buy and sell hoping to profit from the transaction.
And those who own cars for sentimental reasons or to add to their collection.
They buy when the opportunity presents itself rather than a calculation regarding profit or loss.
Financing offers an option if there is a conflict or a money problem.
i got an unsecured personal loan on my dream car and got screwed really badly on interest.
i have no regrets and would do it all over again. and again. and again.
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